In the 19th century, Central Asia became the stage for the “Great Game,” an intense struggle for hegemony between the southward expanding Russian Empire and the northward expanding British Empire, which sought to defend its rule of India. This geopolitical competition continues to influence the present day.
What Was the Great Game?
- From the beginning of the 19th century to 1907: A strategic competition between Russia and Britain over Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Persia.
- Russia’s goals: Acquiring an ice free port, gaining access to the Indian Ocean, and pursuing its “southward policy.”
- Britain’s goals: Preventing overland approaches to India and defending the “pearl of India.”
- The term “Great Game” originated in a novel by the British intelligence agent Rudyard Kipling.
Afghanistan as a Buffer Zone
- Britain and Russia did not conquer Afghanistan directly but used it as a buffer state.
- First Afghan War (1839–42) and Second Afghan War (1878–80): Britain intervened in Afghanistan but failed in both wars.
- 1893: The Durand Line was drawn as the border between Afghanistan and British India. It was the origin of the modern border dispute between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- In the Anglo Russian Convention of 1907, Russia recognized noninterference in Afghanistan, and the Great Game effectively ended.
Key Point
The “New Great Game”: After the Cold War ended and the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, five Central Asian countries became independent. The United States, Russia, China, the EU, Iran, and others competed over resources such as oil and natural gas and pipeline interests. This competition was called the “New Great Game” by analogy with the 19th century. The structure of geopolitical competition continues today.
The “New Great Game”: After the Cold War ended and the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, five Central Asian countries became independent. The United States, Russia, China, the EU, Iran, and others competed over resources such as oil and natural gas and pipeline interests. This competition was called the “New Great Game” by analogy with the 19th century. The structure of geopolitical competition continues today.
The Legacy of the Great Game
The greatest legacy that the Great Game left in Central Asia was its arbitrarily drawn borders. Boundaries drawn without regard for the distribution of ethnic groups, languages, and tribes, together with the later Soviet “nationality divisions,” became indirect causes of the ethnic problems and border conflicts faced by Central Asian countries today.
Practice
- State the strategic goals of Russia and Britain in the Great Game.
- Explain why Afghanistan functioned as a “buffer state.”
- State the impact of the Anglo Russian Convention of 1907 on the Great Game.