Arthur Conolly

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Arthur Conolly
Arthur Conolly, by James Atkinson
Born(1807-07-02)2 July 1807
London
Died17 June 1842(1842-06-17) (aged 34)
Bukhara

Arthur Conolly (2 July 1807, London – 17 June 1842,

The Great Game to describe the struggle between the British Empire and the Russian Empire
for domination over Central Asia.

Biography

A descendant of an Ó Conghalaigh clan of Ireland, Conolly was a cousin of Sir William Macnaghten, Secretary of the British East India Company's Political and Secret Department.[2]

As a sixteen-year-old impressionable cadet, he sailed to

Bishop of Calcutta, evangelize. Thereafter, Conolly sought to win over Muslims to a "kindlier" view of Christians, the first step - in his view - of propagating the Gospel.[2]

In July 1840, in a correspondence with Major

, Conolly stated:

You've a great game, a noble game, before you.[3]

Conolly believed that Rawlinson's new post gave him the opportunity to advance humanitarianism in Afghanistan, and summed up his hopes:[4]

If the British Government would only play the grand game – help Russia cordially to all that she has a right to expect – shake hands with

Bokhara Amir to be just to us, the Afghans, and other Oosbeg states, and his own kingdom – but why go on; you know my, at any rate in one sense, enlarged views. Inshallah! The expediency, nay the necessity of them will be seen, and we shall play the noble part that the first Christian nation of the world ought to fill."[2]

Often travelling in disguise, he used the name "Khan Ali" in a word-play on his true name. In late 1829, he left Moscow for the Caucasus and Central Asia, arriving in Herat in September 1830 and in India in January 1831. In 1834, he published an account of his trip, which established his reputation as a traveller and writer.[5]

The Ark Fortress in Bukhara

In 1841, in an attempt to counter the growing penetration of Russia into Central Asia, Conolly unsuccessfully tried to persuade the various

Calicut (in present-day Kerala
, South India).

Legacy

In 1845, Rev Joseph Wolff, who had undertaken an expedition to discover the two officers' fate and barely escaped with his life, published an extensive account of his travels in Central Asia, which made Conolly and Stoddart household names in Britain for years to come.

Conolly's portrait by

National Portrait Gallery. His 1840–1842 diaries as well as his letters and reports to Sir John Hobhouse and William Cabell are in the British Library; his 1839 letters to Viscount Ponsonby are in the Durham University Library
.

References

Notes

  1. ^ Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1887). "Conolly, Arthur" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 12. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. ^ a b c Brysac, Shareen; and Meyer, Karl. Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Asia. Basic Books.
  3. ^ J.W. Kaye, Lives of Indian Officers, 2 vols, (1867), ii, p.101. cited in the 2000 Lectures and Memoirs, by the British Academy, Chapter: The Legend of the Great Game by Malcolm Yap. pages 180-1
  4. ^ 2000 Lectures and Memoirs, by the British Academy, Chapter: The Legend of the Great Game by Malcolm Yap. pages 180-1
  5. ^ Journey to the North of India through Russia, Persia and Afghanistan, Lt. Arthur Conolly. London, Richard Bentley, 1834. Volume 1 and Volume 2
  6. ^ s:Dictionary of Indian Biography/Conolly, Arthur
  7. ^ "Dictionary of National Biography volume 12.djvu/31". wikisource.org. Retrieved 16 September 2012.

Bibliography