Arthur Conolly
Arthur Conolly | |
---|---|
Born | London | 2 July 1807
Died | 17 June 1842 Bukhara | (aged 34)
Arthur Conolly (2 July 1807, London – 17 June 1842,
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
In July 1840, in a correspondence with Major
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]
In 1841, in an attempt to counter the growing penetration of Russia into Central Asia, Conolly unsuccessfully tried to persuade the various
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
References
Notes
- ^ Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1887). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 12. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ^ a b c Brysac, Shareen; and Meyer, Karl. Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Asia. Basic Books.
- ^ 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
- ^ 2000 Lectures and Memoirs, by the British Academy, Chapter: The Legend of the Great Game by Malcolm Yap. pages 180-1
- ^ Journey to the North of India through Russia, Persia and Afghanistan, Lt. Arthur Conolly. London, Richard Bentley, 1834. Volume 1 and Volume 2
- ^ s:Dictionary of Indian Biography/Conolly, Arthur
- ^ "Dictionary of National Biography volume 12.djvu/31". wikisource.org. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
Bibliography
- Lt. Arthur Conolly. Journey to the North of India through Russia, Persia and Afghanistan- (2 Vols.). London, Richard Bentley, 1834. Reprints:
- Elibron Classics, 2002.
- New Delhi, Laurier Books Ltd, Asian Educational Services, 2001, ISBN 81-206-1589-1
- ISBN 9781568360225.
- ISBN 9780465045761.
- Stephen M. Bland Does it yurt? Travels in Central Asia or How I Came to Love the Stans, Hertfordshire Press, 2016, ISBN 978-1910886298
- Leonard Arthur Bethell, Tales from the Outposts - Vol 1, Frontiers of Empire. Edinburgh: Blackwood. 1st edition 1932, pp 267-268. See - 'The Silver Hand of Alexander'.
- Rev. Joseph Wolff (1795 - 1862). Narrative of a mission to Bokhara, in the years 1843-1845, to ascertain the fate of Colonel Stoddart and Captain Conolly. London, J.W. Parker, 1845. First and second (revised) edition both came out in 1845. Reprints:
- New York, Harper & Bros., 1845
- Edinburgh and London, William Blackwood & Sons, 1848
- New York, Arno Press, 1970 ISBN 0-405-03072-X
- Elibron Classics, 2001, ISBN 1-4021-6116-6
- A mission to Bokhara. Edited and abridged with an introduction by Guy Wint. London, Routledge & K. Paul, 1969. ISBN 0-7100-6456-X