Book Review<\/b>
\nThe Gilgit Game
\nBy John Keay,
\nPublisher:Oxford University Press,Karachi, Pakistan
\nPrice:Rs 275
\nPp:277
\n<\/b>………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….<\/p>\n
Gilgit and the Great Game in the Himalayas
\n<\/b>
\nBy Mahesh Kaul<\/b><\/p>\n
State of Jammu and Kashmir has been the focal point of all activities that range from cultural
\nto political. But it can be called the misfortune of the comprehensively rich geographical
\nand historical entity that it has been used as the flash point of all intrigues that have
\nbrought miseries to the populace of the state in all times. The seed of the destabilization of
\nthe state was sown when the British imperialists happened to be the illegitimate overlords of
\nthis rich entity. The colonial rulers sponsored many expeditions and missions to gather
\ninformation about the remote and extreme fringes of this state and its frontiers. As they knew
\nif they have to rule India then they will have to strengthen their stranglehold over the
\nHimalayas. And it is in this context that they were s interested in having their foot fall in Gilgit- a
\nsmall town in the centre of the Western Himalayas.
\nWhile researching about the Northern Frontiers of the India I came across a book titled \u201cThe<\/b>
\nGilgit Game\u201d<\/b> by John Keay<\/b> published by Oxford University Press in 1979. It is a well
\nestablished fact and well documented in history how Gilgit region of the Himalayan frontier
\nbecame battle ground when India was witnessing the transfer of power and partition of the
\ncountry at the same time. It was used as region where many intrigues were shaped to
\ndestabilize the state of Jammu and Kashmir and alter its boundaries besides fomenting trouble
\nby communalizing the situation by the British agents who were active in the area as early
\nas1830\u2019s and by 1870 they tightened their stranglehold on it \u00a0to suit their imperialist goals of
\nviolating the boundaries of the state and use it as a focal point to rule the subcontinent
\nkeeping in view the developing geo-political interests of other emerging powers in the
\nHimalayan frontier.
\nThis book is an interesting and informative material not only on the various tribes that
\ninhabit this frontier region and their way \u00a0of life but explains the strategic importance of the
\nregion as far as the state of Jammu and Kashmir is concerned . It explains to a greater extent the British mindset regarding their\u00a0imperialist designs and co opting various forces that later were instrumental in posing\u00a0challenge to the idea of united India.
\nIn the introduction to the book John Keay writes, \u201cThe point of Gilgit, now as always is<\/i>
\nstrategic. High above the snowline, somewhere midst the peaks and glaciers that wall in the
\nGilgit valley, the long and jealously guarded frontiers of India, China, Russia, Afghanistan
\nand Pakistan meet. It is the hub, the crow\u2019s nest, the fulcrum of Asia.\u201d<\/i>
\nThese words should explain how astute the British were while governing India and knew well
\nthat this region in the Himalayas was the focal point of the balance of power. And it goes to
\ntheir credit that \u00a0they understood the importance of this area in guarding the frontiers and
\nboundaries of India. But when they were on the verge of leaving India after partitioning it, they
\nleft no stone unturned in dismantling this fulcrum of the Indian frontier by fomenting trouble
\nthere so that this area and the state of Jammu and Kashmir of which it is territorially
\nintegral part is dismantled and the unity of India as a nation is always kept under strain. To
\nweaken the Indian unity they left no stone unturned to rupture the defense of the Indian nation \u00a0in\u00a0the frontier itself. And the outcome is the present conflict and continuous destabilization.
\nWriting further to explain the importance and significance of this frontier he writes,\u201d A<\/i>
\nlittle over a century ago none of these frontiers came anywhere near one another, Gilgit
\nitself was far flung, disaster prone and run down outpost of the Maharaja of Kashmir. Beyond
\nit and on all sides save for a vulnerable supply line back to Kashmir, there stretched virgin
\nterritory. South to the Punjab of British India, West to Badakshan in Afghanistan, north to
\nTashkent in Russia and east to Sinkiang in China, this rectangular sea of mountains stretched
\nfor hundreds of all but impenetrable miles. The Gilgit Game is simply the story of how and by
\nwhom such a wilderness was explored and approached.\u201d<\/i>
\nIt is interesting to note here that the British were not only consolidating their rule in
\ntheir Indian colony but exercising the strategic and political influence of their country by
\nusing the land of this nation as the theatre of war and once they left, they trampled it to
\nsuch an extent that it is still bearing the blows of that intrigue. Narinder Singh Sarila<\/b>, ADC
\nto the last Governor General ,Lord Mountbatten has clearly explained in this book titled \u2018The<\/b>
\nUntold Story of India\u2019s Partition\u201d <\/b>that how the Great Game was played to partition India by
\nsocially, communally, economically, geographically and culturally balkanize India so that no
\nroom is left for the national resurgence of India among the comity of nations. Though the book
\nThe Gilgit Game<\/b> was written years before Narinder Singh Sarila could reveal the reality of the
\nBritish game plan to vivisect India, it succinctly explains the development of the strategy
\ncalled the \u201cGreat Game<\/b> and the Gilgit being the starting point of this intrigue to later
\nbalkanize the Indian nation.
\nExplaining the rationale behind the Great Game<\/b>, he writes,\u201dIt was called a game in recognition<\/i>
\nof the process being a crucial episode in the Great Game, the century-long rivalry between
\nRussia and British India for control of Central Asia. The latter phrase had been coined
\nback in 1830\u2019s but came into common usage about 1870.With the popular discovery of cricket,
\nfootball and tennis, suddenly everything became a game: the word was bandied about as
\nloosely as, more recently,\u2019scene\u2019.But it was also in the 1870\u2019s that the Great game ,after
\na mid \u2013century lull, returned as a political feature to obsess the minds and dictate the
\npolicies of those who ruled Asia.Inspite of some impossible terrain, in spite too of some
\nof the improbable characters involved ,here was one of the most desperate and portentous
\nconfrontations that the late nineteenth century had to evolve.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
******(Writer is a PhD Scholar at SHTM{School for Hospitality and Tourism Management},Faculty of Business Studies, University of Jammu, Jammu) Book Review The Gilgit Game By John Keay, Publisher:Oxford University Press,Karachi, Pakistan Price:Rs 275 Pp:277… more
\n<\/i>One should acknowledge the analysis of the author in comparing Great Game<\/b> with Cold War<\/b>. But\u00a0it is also a reality that Great game is still functional when we witness the turbulence and
\nethno-religious conflict in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and Cold war may be called its
\ncorollary but in the present scenario it is a bit mild as far as the existence of uni polar
\nworld at present is concerned.
\nHe writes ,\u201d The Great Game has often been compared with the Cold War of 1950\u2019s and<\/i>
\n1960\u2019<\/i>s.In<\/i><\/a>\u00a0both cases war as an instrument of policy was used sparingly and the global
\nexplosion that threatened never materialized .A safer outlet for imperial aggression was
\nfound in trying to secure a favorable alignment of minor powers and thus outmaneuver
\nthe opposition .In the Great Game ,China (although itself an empire ),Afghanistan and Persia
\nall provided ideal ground for such jockeying .So too, in the early days, did the Khanates
\nof Central Asia and subsequently ,the mountain states of the Western Himalayas. In
\nretrospect the imperial rivalry looks fairly genteel and, indeed, there were those who
\nat the time defended even Russian encroachments on the ground of Europe\u2019s civilizing
\nmission.Nevertheless,it is no exaggeration to say that ,for most, the Tsarist threat in the
\nlate nineteenth century was as real and alarming as the Communist menace in the mid-
\ntwentieth.\u201d<\/i>
\nExplaining military strategy of the powers that were indulged in the Great Game<\/b>, John Keay
\nwrites,\u201d Again like the Cold War, the Great Game was played, or fought, over a vast area and<\/i>
\nat many different levels. Any clash of British and Russian interests east of the Balkans
\nhad a bearing on the Game .The action had a way of shifting unpredictably from a
\nconcourse of statesman in Europe to a sudden shunting of troops in the Hindu Kush; or from
\nthe activities of a lone Kiplingesque secret agent to some frantic excitement among the
\nsmall-scale maps at military headquarters.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\n<\/i>Gilgit turned out to be the focal point of all geo-political and strategic affairs that define
\nthe imperialist policy in guarding the Northern Frontier. It is a pity that the people who
\nwere the subjugators of the Indian nation understood the strategic and political importance of
\nthe Northern Frontier in the Himalayas and kept an eagle\u2019s eye to guard it but the Indian
\nstate has failed to safeguard the national integrity and the sovereignty of the nation in this
\nfrontline area and squandered the advantage and \u00a0failed to understand the British ploy on the
\neve of partition \u00a0to alter the boundaries of princely state of Jammu and Kashmir to suit their
\nlong term game of the balkanization of India \u00a0that are now clearly visible in the state.
\nJohn Keay sheds light on the broader agenda of the Great Game<\/b> and writes,\u201d What was true of<\/i>
\nthe Great Game went for its Gilgit sector; the process of geographical and political\u00a0penetration only makes sense when seen in the broadest possible context. Yet Gilgit was\u00a0surely the wildest arena in which the Game was played. Diplomatic activity had to wait on the\u00a0deliberations of ilitary strategists and these in turn waited on the process of exploration.\u00a0Because of the political vacuum in the area, the movements of explorers and agents could\u00a0themselves constitute a valid claim to territory and their chance friendships and\u00a0difficulties could have the most far \u2013reaching repercussions ;it would be in the mountains\u00a0around Gilgit that the two imperial frontiers came closest to collision. All of which, though\u00a0occasionally leading to absurdities ,makes the Gilgit Game vastly more exciting and romantic\u00a0than most of the Great Game .From Rudyard Kipling to John Masters fiction writers have found\u00a0their best material in the Gilgit story.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\n<\/i>What should make the book important as far as the state of Jammu and Kashmir is concerned
\nis that it should act as \u00a0a reference material for the policy makers who have undermined the Northern Frontier in\u00a0the Himalayas. The following\u00a0 \u00a0passage from the Gilgit Game written by John Keay should be an eye openerHe writes:
\n\u201cThe other factor which deterred explorers was the attitude of the Kashmir authorities .Then
\nas now, Kashmir was a political anomaly. Properly speaking it was just the beautiful valley of
\nthat name around Srinagar, the capital; but with the disintegration of the Sikh Empire in the
\n1840\u2019s all the mountain lands administered by the Sikhs were detached and designated as the
\nnew state of Kashmir under de facto ruler, Gulab Singh. By the treaty of Amritsar in 1846 he
\nwas recognized by the British as Maharaja in return for his settling the war indemnity levied
\non the defeated Sikhs. But the treaty left to further negotiation the actual boundaries of the
\nstate as well as the exact nature of the relationship with the British India. This was the
\nsituation that could be exploited by both parties; and while the Government of India at first
\nconcentrated on trying to reduce the Maharaja to the impotent status of other princely rulers
\nwithin British India, the Maharaja and his successors did their utmost, particularly in the
\nGilgit region, to extend their territory. Freelance explorers who might publicize or censure
\nboundary, were therefore forbidden access.\u201d<\/i>
\nAbout the strategic sensitivity of the Indian government he writes, \u201cOn the other hand, as the<\/i>
\nnew state of Kashmir was more firmly incorporated into British India, it became clear that the
\nfrontiers of the state could not be simply left to the energies of the Maharaja. In the north
\nand north-west they were, after all, the frontiers of India itself, and in the event of an
\nattack the Indian government would be expected to defend them. As the Russian threats
\ndeveloped in the 1870\u2019s the question of finding a defensible Kashmir frontier and a reliable
\nsystem of guarding it became crucial. And, just as for thirty years the jealousy of the
\nMaharaja had kept out freelance explorers, so for the next twenty years the strategic
\nsensitivity of the Indian government would have the same effect.\u201d<\/i>
\nThis book should start a discourse among the policy makers and the intelligentsia as to what
\npolicy should be formulated to defend the Northern Frontier in the frontline state of Jammu
\nand Kashmir when a part of the state is already in the illegal occupation of Pakistan and
\nworst of all, when Pakistan has ceded the substantial area of the occupied territory to China.
\nChina has used it to develop a corridor to keep Tibet within its reachable ambit by using this
\nterritory for developing the Gwadar Port in Pakistan to strangulate
\nIndian rise.<\/p>\n
\n<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"