Afghanistan at the Сenter of the Great Game. 1879—1885. Act Five: Annexation of the Merv Oasis
Dmitry V. Vasilyev, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor
Moscow City University, Moscow, Russia, dvvasiliev@mail.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6616-0646
Abstract
The annexation of the Merv oasis to the Russian Empire became a rare phenomenon for Russian Central Asia, when the military’s intention to create an outpost threatening Afghan Herat was combined with the willingness of the local population to come under the protection of Russia. The conquest of Ahal-Teke made a strong impression on both the Turkmen and the regional foreign policy actors. The locals felt the formidable and solid power of the empire. Persia realized Russia’s readiness to implement the idea of uniting all the Turkmen under its rule. Afghanistan saw the main direction of a possible invasion by its northern neighbor. And London began to look for ways to hold St. Petersburg at bay again. There was no unity in the Russian capital in understanding the imperial tactics in Central Asia. The Transcaspian military authorities were ready to steadily move towards the Afghan border, while the central government considered forcing events to be unnecessary. The willingness of the locals to come under the protection of Russia became the decisive argument in the annexation of the oasis to the empire. Soon an administration was established in Merv, which was built on imperial principles, but largely took into account local traditions. This was in accordance with the general practice of the Russian Empire.
Keywords
Transcaspian Province, Turkmen, Merv, oasis, Persia, Afghanistan, Great Britain, Great Game, administration policy.
Acknowledgments: The research is supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 24-28-00915, https://rscf.ru/project/24-28-00915/, implemented at the Russian Academy of Entrepreneurship
For citation:
Vasilyev D. V. Afghanistan at the Сenter of the Great Game. 1879—1885. Act Five: Annexation of the Merv Oasis. Vestnik of Orenburg State Pedagogical University. Electronic Scientific Journal, 2024, no. 4 (52), pp. 112—128. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32516/2303-9922.2024.52.8.
1. Afganskoe razgranichenie: Peregovory mezhdu Rossiei i Velikobritaniei: 1872—1885 [Afghan Delimitation: Negotiations between Russia and Great Britain. 1872—1885]. St. Petersburg, Ministerstvo inostrannykh del Publ., 1886. 381 p. (In Russian)
2. Vasil’ev D. V. Afganistan v tsentre Bol’shoi igry. 1879—1885. Akt chetvertyi: Akhaltekinskie ekspeditsii [Afghanistan at the Center of the Great Game. 1879—1885. Act Four: Akhal-Teke Expeditions]. Vestnik Orenburgskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Elektronnyi nauchnyi zhurnal — Vestnik of Orenburg State Pedagogical University. Electronic Scientific Journal, 2024, no. 3 (51), pp. 154—169. Available at: http://vestospu.ru/archive/2024/articles/51/10_51_2024.pdf. DOI: 10.32516/2303-9922.2024.51.10. (In Russian)
3. Vasil’ev D. V., Vasil’ev S. D. Obrazovanie Zakaspiiskoi oblasti kak faktor uregulirovaniya russko-turkmenskikh otnoshenii vtoroi poloviny XIX v. [Formation of the Trans-Caspian region as a factor in the regulation of Russian-Turkmen relations in the second half of the 19th century]. Tsentral’naya Aziya na perekrestke evropeiskikh i aziatskikh politicheskikh interesov: XVIII—XIX vv.: sbornik nauch. tr. [Central Asia at the crossroads of European and Asian political interests. 18th—19th centuries. Collect. of sci. works]. Moscow, OntoPrint Publ., 2020, pp. 40—47. (In Russian)
4. Vasil’ev S. D. Britanskoe vliyanie na politiku shakhskogo pravitel’stva v otnoshenii turkmenskikh plemen. Prevrashchenie Irana v teatr politicheskogo protivostoyaniya Rossii i Velikobritanii [British influence on the policy of the Shah’s government towards the Turkmen tribes. Transformation of Iran into a theater of political confrontation between Russia and Great Britain]. Tsentral’naya Aziya na perekrestke evropeiskikh i aziatskikh politicheskikh interesov: XVIII—XIX vv.: sbornik nauch. tr. mezhdunar. seminara [Central Asia at the crossroads of European and Asian political interests. 18th—19th centuries. Collect. of sci. works of the Internat. seminar]. Moscow, OntoPrint Publ., 2019, pp. 290—300. (In Russian)
5. Dankov A. G. Britanskaya istoriografiya vtoroi poloviny XX v. o “Bol’shoi igre” v Tsentral’noi Azii [British historiography (second half of the XX century) on “The Great Game” in Central Asia]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Istoriya — Tomsk State University Journal of History, 2016, no. 3 (41), pp. 133—138. DOI: 10.17223/19988613/41/19. (In Russian)
6. Imperskaya politika akkul’turatsii i problema kolonializma (na primere kochevykh i polukochevykh narodov Rossiiskoi imperii): kollektivnaya monografiya [Imperial policy of acculturation and the problem of colonialism (on the example of nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples of the Russian Empire). Collective monograph]. Orenburg, Izdat. tsentr OGAU Publ., 2019. 480 p. (In Russian)
7. Koval’skaya S. I., Lyubichankovskii S. V. Fenomen dvizheniya v zhizni i kul’ture kochevykh kazakhov na territorii frontira (konets XIX — nachalo XX v.) [Phenomenon of Movement in the Life and Culture of Nomadic Kazakhs across the Frontier Zone, Late 19th to Early 20th Century]. Oriental Studies, 2023, no. 16 (1), pp. 59—74. DOI: 10.22162/2619-0990-2023-65-1-59-74. (In Russian)
8. Lyubichankovskii S. V. Akkul’turatsionnaya model’ ponimaniya imperii kak metodologicheskaya al’ternativa kolonial’nomu podkhodu [Accultural Model of an Empire as a Methodological Alternative to the Colonial Approach]. Elektronnyi nauchno-obrazovatel’nyi zhurnal “Istoriya” — The Journal of Education and Science “History”, 2019, vol. 10, is. 8. Available at: https://history.jes.su/s207987840006065-0-1/. DOI: 10.18254/S207987840006065-0. (In Russian)
9. Lyubichankovskii S. V. Istoriya yugo-vostochnogo frontira Rossii: actual’nye problemy, sovremennye podkhody k ikh resheniyu [The History of Russia’s South-Eastern Frontier: Current Issues, Contemporary Approaches]. Vestnik Rossiiskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Ser. Istoriya Rossii — RUDN Journal of Russian History, 2020, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 520—524. DOI: 10.22363/2312-8674-2020-19-3-520-524. (In Russian)
10. Natsional‘nyi istoricheskii arkhiv Gruzii [National Historical Archives of Georgia]. F. 229. Op. 1. D. 59.
11. Pochekaev R. Yu. Turkmeny Akhal-Teke i Merva v kontekste otnoshenii pogranichnykh administratsii rossiiskoi imperii (1870—1880-e gg.) [Turkmens of Akhal-Teke and Merv Within the Context or Relations Between Frontier Administrations of the Russian Empire (1870s—1880s)]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta — Tomsk State University Journal, 2021, no. 470, pp. 171—179. DOI: 10.17223/15617793/470/20. (In Russian)
12. Prisoedinenie Turkmenii k Rossii: (sbornik arkhivnykh dokumentov) [The accession of Turkmenistan to Russia: (collect. of archival documents)]. Ashkhabad, Akademia nauk Turkmenskoi SSR Publ., 1960. 823 p. (In Russian)
13. Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi istoricheskii arkhiv [Russian State Historical Archive]. F. 1396. Op. 1. D. 82.
14. Sergeev E. Yu. Bol’shaya igra, 1856—1907: mify i realii rossiisko-britanskikh otnoshenii v Tsentral’noi i Vostochnoi Azii [The Great Game, 1856—1907. Myths and Realities of Russian-British Relations in Central and East Asia]. Moscow, T-vo nauch. izdanii KMK Publ., 2012. 453 p. (In Russian)
15. Sistematicheskii sbornik prikazov po voennomu vedomstvu i tsirkulyarov Glavnogo shtaba za vremya s 1 yanvarya 1869 goda po 1 oktyabrya 1887 goda [Systematic Collection of Orders of the War Department and Circulars of the General Staff for the Period from January 1, 1869 to October 1, 1887]. St. Petersburg, Tip. M. M. Stasyulevicha Publ., 1887. 1699 p. (In Russian)
16. Tikhomirov M. N. Prisoedinenie Merva k Rossii [The Annexation of Merv to Russia]. Moscow, Izd-vo vostochnoi literatury Publ., 1960. 239 p. (In Russian)
17. Uderbaeva S. K., Sagatov A. M. Otrazhenie anglo-russkogo sopernichestva v Tsentral’noi Azii v kontse XIX — nachale XX v. v nauchnoi literature [Reflection of Anglo-Russian rivalry in Central Asia in the late 19th — early 20th centuries in scientific literature]. Tsentral’naya Aziya na perekrestke evropeiskikh i aziatskikh politicheskikh interesov: XVIII—XIX vv.: sbornik nauch. tr. [Central Asia at the crossroads of European and Asian political interests. 18—19th centuries. Collect. of sci. works]. Moscow, OntoPrint Publ., 2020, pp. 163—179 (In Russian)
18. Khalfin N. A. Prisoedinenie Srednei Azii k Rossii (60—90-e gody XIX v.) [Annexation of Central Asia to Russia (1860—1890s)]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1965. 468 p. (In Russian)
19. Hopkirk P. The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia. London, John Murray, 1990. 562 p.
20. Marvin Ch. Merv, the Queen of the World; and the Scourge of the Man-Stealing Turcomans. With an Exposition of the Khorassan Question. London, W. H. Allen, 1881. 547 p.
21. Marvin Ch. The Russians at the Gates of Herat. London, F. Warne, 1885. 178 p.
22. Marvin Ch. The Russians at Merv and Herat, and their Power of Invading India. London, W. H. Allen & Co., 1883. 470 p.
23. Morrison A. The Russian Conquest of Central Asia. A Study in Imperial Expansion, 1814—1914. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2021. 613 р.
24. O’Donovan E. The Merv oasis. Vol. 1. Travels and adventures east of the Caspian during the years 1879-80-81. London, Smith, Elder, & Co., 1882. 502 p.
25. O’Donovan E. The Merv oasis. Vol. 2. Travels and adventures east of the Caspian during the years 1879-80-81. London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1882. 500 p.
26. Rawlinson H. England and Russia in the East. A Series of Papers on the Political and Geographical Condition of Central Asia. London, J. Murray, 1875. 393 p.