Challenging Continuity: The policies of the East India Company and the Government of India towards Russia in the era of the Great Game, 1838-1880​

Slack, Joseph

Abstract

This thesis argues that the Indian Mutiny of 1857, which resulted in the East India Company’s replacement as the Government of India by the direct rule of the British Government, represented a major turning point in the Great Game. It challenges the notion in the current historiography of the Great Game that the policies of these two governments regarding the Game were continuous. The thesis argues that the East India Company’s strategy towards defending India from the threat of Russia during the Game was to expand, securing territory and aggressively pursuing the allegiance of neighbouring states in order to place as many ‘buffer states’ between Russia and India as possible, while the Government of India under
direct British rule fortified only its most essential buffers, particularly Afghanistan, and allowed Russia to expand into Central Asia without interference, while also allowing its allies in the region to govern themselves rather than trying to control them directly. It argues that this approach was more successful than the approach of the East India Company as it enabled them to conserve their resources and avoid alienating potential allies, which reduced the Russian threat to India in the long term.

Citation

Slack, J. Challenging Continuity: The policies of the East India Company and the Government of India towards Russia in the era of the Great Game, 1838-1880​. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4866098

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Oct 15, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 25, 2024
• Keywords: History
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4866098
• Additional Information: Department of History; University of Hull
• Award Date: Feb 20, 2024