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Book Review:
"The Gilgit Game" by John Keay
 (Oxford
University Press - 277 pages)
Reviewer - Luke Brown
Posted: 29 September, 2003
During the 19th century
the Great Game (see Peter Hopkirk's excellent book by the same title
for more details) was being played between two imperial powers,
Russia and Britain, for control of Central Asia. British India was
deemed to be under threat from an encroaching Russia. The Gilgit
region, which bordered India's Kashmir region to the south, Afghanistan
in the west, Xinjiang in the east and Tashkent in the north, was
thus of great strategic importance. As it had practically been unexplored
by the British up until this time, the need to do so, plus ensure
some control of it, was considered of the upmost importance. Thus
the Gilgit Game was born.
While the various power
plays and machinations are important and interesting in themselves,
John Keay concentrates mainly on the actors involved in the game,
without losing sight of the greater picture. Using a biting wit
and a nice turn of phrase, he manages to successfully cut through
the pomposity of some of the participants in this fascinating story,
and get at the heart of what made them go out into the unknown at
great personal risk, whether it was personal prestige, an unquenched
thirst for adventure, spiritual fulfilment or just plain eccentricity.
One of these characters
was the arrogant, opinionated, and rather strange Dr. Leitner, who
managed to pack in a lifetime of experiences before he was even
twenty-six (when he entered Gilgit). Fluent in several languages,
he was a veteran of the Crimean War having joined up at the age
of fifteen, starting at the improbable rank of colonel, despite
not even being born in Britain (he was born in Hungary). After the
war he became a lecturer and eventually moved to Lahore to be a
Principal of a college there. His appetite for knowledge led him
up to Gilgit, where in a moment of pique (detailed in the book)
he entered this unknown territory.
For Francis Younghusband,
his journeys were more spiritual in nature, seeing in the mountains
that he loved so much a mystical quality that heightened his interest
in religion.
For James Kelly, with
an up to then unheralded career, the Gilgit Game was to prove the
making of his legend, as he led a group of men from Gilgit across
hazardous terrain towards Chitral, to try and rescue Sir George
Robertson who was under siege from a coalition of those wishing
to see the British depart their region.
It is these types of
characters that John Keay, critically but with some fondness, details
in this tremendous work, that is a must for anyone with the slightest
interest in the exploits of a bunch of unique and brave explorers
and adventurers.
Reviewer: Luke Brown
Contact: editor@polosbastards.com
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