Royal Geographic Society or "The Great Game"

[Naphtali]

Please identify links and/or print sources for kit lists and photographs for Royal Geographic Society explorers and "political exploring officers," circa 1850s through 1890s, of "The Great Game" in west central Asia. Indian, British, and Russian participants are equally acceptable.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

???????????[huh]

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Please identify links and/or print sources for kit lists and photographs for Royal Geographic Society explorers and "political exploring officers," circa 1850s through 1890s, of "The Great Game" in west central Asia. Indian, British, and Russian participants are equally acceptable.

Righto, old boy -- will do! Pip pip, and all that.

 

[WH1]

Perhaps this would be better served by posting it in the Outdoor thread. Lots of knowledgable individuals in there who might not see it in the observation lounge.

 

[Haversack]

My first recommendation would be the book, The Great Game, by Peter Hopkirk. It covers the entire era from the 1790s up to the Great War. Given the breadth of time, scope of area, and the often extreme individuality of the participants, (at least on the British side), there is no set list of kit. In reading the book however, you will sometimes find descriptions of tools and techniques used to surreptitiously take measurements and hide data. Clothing, tack, and weaponry would depend on the area being travelled and on the persona adopted.

Bear in mind that a large number of the field agents on the British side were in fact Indians. They could go where even well-disguised British could not and offered the Sirdar deniability if caught. These agents received their training at the Survey Offices Headquarters in Dehra Dun and became known as the Pundits.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

I am looking forward to all of this, when it comes out as a movie.

 

[mwelch8404]

Or, the best fiction EVER, the book Kim by Rudyard Kipling... It is the great game and Kipling was there...