Timeline of the
"Great Game" in Asia
(1796-1815)

   

 

 
A historical overview of the
"Great Game" in Asia from 1796 to 1815
 

This section will give a history of the Russian 1848 Hungarian intervention.  For ease of reference the table below allows you to study each conflict year by year.  At the end of this section the costs of the war in both men and equipment will be discussed. With few exceptions noted in parenthesis, all dates given below are according to the Julian Calendar that was used by Russia during this period.  It was 12 days behind the Gregorian calendar used by the rest of the world.


Timeline of the Conflict
  

Russian Leaders
(1796-1815)
1762-1796 Catherine II the Great
1796-1801 Paul I Petrovich Romanov
1801-1825 Alexander I Pavlovich Romanov
Back to
the Wars and Campaigns of Russia
during the Age of Napoleon

 

 

Prelude to War

 

The revolutions of 1848 spread throughout Europe with astonishing speed as social democrats, reformers, and nationalists demanded an end to the traditional monarchies of Europe.  The wave of uprisings began in France, but soon spread to Italy, and then to Central Europe.  In the divided Austrian kingdom these revolutionary ideas found favor with Hungarian nationalists and freedom minded Poles (who had survived their own failed attempt at independence earlier in the decade).

When revolutionary elements began protesting and demanding civil liberties, the initial reaction of the Austrian government was to give in to their demands - at least legislatively.  Other factions took a harder line, and soon small loyalist groups began fighting against the Hungarian separatists.  This would soon erupt into a full scale revolt that threatened the weak Austrian monarchy.

 

Mention that Moorcroft angers ruler of Punjab.

   

Timeline 1796-1815 (1)

 

1816
  British General Sir Robert Wilson anonymously publishes anti-Russian work, “A sketch of the military and political power of Russia”
1817
     
1818
 
 
1819
  Spring William Moorcroft of the East India Company is granted funds for a 2000 mile expedition to look for markets north of the Himalayas and preempt Russia attempts  at doing the same.
16 March Moorcroft’s exhibition leaves India.  They travel to Kashgar to avoid an Afghan civil war.
Summer Captain Nikolai Muraviev undertakes mission to retrace route of ill  fated 1717 expedition to Khiva to deliver message of friendship and trade.
+1 month Muraviev sails from Baku to opposite side of Caspian sea.
17 September He joins caravan of Turkmen in disguise sets off into karakum desert towards Khiva 
? Muraviev arrives at Khiva.  He is detained for seven weeks.  He gains audience with Khan.
+2 months After two months, Muraviev sets out for Kraznovodsk with khan’s envoys
13 December Muraviev reaches Shores of Caspian.
24 Dec Arrive in Baku.  Khan’s envoys sent to Tigris to meet with governor General Yermolov.
1820
  20 September Moorcroft’s party arrives in Leh, after nearly a year of delays in Punjab.  In Leh he encounters Russian agent Aga Mehdi who dies soon after.
October Russian expedition sets out for Bokhara from Orenburg to secure new markets.  It was also to map out defenses and gain intelligence.
December Russian expedition reaches Bokhara frontier outpost where they wait for permission to continue.
1821
  February Emir of Bokhara sends word that Russians can proceed to his capital.
10 March Russian expedition leaves Bokhara.
25 March Russian expedition leaves Bokharan territory.
1822
     
1823
     
1824
 

Spring

 Moorcroft sets out from Leh for Bokhara via the Khyber pass in Afghanistan.  His expedition would lead him to be the first Europeans to see the Buddhist shrink at Bamayan.
1825
  25 February Moorcroft sets expedition reaches Bokhara to find that Russian envoys had already been there.
25 August Moorcroft dies (age 60) of fever.  His body would later be recovered and buried outside the town of Balkh.
November Russian troops under Governor-General Yermolov advance I to disputed territory between Erivan and Lake Seven.  Persians demand their withdrawal, but Russians refuse.
December Decembrist revolt.
Summer 1800 British diplomat Captain John Macomb arrives at court of Teheran.  His purpose was to assure no French presence in Persia and to gain it’s alliance with British India against Afghanistan.
Jan 1800 Macomb leaves Teheran after signing treaties of aid and trade.
24 Jan 1801 Paul issues orders to chief of Don cossacks to mass a force at Orenburg to march (eventually numbering 22000) on India.
23 March 1801 Tsar Paul assassinated by court officials.
Summer 1801 Russia annexes Kingdom  of Georgia.  Worrying Persia.
June 1804 Russian army moves south, laying siege to Erivan.  Persia calls on England for help, England, concerned with France ignores them.
1802 Napoleon proclaimed emperor.
Early 1804 Napoleon’s envoys attempt to ally with Persia.  Persia stalls.
4 May 1807 Persia signs treaty with Napoleon’s and severs relations with Britain.
Summer 1807 Treaty of Tilsit
Fall 1807 British become aware of prior Franco-Russian plan to invade India.  Large French mission arrives at Teheran.  London and Calcutta separately plan to deal with Persia
May 1808 (Calcutta) Major General Malcomb arrives in Bushire.  He is unable to see the shah, whom he later angers with a sternly worded letter.  He returns to india.
Summer 1808 (London) British emissary Sir Hartford Jones arrives shortly after Macomb leaves.  He succeeds I  persuading the shah to eject the French embassy.  He later negotiates an alliance with Persia
Feb 1810 Malcomb arives in Bushire, then makes his way to Teheran.  He is to train  shah’s army and gain Intel for British.
Spring 1810 Captain Charles Christie and Lt. Henry Potting era plan Recon mission through Persia at the behest of Malcomb..  Both would begin in Nashville then take separate routes posing as Tartar traders.
22 March 1810 Christie departs Nushki for Heart.  Pottinger remains to prepare his Recon of the deserts to the west ending at Kerman in Persia.
23 March 1810 Pottinger receives report that Sindian agents are enrolled to arrest them for espionage
24 March 1810 Pottinger departs Nushki and begins his trek across Baluchistan.
31 March Pottinger reaches edge of Helmund desert.
18 April  Christie arrives at Herat.
20 April Pottinger arrives in village of Baseman, then returns to the desert the following day.
23 April Pottinger arrives in village of Regan in Persia on his way to Kerman.
1 May Pottinger arrives in Kerman.
18 May Christie departs Herat for Meshed, 200 miles north west in Persia.
30 June Christie and Pottinger meet in Isfahan.
1811 Turkey and Persia ally against Russia in Caucasus
1812 Russian force under Kotliarevsky defeats Persian force advised by Christie and Lt Henry Lindsey.  In the battle Christie is killed.  Persian force under Abbas Mirza loses 10000 men, Russian losses are 124 men and 3 officers.
Kotliarevsky lays seige to Persian stronghold of Lenkoran.
Lenkoran falls after 5 days of fighting.  Russians lose 2/3rds of force, all 4000 Persia defenders are killed.  Kotliarevsky is severely wounded.
June 1812 Napoleon invades Russia
1813 Treaty of Gulistan brokered by Britain ends hostilities between Persia and Russia.
1813 Indian army captain in Persia John Macdonald Kinneir, publishes in a single volume all of the intelligence information compiled by Christie, Pottinger, and others.  “A geographical memoir of the Persian Empire”.
30 March 1814 Russian army enters Paris

 

 

Aftermath of the Conflict

The end of hostilities marked a period of harsh repression in Hungary.  Russian General Haynau was appointed military governor of the region.  His attitude was best captured by his quote, "I shall uproot the weed." (1)  On his orders a dozen rebel generals were executed by firing squad on October 6th, 1849.  The first prime minister of Hungary - Batthyany was also shot.  Total executions numbered 114, with some 2000 people imprisoned.  General Görgei's life was spared on orders of the Tsar.

Other Hungarian rebels fled to the Ottoman Empire.  General Bem remained there, and after converting to Islam became the governor of Aleppo under the name Murad Pasha.  Kossuth left to the United States where he remained very popular.  Many other Hungarian troops also fled to the United States where they would aid the Union during that nation's Civil War.

The failed revolt did not quell the desire for Hungarian independence, however.  Later reforms would declare the Empire a dual state: the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  Its lands would have a degree of autonomy and its own parliament in 1867.  The conflict simply postponed the changes.

In Russia, the war did little other than to reaffirm Tsar Nicholas' fear of revolution.

 

Cost of the Russian 1848 Hungarian Intervention (1)

At this point I only have the very incomplete statistics for Russian losses during the Russian 1848 intervention in Hungary.  This will improve with time, but for now I have listed only the statistics that I have.  Those that I do not know at this time are marked as uncertain at present.  Suffice it to say that the Russians massed a force of 200,000 men with 80,000 more in reserve.  

Number of Russian military personnel who served in the Conflict: 200,000 men
 

Force Breakdown

Russian Army: 200,000
Austrian Army: 170,000

Total Killed and Wounded

Killed in Action: Uncertain at Present
Died of Illness: Uncertain at Present
Missing in Action: Uncertain at Present
Wounded: Uncertain at Present

 

Sources Cited

(1) Hopkirk, Peter, The Great Game, The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia, New York, NY: Kodnasha America Inc, 1990, Print.