Fred Burnaby (1842–1885)

"Having resolved to go to Central Asia, the next question was how to execute my intention..."
By sally tarbox on 30 August 2017
Format: Kindle Edition
In 1875, when British army captain Fred Burnaby was told that Russia had banned the English from travelling in 'Russian Asia', he determined to resurrect his long-held plan of visiting Khiva.
This is the account of his arduous journey there. Forced to achieve the trip during his leave of absence, time was of the essence, and after the early stages in a train, entailed much travelling through snowy steppes and coping with a multitude of problems from frostbite, refractory camels and mutinous servants to the constant awareness that the Russians were uneasy about his presence.
Amusing, quite awe-inspiring in courage (as Burnaby arranges to have an audience with the Khan of Khiva, we are aware that only a few decades earlier, Stoddart and Connolly were thrown in a bug-pit then executed by the fearsome rulere of neighbouring Bukhara.) The political situation features quite a bit as Burnaby comments on his perceptions of the Russians who are moving to take over Central Asia - applauded by many Brits at the time, who welcomed the idea of a 'civilized' nation adjoining India, rather than the dangerous Afghans.

Quite an interesting read. Although Khiva is in modern-day Uzbekistan, I was surprised that the word 'Uzbek' doesnt feature once, the locals being referred to throughout as Kirghiz.… (mehr)

A nonfiction travelogue. A British soldier of the very adventurous type decides to spend his winter vacation traveling through Russia towards Afghanistan, around the time of the U.S. Civil war, when this part of Russia was very much like the Old West, but deathly cold as well.

He hires guides and interpreters along the way, and has many encounters with Russian military officers from whom he politically needs permission, though there are strained relations between the two countries. The area around the Oxus River plays a big part of the story. Pretty fascinating to hear about this underknown part of the world.… (mehr)