Pundits in the Pamirs – the Forgotten Players of The Great Game

By the mid-19th century, Russian expansion into Central Asia had become a source of concern
to the British government; better information was needed about the neighbouring areas in order
to evaluate the threat of Russian encroachment or even invasion of the sub-continent. In the general
absence of law and order, these areas were dangerous for European travellers. The British were completing
their Great Trigonometrical Survey of India for which native surveyors were being used, and
decided to train and send some into Central Asia, disguised as holy men, to undertake preliminary
reporting on the areas adjacent to India. They became known as the Pundits. This paper describes
the missions of six Pundits in the Pamir region and summarises their reporting.

The pundits did their work conscientiously under dangerous and difficult circumstances and added
to the sum of scientific knowledge of the Pamirs in the short period during which they were active;
it was not always adequately appreciated by their colonial masters and was subjected to racial
stereotyping; some, however, received awards from the Royal Geographic Society in Britain and
the Société de Géographie in France. Given the full surveying subsequently undertaken shortly
afterwards by Russian and British teams, the results of which were published and shared, the author
questions whether the Pundits’ work was worth the personal and political risks involved.

Keywords: Central Asia, the Pamirs, history, the Great Game, exploration.