Türkistan’da İngilizlerin Asyalı Kâşif Casusları: “Punditler”

Abstract

İngiltere'nin en önemli sömürgesi olan Hindistan’ın güvenliği, özellikle XIX. yüzyılın ikinci yarısından sonra İç Asya’da Ruslarla girdikleri sömürge rekabeti sırasında daha da önem kazanmıştır. Bu nedenle Hindistan’ın kuzey sınırları hakkında bilgi toplamak ve bu bölgeleri haritalamak İngilizlerin bu yüzyılda öncelikli politikası haline gelmiştir. Ancak bölgedeki topluluk ve devletlerin Batılılara duydukları şüphe, onların buralara girip rahatça araştırma yapmaları önünde önemli bir engel olmuştur. T. D. Montgomerie’nin önerisiyle İngilizler bu engeli aşmak ve başta coğrafi olmak üzere bu bölgelerde ticari, siyasi vd. alanlarda araştırma yapmak için yerli kâşif-casuslar olarak da adlandırılabilecek Punditlerden faydalanmıştır. XIX. yüzyılın ikinci yarısında Hindistan’ın kuzey ve kuzeybatısındaki bölgeleri keşfetmek, araştırmak ve haritalamak için eğitilmiş olan Punditler, başta Tibet olmak üzere Güney Türkistan (Afganistan’ın kuzeyi) ve Doğu Türkistan’da faaliyet göstermişlerdir. Bu makalede, daha önce Türkçe yazılmış herhangi bir çalışmaya konu olmayan Punditlerin Türkistan’daki faaliyetleri ele alınmıştır.

Keywords

• XIX. yüzyıl,
• Punditler,
• Türkistan,
• İngiltere,
• kâşif-casus

Asian Explorer-Spies of Britain in Turkestan: "Pundîts"

Abstract

The security of India, the most important colony of England, gained even more importance especially in the second half of XIX. century during the colonial rivalry with the Russians in Inner Asia. For this reason, collecting information about the northern borders of India and mapping these regions has become the priority policy of the British in this century. However, the suspicion felt by the communities and states in the region towards the Westerners has been an important obstacle for them to enter these places and make research with ease. Following the proposal of T. D. Montgomerie, in order to overcome this obstacle and to be able to conduct research especially geographical as well as commercial and political fields the British utilised local explorer-spies referred to as “Pundits”. In the second half of the XIX. century, to explore, research and map the regions in the north and northwest of India, Pundits have been active in Tibet, South Turkistan (north of Afghanistan) and East Turkestan. In this article, the activities of Pundits in Turkistan, which have not been the subject of any study written in Turkish before, are discussed.

Keywords

• XIX. century,
• Pundits,
• Turkestan,
• England,
• explorer-spy

References

1. Adler, Gary, Beyond Bokhara: The Life of William Moorcroft, Asian Explorer and Veterinary Surgeon, 1767-1825, London 1985.
2. “A Third Journey of Exploration in Central Asia, 1913-16: Discussion”, The Geographical Journal, Vol. 48, No. 3 (1916), s. 225-229.
3. Blair, Brysac Shareen, Tournament of Shadows, New York 2006.
4. Bond, Xiao Wei, Guide to India Office Records Relating to Central, London 2010.
5. Bondarevsky, Gregory L.:The Great Game a Russian Perspective, Christie Books, 2002.
6. "Burnes, Sir Alexander", Encyclopædia Britannica, 11, Vol. 4, New York 1911, s. 850-851.
7. Chichester, Henry Manners, “Conolly, Arthur”, Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. 12, London-New York 1885-1900, s.24-26
8. Curzon, George N., The Pamirs and the Source Of the Oxus, London 1896.

9. Dean, Riaz, Mapping the Great Game: Explorers, Spies and Maps in 19th-Century Asia, Casemate Publishers 2019.
10. Edwardes, Michael, Playing the Great Game a Victorian Cold War, London 1975.
11. Hayward, George, “Route from Jellalabad toYarkand Through Chitral, Badakhshan, and Pamir Steppe, Given by Mahomed Amin of Yarkand, with Remarks”, Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. 13, No. 2 (1868 – 1869), s.122-130.
12. Hedin, Sven, Through Asia I, London 1898.
13. Hopkirk, Peter, Trespasses on the Roof of the World the Secret Eploration of Tibet, Los Angeles 1982.
14. Jonhson, Robert, Spying for Empire, The Great Game in Central and South Asia, 1757-1947, London 2006.
15. Lange, Diana, An Atlas of the Himalayas by a 19th Century Tibetan Lama a Journey of Discovery, Brill Academic Pub, 2020.
16. MeerIzzut-Oollah, Travels in Central Asia, Çev. Captain Henderson, The Foreign Department Press, 1872.
17. Montgomerie, T. G., “On the Geographical Position of Yarkund and Other Places in Central Asia”, Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. 10, No. 4 (1865 – 1866), s. 162-165.
18. ______________, "Report of the Mirza's Exploration of the Route from Caubul to Kashgar, “The Journal of the Royal Geographicl Society of London, Vol. 41 (1871), s.132-193
19. ______________, “Report on the Trans –Himalayan Explorations, in Connexion with the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India, During 1865-7: Route-Survey Made by Pundit -, from Nepal to Lhasa, and Thence Through the Upper Valley of the Brahmaputra to Its Source”, Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. 12, No. 3 (1867 – 1868), s.146-175.
20. ______________, Report of the Trans-Himalayan Exploration During 1867, Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. 13, No. 3 (1868 – 1869), s. 183-198.
21. ______________, “A Havildar's Journey Through Chitral to Faizabad in 1870”, The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. 42 (1872), 180-201.
22. Munphool Meer Moonshee, “On Gilgit and Chitral”, Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London , Vol. 13, No. 2 (1868 – 1869), s. 130-133.
23. Obituary: “The Havildar", Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography, Vol. 1, No. 9 (1879), s. 600-601
24. Phillimore, R. H., Historical Records of the Srvey of India, Vol. V, Order of the Surveyor General of India 1968.
25. Raj, Kapil, Instruments, Travel and Science: Itineraries of Precision from the Seventeenth to the Twentieth Century, “When Human Travellers Become Instruments The Indo-British Exploration of Central Asia in the Nineteenth Century”, edit: Marie-Noëlle Bourguet, Christian Licoppe and H. Otto Sibum, London and New York 2002, s.159-188.
26. Rawat, Indra Singh, Indian Explorers of the 19th Century, 2. Baskı, New Delhi 2002.
27. Rawlinson, Henry, England and Russia in the East, London 1875.
28. Report of a Mission to Yarkund in 1873, Under the Command of Sir T.D. Forsyth with Historical and Geographical Information Regarding the Possessions of the Ameer of Yarkund, Calcutta 1875.
29. Sabol, Steven, “Orta Asya’da Rus-İngiliz Rekabeti”, Türkler, C. 18, Ankara 2002, s. 1018-1034.
30. Trotter, H., “On the Geoographical Results of the Mission to Kashgar, under Sir T. Douglas Forsyth in 1873 1874”, The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, Vol. 48 (1878), s. 173- 233.
31. _________, Account of the Survey Operations in Connetion with the Mission to Yarkand and Kashgar in 1873-74, Calcutta 1875.
32. Robert Hamilton Vetch, “Montgomerie, “Thomas George”, Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. XVIII, New York 1909, s.311-313.
33. W., S., “Charles Stoddart (1806 –1842)”, Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. 58, 1885-1900, s. 396- 397.
34. Waller, Derek, The Pundits, British Exploration of Tibet and Central Asia, Kentucky 1990.
35. Ward, Michael, “Mountains of East and South-East. Tibet”, https:// www.alpinejournal. org. uk/Contents/ Contents_ 1991-92_files/AJ%201991-92%2049- 62%20Ward%20E%20Tibet.
36. ____________ “The Survey of India and the Pundits the Secret Exploration of the Himalaya and Central Asia”, https://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1998.html. s. 59-79
37. Wilson, H.H. -George Trebecki, Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hindustan and the Panjab; in Ladakh and Kashmir; in Peshawar, Kabul, Kunduz, and Bokhara, Vol. I, London 1841.
38. Yule, H.- Munphool Pundit- Faiz Buksh, “Papers Connected with the Upper Oxus Regions”, The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London , Vol. 42 (1872), s. 438-481.
39. “Pundit”, The Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. 22, New York, 1911, s. 649.
40. http://sanskritdictionary.com/translate.php?q=Pundit
41. https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/Pundit