Türkistan’da İngilizlerin Asyalı Kâşif Casusları: “Punditler”

Öz

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.

Anahtar Kelimeler

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

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

Öz

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.

Anahtar Kelimeler

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

Kaynakça

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