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" The politics of travel and exploration: "
Hodges , Clive Philip
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Latin Dissertation
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| Record Number
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1100081
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TLets601345
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| Main Entry
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Hodges , Clive Philip
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| Title & Author
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The politics of travel and exploration:\ Hodges , Clive Philip
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| College
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University of the West of England, Bristol
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| Date
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2013
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| student score
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2013
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| Degree
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Ph.D.
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| Abstract
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As Russian territorial acquisitions in central Asia posed an ever-increasing threatto India and British strategies to meet this threat vacillated, it was the activities of a smallnumber of adventurers which upheld British interests beyond the frontier and providedintelligence to the authorities. This thesis uniquely considers the Great Game withexploration and travel at its core in order to reveal the significance of such activity in theformation of policy and strategy. It also uncovers the intricate bureaucratic procedureswhich governed adventurous expeditions and identifies the conceptual frameworks whichunderpinned these mechanisms. It adds a new perspective to the hi storiography of theGreat Game and contributes to the growing interest in the study of travel both in thecontext of empire and of international relations.A collective consciousness existed in Victorian Britain that exploration andadventurous travel were noble pursuits. This was sustained in the public psyche throughthe Press and in popular culture. Among the privileged classes, this ethos was nurturedthrough the public schools and upheld by the elite universities, scienti fic bodies such asthe Royal Geographical Society, gentlemen's clubs and in public service both at homeand abroad. Across the British Empire, most notably in Africa, exploration was a keyconstituent of British imperial expansion: in Eastern (or Chinese) Turkestan it providedinformation useful to the security of existing imperial possessions. All Travel to theregion, whether motivated by intelligence gathering, commerce, science or sport,inevitably entailed political implications due to the region's sensitivity. Study of officialand private correspondence, learned articles and popular accounts reveals that travel tocentral Asia was governed by a complex network of government departments, theiragencies overseas and by organisations on the fringes of government with commercial orscientific interests. Conflicting interests between these bodies and the individuals whostaffed them ensured that procedures for sanctioning travel to the region were seldomstraightforward and that opinions concerning its value varied greatly.
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University of the West of England, Bristol
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