Afghanistan at the Сenter of the Great Game. 1878-1879 Action One: “Indian Campaign” of K. P. Kaufman
Russian historical science still does not have a narrative of the “Indian campaign”. It is mentioned as an episode of Russian-British relations in Central Asia. Published sources are left without analysis and generalization. This article presents the history of the “Indian campaign”, inscribed in the context of Russian-British relations in Europe and Asia. The applied methods of criticism and analysis of diplomatic documents, memoirs of participants in the events make it possible to reconstruct the dynamics of foreign policy events caused by the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. The article shows how the Russian government tried to use military pressure on the UK from Afghanistan in order to solve European problems. Furthermore, a significant part of the event participants at that time believed in the reality of Russia’s military-political steps in Central Asia. Nevertheless, the “Indian campaign” of the Turkestan troops was originally conceived only as a military demonstration in order to make the British government more accommodating at the Berlin Congress. On the way to this, Russian diplomats have achieved significant success in attracting Emir Shir-Ali to their side. All these steps should certainly be considered part of successful Russian diplomacy. One way or another, but relations with the neighboring state did not deteriorate.