I still weep for the Musalla Mausoleum. As Robert Byron put it in ‘The Road to Oxiana’:
“This array of blue towers rising haphazard from a patchwork of brown fields and yellow orchards has a most unnatural look. […] it can be seen from the insides of these minarets, where the tilework stops short some forty feet from the ground, that they were originally joined by walls or arches and must have formed part of a series of mosques or colleges. What has happened to these buildings? Things on this scale may fall down, but they leave some ruin. They don’t vanish of their own accord without trace or clue, as these have done.
This was great, thank you for writing! Would the Russians have been in the area absent the upcoming negotiations w the British / their victory in the second afghan war? Ie would they have had an independent interest in Afghanistan or was it largely related to geopolitics?
It seems Russia was in large part motivated by a concern to fully attach the Turkmen to Russia, and a natural aggressiveness among generals on the frontier.
I think the broader geopolitical situation was less important for the people on the ground.
In the future I will maybe write an independent research essay on these questions
I still weep for the Musalla Mausoleum. As Robert Byron put it in ‘The Road to Oxiana’:
“This array of blue towers rising haphazard from a patchwork of brown fields and yellow orchards has a most unnatural look. […] it can be seen from the insides of these minarets, where the tilework stops short some forty feet from the ground, that they were originally joined by walls or arches and must have formed part of a series of mosques or colleges. What has happened to these buildings? Things on this scale may fall down, but they leave some ruin. They don’t vanish of their own accord without trace or clue, as these have done.
It is a miserable story.”
It really is unfortunate, especially considering Russia never invaded in the end, so its destruction truly was pointless
At least Herat's Blue Mosque is still standing
I really hope to visit Herat someday. One of the great cities of the world and no one knows about it (in the West)
Very nice.
Sweet! Thanks v much for this, will check out the thread and the book
Got it. These articles are much appreciated, learning a great deal. (my prior knowledge is exclusively from the flashman books / British perspective!)
If you would like a good book on the POV of the "Great Game' Morrison's book is really good
I have a twitter book thread if you want the tl;dr - https://twitter.com/cartographer_s/status/1602091834779598852
I plan to write a review for the book once I finished the thread
This was great, thank you for writing! Would the Russians have been in the area absent the upcoming negotiations w the British / their victory in the second afghan war? Ie would they have had an independent interest in Afghanistan or was it largely related to geopolitics?
Thanks!
Honestly I am not entirely sure
It seems Russia was in large part motivated by a concern to fully attach the Turkmen to Russia, and a natural aggressiveness among generals on the frontier.
I think the broader geopolitical situation was less important for the people on the ground.
In the future I will maybe write an independent research essay on these questions