ABSTRACT
The Himalaya and the mountain ranges and plateaus to the north, west, and east have remained a focus for myth and drama that have inspired Western thought for centuries. The birth and spread of great religions, conquest, adventure, and trade have all played their part, from the times of Alexander the Great, Akbar, and Tamerlane to the present day. The struggle for control of various sections of the Silk Road emerged through the period of the British Raj to influence the founding of many independent nation-states during the mid-twentieth century. This latter period saw the evolution of the Great Game1 (the competition between the British Raj and the empires of Czarist Russia and China for control of Central Asia that began early in the nineteenth century) and the concomitant struggle to effect accurate survey. The survey, that led to the demarcation of frontiers across some of the world’s most severe and inaccessible landscapes was, of course, an integral part of Britain’s strategy in the deadly competition of the Great Game. The Game has left a legacy of present-day geopolitical anomalies and an array of contested territories that remain persistent flashpoints for military confrontation: the Wakhan Corridor; Afghanistan itself; the Durand Line, originally an attempt to define British control in the northwest; the McMahon Line, a similar attempt in the northeast.
