Welcome to Russian History Retold.

Episode 302.

Episode 302, The Great Game Part 3.

Last time, we covered the early to mid stages of the great game, especially the first Anglo-Afghan

war. Today we finish up the series that ends in 1907. Before we move on to the period after the British retreat from Afghanistan,

I'd like to touch upon a Russian captain who was considered the first Russian player in the great game,

Nikolai Moroviev. His mission to meet with the Khan of Kiva was deemed to be suicidal, according to Peter

Hopkirk in his book The Great Game.

The 800-mile journey from Tiflis Georgia was fraught with danger from the murderous tribes

as well as needing to cross the quote treacherous Karakum desert. Treacherous Caracoom Desert.

Moraviev disguised himself as a Turkaman native,

which he was pretty good at,

as he was quite fluent in the native Tartar language.

This served him quite well in the first part of his journey.

But when he got near the Khan's capital of Kiva,

he was forced to stay in a fort until the Khan was convinced that it would be a good idea to meet with the Russian emissary.

Moraviev was told to observe as much as he could of the Conate's defenses while on his trip, in case a Russian force needed to enter the region.

One of the main reasons was the large number of Russians who lived in the area as slaves.

Kiva was a famous hub of the slave trade for centuries.

The descendants of the Mongol horde would raid Russian territory,

capturing as many people as possible to sell out the slave markets.

When he was finally allowed to enter Kiva, he was stunned by the number of Russians there.

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