Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Sir Alexander Burnes (16 May 1805 – 2 November 1841) was a Scottish

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

, and

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

associated with

the Great Game The Great Game is the name for a set of political, diplomatic and military confrontations that occurred through most of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century – involving the rivalry of the British Empire and the Russian Empi ...

. He was nicknamed Bokhara Burnes for his role in establishing contact with and exploring

Bukhara Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...

. His memoir, ''Travels into Bokhara'', was a bestseller when it was first published in 1835.

Early life

Burnes was born on 16 May 1805 in Montrose, Scotland, as the fourth son of James Burnes (1780–1852) the local provost, who was

first cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, " ...

to the poet

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

. His brother was the doctor and surgeon James Burnes. At the age of sixteen, Alexander joined the army of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

and while serving in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, he learned

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, and obtained an appointment as interpreter at

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

in 1822. He was transferred to Kutch in 1826 where he was based at

Bhuj Bhuj () is a Municipality and District Headquarters of Kutch District in the state of Gujarat, India. Etymology According to legend, Kutch was ruled by the Nāga chieftains in the past. Sagai, a queen of Sheshapattana, who was married to Kin ...

for three years. As assistant to the political agent, he took an interest in the history and geography of north-western India and the adjacent countries, which had not yet been thoroughly explored by the British; he then went to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Exploration

Afghanistan, one of the most remote kingdoms in the world, found itself sandwiched between the rival British and Russian empires. British control in India made the Russians suspect an intention to move northwards through Afghanistan; conversely, the British feared that India was sought by Russia. Sensing the two empires would collide in Afghanistan, the British Government needed intelligence and dispatched Burnes to get it. In 1831, travelling in disguise, Burnes surveyed the route through Kabul to Bukhara and produced the first detailed accounts of Afghan politics. His proposal in 1829 to undertake a journey of exploration through the valley of the

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

was approved and in 1831 his and

Henry Pottinger Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Pottinger, 1st Baronet (; 3 October 1789 – 18 March 1856) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and colonial administrator who became the first Governor of Hong Kong. Early life Henry Pottinger was born at his family est ...

's surveys of the Indus river would prepare the way for a future assault on the

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

to clear a path towards Central Asia. In the same year he arrived in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

with a present of horses from King

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...

Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He s ...

. The British claimed that the horses would not survive the overland journey, so they were allowed to transport the horses up the Indus and used the opportunity to secretly survey the river. Despite pressure from his superiors, Burnes declined a military escort on his journey up the Indus, fearing their presence would cause the native population to conclude the British intended to mount an invasion. Instead, Burnes travelled with only one other British officer, Ensign J.D. Leckie, and periodically enlisted members of native communities to man and navigate his convoy. In so doing, Burnes developed close bonds with local leaders and governors in cities along the Indus. His immense skills in diplomacy and knowledge of local customs and rites of flattery enabled him to travel through areas of the Indus previously closed to Europeans, including

Thatta Thatta ( sd, ٺٽو; ) is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh. Thatta was the medieval capital of Sindh, and served as the seat of power for three successive dynasties. Thatta's historic significance has yielded several monuments in and ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

Bukkur Bukkur Fort (Urdu, Sindhi: بکر) is an island located in Rohri, Sukkur District of Sindh province in Pakistan. Named Bukkur (Dawn) by Sayyid Muhammad Al-Makki in the seventh century of Hijri, this island is a limestone rock, oval in shape, long ...

, and

Shujabad Shujaabad ( ur, ) is a city and the capital of Shujabad Tehsil of Multan District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located about in south from Multan. Chenab River is situated in the west of city. Neighbouring settlements include Jal ...

, among others. In October 1831, Burnes coordinated the first meeting of Maharaja

with a sitting commander of British forces in India, Governor General

Lord William Bentinck Lieutenant General Lord William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck (14 September 177417 June 1839), known as Lord William Bentinck, was a British soldier and statesman who served as the Governor of Fort William (Bengal) from 1828 to 1834 and the First G ...

. The assembly took place in the village of Rupur on the banks of the

Sutlej The Sutlej or Satluj River () is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as ''Satadru''. It is the easternmost tributary of the Ind ...

from 22 to 26 October. The event was attended by numerous British political attachés and subalterns including Bentinck, General John Ramsay, and H.T. Prinsep. The event was also marked by the Maharajah's open display of the celebrated

Koh-i-Noor The Koh-i-Noor ( ; from ), also spelled Kohinoor and Koh-i-Nur, is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, weighing . It is part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. The diamond is currently set in the Crown of Queen Elizabeth The Q ...

diamond, which he presented for free inspection by the British attendees (the jewel would eventually come into the possession of the British Royal Family, and set in the

Crown of Queen Alexandra The Crown of Queen Alexandra was the consort crown of the British queen Alexandra of Denmark. It was manufactured for the 1902 coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. Background Queen Victoria's death in January 1901 ended 64 years ...

Following the Rupur summit, Burnes took up brief residence in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

from November to December 1831. It was in Delhi that, on 19 December, Burnes first made contact with his future travelling partner Mohan Lal. While visiting a Hindu school in the grounds of

Humayun's Tomb Humayun's tomb (Persian language, Persian: ''Maqbara-i Humayun'') is the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun in Delhi, India. The tomb was commissioned by Humayun's first wife and chief consort, Empress Bega Begum under her patronage in 1558, an ...

, Burnes witnessed a recitation by Lal on the dismemberment of Poland, and was so impressed with the young boy's knowledge of western geography, he invited Lal to travel with him to

Tartary Tartary ( la, Tartaria, french: Tartarie, german: Tartarei, russian: Тартария, Tartariya) or Tatary (russian: Татария, Tatariya) was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bounde ...

. From Delhi, Burnes then travelled to

Ludhiana Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 Indian census, 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the ...

where he received permission to proceed in his travels into Central Asia. In the following years, in company with Mohan Lal, his travels continued through

across the

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Provinc ...

to Bukhara (in what is modern Uzbekistan) and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. The narrative which he published on his visit to England in 1834 added immensely to contemporary knowledge of these countries, and was one of the most popular books of the time. It was republished in 2012. The first edition earned the author £800, and his services were recognised not only by the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

of London, but also by that of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. He was also elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

the same year. London's prestigious Athenaeum Club admitted him without ballot. Soon after his return to India in 1835 he was appointed to the court of

to secure a treaty for the navigation of the Indus and in 1836 he undertook a political mission to

Dost Mohammed Khan Dost Mohammad Khan Barakzai (Pashto/Persian: ; 23 December 17929 June 1863), nicknamed the Amir-i Kabir, Also titled Amir al-Mu'minin, was a member of the Barakzai dynasty and one of the prominent rulers of the Emirate of Afghanistan. His 37-year ...

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

First Anglo-Afghan War

He advised

Lord Auckland Baron Auckland is a title in both the Peerage of Ireland and the Peerage of Great Britain. The first creation came in 1789 when the prominent politician and financial expert William Eden was made Baron Auckland in the Peerage of Ireland. In ...

to support Dost Mohammed on the throne of Kabul, but the viceroy preferred to follow the opinion of Sir

William Hay Macnaghten Sir William Hay Macnaghten, 1st Baronet (24 August 179323 December 1841), was a British civil servant in India, who played a major part in the First Anglo-Afghan War. Life William was the second son of Sir Francis Macnaghten, Bart., judge of the ...

and reinstated Shah Shuja, thus leading to the outbreak of the

First Anglo-Afghan War The First Anglo-Afghan War ( fa, جنگ اول افغان و انگلیس) was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Afghanistan, Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking si ...

. On the restoration of Shah Shuja in 1839, Burnes became regular political agent at Kabul. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

on 6 August 1838, while serving in the 21st India Native Infantry on a mission in Afghanistan, and remained there until his assassination in 1841, during an insurrection in which his younger brother, Charles, was also killed. The calmness with which he continued at his post despite the threat to his life, and after the death of his political assistant Major William Broadfoot, won him a heroic reputation. It came to light in 1860 that some of Burnes' dispatches from Kabul in 1839 had been altered to convey opinions that had not been his, but

Lord Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. Palmerston dominated British foreign policy during the period ...

refused after so long to grant the inquiry demanded in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

. An account of his later labours was published in 1842 under the title of ''Cabool: A Personal Narrative of a Journey to, and Residence in that City, in the Years 1836, 7, and 8''.

Final months and death

On 7 August 1839, The British Government restored Afghan leader Shah Shuja to the throne in Kabul after an exile of over thirty years. Shujah, essentially a puppet for the British administration, had been living as a pensioner of the crown for the entirety of his exile and was considered to be the candidate most complacent and willing to cooperate with British interests in the region. Burnes, having long considered Shujah unfit to rule, had implored then Governor General

to endorse

Dost Mohammad Khan Dost Mohammad Khan Barakzai (Pashto/Persian: ; 23 December 17929 June 1863), nicknamed the Amir-i Kabir, Also titled Amir al-Mu'minin, was a member of the Barakzai dynasty and one of the prominent rulers of the Emirate of Afghanistan. His 37-year ...

to accede the throne. His recommendations went unheeded and, on 3 November 1840, Dost Mohammad surrendered himself to British forces, going into exile in India. Despite his hesitation in endorsing Shujah; Burnes, along with Sir William McNoughten, was installed in Kabul as resident political officers, a position Burnes himself resented, calling himself "a highly paid idler". In Kabul, the reign of Shah Shuja was marked by tyranny and widespread poverty among the Afghan people. Shuja announced that he considered his own people to be "dogs" who needed to be taught to be obedient to their master, and spent his time exacting bloody vengeance on those Afghans who he felt had betrayed him. At the same time, large numbers of British officers, their wives, children, and staff, had relocated to Kabul for the favourable temperatures, having previously been stationed in the hot, dry plains of Hindustan. The British influx brought with it a large number of alien customs such as cricket, skating, and steeplechase. The sudden swelling of the city's population caused prices for food and goods in the bazaars to skyrocket, at the same time as Shujah had greatly increased taxation on the population, leading to a large scale economic depression among the lower class. At the urging of Shah Shuja, the British and Indian troops had agreed to relocate their encampment out of the city walls, setting up a series of cantonments outside the city. Burnes however, chose to remain within the heart of the old city, taking up residence in a walled house with a handful of other senior officers including his brother Lieutenant Charles Burnes, and Major William Broadfoot. On 1 November 1841, Burnes was approached by his former travelling companion Mohan Lal who informed Burnes of a plot to have him killed, urging him to flee the city for the relative safety of the cantonment. As the representative of Britain in Kabul, it was Burnes whom many Afghans considered responsible for the city's financial and religious decay. Confident he could quell any potential trouble, Burnes chose to stay in Kabul against his friend's advice. That night, a small group of men began driving up a mob around the city. The group, originally a small contingent directly opposed to Burnes's presence, managed to swell their numbers by spreading the message that the building adjacent to Burnes' house was used as the garrison treasury, holding pay for the entire British forces in Kabul. By nightfall, a large mob had assembled within the courtyard of Burnes's house. Burnes sent a runner to the cantonments asking for immediate assistance, before stepping out onto his balcony to attempt to reason with the crowd. Reportedly, assistance from the British army was delayed by a series of internal arguments between senior officers there on how best to respond to the threat. The situation with the rioters continued to deteriorate as they set fire to the compound stables. A single shot was fired from the crowd and Major Broadfoot, standing beside Burnes on the balcony, was killed. Now assured that there was no longer a chance for rescue, Charles Burnes exited, armed, into the courtyard, killing six men before being hacked to death. Burnes himself then exited, unarmed to face the mob. Reportedly, he tied a black cloth around his eyes so as not to see from where the blows came, within minutes he too was beaten and hacked to death by the mob. The following day, Burnes’s head, along with the heads of Major Broadfoot and Lt. Charles Burnes, was piked and put on display in the market square. The events took place just half an hour's march from where the British troops had been stationed. One young officer, recording the event in his journal, noted "When 300 men would have been sufficient in the morning, 3000 would not have been adequate in the afternoon." Burnes' views were misrepresented in the House of Commons which came to light when his personal correspondence was compared to an official report.

Legacy

He is commemorated in the name of the rufous-vented grass babbler ''Laticilla burnesii''.

Publications

* ** * ** * ** * * *

Historical fiction featuring Burnes

* Fraser, George MacDonald, '' Flashman''. 1969. * Hensher, Philip, ''The Mulberry Empire''. 2002. * Henty, G. A., '' To Herat and Cabul, A Story of the First Afghan War''. 1902. * '' Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India''

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * + * * * * *

External links

Freemasonry and the Leaders of Victorian Britain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnes, Alexander British diplomats Knights Bachelor 1805 births 1841 deaths British people of the First Anglo-Afghan War Explorers of Central Asia Scottish explorers British explorers The Great Game Fellows of the Royal Society British military personnel of the First Anglo-Afghan War Assassinated British diplomats People from Montrose, Angus 19th-century British diplomats Scottish Freemasons British people in colonial India Recipients of the Royal Geographical Society Founder's Medal Lynching deaths