English Explorers and the Production of Knowledge on Central Asia

Summary

The development of area studies in England extended largely across the world and encompassed later Turkestan—Central Asia. First, brief information about Central Asia became known because of a few travels of British people to Central Asia for commercial purposes from the mid-16th century to the mid-18th century. The establishment of research societies, the translation of original sources into English, and the publication of articles in journals and newspapers in British colonies fostered the growth of research on Central Asia from the 18th century that became the foundation of later works. British people’s travels became more frequent and included people from different spheres, such as the representatives of trade companies, missionaries, historians, militants, scholars, and statesmen, from the beginning of the 19th century.

British authors left a rich scientific heritage in the form of documents, manuscripts, journal and newspaper articles, monographs, poems, and photographs as well as translations of authentic books related to Central Asia. The key to the success is associated with most visitors being well aware of a language common in Central Asia. Some were well versed in Turkic, some were fluent in Persian, and some were good at Russian. When visitors had a problem with the spoken language, they hired a translator who knew one of the native languages. Besides that, they returned with some books and coins they purchased that were later gifted to British museums and funds.

The value of British explorers’ works stands for the reflection of different issues related to Central Asia’s past. They not only brought new knowledge to British people when published but also left remarkable data that are important to know about Central Asia’s history, people, anthropology, flora, fauna, nature, hydrography, entomology, and geography. Since sources written in Central Asia in the period under study do not fully cover those spheres and Russian sources misinterpreted in some cases, British sources help to see the issue from another perspective.