Sir Alexander Burnes (1805-41)
Travels into Bokhara : being the account of a journey from India to Cabool, Tartary, and Persia ... v. 1 / by Alexr. Burnes ... 1834
RCIN 1077505
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Sir Alexander Burnes was a Scottish officer in the East India Company best known for his intelligence-gathering expedition from India to Central Asia in 1832‒33. On his return he received a private audience with King William IV and met Princess Victoria (later Queen Victoria) at Kensington Palace, an event she recorded in her journal: ‘At ½ past 2 came Captain Burnes, who has lately travelled over Northern East India. He gave us some very interesting accounts. He likewise brought with him to show us, his servant, a native of Cabul, dressed in his native dress. He is called Gulam Hussein; is of a dark olive complexion and had a dress of real Cashmere made in the beautiful valley of Cashmere.’ (Queen Victoria's Journals, 26th Dec 1833, Kensington Palace).
Burnes published this narrative of his expedition in 1834 and it became an instant bestseller. He returned to Central Asia in 1836 and acted as a political officer in Kabul, where in 1838 he learned he had been knighted. He remained in Kabul during the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-42) and died there in 1841 when his house was attacked by a mob. A personal narrative of his time in Kabul from 1836-8 was published posthumously the following year (RCIN 1024282). -
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