MAPPING THE GREAT GAME: Explorers, Spies and Maps in 19th-Century Asia

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The Great Trigonometrical Survey of India was founded in the 18th century with the aim of creating a detailed map of the country. Under George Everest, whose name is on the world's highest mountain, mapped the Great Arc of Afghanistan, Turkestan and Tibet. Much of the work of the Survey was undertaken by native Indians, known as Pundits, who were trained to explore, spy out, and map Central Asia and Tibet.

They did this at great personal risk and with meager resources, while traveling entirely on foot. They would be the first to reveal the mysteries of the forbidden city of Lhasa, and discover the true course of Tibet's mighty Tsangpo River. They were the greatest group of explorers the world has seen in recent history, all the while exploring within the context of the Great Game between Great Britain and Imperial Russia in the 19th century.