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George W. Hayward | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1839[1] Leeds, West Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 18 July 1870[1] (aged 30–31) |
| Cause of death | Murder |
| Burial place | Old British Cemetery,Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan 35°55′19″N74°18′18″E / 35.922°N 74.305°E /35.922; 74.305 |
| Occupation(s) | Explorer, soldier |
| Era | The Great Game |
| Parent(s) | George Hayward Sr.(father) Eleanora Whitaker(mother) |
George Jonas Whitaker Hayward (c. 1839 – 18 July 1870) was a well-known nineteenth-century English explorer. Information for all but the final few years of his life is scarce. His exploration efforts and eventual murder in South Asia during "The Great Game" period eventually earned him a degree of acknowledgement and fame.
Hayward was long believed to have been Irish but research in the 1990s by Charles Timmis revealed that he was in fact aYorkshireman, born at Headingley Hall on the outskirts of Leeds.[citation needed] His father, also named George Hayward, was a Land Agent working for the Earl of Cardigan around Leeds. His mother was Eleanora Whitaker, who died when he was only about 6 years old. He was educated at theForest School in north London. In 1859 he became an ensign in theBritish Army. He was stationed inMultan,India (now in Pakistan) with the89th Regiment of Foot. In 1863 he purchased acommission and became a lieutenant. He next transferred to theCameron Highlanders regiment in 1864. Hesold his commission in 1865 and left the British Army.[2][dead link]
Hayward appeared in England in 1868 and approachedSir Henry Rawlinson, vice president of theRoyal Geographical Society. He wanted to be hired as an explorer in central Asia and the westernHimalayas. Surprisingly Hayward was provided with£300,surveying equipment, map making instruments and instructions to attempt to reach and survey the then unmappedPamir Mountains where the territory and influence ofthe Raj and theRussian Empire were inching ever closer. Hayward was to become the only explorer funded by the Royal Geographical Society during "The Great Game."[2]
The era that Hayward operated in was one ofimperial expansion in Central Asia. In the south theBritish Empire, based out of India, was consolidating and expanding its positions to the north. In the north theRussian Empire was expanding its territory at a dramatic pace. Soon theRussians were expanding south into central Asia. The area between the two empires was shrinking fast and clandestine agents and explorers were sent to map this unknown area of the world full of lawlesstribes, murderousdespotrulers and some of the most formidable and challengingterrain on Earth.[3]
Although the Royal Geographical Society was strictly apolitical, Rawlinson was also a member of the government's India Council and a knownRussophobe. For this reason it has often been suggested that he may have had political motivations in encouraging Hayward's explorations.
Hayward's official Royal Geographical Society mission was to explore thePamirs and their routes and approaches. After being rebuffed by officials from approaching the Pamirs via the Northwest Frontier he travelled toLadakh and onwards toKashgaria with the intention of approaching the Pamirs from there.
Another Englishman,Robert Shaw, uncle of SirFrancis Younghusband, was making a similar journey to Yarkand and Kashgar at the same time. Shaw seems to have resented Hayward's presence, and although they were often within a few hundred metres of one another, they only met once at the start of their approach to Kashgaria, and then again many months later.
While awaiting permission to proceed at the Kashgaria border Hayward escaped from his guards and spent 20 days exploring and charting the course of theYarkand River.
Shaw reached Kashgaria in December 1868 after sending ahead envoys announcing his arrival and carrying with him gifts forYakub Beg. Yakub Beg had just made himself ruler of Kashgaria after the Chinese had been driven out by theDungan Revolt (1862–77). A few weeks after Shaw's arrival he was joined by Hayward. Hayward sent no envoy and hand no gifts but convinced the border guards he was with Shaw. Shaw was disturbed by this as he figured Hayward would be stopped at the border.[2]
In Yarkand, Hayward and Shaw were kept separately under house arrest. Later, Shaw was allowed to proceed to Kashgar to meet with Yakub Beg. After a warm reception, Shaw found himself once again under house arrest. A few weeks later, Hayward arrived in Kashgar: he too was placed under house arrest. The two were able to communicate by passing secret notes.
Neither man knew at the time, but they were being held while Yakub Beg was waiting for the response to his recent envoy to Russia. When no positive response came from Russia, Shaw again was allowed an audience with the King. Afterwards, he was free to return home and was able to arrange for Hayward's release as well as that of Mirza Shuja, aPundit exploring the region for Britain.[2]
For his efforts exploring the Kun Lun andKarakoram mountains, and the route of the Upper Yarkand River during his approach to Kashgaria, Hayward was awarded the Royal Geographical Society'sFounder's Medal.[3]
In November 1869, Hayward started his next journey north through the Himalaya. With almost no provisions or gear he travelled in the dead of winter almost 300 miles toGilgit. The winter crossing took over two months instead of the ten to twenty days it took when the passes were clear.
While travelling in this region, he had to cross a war zone betweenHinduKashmiris andMuslimDardistan. In search of a new approach to the Pamirs he visited theYasin Valley and became friends with Mir Wali who convinced him it was impossible to proceed through theHindu Kush until the summer thaw.[3]
Hayward returned to India, again crossing the Himalaya with no supplies in the dead of winter. Upon returning he wrote a letter to aCalcutta newspaper describing the atrocities that the Kashmiris had committed against people in Yasin. The publication of the letter caused a minor political storm, as theMaharaja of Kashmir,Ranbir Singh, was a close British ally and vassal. Because of the negative attention he received from this letter Hayward severed his connection with the Royal Geographical Society.[2]
In June 1870, Hayward again headed north now that the mountain passes were clear. He travelled through Kashmiri territory and reached Gilgit with no difficulty. In mid-July he reached Yasin once more and proceeded to theDarkot Pass at the head of the valley. He was on the verge of reaching theOxus river and the Pamirs.
On the morning of 18 July 1870, Hayward stayed up all night after receiving word he might be attacked. Towards dawn he fell asleep and was attacked. His hands were tied behind his back. He was dragged into the woods where he was murdered.
Controversy and mystery surround Hayward's death.
One version of events states that his friend Mir Wali arranged his death on the orders ofAman ul-Mulk.[3][4] The alternative, which was less convenient for the British, had it that theMaharaja of Kashmir had arranged Hayward's death as revenge for the letter about the Kashmiri atrocities in Dardistan. The theory says the Maharaja exacted revenge against Hayward and also benefited by framing the ruler's enemy, Mir Wali.[2]
Hayward's body was later recovered by a Kashmiri soldier. It was found under a small pile of rocks, taken back to Gilgit, and buried in an orchard that later becamethe town's Christian cemetery. His tombstone, paid for by the Maharaja of Kashmir, reads: "To the memory of G. W. Hayward, Gold Medallist of the Royal Geographical Society of London, who was cruelly murdered at Darkot, 18 July 1870, on his journey to explore the Pamir steppe. This monument is erected to a gallant officer and accomplished traveller at the instance of the Royal Geographical Society."[5]
Since his death, Hayward has received little recognition. He stands alone, however, among the explorers of theWestern Himalaya in the difficulty of the areas he surveyed and the small size of his expeditions – usually just himself and three to six porters and bearers.
In the 1930s ColonelReginald Schomberg, a British traveller, passed through Darkot and said local families still possessed Hayward'spistol,telescope andsaddle. A London auction sold six topographicalwatercolours by Hayward in the 1950s that turned up in theBombaybazaar.
Sir Henry Newbolt wrote the poem "He Fell Among Thieves" about Hayward's death. Welsh composerDavid John Thomas (1881-1928), also known by hisbardic name as Afan Thomas, composed a cantata based on this poem.
A biography of Hayward, entitledMurder in the Hindu Kush: George Hayward and the Great Game, by travel writer Tim Hannigan was published bythe History Press in 2011.[6] His story is also covered briefly inThe Great Game byPeter Hopkirk, andExplorers of the Western Himalayas byJohn Keay.
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