Khrulev Plan
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The Khrulev plan was a proposed
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
invasion of British-ruled India during the
Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...
, in which Russia was fighting
Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
. The plan was proposed in 1855 by General and would have seen 30,000 Russian troops marching on the North-West Frontier via
Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
and
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
. The majority of the men would be recruited from Central Asian tribesmen, with a small reserve of regular Russian troops. The plan was not put into effect before the war ended in Russian defeat in 1856.


Background

Russia had been at war with the Ottoman Empire since 1853 and with Britain and France since March 1854 in the
Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...
. Britain had a relatively small standing army and in 1854 Russian General proposed an invasion of India to divert British troops from the Crimean theatre. Duhamel's invasion would have been via Persia and Afghanistan, but permission was refused due to the war requiring all available Russian troops.


Plan

General was a veteran of the fighting in the Crimea who was wounded during the Siege of Sevastopol. He returned to Russia and in 1855 proposed a new plan for the invasion of India. Khrulev considered that there were only around 25,000 European soldiers in the
Presidency armies The presidency armies were the armies of the three Presidencies of British India, presidencies of the East India Company's Company rule in India, rule in India, later the forces of the the Crown, British Crown in British Raj, India, composed pr ...
and the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
in India. The remainder of the British and East India Company forces consisted of some 300,000 native soldiers, led by 7,300 British officers. Khrulev considered this element of the army to be fragile and liable to flee if their officers were killed. He also thought the British defenders were spread thinly along the North-West Frontier between India and Afghanistan. He considered that a Russian invasion might not take India on its own but that a strong presence in the North-West Frontier would affect the balance of power and require significant British forces to be moved to their rear areas in case of an Indian rebellion. Khrulev's proposal noted that "we may make compromises with our other foes; but England's bearing towards us, which tends to the weakening of our power, does not justify us in leaving her at peace. We must free the people who are the sources of her wealth, and prove to the world the might of the Russian Czar". Khrulev's plan called for a force of 30,000 men to be raised. The majority of these would be drawn from the tribal population native to Central Asia, supported by a small reserve of regular Russian troops. This would allow the Russians to escape international embarrassment in case the invasion failed. Khrulev intended the expedition to assemble at the ancient fortress of Akkala (near modern
Konye-Urgench Konye-Urgench (, ; , ), also known as Old Urgench or Urganj, was a city in north Turkmenistan, just south from its border with Uzbekistan. It is the site of the ancient town of Gurgānj, which contains the ruins of the capital of Khwarazm. Its in ...
, Turkmenistan) and advance to Afghanistan via Meshed in Persia (or alternatively via Astrabad, modern
Gorgan Gorgan (; ) is a city in the Central District (Gorgan County), Central District of Gorgan County, Golestan province, Golestan province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It lies approximately to the nor ...
in Iran). The Russian force would then progress through Afghanistan by way of Herat, Kandahar and Kabul. Khrulev did little in the way of detailed logistical planning. A Russian officer, Captain Blaremberg, had been attached to the Persian expedition of
Mohammad Shah Qajar Mohammad Shah (; born Mohammad Mirza; 5 January 1808 – 5 September 1848) was the third Qajar ''shah'' of Iran from 1834 to 1848, inheriting the throne from his grandfather, Fath-Ali Shah. From a young age, Mohammad Mirza was under the tutela ...
against Afghanistan in the late 1830s. Based on Blaremberg's reports Khrulev expected that the region could support an army of tens of thousands living off the land, that the roads were passable to artillery and supply wagons and that ample quantities of water, rice, barley and sheep could be obtained locally. Khrulev maintained Duhamel's assumption of an average daily progress of for the invasion force and anticipated they would reach Herat 35 days after leaving Akkala. Khrulev's plan required that assurances of neutrality were received from Persia and that a means of protecting against Khivan, Bukharan and Kokandian attack during the Central Asia leg was found. Upon reaching Afghanistan the expedition would send envoys to Kabul to seek Afghan support and begin training tribesmen for war against the British. Khrulev thought that the presence of the Russian force in the country would "excite the national antipathy of the Afghans to the English" and "shake the power of the English in India". Khrulev considered that the British might attempt to foil the invasion by launching a pre-emptive attack on Afghanistan but thought that this would be to his advantage by causing outrage among the Afghans who would join his forces.


Impact

The Khrulev plan was never put into action and the Crimean War ended with Russian defeat in 1856. Khrulev and Duhamel were right about the vulnerability of India to rebellion: the
Indian Mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form ...
broke out there in 1857. Russia lent no assistance to the rebels and concentrated instead on securing its position in Central Asia; Bukhara was annexed in 1868, Khiva in 1873 and Kokand in 1876.


See also

* Duhamel plan, alternative contemporary Russian plan to invade India *
Indian March of Paul The Indian March of Paul () was an ultimately unrealized plan by the Russian Empire and French First Republic to invade the British East India Company's possessions in India. It was abandoned following the assassination of Paul I of Russia in Ma ...
, Napoleonic era plan to invade India in cooperation with France * ''
Flashman at the Charge ''Flashman at the Charge'' is a 1973 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the fourth of the Harry Paget Flashman, Flashman novels. ''Playboy'' magazine serialised ''Flashman at the Charge'' in 1973 in their April, May and June issues. The ser ...
'', novel by
George MacDonald Fraser George MacDonald Fraser (2 April 1925 – 2 January 2008) was a Scottish author and screenwriter. He is best known for a series of works that featured the character Harry Paget Flashman, Flashman. Over the course of his career he wrote eleven n ...
featuring the Khrulev plan as a plot element


References

{{Reflist 1855 in British India Cancelled military operations involving the Russian Empire Military history of British India Russia–United Kingdom relations Cancelled invasions