| abstract | - In the last phase of the Great Game attention turned to the unclaimed mountainous area north of British India along the later Sino-Soviet border. Chitral was thought to be a possible route for a Russian invasion of India, but neither side knew much about the local geography. The British sent people like George W. Hayward, Robert Shaw and probably some Pundits north to explore. The ruler of Chitral may have had some involvement in Hayward's murder. From 1871 there were Russian explorers in the Pamir Mountains to the north. Around 1889 some Russians entered Chitral territory as well as Hunza to the east and Gabriel Bonvalot reached Chitral from Russian territory. From around 1876 Chitral was under the protection of the Maharaja of Kashmir to the southeast and therefore in the British sphere of influence but there was no British resident. At this time Chitrali power extended east to the Yasin Valley about half way to Hunza. The British established the Gilgit Agency about 175 miles east in 1877. In 1891 the British occupied Hunza north of Gilgit. From 1857 to 1892 the ruler (Mehtar) was Aman-ul-Mulk II of the Katoor Dynasty. When the old ruler died in 1892 one of his sons, Afzul-ul-Mulk, seized the throne and killed as many of his half-brothers as he could. The old ruler's brother, Sher Afzul Khan, who had been in exile at Kabul about 150 miles southwest, secretly entered Chitral with a few supporters and murdered Afzul. Another of the old ruler's sons, Nizam-ul-Mulk, who had fled to the British at Gilgit, advanced westward from Gilgit, accumulating troops as he went, including 1200 men Sher had sent against him. Seeing the situation was hopeless, Sher fled back to Afghanistan and Nizam took the throne with British blessing and a British political resident called Lieutenant Gurdon. Within a year Nizam was murdered by his brother, Amir-ul-Mulk, while the two were out hunting. Umra Khan, a tribal leader from Bajour to the south marched north with 3,000 Pathans either to assist Amir-ul-Mulk or replace him. George Scott Robertson, the senior British officer at Gilgit, gathered 400 troops and marched west to Chitral and threatened Umra Khan with an invasion from Peshawar if he did not turn back. Amir-ul-Mulk began negotiating with Umra Khan so Robertson replaced him with his 12-year-old brother Shuja-ul-Mulk. At this point Sher Afzul Khan re-entered the contest. The plan seems to have been that Sher would take the throne and Umra Khan would get part of the Chitral territory. Robertson moved into the fortress for protection which increased local hostility. Since Umra Khan and Sher Afzul continued their march secret messengers were sent out requesting help.
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