Geoffrey Wheeler
Encyclopedia
Order of the Indian Empire
The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:#Knight Grand Commander #Knight Commander #Companion...
(22 June 1897 – 1 February 1990) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
soldier and an historian of Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
.
Life
Wheeler followed in the footsteps of his father, an infantry officer, and was commissioned into the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment in 1915. In 1918 he transferred to the Indian armyBritish Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
. He initially served in the 67th Gurkha Rifles
Gurkha Rifles
Gurkha Rifles may refer to any of a number of regiments of Gurkhas:* 1st King George V's Own Gurkha Rifles * 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles * 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles...
, and later in the 7th Rajput Regiment
7th Rajput Regiment
The 7th Rajput Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1922, after the Indian government decided to reform the army moving away from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments...
. From 1919 to 1925 he was attached to General Staff as an intelligence officer covering India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
and Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
.
In 1926 Wheeler served in Mashhad
Mashhad
Mashhad , is the second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia Muslim world. It is also the only major Iranian city with an Arabic name. It is located east of Tehran, at the center of the Razavi Khorasan Province close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Its...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
as the British Military Attaché and he was stationed in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
from 1928-1931. Wheeler spent the next decade and a half in India where he severed in the External Affairs Department, the Ministry of Information and General Staff Army Headquarters.
In 1946 Wheeler was stationed at the British embassy Teheran, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
(1946-1953), where he served as both the Press and Oriental Councillor until he returned to London in 1950.
He retired from the Indian Army in 1949 as a Lieutenant-Colonel.
In Wheeler 1953 retired from government service and founded the Central Asian Research Centre in London. He served director of the center until 1968 and editor of its journal Central Asian Review
Central Asian Review
Central Asian Review was a journal of Central Asian Studies published from 1953 to 1968. The journal’s full title was Central Asian Review: A Quarterly Review of Current Developments in Soviet Central Asia and Kazakhstan and was published quarterly by the Central Asian Research Centre in...
, one of the main venues for Central Asian research. He also sat as the Chairman of the Editorial Board of the Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society from 1961-1966.
Wheeler married Irena Bulatova in 1927, who died in 1973. They had one son.
Wheeler died in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England. His memoirs “Fifty years of Asia” are located at Oxford University, St Antony's College in the Middle East Centre Archive. Wheeler’s career is extensively covered in Myer’s Islam and Colonialism: Western Perspective on Soviet Asia.
Writing
Wheeler’s writing focused on the history of Central AsiaHistory of Central Asia
The history of Central Asia has been determined primarily by the area's climate and geography. The aridity of the region makes agriculture difficult, and its distance from the sea cut it off from much trade. Thus, few major cities developed in the region...
from the time of the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n conquest of the region in the mid-nineteenth century to Soviet occupation of Central Asia in the 20th century. Wheeler’s work is notable because he was one of the few scholars working to promote Central Asian Studies
Central Asian studies
Central Asian studies is the discipline of studying the culture, history, and languages of Central Asia. The roots of Central Asian studies as a social science discipline goes to 19th century Anglo-Russian Great Game...
at a time when the field was in decline due to travel and research restrictions Soviet authorities imposed on academics. Wheeler engaged in the debates that raged in Central Asia Studies during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
: what was the nature of Soviet colonialism in Central Asia and how was Central Asian ethnic identity formed. His books and articles were widely read amongst scholars and appear in the holdings of academic libraries around the globe.
Works and Related Materials
- Geoffrey Wheeler Collection: TS Memoirs ‘Fifty years of Asia.’ GB165-0298. Oxford University, St Antony's College, Middle East Centre Archive. NRA catalogue reference: NRA 20811 St Antony's College.
- Schuyler, EugeneEugene SchuylerEugene Schuyler was a nineteenth-century American scholar, writer, explorer and diplomat. Schuyler was of the first three Americans to earn a Ph.D. from an American university; and the first American translator of Ivan Turgenev and Lev Tolstoi...
. Turkistan, Notes of a Journey in Russian Turkistan, Kokand, Bukhara and Kuldja. Ed. Geoffrey Wheeler. Abridged by K.E. West. London: Routledge and Kegan PaulRoutledgeRoutledge is a British publishing house which has operated under a succession of company names and latterly as an academic imprint. Its origins may be traced back to the 19th-century London bookseller George Routledge...
, 1966.
- Spuler, Bertold. The Mongols in History. Translated by Geoffrey E. Wheeler. New York: Paragon Book Gallery, 1971.
- Wheeler, Geoffrey. “British Policy in Central Asia in the Early Nineteenth Century. The Mission of Richmond Shakespeare.” Central Asian Review. VI, No. 4. (1958.)
- “Cultural Developments in Soviet Central Asia.” Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society. 41, III. (1954.)
- “Islam and the Soviet Union.” Asian AffairsAsian AffairsAsian Affairs, the journal of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, has been published continuously since 1914 . It covers a range of social, political, and historical subjects linked to Asia. It also is a major source of book reviews...
. 10. (1979.)
- “Islam in the USSR.” Central Asian Review. 9, IV. (1961.)
- The Modern History of Soviet Central Asia. London: Weidenfelf and Nicolson, 1964.
- “The Muslims of Central Asia.” Problems of Communism. 16, V. (1967.)
- Nationality and Nationalism in Soviet Muslim Asia.. Azad Bhavan, 1961.
- “Religion and the Soviet State: a Dilemma of Power.” National and Religious Consciousness in Soviet Islam. Ed. M. Hayward and W Fletcher. London: Pall MallPall Mall, LondonPall Mall is a street in the City of Westminster, London, and parallel to The Mall, from St. James's Street across Waterloo Place to the Haymarket; while Pall Mall East continues into Trafalgar Square. The street is a major thoroughfare in the St James's area of London, and a section of the...
, 1969.
- The Peoples of Soviet Central Asia: A Background Book. London: Bodley Head, 1966.
- “Race Relations in Soviet Muslim Asia.” Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society. 47, II. (1960).
- Racial Problems in Soviet Muslim Asia. London: Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, 1960.
- “Russia and Islam: New Trends in Soviet Policy.” Central Asian Review. 4, I. (1956.)
- Russia and China in Central Asia. Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society 54, III. (1967.)
- “Russia and the Middle East.” Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society. 44, III. (1957.)
- “Russian Conquest and Colonization in Central Asia.” Russian Imperialism from Ivan the Great to the Revolution Ed. Taras Hunczak. New BrunswickNew BrunswickNew Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
: Rutgers University PressRutgers University PressRutgers University Press is a nonprofit academic publishing house, operating in Piscataway, New Jersey under the auspices of Rutgers University.-History:...
1974.
- “The Russian Presence in Central Asia.” Canadian Slavonic Papers. 17, II-III. (1975).
- Swords and Plowshares; The Indian Army as a Social Force. Washington: The Government of India Information Services, 1944.
- “The Turkic Languages of Soviet Muslim Asia: Russian Linguistic Policy.” Middle Eastern StudiesMiddle Eastern studiesMiddle Eastern studies is a name given to a number of academic programs associated with the study of the history, culture, politics, economies, and geography of the Middle East, an area that is generally interpreted to cover a range of nations extending from North Africa in the west to the Chinese...
, XIII, no. 2, (1977.)
- Wheeler, Geoffrey E. “Soviet and Chinese Policies in the Middle-East.” The World TodayThe World TodayBBC World News is the standard news bulletin featuring the latest international news broadcast throughout most of the day on BBC World News. Some editions also feature brief business and sport reports as well...
. v. 22. no. 2. (Feb 1966.)