Persia in the Great Game: Sir Percy Sykes – Explorer, Consul, Soldier, Spy

By Antony Wynn

Percy Sykes was sent by Army Intelligence in the 1890s, first as an explorer and spy, then to open consulates along Persia’s eastern borders. His job was to deter Russian expansion towards India.

In his time, Sir Percy Sykes was a legend of empire: unpaid, he rode through thousands of miles of the harshest desert, marsh and mountain, often with his indomitable sister. He did whatever he felt necessary to protect his country’s interests: when consul at Meshed during a very turbulent time, he bugged the Russian consulate and, armed only with diplomacy, single-handedly faced down a Russian attempt to annex north-east Persia.

But Sykes was not the typical servant of empire. He hunted gazelle with princes, read Persian poetry, sat at the feet of dervish masters and got to the heart of the country. Persia in the Great Game explores Sykes’ 25 years in Persia with humour and domestic detail, to give an insight that is instructive today.