Ney Elias

Ney Elias
Born	February 10, 1844(1844-02-10) Kent, United Kingdom
Died	May 31, 1897(1897-05-31) (aged 53) London, United Kingdom
Occupation	Explorer, Diplomat

Ney Elias, CIE, (10 February 1844- 31 May 1897) was a British explorer, geographer, and diplomat, most known for his extensive travels in Asia. Modern scholars speculate that he was a key intelligence agent for Britain during the Great Game.^[1] Elias traveled extensively in the Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Pamirs, and Turkestan regions of High Asia. Elias was born in Kent and obtained an education in London, Paris, and Dresden, before working for a British commercial firm engaged in trade with China and Japan. His experience in China eventually lead to his assignment as Her Majesty's Consul-General for Khorasan and Seistan. Elias went on to travel extensively in Central Asia gathering both geographic and political information for the British government. He was a fellow and on the council of the Royal Geographical Society.^[2] In 1873 he was awarded the society's Founder's Medal for his survey of the Yellow River and his journey through Western Mongolia.^[3] In 1886 Elias wrote a confidential report on his travels through Central Asia entitled "Report of a mission to Chinese Turkestan and Badakhshan in 1885-86." ^[4] He died in London in 1897.

Francis Younghusband states that in the spring of 1889 Elias advised him at the outset of his second major expedition through Hunza territory to the Yarkand River.^[5]

List of published works

• "The New Bed of the Yellow River." Journal of the North China branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Shanghai, 1869.

References

Further reading

• Morgan, G. (1971). Ney Elias. Explorer and envoy extraordinary in High Asia. London: George Allen & Unwin.
• Wheeler, Stephen. "Obituary: Ney Elias, C. I. E." The Geographical Journal, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Jul., 1897), pp. 101–106.