In 1856, the British Raj launched one of the Victorian era’s least-remembered conflicts. The Qajar Kingdom of Persia conquered the city of Herat, whose claims of independence had been backed by the British, who viewed it as a valuable ally and buffer state against the Russians during the “Great Game.” The immediate cause of the war, however, was an affair between the British Ambassador to Tehran and Shah Naser-al-Din’s sister-in-law, which in turn resulted in the latter’s arrest by her brother-in-law. With this thin pretext, 11,000 Anglo-Indian troops crossed the border into Persia, defeating the Qajar army in a series of dramatic battles along the Persian Gulf. The Persians agreed to withdraw from Herat, which remained independent until the pro-British government of Afghanistan conquered it a decade later. And thus the Great Game rolled on, a series of spy maneuvers and ephemeral conflicts lasting nearly a century to prove whether Britain or Russia was the biggest jerk on the Central Asian block.