This essay examines the public views of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) (medical) missionaries in North-western British India of Anglo-Russian rivalry. In their reports, the missionaries recognized the value of their work as worth a “regiment” to the British government. The essay shows that this claim is comparable to views of some of the early nineteenth-century missionaries, who talked about the providential-purpose of the empire, arguing that the extension of the national church was beneficial culturally, religiously, and politically. In contrast to these missionaries, however, the CMS missionaries did not talk about the spread of Christianity per se or the dissemination of the English race or ethical values. Rather, they claimed their work was politically important because it had been instrumental in obtaining people’s “trust” and “friendship”. They justified this view on at least two grounds: firstly, they claimed they could generate a new archive of knowledge about the region; secondly, they declared they were winning local people for the colonial establishment by changing their feelings. Overall, the essay introduces a point of view from which to tell the story of missionaries and Anglo-Russian rivalry. Moreover, it contributes to emerging studies that have scrutinized the often-ambivalent political effect of “friendship” across axes of colonizer–colonized divide.

本文考察了英俄竞争中英属印度西北部的教会传教士协会 (CMS)（医学）传教士的公众观点。在他们的报告中，传教士承认他们的工作对英国政府来说是一个“军团”的价值。这篇文章表明，这种说法与 19 世纪早期的一些传教士的观点相当，他们谈到了帝国的天命目的，认为国家教会的扩张在文化、宗教和政治上都是有益的。然而，与这些传教士相反，CMS 传教士并没有谈论基督教本身的传播或英国种族或伦理价值观的传播。相当，他们声称他们的工作在政治上很重要，因为它有助于获得人们的“信任”和“友谊”。他们至少有两个理由证明这种观点是正确的：首先，他们声称他们可以生成关于该地区的新知识档案；其次，他们宣称他们通过改变他们的感情来为殖民机构赢得当地人。总的来说，这篇文章介绍了一个观点，可以从这个角度讲述传教士和英俄对抗的故事。此外，它有助于新兴研究，这些研究仔细审查了跨越殖民者与被殖民者鸿沟的“友谊”的经常矛盾的政治影响。他们宣称他们正在通过改变他们的感情来为殖民机构赢得当地人的支持。总的来说，这篇文章介绍了一个观点，可以从这个角度讲述传教士和英俄对抗的故事。此外，它有助于新兴研究，这些研究仔细审查了跨越殖民者与被殖民者鸿沟的“友谊”的经常矛盾的政治影响。他们宣称他们正在通过改变他们的感情来为殖民机构赢得当地人的支持。总的来说，这篇文章介绍了一个观点，可以从这个角度讲述传教士和英俄对抗的故事。此外，它有助于新兴研究，这些研究仔细审查了跨越殖民者与被殖民者鸿沟的“友谊”的经常矛盾的政治影响。