Lieutenant Colonel Charles Stoddart
Sent on a mission in 1838 to reassure the khan of British movements on his southern border, little did he know that he would be kept in the foulest of prisons for over three years, tortured and tormented by the sadistic Khan Nasrullah, also known as The Butcher.
The first mistake he made was to ride up to the Ark when he should have walked; the second mistake he made was not to bring any gifts from Queen Victoria for the khan. As a result of his ignorance and arrogance, he was thrown into a six-metre vermin infested hole named the Bug Pit in which he would remain for the next three years when he was finally executed along with Captain Arthur Conolly who had been sent to rescue him.
For a more complete version of this story, see 'The Great Game' by Peter Hopkirk
