Bronislav Grombchevsky Bronislav Grombchevsky ( ; , 1855 – 1926 ) was an ethnic Polish officer in the Imperial Russian Army and an explorer / spy , famed for his participation in the The Great Game . Grombchevsky traveled extensively in the Far East and Central Asia during the period 1888 - 1892 . He is regarded as the Russian counterpart to the British military - explorer Francis Younghusband . The two Great Game rivals famously met in 1889 when they were exploring the Raskam Valley for their respective governments . His name also appears in English as " Gromtchevsky " and " Gromchevsky . " Career . Early years 1855 - 1885 . Grombchevsky was born on January 15 , 1855 , in the family mansion in what is now the town of Kaunas , Lithuania ) . His father , Louis Grąbczewskiego , partook in the Polish uprising of 1863 and was sent to Siberia , while his estate and property were confiscated . Therefore , his mother and other relatives moved to Warsaw , where Grombchevsky entered a Russian classical school . In 1873 , Grombchevsky entered the Saint Petersburg Mining Institute but left before completing his studies to join the Life Grenadier Regiment of the Imperial Russian Guard at Kexholm . He took leave to attend infantry school in Warsaw and returned to the regiment with the rank of Praporshchik . Unable to maintain payments of an annual fee to remain in the Guard , he joined the Army Corps in March 1876 and was transferred to the 14th Battalion on the Turkestan line , then headquarters of the Turkestan Military District . There , Grombchevsky served as orderly to General Mikhail Dmitrievich Skobelev and participated in the general ' s campaigns . During this time , he learned the Uzbek , Tajik , and Persian languages , which later helped him on his expeditions in Central Asia . Expeditions 1885 - 1892 . In 1885 , as a senior officer for special assignments in military governor of Fergana , Grombchevsky led an expedition along the Chinese border in Kashgar and the border areas of the Tian Shan mountains . In 1886 , he led another in the Central Tian Shan Basin and Naryn ( upper reaches of the river Syr Darya ) . For these expeditions , he was awarded a silver medal by the Russian Geographical Society . Grombchevsky then entered the astronomical Faculty of St . Petersburg University , where he received theoretical and practical skills in surveying , geodesy , and cartography , after which he returned to Turkestan . In 1888 , he led an expedition from Margilan through passages in the Pamirs along the Gilgit river ( a tributary of the Indus ) . On the way back explore the Muztagh Ata Peak ( 7 , 548 m ) and left tributaries of the Raskemdarya river , which becomes the Yarkand river lower down and flows into the Tarim Basin . In 1889 , he returned to the Raskemdarya basin . He explored the Raskem ( 6 , 482 m ) and Tohtakorum ( 5 , 419 m ) ranges and the Kirchinbulak river ( left tributary of the Raskemdarya ) . He reached the foot of Chogori ( K2 ) and the northern ridge of Agil - Karakorum ( 7 , 693 m ) . By late November , he found the sources of the Tiznaf river ( , right tributary of the Yarkand ) . In December , he followed the Karakash ( part of Hotan ) into Tibet to Karangutag ( 7 , 160 m ) between the Black Jade River and White Jade River in Hotan . In the spring of 1890 , he climbed along the Kerry and to Ustyuntag ( 6 , 920 m ) and along the Liushi Shan ( 7 , 160 m ) . In 1892 , he partook in a military expedition to the Pamirs Expedition under a Colonel Ivan , head of the Oshskisuezd of the Fergana region . In 1893 , Grombchevsky was promoted to colonel . For his expeditions ( 1888 - 1892 ) , he was awarded a gold medal by the Russian Geographical Society . Later years 1893 - 1926 . In 1900 , Grombchevski became a major general and civil commissioner of Kwantung province in China . He then served as its governor ( 1903 - 1905 ) and managed the Astrakhan Ataman of Astrakhan Cossack army ( 1905 - 1907 ) . He represented the Russian " Red Cross " in Morocco during the war between Spain and France with local insurgents ( 1908 - 1909 ) . During the revolution he lost all his property , was imprisoned in Siberia and escaped via Japan to Poland . Finally , he returned to Poland , where he worked in the State Institute of Meteorology and wrote many books about his travels in Central Asia . Death . Grombchevsky died in Warsaw on February 27 , 1926 , at the age of 71 years . Transliteration . Francis Younghusband wrote his name " Gromtchevsky " and Peter Hopkirk spelled it " Gromchevsky . "