It is characteristic of Iranian revolts and rebellions that they usually occur when the state is perceived to be weak and unable to enforce its authority. Naser al-Din Shah was an arbitrary ruler like all his predecessors. But, the consequences of arbitrary rulers were not all alike either for themselves or for the country. Much depended on their personalities as well as the circumstances in which they lived. For example, the fall of the Safavid state and its dreadful consequences for Iranian society and economy were largely due to the personality traits of Shah Sultan Hosain which combined extreme promiscuity and intemperance with common superstition, susceptibility to influence, and timidity and indecisiveness at moments of crisis. Otherwise, the state would not have fallen so swiftly and miserably in the face of rebellion by some of the poorest and most backward nomads of the far eastern provinces of the empire.

To facilitate & promote all enquiries which may be calculated to enlarge the boundaries of General Science is a Duty imposed on the British Government in India by its present exalted situation & the discharge of that Duty is in a more especial manner required from us when any material addition can be made to the Public Stock of useful knowledge without involving considerable expence.… [T]his desirable object will never be attained unless it shall be made the Duty of some Public Officer properly qualified for this Service to collect information & to digest & publish the results of his researches.

In the Introductions to the Full Reports of his expeditions to Chinese Central Asia, Sir Aurel Stein (186–1943), professional as always, was careful to acknowledge the assistance of all involved with the production of the reports. Most of his colleagues in the academic world were men who to this day retain their positions as great scholars in the history of oriental studies. The people who helped Stein in the remote sites of Xinjiang live on through his affectionate, and often humorous, descriptions of them scattered throughout the Full Reports and the popular abridged accounts of his expeditions. Yet very little is known of the people who worked on a day-to-day basis with Stein, unpacking the many cases he sent to the British Museum, sorting through the various groups of often unfamiliar material, documenting the Stein collection, arranging exhibitions of objects and photographs relating to Stein's expeditions, as well as carrying out personal favours for Stein, such as posting on his spats and packing tea tablets bought on his account at the Army and Navy Store.

A number of Frenchman stayed behind in Siam in the wake of the Chaumont-Choisy embassy of 1685. The best known are the Chevalier de Forbin and the engineer La Mare: Forbin was appointed governor of Bangkok, admiral and general of the King of Siam's armies, and La Mare was to produce numerous plans, sometimes implemented, of Vaubanesque fortifications at various places including Bangkok, Mergui, Songkhla, and Phatthalung.

In the course of the last fifty years there have been on average twenty-four million animals registered annually in Mongolia. In 1996 29, 275,700 animals were counted. This is a quantity never before experienced in the country's history. In the coming years another rise in the number of animals is expected. Some specialists conjecture a continual increase. Others are attempting to prove that this cannot be realized on account of limitations of space and that, already, throughout the country, pasture land is being threatened by overuse due to the sheer quantity of livestock. The question of how much livestock the resources of the entire natural pasture can support is still not completely answered.