BEHIND THE anonymous facade of a house in Montrose is the home of a man whose colourful career made him a hero.

Research by The Montrose Society into 11 Bow Butts, the family home of Alexander Burnes, has revealed his daring deeds for king and country.

In the early 19th century most of India lay under the control of the British Empire but neighbouring Afghanistan was unknown and unexplored.

The British Government was worried about possible Russian influence there so, in 1831, 26-year-old Burnes was sent on a dangerous mission to reconnoitre the area.

Burnes disguised himself in Afghan clothes, shaved his head and wore a turban.

Travelling light, he and his half-dozen companions embarked on a journey like a story in a boy’s adventure comic.

They crossed battlefields where Sikhs and Afghans had fought each other, passed through Peshawar and Jeralaba and marched on to Kabul.

The Meer of the Kunduz region summoned them.

Burnes knew his life might depend on the tribal rituals and customs he had carefully learned and with great boldness convinced the chief he was Armenian and was given safe passage.

Dysentery, typhoid and cholera were other dangers faced as the group travelled west through Bokhara, across the harsh Turkoman Desert on to the Caspian Sea, then south to Persia where a ship returned Burnes to Bombay.

He returned to Scotland and visited his old home in Montrose, where he was born in 1805.

News of his adventures had spread and a public dinner was held in his honour at Montrose.

He returned to India in 1835 and would never see his family again.

Back in Kabul, this time as a British Army officer, he was there as revolution stirred.

One night his house was surrounded by a mob.

Burnes put on native dress to try to slip away, but was spotted and killed.