The Hülegüids 1258-1335
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1 THE HÜLEGÜIDS 1258-1335 AND THE CHALLENGE OF EXTENDED LINES OF COMMUNICATION Gillian Elizabeth Bateman Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD 2015 Department of History SOAS, University of London Bateman, Gillian Elizabeth (2015) The Hülegüids, 1258-1335, and the challenge of extended lines of communication. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/23665 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. 2 Declaration for SOAS PhD thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the SOAS, University of London concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. Signed: Date: 12 December 2014 3 **************************** SYNOPSIS Communication and contact between the two ancient civilizations of Iran and China have a long, if sometimes sporadic, history. From the time of the Han Dynasty (206 BCE -220 CE) ‘strategic’ communication - communication networks that are essential to the survival of a state - have been a significant aspect of statecraft as rulers over a millennium ago endeavoured to defend their dominions and sustain their power. The interdiction of communication networks could lead to governance becoming paralysed as the ability of rulers to maintain contact with far- flung officials and collect vital intelligence about challenges to their power would be jeopardized. The thesis that is presented here is that whilst there are features common to most pre-modern communication systems, that of the Chinggisids’ displayed some unique characteristics. It will be further argued that the sheer extent of their conquests was the Achilles Heel of the imperial project since it resulted in the dangerous overstretch of the communication network. This was exacerbated not only by the limited technology available but also by internecine strife within the imperial family which further endangered already vulnerable communications. Such factors, it will be argued, were an aggravating issue for the successors of Hülegü, the third son of Chinggis Khan’s youngest son Tolui and founder of the Hülegüid realm in Western Asia. It complicated their efforts to secure and sustain their domain, because the Qa’an, their theoretical overlord, fount of their legitimacy, ally, close relative and the supposed yeke gol or ‘great pivot’ of the Chinggisid imperium was thousands of miles distant across inhospitable and often hostile terrain. Though this study is firmly positioned in the pre-modern period, the central focus on the perennial problem of creating, maintaining and safeguarding efficient strategic communication networks, without which no government can function, continues to have resonance today. ****************************** 4 The Exhaustion of Long-Distance Travel 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS SOAS has many unique qualities and I would like to express my gratitude to the School, and the Department of History in particular, not only for the transformational experience of my first degree rather a long time ago but more especially for the support I have received during the long march to the completion of this Ph.D. thesis. As my topic was something of an anomaly in the Department I owe a great debt to Professor Konrad Hirschler who heroically agreed to keep an eye on me on the retirement of Professor G R Hawting and to Professor Benjamin Fortna for his reassuring presence and role in ensuring that his flock kept their eye on the ball. My especial gratitude, however, should go to Dr George Lane, whose inspiration, encouragement and our weekly deep discussions on Mongol related matters over the last few years have been hugely appreciated as well as deeply stimulating. Needless to say, many great scholars have influenced this present endeavour, but special mention should be made of Professors Jackson and Morgan who stimulated much needed clarifications and refinements whilst naturally exonerating them from all culpability for the errors and conclusions in this work. The penetrating questions from fellow students both at SOAS and at academic conferences have been invigorating and I should particularly like to mention Dr Florence Hodous in this regard. As energizing have been the discussions at the cartographic, navigation and international relations seminars attended in the UK and abroad during the course of this work. Appreciation should also be extended to the ever-patient librarians at academic institutions at home and abroad not forgetting the Map Division of the Library of Congress. Lastly, none of this effort would have been possible without the patience and oft-times bemused support of my long-suffering husband and daughter. 6 CONTENTS Declaration 2 Synopsis 3 Acknowledgements 5 Contents 6 List of Maps and Images 7 Transliteration 8 Introduction Inception of the Study 9 Methodology 24 Clarification of Concepts 28 Note on Geographical Terminology 31 Sources Review of the Sources 34 Part I Sino-Iranian Relations I The Sino-Iranian Nexus 50 Part II Inception of Chinggisid Strategic Communications: Issues and Challenges II The Mongol Worldview in the Late Twelfth Century 78 III Terrae Incognitae: Mongol Orientation and Cognitive 94 Navigation IV Language and Literacy: The Challenges of a 116 Multilingual Empire V Transmission Options: Shortcomings and Advantages 137 of the Alternatives Part III Strategic Communications: Development and Functions of the Yām Network VI The Yām Network: From Ad Hoc to Formal 185 VII The Yām Network: Administration, Upkeep and 217 Infrastructure 7 VIII The Yām Network: Routes 238 IX The Yām Network: Yuan-Hülegüid Contacts 261 Intelligence 262 Envoys 269 Profits of Empire 287 Imperial Business 296 Resupply 298 X The Yām Network: Security Issues - The Pax 303 Mongolica XI Conclusions 320 Appendices Table I Hülegüid rulers 328 Table II Qa’ans 329 Table III Rulers of the Jochid Khanate 330 Table IV Rulers of the Chaghadaid Khanate 331 Table V Hand List of Trans-Eurasian Travellers and Their 333 Routes Table VI Military Operations during the period of Intra- 349 Chinggisid Conflict Table VII Place names mentioned in the Text and some 359 Alternatives Table VIII Table of Measurements 368 Table IX Table of Terms 374 Bibliography 385 List of Maps and Images i al-Īdrīsī Miniature Map of the World 46 ii Map of Eurasia in 200 CE 53 iii Silk Roads versus Steppe Roads Map 54 iv Close Relations – Map of the Yuan and the Hülegüids 57 8 vi Chinggis Khan’s Worldview in the late Twelfth Century 88 vii equus caballus or Mongolian horse 153 viii Takhi or equus przewalski, 153 ix Tabulae Peutingeriana 239 x Eurasia in the 1220s 242 xi Disposition of the Imperial Family’s ‘Yurts’ in period of 243 Ögödei xii The Virtue Map of Lakes Balkash and Issik-Kul: The 251 Balkhash Knot xiii Altar Ara Pacis Augustae 306 TRANSLITERATION AND CHRONOLOGY In the course of their travels the Mongols encountered a number of different dating systems though their preference was for the Türkic version of the twelve-year Animal Cycle. For the sake of simplicity only two dating systems have been utilised here, the Gregorian/Western calendar and where appropriate the Muslim Hijrī year. This latter is only an approximation since the exact day is required for complete accuracy. Dates relating to individuals are either reign dates e.g. (r. ) or birth/death dates. A decision has been taken here to follow in general the transliteration of a well-regarded and widely read work. The choice has fallen on Thomas T. Allsen’s Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia. This uses the Library of Congress system for Persian, Arabic and Russian. For Mongolian he follows the system in Cleaves’ translation of the Secret History and for Turkic he has followed Nadeliaev et al, Drevnetiurkskii slovar. Chinese names are generally in Wade Giles as the more familiar but Pinyin on occasion. 9 INTRODUCTION Inception of the Study In his paper on ‘Sino-Western contacts under the Mongol Empire’, Herbert Franke questions whether ‘cultural contacts and interchange between China and the West were really more frequent and easy under the Mongols in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries than under the Six Dynasties and the Tang when no Eurasian universal empire like that of the Mongols existed’.1 This present work seeks to examine the latter element of this proposition; that of the supposed ease of contact between the extremes of Eurasia during the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century period of Chinggisid domination of much of Central and Eastern Eurasia. Nonetheless, the earlier period of contact cannot be completely ignored. Franke’s observation, moreover, provided a stimulus for an already intense interest in trans-Eurasian communication networks and the associated navigational difficulties across deeply inhospitable terrain in the pre-modern period. What is termed ‘cognitive mapping’ is a topic of much academic interest today2 though such communications are more often than not studied by historians as conduits of commerce or cross- cultural exchange - ground well-trodden by scholars.3 The interest here, 1 Herbert Franke, ‘Sino-Western Contacts under the Mongol Empire’.