sign in sign up
<<
Home , Barlas, Caravanserai, Delhi Sultanate, History of Central Asia, Shah Mir dynasty

M. S. Asimov, C. E. Bosworth, eds.. History of Civilizations of Central , Vol. IV: The Age of Achievement: AD 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century, Part One: The Historical, Social and Economic Setting. Paris: UNESCO Publishing, 1998. 485 pp. $70.00, cloth, ISBN 978-92-3-103467-1.

Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb

Published on H-Asia (October, 1998)

Background and General Assessment was published in 1996 but became available in This volume is the fourth in UNESCO's com‐ the United States only in 1997. To date, only the pelling and comprehensive history series on Cen‐ frst of the two parts comprising the fourth vol‐ tral Asia. Your reviewer was privileged to assess ume has been issued and that initial part is herein the third volume for H-Asia in January 1998, and reviewed. The American distributor for UNESCO, the reader is directed to that review on the URL: Bernan Associates, reports that there is no frm http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi? publication date for the second part, Volume IV: path=12484885938191. The Age of Achievement: A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century, Part Two: The Achievements. The series entitled History of Civilizations of Likewise, a subsequent volume in the series, Vol‐ is projected to span the ume V: Development in Contrast: From the Six‐ and history of this signifcant geocultural region teenth to the Mid-nineteenth Century, has no pro‐ from the initial evidence of occupation to jected date for publication. However, Volume VI: the present. The initial volume in the series, His‐ Towards Contemporary Civilization: From the tory of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume I: The Mid-nineteenth Century to the Present Time is Dawn of Civilization: Earliest Times to 700 B.C., scheduled to be issued in late 1998 and has a list edited by A. H. Dani and A. M. Masson (535 pp.), price of $50.00. published in 1992 is now "out of print." Volume II: The Development of Sedentary and Nomadic Civi‐ Part One of the ffth volume begins with a lizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250, edited by Janos "Preface" written by Federico Mayor, Director- Harmatta, B. J. , and G. F. Etemadi (573 pp.) General of UNESCO, who provides an overview of was issued in 1994, and Volume III: The Cross‐ the history of the United Nations' eforts to in‐ roads of Civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750, prepared crease communication between peoples. He also under the editorship of B. A. Litvinsky, Zhang summarizes UNESCO's eforts to publish area- Guang-da and R. Shabani Samaghabadi (568 pp.) based histories for the "lesser-known" regions of H-Net Reviews the world. The History of Scientifc and Cultural sailant as he left his residence in on 29 Development of Mankind (1968) was the initial July 1996. His tragic death leaves a void in the undertaking and the frst of a projected group of ranks of his nation's intellectual community and multi-volume regional series, General History of in the scientifc committee that was charged with Africa (1970-1976), were the frst publications to preparing the history of Central Asia. Bosworth be completed. Plans were also developed for sub‐ completed the fnal work on the volume. sequent works on Central Asia, Latin America, the In "Description of the project" (pp. 11-13), Asi‐ Caribbean, and . As the member‐ mov provides a synopsis of the project's plan of ship of the United Nations expanded during the work, beginning with the General Conference 1970s and 1980s, so did the scope of the Central held by UNESCO in Nairobi, Kenya in 1976 at Asian volumes. In its initial stage, the project in‐ which a resolution was passed to prepare a cul‐ corporated the nation-states of , , ture history of Central Asia. He observes that the , , and southern portions of the Soviet project had two stages: an incipient phase during Union. Following the admission of and which emphasis was placed on archaeological the People's Republic of to the United Na‐ and historical research, and the second during tions, Mongolia and the of China which modern aspects of Central Asian civiliza‐ were also included in the Central Asian prospec‐ tions were considered. By 1980 a nineteen-mem‐ tus. Former Soviet Central Asian republics are ber International Scientifc Committee had been also active participants in the project. Therefore, established which included members from the the "heartland of Asia," stretching from the Caspi‐ twelve countries of Central Asia. This committee an Sea in the west to the borders of China proper functioned from 1980-1993, when a new group of in the east, to the southern fringes of to eighteen members undertook the task of complet‐ the north, and the Arabian Sea and ing the six volumes that were planned. to the south, form the geographic-cultural bound‐ The three-page "Introduction" (pp. 19-21) au‐ aries for the Central Asian study. thored by C. E. Bosworth outlines the scope of the A distinguished group of international schol‐ current work; the twenty chapters in this volume ars was assembled to synthesize the prehistory are a synthesis of the political, economic, reli‐ and history of this vast area for the period from gious, and cultural changes that took place from about 700,000 years ago to the present. These ar‐ A.D. (e.g., C.E.) 750 to 1500. These eight centuries chaeologists, prehistorians, art historians, ethnog‐ saw the rise of and the founding, demise, raphers, historians, and museum curators, among and transformation of a number of chiefdoms, in‐ others, have consulted a voluminous literature cipient states, and in Central Asia. He published in many Eurasian and Oriental lan‐ wrote that "these were also the centuries in which guages, and often in small press runs. Volume IV, nomadic and military empires arose in the heart Part One was written by twenty-two contributors of Asia and then impinged on the history of adja‐ working under the editorship of Professor M. S. cent, well-established civilizations and cultures (Muhammad Seyfeydinovich) Asimov (former China, India, Islamic and Christian President of the Academy of Sciences of Tajik‐ eastern and central to an unparalleled ex‐ istan, Dushanbe) and Professor Cliford E. tent" (p. 19). Richard N. Frye, a distinguished Bosworth (Department of Middle Eastern Studies, American scholar, provides an In piam memorian The University of Manchester, UK). Professor Asi‐ honoring Professor Asimov (p. 22). mov served vigorously as President and Editor of The twenty-two contributors to this work rep‐ Volume IV (Parts One and Two) when, at the age resent nearly a dozen nations: fve authors are of 76, he was shot and killed by an unknown as‐

2 H-Net Reviews from the Russian Federation, three are from Pak‐ published in English. As noted above, Asimov pro‐ istan, and two each from the , the vided a "Description of the project" and Bosworth United States of America, and . Individ‐ contributed the "Introduction" and a "Conclusion" ual contributors are from the nation-states of In‐ (p. 421). The twenty chapters vary in length from dia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the People's Re‐ eight to thirty-one pages and a majority of these public of China, , and . The three essays (twelve of twenty) are authored by a single members of the Reading Committee are Richard contributor. N. Frye and Denis Senior, both from the United In Chapter One, "Central Asia under the States, and Janos Harmatta from Hungary (the lat‐ Umayyads and the early Abbasids" (C. E. Bosworth ter is the senior editor of the second volume in the and O. G. Bolshakov), the authors consider initial‐ Central Asian series). ly the region of Central Asia on the eve of the Chronologically the work begins with the rise Arab incursions, the appearance of the in of the new faith of Islam and considers its compe‐ A.D. 653-654, and the Abassid revolution and its tition with older-established faiths as the word of consequences through the fall of Abu Muslim in Allah spread from the into Iran the year 751. Taxation policies, distinctions be‐ and much of Central Asia. In addition, the expan‐ tween and non-Muslims, and the opu‐ sion of peoples of what is now the region of Mon‐ lence of the Abbasid court set the stage for a pop‐ golia and the territories around Lake Baikal ini‐ ular rebellion. Political, social, and sectarian dis‐ tially the Turks, then the Kitans, and more recent‐ sents during the early Abassid period are also ly the was to have major international characterized prior to the rise of al-Ma'mun and signifcance. The east to west migrations of ‐ the achievement of some degree of sociocultural ish tribal had long-term efects upon the and political stability. Although the Abassid em‐ ethnic and sociocultural composition of the region pire had diverse ethnic and religious composi‐ from Afghanistan west through Iran and Anatolia. tions, it maintained its unity, in the main, through Turkish expansion south of the Oxus River (Amu a large, professional standing army. Darya) into what are now Afghanistan, Pakistan, In Chapter Two, "Sectarian and national and northern India also had enduring political movements in Iran, Khursan and Transoxania and cultural efects on these regions. Likewise, during Umayyad and early Abassid times" (F. Daf‐ Mongol military expansion into Afghanistan and tary), the author begins with an analysis of the northwestern India were signifcant events, espe‐ Kharijite movement, a review of Shiism versus cially the Mongol invasions during the thirteenth Sunni orthodoxy, the Kaysaniyya and Hashimyya, century. Lamaist became established in and the documentation of heterodox Muslim and the Mongoliannregions and in Tibet, while Islam neo-Mazdakite movements (al-Muqanna and was adopted by a majority of thenTurkish-speak‐ Babak, among others). The later development of ing peoples of Transoxania, southernnSiberia, Shiism, the Twelvers, the Zaydis, and the Ismailis and Chinese . In eastern Europe, and par‐ are also recounted, as is the background for the ticularly in , the Turco-Mongol Golden disintegration of the Abassid in the east‐ Horde had an enduring infuence on regional cul‐ ern part of Central Asia. The Abassids survived as ture history. the spiritual heads of the Islamic world but no Summary of Contents longer exercised political control. The appearance I shall next summarize the major points made of Turkish dynasties during the eleventh century by the authors of each chapter and then critique also served to restrain the resurgence of Persian and assess the book in the light of other sources culture.

3 H-Net Reviews

Chapter Three is entitled "The states of the maili movement and the ethnic composition of Oghuz, the Kimek and the Kipchak" (S. G. Aga‐ the are also considered. janov). The discussion centers on the theories of Chapter Five, "The " (C. E. origin and ultimate collapse of the ninth and Bosworth), relates the late tenth century forma‐ tenth century Turkic Oghuz state and the rise and tion of the Ghaznavid amirate in what would be‐ collapse of the nomadic principality of the Kimek come present-day Afghanistan. The author com‐ (a federation of seven "tribes") during the ninth mences with a review of the prehistory, the rise of through eleventh centuries. The Kipchak, a not the Turkish general Sebuktegin and his expan‐ well-documented western branch of the Kimek sionistic policies centered on the city of Ghazna tribal confederation, are known since the seventh (), with the result that the Samanids were century but during the eleventh through the thir‐ never again able to control the Ghaznavids. In 998 teenth century became paramount as the Oghuz Mahmud succeeded as amir for 32 years and con‐ and Kimek states collapsed. Likewise, the Kipchak tinued the augmentation of the , which in‐ were able to compete with the powerful western cluded plunder raids into northern India and a Asian empire of the Khwarazem (discussed gradual penetration into central India. Masud at‐ in Chapter Seven) before their dispersal across tempted to continue his father's policies in Iran Central . and India but his Ghaznavid army was defeated Chapter Four, "The Samanid state" (N. N. Neg‐ by the at Dandanquan in 1040 resulting matov), is a summary of a key Central Asian poli‐ in the loss of all of his western provinces. ty, beginning with the creation of the Samanid Bosworth writes that "the result of this battle, one state in Transoxania during the ninth and ten cen‐ of the most decisive in the history of the eastern turies, and the urban forescence of this strong, Islamic world, was that the Seljuqs, now proclaim‐ partly centralized state. The Samanid state was ing their allegiance to the Baghdad caliph as their the successor to the Abassid caliphate in present- sole suzerain, were able within the next 20 years day . The discussion of the system of govern‐ to take over the whole of Iran and make it the nu‐ ment and political authority is especially valu‐ cleus of the Great Seljuq empire" (p. 109). The able, but the descriptions of agricultural practices, composition and characteristics of the Ghaznavid the construction of irrigation systems, mining, sultanate with central and provincial administra‐ craft production, domestic and external trade, tion, a vizir, an elite army, an elaborate cultural and material culture are also illuminating. , and intellectual life, and expansive trade and irri‐ , rice, and millet were grown, while iron, gation agriculture are also related. This chapter tin, silver, copper, mercury, rubies, lapis lazuli, updates the earlier work of Barthold. More de‐ and petroleum oil were exploited. Woollen and tailed but somewhat dated is Bosworth's The fne textiles, paper (which replaced pa‐ Ghaznavids: Their Empire in Afghanistan and pyrus), and high-quality glazed ceramics were Eastern Iran, 994-1040, 2nd ed. (1973, Beirut: Kay‐ produced. Raw materials and fnished products ats; Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1st were distributed through established trade routes ed., Publications in History, Philosophy and Eco‐ that included community and locality production nomics 17, 1963 [based upon his 1961 thesis].) specialization, , and storehouses. The contribution comprising Chapter Six, Samanid intellectual life is reviewed, including "The Karakhanids" (E. A. Davidovich), is based on the infuence of two great polymaths, scholarship, secondary historical sources and numismatic evi‐ and developments in literature and music. The Is‐ dence. Davidovitch states that their history" is one of the least studied periods in the history of Cen‐

4 H-Net Reviews tral Asia and East " (p. 119), and that as is the appearance of Chinggis 's forces in Barthold's analysis from the 1920s is still the most 1218. reliable account. The chapter covers the conquest In Chapter Eight, "The Ghurids" (K. A. Niza‐ of Transoxania, including Turkish "tribal confed‐ mi), the author reviews the historical and cultural erations," the adoption of Islam in the mid-tenth development of the people of Ghur, a mountain‐ century, and an explanation of the complex politi‐ ous region located east and southeast of . cal system and Karakhanid dynasties. The inter‐ The of the Ghurids, who were iron‐ pretations of early scholars such as Pritsak and workers, horsebreeders, and slave merchants, Barthold are considered, as is territorial partition, was a slow process begun by the Samanids in 979 the battles against the Ghaznavids and Seljuqs in and was continued by the Ghaznavids. In 1146, 1040, and relations with the Kara Khitay and the Ghurids developed as an expansionist, inde‐ Khwarazem . The structure of the state, the pendent power under the seven sons of Izz al-Din appanage system (assigning revenues from an es‐ Husayn. Political intrigues, the destruction of tate), urban centers, and commerce are docu‐ Ghazna (including the burning of its buildings mented up to the eleventh century. Trade, and libraries), the expansion into northern India , , glazed ceramic and glass (introducing an intellectual heritage of scholars production, and epigraphy are also discussed. and books), and the Bamiyan amirate are summa‐ Chapter Seven, "The Seljuqs and the rized. The decline of the Seljuqs and Ghaznavids Khwarazem Shahs" (A. Sevim and C. E. Bosworth), created a political vacuum that was flled by the begins with an essay by Sevim in which he re‐ Ghurids and Khwarazem Shahs. The patriarchal views the evidence of the obscure origins of the tribal political and social organization and the Seljuqs and characterizes their expansion in the change from nomadic to urban life, and other cul‐ region of the Aral and Caspian seas to the year tural developments are reviewed. 1055. This chapter relates to materials also consid‐ Chapter Nine, "The Uighurs, the Kyrgyz and ered in Chapters Four and Six. The Seljuq defeat the Tangut (eighth to the thirteenth century)" (D. of the Ghaznavid army in 1035 and 1040 are relat‐ Sinor, Geng Shimin, and Y. I. Kychanov), is divided ed, as is the seige of and the placement of into three parts, individually authored. Denis Khwarazem under a Seljuq governor. This Sinor considers initially the Uighurs in Mongolia marked a politico-religious schism with the and the Kyrgyz, known in China since the early as a secular ruler and the caliph-iman as the seventh century A.D. In 744 three tribes (the moral and spiritual leader. Bosworth's contribu‐ Kailuk, Basmil, and Uighur) allied into a chiefdom tion to the chapter summarizes the complex peri‐ in 744 in order to rebel against Turkish rule. The od of consolidation of the Seljuq sultanate international trade of Uighur horses for Chinese (1055-1118) under Togril, Shah, and Masud silk, Sino-Ughir marital alliances, and the com‐ III. The structure of the Seljuq state in the east, the plexities of fve Kyrgyz cultural groups are relat‐ founding of Islamic colleges, and the importance ed. Authorities are uncertain how much territory of constituting a standing, professional army are the latter actually controlled. Shimin documents related. Another essay by Bosworth considers the the Uighur Kingdom of Kocho, the destruction of forescence of the Eastern Seljuq Sultanate the Uighur in 840, migrations, to the Tur‐ (1118-1157) and the appearance of the Mongols fan region, and the Kocho under the western Liao (1097-1219), including the sixty-year reign of Sul‐ during the twelfth century. In this region the fu‐ tan Sanjar. Diplomacy, punitive expeditions, and sion of Buddhism and lasted nearly state structure are documented, including the al‐ 450 years. In the third essay, Kychanov considers liance of Sultan Shah and the "pagan" Kara Khitay,

5 H-Net Reviews the Tangut Hsi Hsia Kingdom of the Ordos region Chapter Twelve, "The Mongols and their state during the period 982-1227 (the era of the Sung in the twelfth to the thirteenth century" (Sh. Bira), dynasty). The succession of rulers, political re‐ has a somewhat environmental-deterministic forms, Buddhism, and woodblock printing are dis‐ overtone. The role of mountain- geography cussed. The multinational Tangut "state" based on is seen as vital in shaping the unique history and livestock and irrigation agriculture fought wars civilization of the Mongols, particularly in pas‐ with the Mongols in 1207-1208 and from toralism and commerce. Bira traces the Mongols 1214-1224. from the fourth century A.D., documenting so‐ In Chapter Ten, "The western Himalayan ciopolitical structure (the "decay of the primitive states" (A. H. Dani), the author reviews the trans- clan system" into social stratifcation and the evo‐ Himalayan states south of Chinese . lution of tribal confederations into a state-like Dani notes (p. 215) that the British sometimes confederation or ulus). The role of the Chin dy‐ "made up names" for various Turkish ethnic nasty, the rise of Chinggis Khan (reportedly born groups. He documents the Trakhan Dynasty of in 1162, or 1155, or 1167; he died in 1227), the re‐ Gilgit, the Maglot ruling family of Nager, the unifcation of the Mongols (1189-1206), civil and Ayash of Hunza, the Kalor royal family of Chitral, military administrative reorganization and the three ruling families of Baltistan (the (1206-1211), and the founding of the Mongol state Makpons, Amachas, and Yabghu). Relations of are elaborated. The author notes that the early these peoples with Tibet, Kashgaria, the Trans- history of the Mongols is romanticized but the era Pamir, and Kashmire are also revealed. Cultural following 1198 is well documented. Chinggis codi‐ divisions are based, in the main, on linguistic and fed laws (Yeke Jasa) and founded the capital city sociocultural distinctions. Islamization of this re‐ of Karakorum in 1220. Campaigns of conquest are gion was a gradual process. summarized briefy. Chapter Eleven, "The Kitan and the Kara Khi‐ Chapter Thirteen, "Central Asia under the tay" (D. Sinor), concerns the rise of the Kitan peo‐ rule of Chinggis Khan's successors" (B. Akhmedov, ples of mineral-rich northern China during two revised by D. Sinor), considers the liquidation of centuries. The Kitan were a "conglomerate" of the Tangut state of Hsi Hsia, the Khwarazen people held together by economic or political Shahs, the Kara Khitay empire, and Transoxanian rather than cultural interests. Political alliances region. The characteristics of the Great Hoard, the against the Turks, relations with the Uighurs, con‐ succession of rulers, administrative reforms insti‐ tact with a Persian delegation in 924, and the re‐ tuted by Khan, irrigation agriculture, and volt by the Tunguz Jurchen peoples in 1100 are transit trade are documented in the essay. The im‐ summarized. The reconstruction of the Kara Khi‐ pact of revolts and internecine warfare that oc‐ tay, Sinor notes, is "tentative" since Chinese and curred in1238, 1326 f., and 1340-1370--ultimately Muslim sources are often contradictory and the leading to rule by nomadic feudal lords --are also language that the Kara Khitay spoke is uncertain. reviewed. The authors contend that these events The origin of the Prester John legend of 1141 is re‐ set the stage for the incursions by (better vealed, as are palace coups, armed clashes, con‐ known to the West as Tamerlane). ficts with the Mongols and the Khwarazem Shah, Chapter Fourteen, "The Sultanate" and their ultimate political fate. Linguistic and (Riazul Islam and C. E. Bosworth) is divided into cultural elements survive in contemporary two parts. The Part One, Professor Islam begins Kalmuck culture. Notably, the term "Cathay" (a his analysis in A.D. 646 and provides background synonym for China) is a Kara Khitay name. for the establishment of the sultanate in the thir‐

6 H-Net Reviews teenth century. Three large and separate feudal- Arabian Sea) had commercial connections with like kingdoms, the lack of central authority, and East Asia, particularly to spice-rich Java. For the "endless and purposeless internecine warfare" (p. years 700-1500, the polities of , Langah, 269) characterize the early years during Arab ex‐ Sumara, and Samma the latter two in the Sind re‐ pansion. The accomplishments of seven gion are reviewed, and the Baluch peoples, their are detailed for the period 1206-1316, during migrations, and gradual Islamization are also re‐ which the army was reorganized and expanded, counted. A. Q. Rafqi's contribution to the chapter Turkish supremacy was terminated, and Mongol details the military and political history of Kash‐ invasions were repulsed. Agrarian, economic, so‐ mir under the dynasty (1339-1561). His cial, and administrative information is provided, essay begins in 713 with the Arab and then the documenting land reforms, market regulations, Turkish invasions of Hindu , considers income levels, urbanization, and craft production. the legends of the ancestry of Shah Mir, the rise of In Part Two, Bosworth synthesizes the history for the ruler Rinchana from refugee to sovereign and the period 1316-1526, detailing territorial expan‐ his conversion to Islam. The salvation of Kashmir sion under the Tughuqids (1320-1412), more than by Sikander in 1398 during Timur's invasion of In‐ twenty rebellions, political decline, and the disin‐ dia is also summarized. Administrative reforms, tegration of the sultanate to the Delhi region codifed laws, scholarly patronage, craft produc‐ alone - "a capital city without an Empire" (p. 285), tion, and the succession of rulers are documented, and the sacking of Delhi by Turco-Mongolian as is the subsequent and period of anar‐ armies. The history of the "unremarkable" chy (1484-1532) during which Muhammad Shah (1414-1451) and their dynamic successors, was declared sultan on four diferent occasions. the Lodis (1451-1526), is also recounted. The Lodis The fnal result was that Persian and Central were an dynasty originally from Ghur and Asian cultural elements were introduced into Hin‐ excelled in diplomatic and military skills, and du Kashmir and it became a part of that politico- served as patrons of scholarship and music. How‐ religious sphere rather than a part of the Subcon‐ ever, the lack of a centralized political system, re‐ tinent cultural realm. bellions by Afghan commanders, ferce Sunni or‐ Chapter Sixteen, "Central Asia under Timur thodoxy, and intolerance toward com‐ from 1370 to the early ffteenth century" (K. Z. bined to shatter the sultanate by 1526. Ashrafyan), documents the expansive military Chapter Fifteen, "The regions of Sind, empire of Timur which encompassed Transoxa‐ Baluchistan, Multan and Kashmir: the historical nia, Khwarazem, the regions around the Caspian and economic setting" (N. A. Baloch and A. Q. Sea, Iran, Iraq, a portion of the southern Cauca‐ Rafqi), is also presented in two parts. Baloch sus, present-day Afghanistan, and northern India. writes about the rulers of the Sind, Baluchistan, The "empire" was a conglomeration of states and and Multan for the period 750-1500. He discusses tribal territories whose peoples belonged to many three phases of political history: 1) the Abbasid diferent cultures and represented varying social period and the Fatimid interlude (the mid-eighth and economic statuses. The author begins the his‐ to the end of the tenth century), including a suc‐ tory with Kebek Khan in 1318 and traces the rise cession of amirs and rulers in four regions; 2) the of Timur of the Barlas tribe of Mongols (born in period of the Ghaznavid and Ghurid Sultanates 1336) from contemporary written histories. Politi‐ (the eleventh and twelfth centuries), and 3) the cal intrigues, the Sarbadar movement, and the era of independent states (the thirteenth to early history of the cities of Balkh and are sixteenth century). The merchant-mariner-based reviewed. In 1370, the latter became Timur's capi‐ sultanates of Makran and Samma (located on the tal. The essay recounts the reorganization of the

7 H-Net Reviews military (the Golden and White Hordes), strategies ultimate conquest by a federation of small tribes and tactics, and the raids, revolts against the Mon‐ under Shaybiri Khan in 1486 and by Dasht-i gols, and military campaigns. "The purpose of Kipchak rulers who took Khwarazem, Balkh, and Timur's conquests was not merely to acquire loot Herat by 1507. but to gain control of the lucrative major interna‐ Chapter Eighteen, "Popular movements, reli‐ tional trade routes" (p. 332). By 1393 the conquest gious trends and Suf infuence on the masses on of Iran was completed and the invasion of India the post-Abbasid period" (K. A. Nizami), begins begun (culminating with the battle for Delhi and with the statement that popular movements often slaughter of Hindus in December 1399), followed had political objectives that were camoufaged by by a protracted campaign in Asia Minor. A pro‐ religious masks, while others had religious objec‐ jected expedition against China was interrupted tives that were expressed through political move‐ by Timur's death at the age of seventy in 1405. ments. Nizami characterizes religious groups in The remainder of the chapter contains accounts early Islamic times: the Nestorian Christians, of political and socioeconomic conditions under Manichaeism, , and Judaism. The Timur; urban development, craft production, and rise of Sufsm and the Suf orders, teachers, and commerce; Timur's relations with the rulers of scholars in Central Asia after the eleventh century several west European polities (for example, are well documented as are socioreligious and Byzantium, France, Castile, and England); and the politicoreligious movements (the Ayyar, Sarbadar, succession struggle from 1405-1442. and other sects). A short essay recounts Suf or‐ In Chapter Seventeen, "The Timurid states in ders in India and the Indian Mahdawi movement. the ffteenth and sixteenth centuries" (R. G. Muk‐ Chapter Nineteen, "Socio-economic develop‐ minova), the aftermath of Timurid's death , the ment: food and clothing in eastern Iran and Cen‐ collapse of the realm, and fragmentation of the tral Asia" (N. Kasai and S. Natsagdorj), is a short empire are reported. (1409-1449) as‐ chapter with two essays. The written sources used sumed control in Turkistan and attempted to re‐ in this composition include and Persian unite the realm, developed domestic trade and documents and, for later periods, the writings of foreign commerce with India and China, and Europeans envoys and travelers (Clavijo and Mar‐ made the city of Samarkand a center of scientifc co Polo). The initial contribution, written by Kasai, thought. After 1450, the Timurid realm split into recounts the eastern Islamic lands from Iran two sections, Khurasan and Transoxania. The au‐ through the frontiers with China and includes a thor then documents in detail the division and as‐ discussion of what is known about foods, diet, and signment of lands; subsistence activities (irriga‐ dress for several regions (Khurasan, Sistan, tion agriculture, livestock breeding, and hunting); , and the ) and cities (Balkh, and presents a lengthy analysis about land owner‐ Ghazna, and Samarkand). The information about ship and taxes. A shorter contribution recounts the preparation and use of wine, beer, and milk urbanization, craft production, and commerce in are especially enlightening. Natsagdorj's 3.5-page common products, foods, and exotic goods. "In the contribution on Mongolian shelter, dress, crafts, ffteenth century, Samarkand was the largest Cen‐ food, and diet emphasizes the nomads' livestock- tral Asian trading town and played a major role in breeding activities and oral traditions. the circulation of goods between East and West" Chapter Twenty, "Coinage and the monetary (p. 359) as well as with (Afghanistan) and system" (E. A. Davidovich and A. H. Dani), is a spe‐ (the ). Local re‐ cialized, two-part topical essay on the minting of volts during the early ffteenth century led to the coins and circulation of monies in the major sub‐ disintegration of the polity of Transoxania and its

8 H-Net Reviews regions of Central Asia from the eighth through This volume is structured in a diferent man‐ ffteenth centuries. Davidovich characterizes Cen‐ ner when compared to its predecessors in the se‐ tral Asia following the Arab conquest to the ries. For example, Volume III: The Crossroads of eleventh century, commenting on "Kufc" coins, Civilizations: A.D. 50 to 750 (568 pp.) has seven diferent legal standards, coexisting coinages, maps, 170 fgures, 1,032 footnotes, and 1,175 en‐ monetary reforms, and scientifc studies of coins tries in the "Bibliography and References," in con‐ (for example, the results of atomic absorption trast to Volume IV: A.D. 750 to the End of the Fif‐ spectrometry analyses which may indicate fuctu‐ teenth Century: Part One: The Historical, Social ations in fneness standards and the debasing of and Economic Setting (455 pp.) which has one ta‐ precious metals). A second contribution docu‐ ble, eight maps, only three fgures, 238 footnotes, ments the eleventh through the beginning of the and 664 items in the "References and Bibliogra‐ thirteenth century, the so-called "silver coin cri‐ phy." Both of these works have twenty chapters. sis," exchange rates, minting gold coins, and In the main, the twenty-four authors and seven hoards; a third essay documents the coinage and collaborating specialists who prepared the third circulation of money under the Mongols from the volume are archaeologists, prehistorians, and his‐ thirteenth through fourteenth centuries (dividing torians, while the twenty-two contributors to the the period into four stages). Lastly, a section deals fourth book are historians and specialists on lan‐ with coinage and money in Transoxania under guages and literature. Collectively, the authors of Timur and the Timurids from the late fourteenth the 750-1500 volume employ archaeological, eth‐ through ffteenth centuries (in fve stages). In‐ nohistoric, and historic documents, and primary creased money supplies and number of mints, and secondary sources. Nonetheless, with twenty fractional coins, weight standards, and copper chapters and twenty-two authors, some contribu‐ coinage are discussed. In Part Two, Dani writes tions are better organized than others despite the about coinage and monetary systems in authors' intentions and editorial assignments, and Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern India. Arab- the availability and quality of resources. A majori‐ Sasanian, Ghaznavid, Ghurid, , ty of the individual contributions are extremely Bengali, and Tughluqid coinage are also dis‐ detailed and well documented; the chapters, cussed. This chapter presents particularly valu‐ therefore, may make for difcult reading because able scholarship on numismatics but should be of the profusion of proper nouns and must be supplemented by more than the 37 coins illustrat‐ read carefully. There are only a few essays that ed in three fgures. are general in coverage, some treatments are un‐ In a one-page "Conclusion" (C. E. Bosworth), even (emphasizing political and military events to the author remarks that the ffteenth century the near exclusion of cultural, economic, and sub‐ marks "a profound change in the balance of pow‐ sistence activities or basic lifeways). A few chap‐ er between the sedentary peoples and cultures of ters would beneft the reader if headings, sub‐ Central Asia and Inner Asia and the ele‐ headings, or other internal organizational divi‐ ments there" (p. 421). This sets the stage for the sions had been incorporated. The inclusion of a advent of powerful states that arose along the holistic chronological chart for the period western and southern fringes of Islamic Central 750-1500 illustrating the geopolitical or regional Asia. Among these were the Christian Muscovite divisions, polities, and religious and cultural phe‐ principality, , and Mughal northern nomena would also aid the reader's comprehen‐ India. sion of this complex body of material. There is only one table depicting the genealogy or succes‐ Final Assessment sion of rulers (the Karakhanids in Chapter Six);

9 H-Net Reviews additional tabulations would be useful to the Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) remains reader. Anthropological terms, such as clan, tribe, as an especially valuable resource. The contents chiefdom, confederation, state, and empire, are of the second volume are relevant to topics and used inconsistently rather than in a standardized regions covered in the UNESCO volume being re‐ manner. What one author may call a tribe is an‐ viewed. other's chiefdom; or an empire may be a confed‐ There are several general works on Central eration. Only a few of the writers use Islamic Asian history that may be compared to this UN‐ dates along with A.D. dates; I personally prefer ESCO volume, although Asimov and Bosworth's C.E. (Christian Era) citations rather than the use of edited volume is the most current synthesis of a A.D. terminology. In the main, Volume IV, Part One complex region for the period C.E. 750-1500. is a political and military history that documents Bosworth's The Medieval History of Iran, the Islamization process in Central Asia. This Afghanistan, and Central Asia [640-1500] (1977, highly specialized reference volume has eight London: Variorum Reprints) remains a signifcant maps clustered into an appendix but the book synthesis. Three works by Richard N. Frye de‐ would beneft from the inclusion of additional il‐ serve recognition: The Golden Age of Persia: The lustrations (the only ones are in the chapter on Arabs in the East [640-1256] (1975, London: Wei‐ numismatics). The maps are particularly useful denfeld and Nicolson; New York: Barnes and No‐ documents and are, in the main, accurate. ble), Islamic Iran and Central Asia (7th-12th Cen‐ The volumes in UNESCO's Central Asian series turies) (1979, London: Variorum Reprints), and are quickly becoming the paramount reference The Heritage of Central Asia: From Antiquity to work for the region, much as the Cambridge An‐ the Turkish Expansion (1996, Princeton, NJ: cient History, 18 vols. (1954-1989), and The Cam‐ Markus Weiner Publishers, Princeton Series in the bridge History of Iran, 7 vols. in 8, (William B. ). These remain as especially signif‐ Fisher et al. (eds.) Cambridge: Cambridge Univer‐ cant scholarly sources. Now dated, however, is the sity Press, 1968-1991), particularly J. A. Boyle (ed.) classic by Rene Grousset L'empire des steppes: At‐ The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 5: The Saljuq tila, Gengis-Khan, Tamerlan, 4th ed. (1952, Paris: and Mongol Periods (Cambridge: Cambridge Uni‐ Payot), translated in 1970 by Naomi Walford as versity Press, 1968) constitute the standard refer‐ The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central ences against which research and syntheses are Asia (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University assessed. A major in-progress reference work Press). Likewise, Luc Kwanten's Imperial Nomads: edited by Eshan Yarshatar, Encyclopaedia Iranica, A History of Central Asia, 500-1500 (1979, Phila‐ 8 vols. to date [A-Education] (1983-date, London: delphia: University of Pennsylvania Press) is a less Routledge and Kegan Paul; Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda desirable synthesis. David Christian's A History of Publishers), provides details on Iranian history. Russia, Central Asia, and Mongolia, Volume 1: In‐ For topics related to religion, readers may ner Eurasia from Prehistory to the Mongol Em‐ wish to refer to entries in The Encyclopaedia of Is‐ pire (in press [estimated publication in January lam, new ed., 10 vols. to date [A-Tahrir] (Th. Bian‐ 1999]; Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers) has yet quis, C. E. Bosworth, E. J. van Donzel, and W. P. to be assessed. Meritorious, meticulous works by Heinrichs (eds.), 1986-1998, Leiden: E. J. Brill). In Denis Sinor, including his Inner Asia and Its Con‐ addition, The Cambridge , Vol. 1: tacts with Medieval Europe (1977, London: Vario‐ The Central Islamic Lands and Vol. 2: The Further rum Reprints), the edited The Cambridge History Islamic Lands, Islamic Society and Civilization of Early Inner Asia (1990, Cambridge and New (Peter M. Holt and Ann K. S. Lambton (eds.), 1970, York: Cambridge University Press), and his most recent contribution, Studies in Medieval Inner

10 H-Net Reviews

Asia (1997, Aldershot, Hampshire, UK and Brook‐ feld, VT: Ashgate), are still vital resources for the historian and inquisitive scholar. Nonetheless, Barthold's classic works, Four Studies on the His‐ tory of Central Asia, 3 vols. (Vasilli Vladimirovich Bartol'd [W. Barthold; V. and T. Minorsky, trans.], 1956-1962, Leiden: E. J. Brill) and Turkestan Down to the Mongol Invasion, 4th ed., (W. Barthold; T. Minorsky, trans.; C. E. Bosworth, ed.), 1977, Lon‐ don: E. J. Gibb Memorial Trust) are still signifcant studies of the period and region. This volume of Civilizations, like its predeces‐ sors, is a compelling and valuable reference work that should be acquired by specialists on Eurasian archaeology and history. Asimov and Bosworth are to be applauded for preparing this indispensi‐ ble synthesis for the very dynamic and complex period C.E. 750-1500. It is lamentable that Profes‐ sor Asimov did not live to see this volume pub‐ lished. Copyright 1998 by H-Net, all rights reserved. This work may be copies for non-proft education‐ al use if proper credit is given to the author and the list. For other permission contact H-Net@h- net.msu.edu.

If there is additional discussion of this review, you may access it through the network, at https://networks.h-net.org/h-asia

Citation: Charles C. Kolb. Review of Asimov, M. S.; Bosworth, C. E., eds. History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol. IV: The Age of Achievement: AD 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century, Part One: The Historical, Social and Economic Setting. H-Asia, H-Net Reviews. October, 1998.

URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=2448

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

11