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The Mongols' Middle East III. HISTOIRE De Nicola Bruno, Melville Charles (eds.) Amitai takes up the question of what degree The Mongols’ Middle East: Continuity the Ilkhanid army underwent significant transfor- and Transformation in Ilkhanid Iran mation from the period of Hülegü to the fourteenth century. On this issue Amitai sees more continuity Leiden, Boston: Brill than change, offering a view somewhat contrary to 2016, 346 p. Maps and illustrations. those of scholars such as David Morgan and Arsenio ISBN : 9789004311992 Martinez. Amitai points out that the Mongols in Iran on the whole remained nomads, and thus we The study of the Mongols in the Middle East should not expect that their primary method of has branched out into many new and fascinating fighting, i.e. as lightly armed and armored mounted directions in the past few decades. In addition to archers, should have drastically changed. He pro- fresh insights into aspects of military and political vides evidence from the Battle of Wādī al-Khaznadār history, scholars of the Mongols have explored new against the Mamluks in 1299 to demonstrate that the avenues in intellectual history, patronage networks, Ilkhanid army was still essentially comprised of light and gender, as well as the Mongols’ relations with cavalry at the turn of the fourteenth century. various communities under their rule and in neigh- Part II on “Internal Actors” deals with the social, boring societies. Editors Bruno De Nicola and Charles economic, and religious relationships and ideologies Melville have brought together several strands of that shaped Mongol rule after the conquests had this recent scholarship in this collection of thirteen ended. Esther Ravalde considers the role of the vizier articles. In the Introduction, the editors frame this in the Ilkhanate through an analysis of the career volume as a reassessment of issues of continuity and of Shams al-Dīn Juwaynī (d. 1284). Ravalde’s main change in Iranian history twenty-five years after the argument is that we must understand the vizier’s publication of Ann K. S. Lambton’s Continuity and role as dependent on his ability to call on patronage Change in Medieval Persia (1988). The contributions, ties and act as a mediator between political inter- many of which originated as papers presented at ests and various social groups, and as less rooted in the World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies clear-cut, prescribed duties. For example, Juwaynī’s (WOCMES) in Barcelona in 2010, demonstrate how investment in khanqah-s and madrasa-s, as well far the study of the Mongols in the Middle East has as economic infrastructure in Anatolia, illustrates come since Lambton’s monumental book. the importance of patronage of the religious and The volume is divided into four parts: “The commercial classes to help him make the Ilkhanid Mongol Conquest of the Middle East;” “Internal government run smoothly. Actors: Politics, Economy and Religion;” “Culture The role of Mongol women in the economic life and the Arts;” and “Relationships with Neighboring of the empire is the subject of co-editor Bruno De Actors.” Charles Melville contributes a final article as Nicola’s contribution. Elite khatuns in the early impe- Epilogue on the collapse of the Ilkhanate. rial period, such as Oghul Ghaymish and Sorqaqtani Timothy May and Reuven Amitai contribute Beki, had close relationships with merchants, forming articles on military matters in Part I. May addresses partnerships and acting as investors in and promoters the question of how the Mongols were able to con- of trade. De Nicola’s focus on women’s economic quer such a vast empire, and lays out what he calls activities allows him to critically assess a common the “tsunami strategy,” a process involving an initial narrative in Persian sources which presents the devastating invasion, followed by a pulling back of period of Möngke Khan (r. 1251-1259) as a return forces from all but a small portion of the targeted to economic stability after a period of chaos. De region. The key to this strategy was the tamma, or Nicola suggests that in fact, the rule of the Ögedeyids, troop unit stationed on the frontier following the including the regencies of the women, can be seen as conquest. The tamma units were separate from the a golden age of the expansion of trade. A significant regular Mongol army, and were composed of troops change occurred in the Ilkhanid period when taxes on from various tribes and regions. Eventually the tam- women’s estate property were no longer paid directly ma forces would be replaced by a “civil” government to their ordo (household-camp), but were collected and led by a darughachi, allowing the tamma force and managed by financial officials, a development to advance into another region. May’s description that contributed to corruption. Ghazan Khan’s re- of the tsunami strategy thus sheds light on how the forms after 1295 further limited women’s economic Mongols were able to conquer such large areas with freedom by placing their resources under the control relatively small numbers. The Mongol conquests of the central divan and its administrators. were not sweeping and sudden, but incremental In the final article on “Internal Actors,” Florence and gradual. Hodous considers the influence of various religious BCAI 33 68 BCAI 33 (2019) De Nicola Bruno, Melville Charles (eds.): The Mongols’ Middle East: Continuity and Transformation in Ilkhanid Iran, recensé par Patrick Wing © IFAO 2021 BCAI en ligne http://www.ifao.egnet.net Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) III. HISTOIRE traditions, including Shamanism, Islam, Confucianism the fourteenth century witnessed a narrowing of and Buddhism, on capital punishment in the literary forms considered suitable for illustration. Ilkhanate. Shamanist belief in the existence of a Rührdanz argues that in addition to commonly universal life force in the blood meant that the loss illustrated works such as the Shāhnāma and Kalīla of blood at execution impeded the continuation of wa-Dimna, popular romances, often featuring char- a person’s spirit as an “ancestor” after death. Thus, acters Rührdanz identifies as ‘ayyār-s, were also sub- executions for elite Mongols included non-bloody jects for painters. These romances shared a feature techniques, such as breaking the back, trampling, or with the Shāhnāma and Kalīla wa-Dimna, namely strangulation. Such executions continued after the their function as advice to the Mongols on wise rule Ilkhanate’s conversion to Islam, and were combined and proper behavior. Rührdanz suggests that the with punishments proscribed by the Quran, such as disappearance of popular literature, including prose crucifixion. According to Hodous, the use of these romances, by the fifteenth century may be connected punishments is more a reflection of the Mongols’ to the growing influence of Sufism on elite culture. “flexibility” than a religious commitment to Islamic Part IV is dedicated to “Relationships with punishments. The Mongols also granted amnesty Neighboring Actors,” and examines the Mongols’ from execution, which Hodous describes as rooted interactions with Persians, Armenians, Chinese, and in Confucian and Buddhist tradition. Hodous points Kurdish communities within their empire and at out that Buddhist belief about the effectiveness of its frontiers. Aptin Khanbaghi considers the role of intervention in the form of amnesties to influence the Mongol period in the development of Persian the spirit world also aligned with Shamanist belief. language and culture. He emphasizes that when Part III of the volume is dedicated to “Culture the Mongols arrived in Iran, Persian had been sup- and the Arts,” and begins with Michal Biran’s ex- ported for three centuries by Turkic nomadic rulers, amination of the experiences of the musician and including the Ghaznavids and Saljuqs. When the all around polymath Ṣafī al-Dīn Urmawī (d. 1294), Mongols arrived, they drove many Persian speakers during the Mongol conquest of Baghdad. Through an westward into Anatolia to areas that had long been analysis of Urmawī’s account that has come down to part of the Persian world. The Mongol conquests and us in ‘Umarī’s Masālik al-Abṣār, Biran is able to reach rule helped to blur the lines between Anatolia and several important conclusions. One is that Urmawī’s Iran, and contributed to the Ottomans’ adoption of account of the conquest suggests that the Mongol Persian literary culture. forces were highly organized and disciplined, and that Bayarsaikhan Dashdondog traces the history of the campaign in Baghdad was not “a sudden outburst the Armenian lands under the Mongols, highlighting of barbarism” (p. 140). Biran also traces Urmawī’s the importance of military commanders appointed career in the years after 1258 and demonstrates that by the Great Qaghan, as well as darughachi officials Abbasid musical culture continued to thrive and to the administration in Armenia. The darughachi-s spread under the Mongols, and in this respect the were responsible for conducting the census and Mongol period was far from one of cultural decline. collecting taxes. The tax on commercial transactions Judith Kolbas examines ‘Alā’ al-Dīn ‘Aṭā Malik known as tamgha was particularly significant for Juwaynī’s history Tārīkh-i Jahān-gushā from a liter- Armenian cities such as Erzurum, Berkri, and Khoi, ary perspective. Kolbas argues that Juwaynī’s text which were all connected to the wider world by suggests several phases of composition and revision, caravan routes. which correspond to the author’s own coming to George Lane provides a history of the Persian terms with the significance of the Mongols’ conquest community in Hangzhou, China under the Mongols and rule in Iran. A close examination reveals that through an examination of their main religious Juwaynī’s history moves between presenting a nega- building, known as the Phoenix Mosque or Temple. tive image of the Mongols and the destruction they The mosque was built in 1281 by a wealthy Persian brought on the one hand, and an acceptance and merchant named ‘Ala’ al-Dīn, who had helped to even admiration for the positive aspects of their rule finance Qubilay’s campaigns in China.
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