Where the Middle Ages Begin
Spenser and the Search for Asian Silk Murrin, Michael Arthuriana 21.1 (2011) Abstract Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene follows the Arthurian tradition of travel eastward. Because the poem distributes its narrative onto a scene of action that forms part of the Muscovy Company’s activities in Central Asia in the 1560s, The Faerie Queene can be understood […]
Some Aspects of Turco-Mongol Christianity in the Light of Literary and Epigraphic Syriac Sources By Pier Giorgio Borbone Journal of Assyrain Academic Studies, Vol. 19, no. 2 (2005) Introduction: The presence of Christians in Bactria, in present-day Northern Afghanistan, is documented already in the third century by one of the most ancient works in Syriac […]
The Zheng He Voyages: A Reassessment By Geoff Wade Paper given at the New Dimensions in Humanities Education conference, 2008 Abstract: The Ming eunuch navigator Zheng He is lauded in contemporary China as a great maritime voyager, an ambassador of peace and friendship, and a potent symbol for Chinese patriotic education. The eunuch and his […]
An Important Waypoint on Passage of Navigation History: Zheng He’s Sailing to West Ocean By Jin Ding, Chaojian Shi and Adam Weintrit Paper given at the 7th International Navigational Symposium (2007) Abstract: Zheng He, a famous Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral of Ming Dynasty, sailed from China to many places throughout South Pacific, […]
From the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean: Medieval History in Geographic Perspective By Andre Wink Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 44, No. 3 (2002) Introduction: It is widely acknowledged that Orientalist notions of political economy were marred by geographic determinism. From Marx to Wittfogel, generic concepts such as the “Asiatic mode of production,” […]
Rethinking “Damascus” Steel By Ann Feuerbach American Society of Arms Collectors Bulletin, Vol.96 (2008) Introduction: Historical accounts testify that for thousands of years, in Central Asian, Middle Eastern, and Indian cultures, crucible steel was the most sought-after type of steel because it was used to produce so-called “Damascus” steel objects. Damascus steel objects, particularly swords, […]
An Early Age of Commerce in Southeast Asia, 900–1300 CE By Geoff Wade Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 40:2 (2009) Abstract: One of the most influential ideas in Southeast Asian history in recent decades has been Anthony Reid’s Age of Commerce thesis, which sees a commercial boom and the emergence of port cities as […]
The Far-East Ancestors of the Magyars : A Historical and Linguistic Excavation By James Xueyuan Zhu International Journal of Central Asian Studies, Volume 4 (1999) Introduction: The Hungarians call themselves Magyar, a word that also designates their language. The origins of the Magyars as a people and language have long baffled historians, anthropologists and linguists. Though […]
Oxford University has launch a new centre to study the archaeological and cultural heritage of Asia. The Oxford Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art and Culture, based in the University’s School of Archaeology, was officially opened yesterday and is set to become the only Asia-specialist centre of archaeological research and teaching in Europe. Although Asia has […]
Dirham Mint Output of Samanid Samarqand and its Connection to the Beginnings of Trade with Northern Europe (10th century) By Roman K. Kovalev Histoire & mesure, Vol.17 n.3/4 (2002) Abstract: An examination of 14,865 Samanid dirhams struck in Samarqand from 634 hoards discovered in western Eurasia dating from the tenth to the eleventh centuries shows […]
During the last nearly four thousand years, down to the very recent present, no animal has been more ubiquitous or more important than the horse.
The Rise and Fall of the Second Largest Empire in History: How Genghis Khan’s Mongols Almost Conquered the World by Thomas Craughwell Fair Winds Press. 2010 ISBN: 978-1-59233-398-1 The Mongols have long been an enigma. Of lowly origin they developed into a warrior culture complete with rituals and strategies that nearly led them to world domination, their […]
This is the ancient city of Ayutthaya in Thailand. The city thrived as capital of the Ayutthaya Kingdom for some 400 years from the mid-14th century. Ayutthaya is located alongside the Chao Phraya river about 100 kilometres north from its estuary. The city flourished as a safe haven, far away from sea pirates. This is […]
The Angkor Dynasty flourished here between the 9th and 15th centuries. It ruled a vast territory, and hundreds of stone buildings remain its legacy.
This paper will discuss how and why the Iranian-speaking peoples of Central Asia played such a major role in the transmission of religions from the Near East to the Far East throughout the first millennium of the Common Era.
What is the book we associate with Polo’s name? With what purpose was it written? What claims does it make for itself? To what extent does it purport to represent Polo’s own experiences? Just where did Polo go?
The Development of Hindu-Arabic and Traditional Chinese Arithmetic By Lam Lay Yong Chinese Science, Vol.13 (1996) Introduction: Arithmetic is a branch of mathematics with which all of us are familiar. Irrespective of the countries we come from, we are taught the Hindu- Arabic numerals and their place value notation at a very early age. Thereafter […]
We review the book The Mongol Invasions of Japan 1274 and 1281, by Stephen Turnbull, which is being released this month by Osprey Publishing. The book details how Kubilai Khan ordered two naval invasions of Japan, the second of which ended in disaster after a typhoon known as a kamikaze struck the Mongol fleet, destroying […]
Iran under Mongol domination: The effectiveness and failings of a dual administrative system By Denise Aigle Bulletin d’Etudes Orientales, Suppl.57 (2008) Introduction: At the beginning of the thirteenth century, Mongolia’s unstable nomadic clans were brought together by an energetic leader, the future Genghis Khan. He practiced a policy of intimidation towards the peoples that he wished to subject […]
Historical Legends of the Volga-Ural Muslims concerning Alexander the Great, the City of Yelabuga, and Bāchmān Khān By Allen J. Frank Remmm: Revue des Mondes Musulmans et de la Mediteranee, Vol.89-90 (2000) Abstract: Since the beginning of the 19th century the written traditions of the Volga-Ural Muslims have recorded a cycle of historic and genealogical legends involving […]
This paper discusses the rise of the Mongol Empire in its Inner Asian context, looking for evolutionary versus revolutionary features of the Mongol imperial enterprise.
Eurasian history proper begins in the second half of the thirteenth century with the Mongols. Though their empire did not last for long – some authorities assert it survived for as little as forty years, and it certainly did not endure for much more than a century – they made a major contribution by inextricably linking Europe and Asia.
This essay explores the basic mechanisms of state formation in inner Asia and presents an argument for the periodization of inner Asian history based on the incremental ability of inner Asian empires to extract from outside sources the wealth necessary for the maintenance of political and military state apparatus
Tambralinga’s Long Thirteenth Century and the Southeast Asian Commercial Boom By Fukami Sumio XIV International Economic History Congress (2006) Introduction: My present research focus is the reconstruction of the history of the Strait of Malacca region prior to the establishment of the Kingdom of Melaka (Malacca) in approximately 1400. Chinese texts are the most useful tools for this […]
How you can Follow Us!