Description
Islamic Central Asia is the first English-language anthology of primary documents for the study of Central Asian history. Scott C. Levi and Ron Sela draw from a vast array of historical sources to illustrate important aspects of the social, cultural, political, and economic history of Islamic Central Asia. These documents—many newly translated and most not readily available for study—cover the period from the 7th-century Arab conquests to the 19th-century Russian colonial era and provide new insights into the history and significance of the region. |
Author Bio
Scott C. Levi is Assistant Professor of Central Asian History at The Ohio State University. He is author of The Indian Diaspora in Central Asia and Its Trade, 1550–1900 and editor of India and Central Asia: Commerce and Culture, 1500–1800.
Ron Sela is Assistant Professor of Central Asian History in the Department of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University Bloomington. He is author of The Legendary Biographies of Tamerlane: Islam and Heroic Apocrypha in Central Asia. |
Reviews
"A much-needed, long overdue and impressive anthology of translations from sources by and about Muslim Central Asians. The editors have chosen well, providing access to many materials not previously available in English and covering the region in depth. This volume will be required reading for courses on Central Asia." —Peter B. Golden, Rutgers University
"Islamic Central Asia: An Anthology of Historical Sources is a needed resource for students of Central Asia and should find a large audience. The selection of previously translated materials is well thought out, the introductions to each section and each selection are elegant and erudite, and the more than twenty new translations are particularly welcome. The co-editors are to be warmly commended for making such a rich compendium available." —Robert D. McChesney, New York University
"Levi and Sela's well-chosen and vividly translated collection takes pedagogy on Central Eurasia beyond philology to history, making a wealth of sources available to students for the first time. They have thrown open the iron gates of Islamic Central Asia to hordes of new readers." —James A. Millward, Georgetown University
"Situated at the heart of the so-called Silk Road, the peoples of Central Asia witnessed numerous invasions, migrations, and exchanges of religions and cultures, goods and technologies. Central Asia has been exoticized in the West—and in the East—and has captivated the imagination of many. While emphasizing some of the remarkable aspects of Central Asian history, this anthology also examines daily lives in periods of great achievements and important transformations as well as times of crisis, strife and isolation." —from the introduction
"This careful compilation includes court chronicles, memoirs, legal documents, poetry, and more. The breadth of the coverage skillfully illustrates how Central Asia today is the result of many cultures, languages, and ethnicities. . . . Summing Up: Essential. A must for collections on Central Asia." —Choice , October 2010, Vol. 48 No. 2
"[T]his is a fascinating and much-needed collection." —Central Asian Survey
"[T]he anthology is set up in an exemplary manner and the sources describe the extensive history . . . [It] will occupy an important place in studies on the history of Central Asia, the expansion of Islam, and the relationship between the peoples in the Islamic cultural world . . ." —Asiatische Studien / Études Asiatiques
"Overall this is an excellent collections, which will be a valuable sourcebook for courses on the history of Central Asia and Islamic history. As the first English-language anthology of historical sources on the region, it provides a wealth of materials, which can be used to cover a wide variety of themes. It should be on the syllabus of any undergraduate course on the history of Central Asia." —Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient |
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Note on Translation and Transliteration
Map
Introduction
Part 1. Central Asia in the Early Islamic Period, Seventh—Tenth Centuries
Introduction
A. Central Asia and the Arab Conquests
1. Baladhuri: The Arab Conquests of Central Asia
2. Tabari: Another Look at the Arab Conquests
B. Central Asia under the Samanids
3. Narshakhi: The Rise of the House of Saman
4. Hudud al-Alam: The Frontiers of the Muslim World in the Tenth Century
C. The Age of Learning
5. Ibn Sina: Biographical Notes
6. al-Biruni: On the Importance of the Sciences
Part 2. Encounter with the Turks
Introduction
A. Turkic Peoples of the Steppe
7. The Orkhon Inscriptions: The Early Turks
8. al-Jahiz: The Peculiarities of the Turks
9. Gardizi: The Turks in Early Muslim Traditions
10. Ibn Fadlan: Journey to the Northern Lands
B. Qarakhanids: The First Turkic Muslim State in Central Asia
11. al-Kashghari: On the Linguistic Distribution of the Turks
12. Jamal Qarshi: The Conversion to Islam of Satuq Bughra Khan
13. Yusuf Hass Hajib: Advice to the Qarakhanid Rulers
C. Central Asia in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries
14. al-Utbi: The Alliance of the Ghaznavids and Qarakhanids
15. Ibn Khallikan: Biography of the Vizier Nizam al-Mulk
16. Nizam al-Mulk: A Mirror for Princes
17. Qabus-nama: A Different Mirror for Princes
18. Liao Shih: Nomadic Khitan State and Society
Part 3. The Mongol Empire
Introduction
A. Temujin and the Rise of the Mongol Empire
19. Secret History of the Mongols: Temujin's Origins
20. Hayton: Temujin and the Rise of the Mongol Empire
21. Nasawi: The Khorezmshah's Downfall
22. Chang Chun: A Daoist Monk in Central Asia
23. Juzjani: Chaghatay the Accursed!
B. Islamic Central Asia under Mongol Rule
24. Rashid al-Din: In Defense of Chaghatay Khan
25. Juvaini: The Il-Khan Hülegü Captures the Castles of the Heretics
26. Mirza Haydar Dughlat: The Conversion to Islam of Tughluq Timur Khan
27. Ibn Battuta: Travels in Western Central Asia in the Fourteenth Century
Part 4. Timur and the Timurids
Introduction
A. Timur's Rise and Rule
28. Ibn Arabshah: Timur and His Steppe Campaigns
29. Ibn Khaldun: Personal Narrative of a Meeting with Timur
30. Ruy González de Clavijo: A Spanish Embassy to Timur's Capital
B. Central Asia in the Fifteenth Century
31. Khwandamir: Timur's Heirs: Shahrukh and Ulughbeg
32. Nava'i: A Comparison between Persian and Turkic
33. Khoja Ahrar: Letters
34. Five Readings on Sufi Orders in Central Asia: Competition, Practice, Politics
Part 5. Central Asia in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
Introduction
A. The Shïbanids and Central Asian Society in the Sixteenth Century
35. Zubdat al-athar: The Beginnings of the Shïbanid State
36. Babur: Description of the Farghana Valley and Babur's Ejection from Samarqand
37. Anthony Jenkinson: An English Merchant in Central Asia
38. Juybari Archives: A Sixteenth-Century Bukharan Deed of Sale
39. Akbar, Emperor of India: A Letter to Abdallah Khan Uzbek, King of Turan
B. Central Asia in the Seventeenth Century
40. Abu'l-Ghazi: Reasons for Writing the Genealogies of the Turks and Turkmens
41. Ivan Khokhlov: A Russian Envoy to Central Asia
42. Sayyeda-ye Nasafi: A Visit to the Shrine of Baha' al-Din Naqshband
43. Churas: Erke Bek, a Turkestani in the Service of the Oirats
Part 6. Central Asia in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
Introduction
A. The Age of Transition
44. Timur's Legendary Biographies
45. Thompson and Hogg: British Trade East of the Caspian
46. Abd al-Karim Kashmiri: Nadir Shah's Campaign in Central Asia
B. The Uzbek Tribal Dynasties
47. Tuhfat al-khani: The Inauguration of Muhammad Rahim Khan Manghït
48. Majma al-arqam: An Administrative Manual from Bukhara
49. A Collection of Royal Decrees from Khiva
50. Muntakhab al-tavarikh: On the Relations between Qoqand and Kashghar
C. The "Great Game" to Russian Rule
51. Alexander Burnes: The Importance of Bukhara in Great Game Politics
52. Mohan Lal: A Journey among the Turkmens
53. Levshin: Observations on the Qazaqs
54. Nikolai Ignatiev: Russia's Agenda in Central Asia
55. Bayani: The Russian Conquest of Khiva and the Massacre of the Yomut Turkmens
Glossary
Index |
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