ISSN: 0898-6827
A A C A R B U L L E T I N
of the Association for the Advancement of Central Asian Research
Editor: H. B. PAKSOY Vol. II Nos. 1 & 2 February 1989
INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS: Mir Ali Shir Navai Seminar for Central
Asian Languages and Cultures, UCLA; Program for Turkish Studies,
UCLA; The Central Asian Foundation, WISCONSIN; Committee on Inner
Asian and Altaic Studies, HARVARD U.; Research Institute for
Inner Asian Studies, INDIANA U.; Department of Russian and East
European Studies, U of MINNESOTA; The National Council for Soviet
and East European Research, WASHINGTON D.C.
Table of Contents:
-- Alfred E. Senn, "On Nationalism, Perspective, and a Few Other
Things." 2
-- Bahtiyar Nazarov, "Kutadgu Bilig: One of the first written
monuments of the aesthetic thought of the Turkic people." 5
-- News of the Profession 10
-- Book Reviews 18
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"On Nationalism, Perspective, and a Few Other Things"
Alfred E. Senn
Department of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison
[Professor Senn was formally invited by the Institute of
History of the Lithuanian SSR Academy of Sciences in Vilnius
to be in residence during Fall 1988. He is fluent in, inter
alia, Lithuanian and Russian. As there are close contacts
and dialogue between the Central Asians and the Balts, on
topics of mutual interest, we welcome Prof. Senn's timely
observations -- Ed.]
When the editor of AACAR BULLETIN invited me to write about
my experiences in Lithuania in the fall of 1988, I thought of a
variety of questions which I now approach in a different way than
I did before my stay in the Soviet Union. In the hope that these
observations can contribute somehow to the general study of the
nationalities of the Soviet Union I decided to offer them here.
The first problem concerns the use of the terms
"nationalist" and "nationalism." When I spoke to a Komsomol camp
in Lithuania, I was rather surprised by the vehement reaction I
received to a reference to "Lithuanian nationalism" in the 1920s.
The young intellectuals objected to the use of the term on the
grounds that "nationalism" carried a variety of bad connotations
in both Lithuanian and Russian, their two major languages. They
much preferred the use of the term "national consciousness" or
something of that sort, especially in reference to current
developments in their land.
Another example of this problem came in the Constituent
Congress of the Lithuanian Movement for Perestroika (Sajudis)
when the presidinq officer called on the delegation to condemn
the Voice of America's Russian Program's referring to their
meeting as a "nationalist congress" (natsionalisticheskii s'ezd)
delegates chanted "Shame, shame" for some fifteen seconds.
For years Soviet authorities have denounced "bourgeois
nationalism" as something evil, something fostering hostility
between people of different nationalities, not to mention causing
problems for the central authorities. One result of these years
of indoctrination is an instinctive reaction on the part of
intellectuals among the smaller nationalities against accepting
the epithet "nationalist" as characterizing their thoughts and
feelings about the national groups from which they arise. They
believe they have a right to live in the region that their
ancestors inhabited, and they believe they have a right to use
their native language in their daily public life. They
correspondingly object to having negative words applied to these
feelings.
The American may insist that that is not the way he or she
understands the term "nationalism" -- "nationalism" is not
necessarily identical with "chauvinism." Here the problem would
seem to be of seducation by "false friends" -- the assumption
that cognates in different languages have identical semantic
circles, the same range of connotations. "Nationalism" in English
and "natsionalizm" in Russian do not. One may yet argue that this
represents an acceptance of Leninist definitions, but I would
respond that the problem is understanding how any given word is
currently used and received in any language.
Using the term "nationalism" to describe the development of
new levels of self-consciousness among the nationalities of the
Soviet Union may simply help those who want to discredit them. If
it cared to, for example, Moscow radio could certainly cite the
Voice of America in criticizing the Lithuanians as nationalist.
(A Lithuanian writer, Vytautas Petkevicius, declared, "I speak
three languages, and a man who speaks just one language called me
a nationalist and claims that he is an internationalist.") Just
as one might reject terms from other languages because of their
political connotations -- after years of reading Marxist-Leninist
historiography, for example, I refuse to use the word "objective"
under any circumstances -- one should be careful about using
words that walk into other politically motivated semantic
circles. Communication, after all, is dependent on using mutually
comprehensible words and symbols.
Recognizing the problems of political vocabularies leads
into the second topic I would like to raise, namely one of
perspective. During my three months in Lithuania I found myself
immersed in the political discussions of the day. Those
discussions produced interesting poles in the assessment of what
was possible in Lithuania. There were of course conservatives,
who thought that disaster lay around every corner that one might
choose to turn; there were the so-called "extremists" who thought
that this moment of possible weakness and confusion in Moscow
offered great opportunity for those who dared to seize it; and
there were those who wanted patiently to push forward slowly,
avoiding needless confrontation but counting on establishing
permanent gains. I had my own thoughts about what was possible
but I recognized that the Lithuanians had to make their own
decisions on whether to take or avoid risks.
ln the latter part of November, living now in Hamburg and
reading the German press, I was struck by the readiness of German
journalists to deplore what they considered adventurous actions
in Estonia because trouble among the nationalities within the
Soviet Union could endanger Mikhail Gorbachev's position in
Moscow. These small nationalities, the Germans seemed to be
saying, have to understand the bigger picture and await better
times to press their particular programs. According to one
Lithuanian writer, a West German journalist visiting Vilnius
during the summer had actually deplored the activity of the
Lithuanians because of the problems they were creating for
Gorbachev.
The Lithuanians I had spoken with during my stay there had
fully realized that the changes they were experiencing were a
result of Gorbachev's policies of glasnost and perestroika.
Sajudis very much appreciated the help it had received in August
from Gorbachev's emissary Alexander Iakovlev, but the reformers
in Vilnius also resented the way Iakovlev turned on them in his
interview with the Western press at the end of October. The
centralist tendencies of Gorbachev's constitutional reforms
inevitably aroused discontent in the other constituent republics
of the Soviet Union. The Lithuanians and the other nationalities
of the Soviet Union had their own priorities.
The inclination of the journalists to tell the nationalities
of the Soviet Union to "cool it" for the benefit of the central
government offers another example of the tendency of Westies
of their attitude toward Moscow. Were the events in the Baltic
taking place while a Stalin was in power in Moscow, the German
journalists would presumably hasten to welcome them. But with
Gorbachev in power, those same developments seemed to present
danger. The nationalities themselves seem to have little
independent value in the world view of those journalists; one can
find many similar examples in reviewing the history of Eastern
Europe.
But just as the foreign press has its own prism in following
the affairs of the nationalities, the specialists too have to
understand themselves. In Lithuania I could see the difference
between Sajudis, a movement for reform in the Soviet system, and
the Lithuanian Liberty League, Lietuvos laisves liga, which
advocated Lithuanian independence now. The relations between
these two tendencies have shifted and changed over time, and
sometimes specific issues seem confused. Nevertheless the outside
observer should take extra care in evaluating developments lest
his or her own preferences overwhelm analysis and misrepresent
the motives of the actors. Perhaps it is an idealistic paradox to
suggest that the observer must not be too idealistic, but
distorted analyses serve only those who felt no need for new
information in the first place.
Another problem that I found particularly striking also
related to the nature of reporting that I read after I had left
Lithuania, namely, what sources do journalists, and Western
specialists too, have in following the events among the
nationalities of the Soviet Union. In December, when I visited
Lithuanian friends in Chicago, one of their first questions was
why the Lithuanians had criticized the Voice of America. They had
been unable to figure this out despite the extensive sources that
they had in hand.
ln my last days in Vilnius, one friend said to me, "Now you
will have to go back and again try to follow our developments by
just reading the newspapers." In reading the German press, I
concluded that the Moscow correspondents were largely
paraphrasing articles in the Russian-language press with the help
of occasional telephone calls from dissidents. Rereading the
press, even press releases, from the time of my stay in
Lithuania, I would say that the Russian-language press and those
unsolicited telephone calls often did not correspond to my own
observations. This is perhaps nothing new to the readers of this
publication, but I fe1t I had to mention it.
On the other hand, I must of course hasten to point out that
there were those correspondents who established contact with
identifiable sources in the region and therefore had more
reliab1e information. Romas Sakadolskis of the Lithuanian section
of the Voice of America, for example, besides attending the
Sajudis convention in Vilnius, telephoned leaders regularly --
his activity was even discussed on Lithuanian television one
night as Sajudis leaders felt it necessary to explain their
relationship with him. I did not hear his broadcasts, but I
heard many Lithuanians quoting him.
In conclusion, I would emphasize that I found my own
vocabulary, perspective, and understanding of both western and
Soviet media very much affected by my experiences in Lithuania.
This was a period of exciting change, and I tried to make the
most of it. My thanks go to H. B. Paksoy for the opportunity to
deliver myself of these thoughts.
* * *
"KUTADGU BILIG: One of the first written monuments of the
aesthetic thought of the Turkic people."
Bahtiyar Nazarov
Doctor of Science (Philology); Director,
Institute for Language and Literature, Uzbek Academy of Sciences,
Tashkent
[This paper is adapted from a presentation given at the 30th
meeting of PIAC, held at Indiana University, Bloomington,
during 1987. The couplets quoted from Kutadgu Bilig by Dr.
Nazarov were in the original. English translations and
references are substituted from Robert Dankoff (Tr.), Wisdom
of Royal Glory: Kutadgu Bilig (Chicago, 1983), indicated
pages. -- Ed.]
Kutadgu Bilig by Yusuf Balasagun (completed 1070 A.D) is one
of the first written literary monuments of the aesthetical
thought of the Turkic people.
In the history of the mankind, almost without exception,
every state, every empire, every social formation is reflected
not only in their historical works and scientific treatises but
also in great art works of oral and written character, that gives
the future generations rather vivid and clear representation of
the detailed picture about the life of the society and the people
of the previous epoch.
Among those is one the first written masterpieces of the
Turkic language people Kutadgu Bilig appeared in the period when
the Samanid empire was in decline and the Karahanid state was
emerging -- which existed from the middle of the IX th up to the
beginning of the XIII century on the territory of the Eastern and
Western Turkestan.
This wonderful work of Turkic and of world written
literature has become the object of investigation by many
scholars: Russian, Turkish, German, English, French, Hungarian,
Uyghur and others. Noteworthy are the investigations of such
scholars of different generations as A.Vambery, R.Radloff,
S.E.Malov, V.V.Bartold, E.E.Bertels, F.K pr l zade, A.Kononov,
R.R.Arat, A.Dilachar, A.Valitov, E.K.Tenishev, N.A.Baskakov,
S.N.Ivanov, I.V.Steblev, D.Majidenov, U.Asanaliev, K.Ashuraliev,
Fitrat, S.Mutalibov, G.Abdurakhmanov, N.Mallallaev, A.Kajumov,
K.Karimov should be mentioned.
It should also be emphasized that the dissertations of the
young specialists Bakijan Tukhliev and Kasimjan Sadikov in
Tashkent are dedicated to the investigation of this work, which
in its turn gives evidence that the problems of studying the
literary heritage of our national cultural traditions takes one
of the central positions at the present time.
Acquaintance with the ample literature dedicated to Kutadgu
Bilig by Yusuf Balasagun shows that the specialists up to the
present time addressed mainly the linguistic, literary,
philosophical, political, social and didactic aspects of the
work. Special investigation from the point of view of aesthetical
problems is still missing. If at all, they are touched extremely
superficially, while Kutadgu Bilig is in its essence one of the
first valuable sources of Turkic-language written literature,
where the formation of the aesthetic thought of Turkic people is
reflected most vividly and deeply. This consideration caused the
choice of the subject of the present short communication. This
is, of course, a very large theme, requiring efforts of many
specialists to solve it. Taking advantage of the case, l would
like all colleagues to pay attention to this problem in their
investigations, since the study of the problem is of both
scholarly and practical importance in the cause of developing
cultural and moral values in our present unique world, the
aesthetic values of Kutadgu Bilig are considerable from our point
of view because having a general humane nature, they can have
rather objective and direct influence on the development of moral
basis of the nature of the modern personality irrespective of the
social structure to which it belongs.
We are convinced that the books like Kutadgu Bilig are
necessary for us at the present time, since in it we can find
answers to the urgent, exciting questions, the answers which our
ancestors left as their legacy to us. In our communication we are
trying to enlighten the aspects of aesthetic problems, reflected
in Kutadgu Bilig.
One of the central problems in aesthetics is known to be the
problem of beauty. Democritus saw beauty in the order, symmetry
and harmony of one part to the other. It must be noted here, that
Yusuf Balasagun's views in relation to the beautiful coincide in
many aspects with those of Aristotle and Confucius.
In order to be beautiful, esteemed in society, a person, in
our case the Grand Chamberlain (the post Yusuf Balasagun occupied
at the Karakhanid court), according to Yusuf, must possess both
inner and outer beauty. Thus, the beauty in the man acts as the
whole category in Yusuf's conception. The harmony and symmetry of
the mind, physical beauty and moral basis in a man, especially
the man influencing the life of the society, is one of the
central principles of the aesthetic conception of Yusuf. On this
occasion he writes the following: [Pp.119-123]
"...He should be handsome in appearance.... He should have a
sound mind and a quiet demeanor. The man with a sound mind
does not forget his word.... He should have a humble and
quiet heart, full of compassion. And he should be skillful
and knowledgeable about royal custom. It is skillful men who
produce all the beautiful objects in the world... He should
have a cheerful face and smiling eyes..."
Here to some extent one can not help but notice the nearness
of Yusuf's conception to the classical understanding and
treatment of the beautiful - known to us from aesthetic views of
the ancient philosophers - the harmony of the beautiful in both
spirit and mind.
In our opinion, Yusuf's understanding of the beautiful is
one of considerable achievements of aesthetic thoughts of Turkic
people, expressed in written form. This is simultaneously one of
the significant treatments of the conception of man.
The understanding of this problem by the author is, of
course, in the ideal rather than real attitude to existence, for
one can not forget that it matters to the Chamberlain, whose
class criteria were on the side of the ruling elite, to whom this
highest title was given at that time. lt should be emphasized,
however, that Yusuf, developing his aesthetic views, states a
number of important ideas, applicable to the present day.
The beautiful in man, the beautiful man can not exist by
himself, isolated from other people, from society; more
concretely, these qualities of man can be evaluated positively
only in the case when they are useful to other people. That is,
as seen from Yusuf's conception, the beautiful acts, on the one
hand, inseparably with utility, but on the other hand, it begins
to acquire public and social significance. Here, in our opinion,
it would be appropriate to make an analogy between these thoughts
of Yusuf and those of Socrates who spoke about the usefulness and
purposefulness of the beautiful.
Yusuf Balasagun expresses his views in the following:
[Pp.219-220]
"Do not give a job to someone simply because he happens to
be in your service; rather take into your service men who
will be of genuine use to you.... Remove useless men from
your service. As for those who are of use and benefit, give
them appropriate jobs and provide them with honor and
reward."
Thus, according to Yusuf, the beautiful in man, the
beautiful in his deeds exists not only in manifesting the
individual but at the same time is in the social significance of
the manifested. Therefore, from our point of view, Yusuf
approaches the understanding and treatment of the beautiful as a
public and social phenomenon, which makes it possible to speak
about the social purposefulness of his aesthetic views.
However, the author of Kutadgu Bilig does not stop here. He
goes further. In his work, consisting of about 6500 couplets,
written more than nine centuries ago, from the very beginning to
the very end there is the leading, main idea about the harmonious
beautiful man, and it is not by chance that the author names the
main character (the hero) K ntugdi [Rising Sun], personifying
Justice. Thus, in Yusuf's opinion, everything which is connected
with social and personal life of man, can become beautiful only
if it is associated with justice in its high and ideal meaning.
Without justice man's life will be as if the sun is eclipsed.
All this to some extent witnesses the democratic
purposefulness of Yusuf's views, though due to the narrowness of
his outlook, he sometimes manifests a tendentious attitude toward
simple people. In special sections of the book, dedicated to
peasants, poor people, craftsmen, stock-breeders, blacksmiths,
shoe makers, carpenters, carvers, archers, the author gives
tribute to the common people, but nonetheless, the sympathy of
Yusuf in the first instance refers to the representative of the
ruling classes. In this, one can see, of course, class narrowness
of the author of Kutadgu Bilig. Nevertheless, this does not
diminish the value of the basic, progressive conceptions and
thoughts which are presented in the book of Yusuf Balasagun.
It is noteworthy, that sometimes Yusuf manifests separate
moments of realizing (of course, not in the modern understanding
but on the level of thinking of his times) the class difference
between people. He states [in P.141] that he who has riches, has
"long" hands.
It should be emphasized that Yusuf is apt to associate the
beauty in human deeds first of all with his attitude to labor, to
his skill. [P.130-1]
Naturally, one should bear in mind that in relation to the
problem of human perfection Yusuf is firmly connected with
theological views of his time, that cannot be otherwise.
Therefore, much, if not everything in human perfection is treated
by Yusuf as the gift of the Most High to his obedient servants.
In Yusuf's opinion, the whole of human nature, all the beautiful
in man: his mind, his senses, etc. is the gift of God. But not
all the beautiful, earthly is treated by Yusuf in this manner.
Strange as it may seem, the fact that the praising of the
hereafter, its rewards and benefits are almost missing in Kutadgu
Bilig. Yusuf mainly praises the earthly joy of life and the
beauty of the real world, where man lives and works. The most
beautiful for the poet seems to be the beauty of nature which is
limitless and endless. And therefore he praises this beauty with
great strength.
It is known that under the rubric "word," is meant the
polynomial attribute of the human reason and thought. But the
word alone, though very good and correct, is not the very essence
of the subject arising from it. Yusuf writes that a good word
should become a good deed. [P.47]. Those words appear as if being
addressed to us from the remote past. They sound so modern, they
need no comment.
But the unity of the words and the deeds should express the
wisdom in the decision of this or that problem. According to
Yusuf this is not a result, but a purpose. The real result is not
only the display of wisdom, but it is in its realization, in
motion. That is why he says definitely: "Any man may don a cloak
of honor, but true nobility belongs to the man of wisdom and
intellect." [P.49].
Really, these are beautiful, aphoristic lines, which can
sound quite sharply today. "Speak knowledgeably, therefore, and
your words will be an eye to the blind." - he writes [P.45]. In
our opinion it is the word art that is meant here. The word art
has to bear a social moral content, which could help a person to
get rid of his personal defects and misfortunes. This should
become a definite life guide.
Developing his thought in this direction, Yusuf puts forward
the following beautiful words, which have not lost their meaning
in our days and resound even more sharply:
"The criminal is hanged by force of intellect, and civil
turmoil is suppressed by means of wisdom." [P.46].
This means that according to Yusuf's study, knowledge, the
power of the word and the power of reason are more powerful than
weapons. To prevent evil and fault it is necessary to be able to
use this great power.
Those words of our ancient ancestor impose a deep obligation
upon us - inhabitants of the planet at the end of the 20th
century to use the power of reason when solving any kind of
conflict. Yusuf noted that the words of poets were more sharp
than a sword. Like art in Aristotle's works, according to Yusuf,
the word is the means of refinement of people's souls from
personal negative passions and one of the main sources of the joy
of comprehension.
The main component of Beauty is kindness. This opinion of
Balasagun testifies to the unity of his point of view with that
of Confucius's. A person should always be kind in his thoughts
and deeds, owing to kindness he can comprehend the source of joy.
Yusuf calls every person to be among the people and to present
each other joy and happiness.
According to Yusuf Balasagun the most ugly thing in life is
violence in any form. The poet compares violence with a burning
fire [P.106], which swallows everybody approaching it. Contrary
to violence, Yusuf puts forward Justice and compares it to water
- the source of life. Because of water everything is alive. It is
necessary to point out here, that to prove his aesthetic concepts
the author addresses the things and phenomena of the Earth, not
the world of paradise or hell. He composes his artistic
characters using the natural phenomena surrounding man. This fact
emphasizes their nearness to life and their influence on the
reader.
lt is an important element in Yusuf Balasagun's aesthetics.
The traditions of his aesthetics influenced greatly the
development of the artistic and aesthetic thought of the Turkic
people of the following ages. In his poetry Yusuf addresses the
problems of justice, comparing it to a living water and he
addresses oppression, comparing it to burning fire. For example
[in P.142] Yusuf says to his ruler that he put out the burning
fire of oppression by his living water of justice. These opinions
of the author were his ideals and somehow exalted the ruler; in
the other couplets Yusuf wrote about injustice and ignorance
existing in the society of those times. There is no truth in
life, there is no justice and understanding -- he says bitterly
in his book.
There are some lines in Kutadgu Bilig where the poet speaks
about justice as the most beautiful thing and about oppression as
the most ugly thing not only in the Karakhanid's empire but all
over the world. He continues:
"Speech is descended from blue heaven to brown earth, and it
is by means of speech that man ennobles his soul. Man's
heart is like a bottomless sea and wisdom is the pearl that
lies at the bottom: if he fails to bring the pearl up out of
the sea it could just as well be a pebble as a pearl... As
long as the wise man does not bring out wisdom upon his
tongue, his wisdom may lie hidden for years and shed no
light. Fine things indeed are wisdom and intellect: put them
to work, if you possess them, and you will soar to heaven."
[P.46]
Kutadgu Bilig was created in Kashgar and dedicated to
Tabgach-Bugra Karakhan, describing the events of the Kagan's life
and including his education. In its artistic content and
philosophical direction, the work goes beyond the confines of
this limited purpose and, in general the work is of universal
humanistic and human character. The same can be said about the
aesthetic value of the work.
From the portions quoted above, one can see, that Yusuf pays
special attention to the problems of justice and oppression,
prosperity and destruction. Hence, Yusuf's aesthetic opinions
have the character of an aesthetic ideal. The progressive people
of his time dreamed of this ideal and strove for it.
So Yusuf Balasagun's appeals to justice and oppression
represent contrasting forces, manifesting themselves first in
beauty, and second, in ugliness. It is necessary to note that the
great son of his time calls his rulers to follow the first force
and to deny the second one. These ideas of Yusuf are very
progressive for his epoch. One can say that they had not lost
their meaning even in our days. The aesthetic views of Yusuf,
keeping in step with every period of human development, are
powerful and modern.
In conclusion I want to say to my colleagues, to the
participants of all international forums, that we should pay more
and more attention to study the artistic heritage of remotest
times, for example to the investigation of Kutadgu Bilig.
It is sufficient to remember that the Fourth Special
Conference on Turkology, held in Leningrad in 1970, was devoted
to the 9OOth anniversary of Kutadgu Bilig's creation. During the
last two years, two poetical translations of Kutadgu Bilig
were made in Uzbekistan. The translations into modern
Uzbek were made by Sadulla Ahmad and Bakijan Tuhliyev. Fifteen
years ago this work was published in transcription with
interpretation by K.Karimov. Two years from now, we are going to
celebrate the 920th anniversary of this unique masterpiece of
Turkic people. In this connection I have a proposal: perhaps it
would be reasonable for the international scholarly community to
begin preparations to mark this date. Nevertheless it would not
be inappropriate, if a group of experts meet in Tashkent where
one of three extant manuscripts of Yusuf Balasagun is preserved.
This measure would promote further strenghthening of
international scholarly cooperation working in the difficult but
very noble branch of modern social sciences.
* * *
NEWS OF THE PROFESSION
AACAR has two new Institutional Members: Research Institute for
Inner Asian Studies, INDIANA UNIVERSITY; The National Council for
Soviet and East European Research, WASHINGTON D.C. We extend our
warm collegial welcome.
AACAR MONOGRAPH SERIES Editorial Board, composed of Thomas ALLSEN
(Trenton State College) (Secretary of the Board), Peter GOLDEN
(Rutgers), Thomas NOONAN (U of Minnesota) Omeljan PRITSAK
(Harvard), Morris ROSSABI (Columbia), is interested in receiving
manuscripts pertaining to the history, literatures and cultures
of Central and Inner Asia. All communications should be sent to
Prof. Thomas ALLSEN, Secretary of the Editorial Board, AACAR
MONOGRAPH SERIES, c/o History Department, Trenton State College,
Trenton, NJ 08625.
AACAR shall hold regular elections for President, Secretary,
Treasurer and a Member at large to the Executive Committee. Paid-
up AACAR members will be eligible to vote. Certified Ballots will
be sent to the address of record during the second half of 1989
by the election committee. Please be sure we have your correct
address.
Current and future members of AACAR should be advised that the
Central and Inner Asian Studies journal is edited, produced and
distributed on its own schedule. Vol. 3 of CIAS was mailed during
December 1988.
NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES (Washington DC 20506)
announced sixty-four Summer Seminars for College Teachers for the
Summer of 1989. Two are directly relevant to the readership: 1.
FROM THE SILK ROUTE TO AFGHANISTAN: APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF
CENTRAL ASIA, June 11 to August 4 1989 (six weeks); Directed by
Eden NABY and Richard FRYE. Contact: Eden NABY, 612 Herter Hall,
U. of Massachusetts, Amherst MA 01003. 2. BUDDHISM AND CULTURE,
June 19 to August 11 1989 (eight weeks); Directed by: William R.
LaFLEUR and Stephen F. TEISER. Contact: Department of East Asian
Languages and Cultures, Royce Hall, RM 290, UCLA, Los Angeles CA
90024. For further information on other NEH seminars, contact:
NEH Seminars Program, 202/786-0463.
32nd Meeting of PIAC (Permanent International Altaistic
Conference) will be held in Oslo-Norway, 11-16 June 1988, under
the Presidency of Bernt BRENDEMOEN. Contact: Denis SINOR,
Secretary General, Goodbody Hall 101, Indiana U., Bloomington, IN
47405.
Central Asia and its Neighbors: Mutual Influences conference will
be held 26-30 June 1989 by the European Seminar on Central Asian
Studies (ESCAS III). Contact: Prof. Remy DOR, ESCAS III, Institut
d'etudes Turques, 13 Rue de Santeuil, 75231 Paris Cedex 05.
33rd International Congress of ASIAN and NORTH AFRICAN STUDIES is
to meet at the University of Toronto, Canada, August 19-25, 1990.
The theme is Contacts Between Cultures. Contact: Secretariat,
33rd ICANAS, c/o Prof. Julia CHING, Victoria College, University
of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1K7, Canada.
INDIANA UNIVERSITY is conducting a search for a position in
CENTRAL ASIAN STUDIES, with emphasis on social sciences. Salary
and rank will be commensurate with ability and experience.
Qualifications: Ph. D., good (preferrably native) knowledge of at
least one Central Asian language, and demonstrated excellence in
research and teaching. Post is in Department of Uralic and Altaic
Studies, to commence August 1989.
American Council of Learned Societies has announced a program to
initiate new teaching positions in East European studies.
Applications must be prepared by institutions. Contact: Jason H.
PARKER, ACLS, 228 E 45th Str, NY NY 10017.
Columbia University Seminar for Studies in the History and
Culture of the Turks is continuing under the direction of Prof.
Kathleen BURRILL. The 1988-89 program is as follows: 16 Sep.
Elena FRANGAKIS-SYRETT (Queens College) "Izmir's Trade With
Western Europe in the 18th and early 19th Centuries;" 7 Oct.
Geoffrey L. LEWIS (Prof. Emeritus, Oxford) "Bab r: the
Professional King;" 18 Nov. Mark PINSON (Harvard) "Online
Resources for Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies;" 16 Dec. Erica
GILSON (Columbia) "Computers in Foreign Language Instruction: The
State of the Art."; 27 Jan. Thomas GOODRICH (Indiana U. of
Pennsylvania) "Ottoman Cartography: An Illustrated Lecture on
Maps of the 16th-17th Centuries;" 17 Feb. Ellen ERVIN (Columbia)
"The Novels of Adalet Agaoglu: Feminism in Contemporary Turkey;"
24 Mar. Madeline ZILFI (U. of Maryland-College Park) "A Medrese
for the Palace: Ottoman Dynastic Legitimation in the Eighteenth
Century;" 21 Apr. Viktor OSTAPCHUK (Harvard) "The Role of the
Black Sea Frontier in Ottoman, Polish and Moscovite Relations in
the First Half of the 17th Century." Contact: Ms. Eileen McKEON,
c/o Center of Turkish Studies, 616 Kent Hall, Columbia U., NY, NY
10027.
ARIT (American Research Institute in Turkey) will be celebrating
the 25th anniversary of its founding. Contact: ARIT, Oriental
Institute, 1155 E. 58th St. Chicago, IL 60637.
Details of the COUNCIL FOR INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE OF SCHOLARS
research support programs (in Asia, Midle East) are available
from: CIES, Eleven Dupont Circle, Washington DC 20036. Fulbright
Scholar-in-Residence Program information may be obtained from the
same address.
The Fundamentalism Project, undertaken by the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences (est. 1780), and funded by the John D. and
Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, has held one of its public
conferences at the University of Chicago 15-17 November 1988. The
collected essays, it is reported, will be issued in a volume
entitled Fundamentalism Observed. For future conferences in the
series and other details, contact: The Fundamentalism Project,
Swift Hall, 1025 E. 58th Str., Chicago, IL 60637.
NATIONAL COMMITTEE ON UNITED STATES-CHINA RELATIONS, INC. is
seeking nominations for its Scholar Orientation Program, which
has so far provided more than 500 Chinese scholars -- studying at
US universities -- over the past eight years the chance to reach
beyond their campus experiences within the US. Contact: 777
United Nations Plaza, NY, NY 10017. 212/922-1385.
JOSEPH FLETCHER MEMORIAL LECTURE, sponsored by the Committee of
THE JOSEPH F. FLETCHER, JR. FUND FOR INNER ASIAN STUDIES at
HARVARD UNIVERSITY was given by Denis C. TWITCHETT (Gordon Wu
Professor of Chinese History, Department of East Asian Studies,
Princeton University), on November 10, 1988 at Harvard U.
Oxford University Press has announced the Population Atlas of
China. [$250 + $7.50 (postage)]. Contact: OUP Humanities & Social
Sciences Dept. 200 Madison Ave. NY NY 10016. All orders from
individuals must be prepaid. * The Harriman Institute Forum
is a monthly serial, which began publication during 1988,
featuring a major essay on the USSR in every issue. For
subscriptions: The Harriman Institute, Columbia University, 420
W. 118th St. NY NY 10027. * ASEEPL Abstracts of Soviet & East
European Emigre Periodical Literature, published since 1981,
Edited by Leonid KHOTIN, is available for subscription. Contact:
1400 Shattuck Ave. Ste 7, # 10, Berkeley, CA 94705. *
Research on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, an
interdisciplinary annual series is announced. Contact: T. Anthony
JONES, Harvard RRC, 1737 Cambridge, Cambridge MA 02138. * The
Bulletin of the Csoma de K r s Symposium offers regular
information and bibliography in the fields of Tibetan, Central
Asian and Lamaistic studies. It is normally issued twice yearly.
Contact: Dr. J. TERJEK, Library of the Hungarian Academy of
Sciences, H-1361 Budapest P. O. B. 7 * Modern Asian Studies,
a journal concerned with the history, geography, politics,
sociology, literature, economics and social anthropology is
available from Cambridge Univ. Press. Contact: 32 E 57th Str., NY
NY 10022. * Current History, a monthly journal founded in
1914 by The New York Times, is seeking new subscribers.
Specializing in single topic issues, every year the journal
publishes dedicated numbers on China, Soviet Union, Middle East.
Contact: 4225 Main Str., Philadelphia PA 19127. * CITIZENS
EXCHANGE COUNCIL Communique is available from: 12 W. 31st Str.,
NY NY 10001. * BEYOGLU KITAP ILIK LTD has issued a beautifully
prepared catalog, DIWAN, of rare books and out of print
periodicals, including titles on Central Asian topics in several
languages and alphabets. Contact: Mr. Ayhan AKTAR or Mr. Ugur
G RACAR, Galip Dede Cad. 141/5, T nel, 80050 Istanbul. Phone: 149
06 72. * E. J. BRILL issues, inter alia, regular catalogues
on Central Asian topics. Handbuch der Orientalistic is also
available. Contact: E. J. BRILL, P. O. Box 9000, 2300 PA Leiden,
The Netherlands. * OXUS BOOKS published Central Asia
Catalogue . Conntact: Oriental Booksellers, 121 Astonville Str.,
London SW18 5AQ, UK. * ARIS & PHILLIPS Ltd. issues occasional
catalogues on Central Asia. Contact: Teddington House,
Warminster, BA12 8PQ, UK.
Perspectives on the Islamic World: Basics and Some Major Trends
was the theme of a conference and workshop held at the U. of
Connecticut, Greater Hartford Campus, 14 October 1988, co-
sponsored by U. of Connecticut, The Middle East Institute
(Washington DC), Connecticut Council for the Social Studies,
Inc., Connecticut State Department of Education, and the World
Affairs Center of Hartford, Inc. Papers included; Howard REED (U
Connecticut-Storrs), Ali ASANI (Harvard), Amb. Christopher Von
HOLLEN (Middle East Institute), Amb. Herman EILTS (Boston U.).
The Impact of the 1838 Anglo-Turkish Convention: Anatolia and
Egypt Compared was the topic of a conference at the State
University of New York at Binghamton 7-8 October 1988, co-
sponsored by Southwest Asian/North African Studies Program;
Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economies, Historical
Systems and Civilizations; Institute of Turkish Studies
(Washington DC). The following scholars presented papers: Roger
OWEN (Keynote- St. Antony's, Oxford U.); Feroz AHMAD (U. of
Massachusetts); Resat KASABA (U. of Washington); Roderic DAVISON
(George Washington); Fred H. LAWSON (Mills Coll.); Sevket PAMUK
(Villanova); Zafer TOPRAK (Bogazi i); Elena FRANGAKIS-SYRETT
(Queens Coll.) Sarah SHIELDS (Kansas State U.); Robert VITALIS
(Texas); Beatrice St. LAURENT (Harvard) Ellis GOLDBERG (U. of
Washington); Nancy MICKLEWRIGHT (U. of Michigan); Nathan BROWN
(George Washington); Paul BLANK (Middlebury Coll.); Stephan
ASTOURIAN (UCLA); ROUND TABLE: aglar KEYDER, Don PERETZ; Donald
QUATAERT, Immanuael WALLERSTEIN.
Fordham University Middle East Studies Program Outreach Lecture
Series, Critical Issues in Middle East Politics, presented a
colloquium entitled Turkey as Bridge in the North-South Dialogue
on 24 Oct. 1988. Dankwart A. RUSTOW and Walter F. WEIKER were the
featured speakers. For future programs, contact: Ralph. A.
VALENTE, Director of Outreach, Middle East Studies Program,
Fordham U., NY NY 10458. Phone: 212/841-5375.
Prof. Howard REED will be retiring from the History Department of
University of Connecticut-Storrs at the end of 1988-9 academic
year. * S. Enders WIMBUSH has been appointed Director of
Radio Liberty. * Eden NABY is now teaching both at the
University of Massachusetts-Amherst and at Columbia University
* Masayuki YAMA-UCHI (University of Tokyo) has published THE
GREEN ARMY, THE DIVINE ARMY AND THE RED ARMY. (In Japanese). In
our previous issue, the details of Prof. Masayuki YAMA-UCHI's
book were somewhat scrambled. We offer our sincere apologies. *
Peter REDDAWAY has moved to George Washington University,
vacating his post as the Program Secretary at the Kennan
Institute for Advanced Russian Studies (KIARS), Wilson Center,
Smithsonian Institution. * Blair RUBLE has been appointed to
take over as the Program Secretary of the KIARS, beginning late
spring 1989. At this writing, a search was on to replace Dr.
RUBLE at the SSRC post which he is vacating. * Thomas S.
NOONAN (U of Minnesota) gave a seminar entitled "The Millenium of
Russia's First Perestroika: Economic Development and Technology
Transfer under Saint Vladimir" at KIARS, 13 September '88 *
Audrey L. ALTSTADT (CCSU) has received a short term KIARS grant.
* Prof. Kemal H. KARPAT (U of Wisconsin-Madison) has received
IREX travel funding for research in Hungary. * Sarah Moment
ATIS (U of Wisconsin-Madison) has received a Rockfeller grant and
is spending 1988-9 at the U of Michigan as a writer in residence
* Edward LAZZERINI (U of New Orleans) has been appointed
Director of the Pacific Basin Program of his university. *
Azade-Ayse RORLICH (USC) has been asked to head the International
Studies Program of her university. * Cornell FLEISCHER
(Washington U.) has received a MacARTHUR Fellowship. * John
PERRY (U of Chicago) has received an Indo-American Fellowship to
study Arabic and Persian manuscripts in Indian libraries. *
Albert HOURANI (Oxford-Emeritus) has been elected Honorary Member
of American Historical Association. * Hisao KOMATSU (Tokai
University) has published a paper entitled "Bukhara in the
Central Asian Perspective: Group Identity in 1910-1928" in the
Tokyo University Institute of Oriental Culture series *
Ludwig W. Adamec (U of Arizona) has published A Biographical
Dictionary of Contemporary Afghanistan, which is available from
Akademische Druck-u. Verlagsanstalt, Neufeldweg 75, A-8010
Graz/Austria. Information on Prof. Adamec's four volume
Historical Gazetteer of Iran, 1976-88 is available from the U of
Arizona, Department of Oriental Studies, Tucson, AZ 85721.
Comite International D'Etudes Pre-Ottomanes et Ottomanes VIIIth
Symposium was held at the U. of Minnesota-Humphrey Center 14-19
August 1988, Caesar E. FARAH Presiding. Under the theme of
Decision Making and the Transmission of Authority in the Turkic
System, the following papers were read: Halil INALCIK (Keynote
Speaker, Chicago-Emeritus) "Decision Making in the Ottoman
State;" Bruce MASTERS (Wesleyan) "The Implementation of the
Anglo-Ottoman Capitulatory Treaty of 1675;" Christoph NEUMANN
(Institute for the Culture and History of the Near East and
Turkey, Munich) "Decision Making in Ottoman Foreign Policy About
1780;" Ezel Kural SHAW (California State-Northridge) "Integrity
and Integration: Assumptions and Expectations Behind Solutions to
the Eastern Question;" Pal FODOR (Hungarian Academy of Sciences)
"Dilemmas of a Political Decision: The Ottoman Occupation of
Hungary, 1541;" Geza DAVID (U. of Budapest) "Decision Making on
the Confines: Administrative Problems in the 16th Century Ottoman
Hungary;" Robert OLSON (U. of Kentucky) "The Significance of the
1740 Treaty Between the Ottoman Empire and France;" Muhammad
BENABOUD (Mohammed V U. - Rabat) "Ottoman Authority and Power in
the Arab Provinces in the Eyes of an 18th Century Moroccan
Ambassador;" Josef MATUZ (U. of Freiburg) "Practices of
Transmitting Decisions by the Central to Local Authorities and
Foreign Powers in Both the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean
Khanate;" Michel Le GALL (St. Olaf Coll.) "Centralization &
Decentralization in Late 19th c. Ottoman Provincial
Administration: A note from Tripolitania;" Sinan KUNERALP (ISIS
Publishing) "Career Patterns of XIXth c. Ottoman Diplomats;"
Thomas GOODRICH (Indiana U. of Pennsylvania) "A 17th c. Atlas in
the 1526 Kitab-i Bahriye of Piri Reis;" Danuta CHMIELOWSKA
(Warsaw U.) "The Image of Ottoman Turks in Polish Travel
Literature;" Timothy COATS (U. of Minnesota) "The 1540 Captain's
Log of D. Joao de Castro's Red Sea Voyage in the context of 16th
c. Portuguese-Ottoman Rivalry;" Gy rg HAZAI (Hungarian Academy of
Sciences) "Travelers in the Ottoman Empire: A Bibliographic
Project;" Keith HOPWOOD (St. David's Coll.-Wales)" The Formation
of the Begliks of Pre-Ottoma era;" Yitchzak KEREM (Jerusalem)
"Immigration Patterns From Greece to the Ottoman Empire in the
19th c.;" Ethel STEWART (Ottawa-Canada) "An Apache Tribe of
Turkish Origins;" Muhammad Al-AIDAROOS (UAR U.) "A Comparative
Study between the Ottoma Turks and the Spanish Crusaders;" Jacob
LANDAU (The Hebrew U.) "Research Projects on the History of Jews
in Ottoman Egypt;" Roderic DAVISON (George Washington) The Impact
of the Electric Telegraph on the Conduct of Ottoman Foreign
Policy;" David KUSHNER (U. of Haifa) "The Haifa-Damascus Railway:
The British Phase 1891-1902;" Janos HOVARI (Hungarian Academy of
Sciences) "Ottoman Commercial Activity at the Southern Border of
Hungary Before the Battle of Mohacs;" Butros LABAKI (Lebanese U.)
" The Commercial Network of Beirut in the last 25 Years of
Ottoman Rule;" Rachel SIMON (U. of Washington) "Commercial and
Communication Networks in Ottoman Libya;" Momir JOVIC (Pristina
U.-Yugoslavia) "Communications Between Adriatic Cities and the
Turkish Hinterland in the Balkans up to the XVI c.;" Virginia
AKSAN (U. of Toronto) Ottoman Sources of Information on Europe in
the 18th c.;" Jean-Louis BACQUE-GRAMMONT (French Institute-
Istanbul) "Cimetieres ottomans et banque de donees. Premieres
remarques;" Nacereddine SAIDOUNI (U. d'Alger) Fonds des archives
algeriennes relatifs a l'epoque ottomane-Contenu-Exploitation;"
Issam KHALIFAH (Lebanese U.) "Capuchin Archives on Lebanon in
Ottoman History;" Andrea ZSIGA-KISS (Hungarian Academy of
Sciences) ""Waqf Conscriptions in Hungary Under Ottoman Rule
(16th-17th c.);" Melik DELILBASI (U. of Ankara; Fellow, Dunbarton
Oaks) "The Significance of Ottoman Archives and the Tahrir
Defters for Ionnina;" Alexander H. de GROOT ((U. of Leiden);
Ekmeleddin IHSANOGLU (Research Center for Islamic History, Art
and Culture, Istanbul) "Bashoca Ishak Efendi as a Pioneer of
Modern Science in the Ottoman State;" Howard A. REED (U. of
Connecticut) "Turkish American Educational Cooperation: Over a
Century of Achievement;" Martin STROHMEIER (U. of Bamberg)
"Education in Ottoman Lebanon, ca. 1880-1917;" Donald QUATAERT
(SUNY-Binghamton) "Conditions of Labor in Ottoman Factories,
1800-1914;" Maria TODOROVA (Fellow-Wilson Center; U. of Sofia)
""Midhad Pasha's Governership of the Danube Province;" Abdul Aziz
AWAD (Yarmouk U.) Ottoman Public Administration in Concept and
Practice in the 19th c.;" Abdul-Karim RAFEQ (U. of Damascus)
"Society and Economy in Ottoman Syria in the 1650s;" Joseph Abou
NOHRA (Lebanese U.) "Le role preponderant des conseillers
(mudabbirs) Moronites dans le governement de Mont-Liban au 18e
siecle;" Linda DARLING (U. of Chicago) "The Finance Scribes and
Ottoman Politics;" Douglas HOWARD (Indiana U.) "Central and
Provincial Administrative Interaction in Timar Bestowals and the
Meaning of New Developments in the early 17th c.;" Palmira
BRUMMETT (U. of Tennessee) "The Ottoman-Safavid and Center-
Province Frontiers: A Case of Campaign Troop Mobilization, 1577-
1581;: Daniel GOFFMAN (Ball State) "Ottoman Authorities and the
Contours of Commerce in Aleppo, Istanbul and Izmir, 1600-1700;"
Tadeusz MAJDA (Warsaw U.) "Nabi's Fethname-i Kameni e as a
Historical Source;" N. OIKONOMIDES (U. of Montreal) "The Turks in
12th c. Byzantine Literature;" Abdul-Rahim ABU-HUSAYN (AUB)
"Juridical Literature as a Source for the Social History of and
Religious Trends in Ottoman Syria;" Samir SEIKALY (AUB) "The
Fatawa of Khayr al-Din al-Ramli;" Jan SCHMIDT (U. of Leiden)
"Fazil Beg Enderuni, Social Historian or Poet?;" Robert DANKOFF
(U. of Chicago) "The Last Days of Melek Ahmed Pasha;" Nimetullah
HAFIZ (U. of Pristine) "Kosova T rk Destanlarinda Tarih
Kaynaklari;" Tacida HAFIZ (N.A.) "Nobelci Ivo Andri 'in 'Travnik
Olaylari' ve 'Drina K pr s ' Eserlerinde Osmanlilar;" C. Max
KORTEPETER (NYU) "System Analysis and the Ottoman Empire;" E.
Z RCHER (Catholic U.-Nijmegen) "A Biographical Dictionary of the
Turkish Revolution;" Mark PINSON (Harvard) "Reforms of the Second
Tanzimat Period (1856-76) in Bulgaria, Through the Eyes of
Foreigners and of a Computer "; Frederic DeJONG ((U. of Utrecht)
"The Transmission of Authority Over the Bektashi Tekkes in Iraq
in the Ottoman Period;" Ahmed Ibrahim DIAB (Omdurman Islamic U.-
Sudan) "The Relations Between the Mahdiyya and the Sanusiyya;"
Dina LeGALL (Princeton) The Naqshbandi Order in the Ottoman
Middle East: The Early Phases;" Saidi BAYRAM (General Dir. of
Vakiflar-Ankara) "An Ahi Geneology."
6th INTERNATIONAL TURCOLOGY CONFERENCE was held in Istanbul, 19-
23 September 1988, Prof. Dr. Ali ALPASLAN (Director, Turcology
Research Center) presiding. More than two-hundred papers were
read by scholars from twenty-seven countries in twenty-eight
sessions. For further details or future activities, contact: Yd.
Do . Dr. Osman SERTKAYA, Secretary General, Turcology, Istanbul
niversitesi Edebiyat Fak ltesi, Istanbul.
INTERNATIONAL TURKISH LANGUAGE CONFERENCE was held in Ankara, at
the T rk Dil Kurumu, 26 September-3 October 1988, Organizing
Committee consisting: Hasan EREN, Zeynep KORKMAZ, Hamza Z LFIKAR,
Osman SERTKAYA. Sixty-eight papers were read by scholars from
nineteen countries in eight sessions. For further details or
future activities, contact: Prof. Dr. Hasan EREN, Director, T rk
Dil Kurumu, Atat rk Bul. 217, Kavaklidere-Ankara.
* * *
BOOK REVIEWS
Ross E. Dunn, The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of
the 14th Century. University of California Press, 1986. Pp.357.
Of Tamarshirin, the Chaghatay ruler whose camp near
Samarkand he visited in 1333 or 1335, Ibn Battuta reports (in
Gibb's translation): "He used to sit reciting a litany in Turkish
after the dawn prayer until sunrise...." What do we know about
such Turkish "litanies?" And how did it happen that a Moroccan
faqih was on hand to overhear them?
Dunn's book does not attempt to answer questions of the
first sort. It does an excellent job answering questions of the
third sort: the romance of Ibn Battuta's life takes shape and
substance in Dunn's recounting. As for the questions of the
second sort: Dunn provides brief essays explaining the background
of the major episodes in the traveler's account. Thus we learn
enough about the Mongol conquests (p.83), or about education in
Mecca (p.108), or about Indian ocean shipping (p.120) -- or, in
the instance in the question, about the Chaghatay khanate (p.177)
-- to be able to place Ibn Battuta's reports in their proper
contexts. Taken together, these essays, though based on secondary
sources and somewhat superficial, provide a fine survey of
Eurasian geography during the waning of Pax Mongolica.
Dunn devotes chapters to each of the major regions which Ibn
Battuta visited, from the Maghrib to China. He spares the reader
discussions of the confused itineraries, consigning these to the
footnotes. He has helpful regional biographies at the end of the
book. Some of these could have been fuller: for example, the one
for Anatolia fails to list the studies of Taeschner, so useful in
elucidating the Akhi institution, for which Ibn Battuta is a
primary source.
In the Preface, Dunn insists that his study is not a book
about a book. He chracterizes it as "part biography and part
cultural history," and says that it is addressed to a non-
specialist audience. In part, Dunn tries to do for Ibn Battuta
what Leonardo Olshki did for Marco Polo in his book Marco Polo's
Asia. Dunn's book does not achieve the level of insight and
detail that Olshki's did. But it does succeed in what it sets out
to do. The book should be assigned in any undergraduate survey
course on Islamic civilization or on medieval Eurasia.
One word about the claim (p.1) that Ibn Battuta was "the
greatest traveler of premodern times." Should not that title go
rather to another Muslim traveler, Evliya Chelebi? (Of course, we
must agree that the seventeenth century was still "premodern" --
as it surely was at least with regard to modes of transportation)
Possibly Ibn Battuta logged more miles. But if we are judging
greatness by the quantity and quality of the travel accounts, the
one left by the Turkish traveler far outweighs that of his
Moroccan counterpart. Unfortunately, textual studies and
translations of the former are still at a primitive level, and it
will be some time before anyone will be able to write about
Evliya's "adventures" in as comprehensive a fashion as Dunn has
written about Ibn Battuta.
Robert Dankoff
University of Chicago
Thomas T. Allsen, Mongol Imperialism. The Policies of the Grand
Qan Mongke in China, Russia and the Islamic Lands 1251-1259
(University of California Press, Berkeley, 1987).
In the course of the last two decades, there has been,
relatively speaking, a quiet explosion in studies in the history,
structure, political, social and economic organization of the
nomadic societies of Medieval Eurasia. Long treated as the
stepchild of Chinese, Middle Eastern-Islamic or Russian studies
in the United States, this field, notwithstanding the remarkable
works of its pioneers, is only now showing signs of coming into
its own. For understandable reasons, having largely to do with
the availability of sources, these studies have tended to focus
on the major empires created by the nomadic peoples, especially
those of the Huns, Khazars and Mongols. Of them, the Mongol
Empire was the largest and not unexpectedly, having conquered
sedentary societies with old and well-developed traditions of
historical writing (e.g. China, Iran, Armenia, Georgia and Rus'),
the best documented in our sources. While other studies have,
perforce, been heavily philological and sought to reconstruct, on
the shaky footing of an imperfect source base the broad outlines
of their origins or history, Mongol imperial studies have
advanced considerably beyond that. Thomas Allsen's Mongol
Imperialism is an outstanding example of the new, more mature
history of the medieval Eurasian nomadic world. It asks important
historical questions.
Allsen, making use of the Chinese, Arabic, Persian and
Russian sources in the original and Latin, Syriac, Armenian,
Georgian and Mongol sources in translation for his study, is
equally at home in all parts of the Mongol "world-realm." This is
no small achievement. The primary focus of his work centers on
the question (p.5) of how the Mongols, a not particularly large
confederation (perhaps numbering 700,000) of nomadic pasturalists
and hunting-gathering forest tribes who had long been on the
fringes of the major nomadic empires of Inner Asia, with limited
resources could "acquire the needed manpower and materiel" to
conquer and retain a trans-continental empire? Allsen (see
Chapter 7 in particular) shows that the Mongols possessed
military superiority not in numbers (at least initially) nor
technology, but in training and leadership. The Mongols were
exceptionally well-schooled and disciplined soldiers. They were
able to increase rapidly the number of military men under their
control (both nomadic and sedentary) by co-opting and
conscripting the subject populations. This followed the well-
known paradigm for nomadic confederation- and statebuilding.
Superstratification, a term first used by Jozsef Deer (Pogany
magyarsag, kereszteny magyarsag, Budapest, 1938, pp.1O16) to
describe this process, is certainly one of the keys to Mongol
success. But, they went further. Previous nomadic statebuilders
conquered the other nomads and some sedentary elements (often
making extensive use of the latter, cf. the Soghdian-T rk
relationship), but never on the scale of the Mongol achievement.
The Mongols, moreover, who would also fall prey to the same
internecine, dynastic strife that afflicted earlier nomadic
states as well as the lure of the subject sedentary high
cultures, in their drive for domination, proved to be remarkably
adept at exploiting their victories organizationally. Each
success provided further fuel for the next. Allsen maintains that
the "Mongols succeeded in creating the largest contiguous
landbased empire in human history because they were able to
mobilize effectively the human and material resources of the
areas under their control" (p.7). To see this clearly, we must
view Mongol policies from a pan-imperial perspective, which is
what Allsen's book does.
After defining, in the introductory chapter, the nature of
the problem, the sources and methodology, Allsen devotes chapter
2 to the politics of M ngke's accession to and maintenance in
power. Chapters 3 and 4 analyze the structure and workings of the
centralized government headed by M ngke. The intricacies of
Chinggisid dynastic politics are fully elucidated. At the same
time, Allsen shows that Barthold's thesis that Batu was the
kingmaker who not only brought M ngke to power but, in effect,
shared power with him cannot be sustained. Rather, M ngke and the
Toluids had military superiority over the Jochids who owed
whatever special status they did enjoy to M ngke's assistance in
the subjugation of Western Eurasia. Batu was "only a respected
and valuable ally." M ngke's authority in foreign affairs was
"absolute" and his role in domestic matters "predominant."
(pp.56-63). In organizing his empire, M ngke was not so much an
innovator as a prudent and selective reformer who pragmatically
built on what had worked in the conquered areas. Although making
use of all the available, polyethnic talent of his realm, M ngke
was always careful to staff the more important pan-imperial posts
with Mongols who often came from his personal guard (the keshig).
These were long-time servitors of M ngke and his family whose
presence in key posts gave Mongol government "a pronounced
patrimonial flavor" (p.lOO). Within the imperial government there
were "multiple chains of command and considerable sharing of
responsibility" (p.112). To this a judicious mix of ethnic rivals
added a further level of checks and balances. Chapters 5 and 6
discuss the workings of the Mongol census and tax systems, which
are, of course, related. Allsen surveys the available data, which
is often confusing as a number of taxes were known by different,
local names. The ultimate origins of this system are still
obscure. It seems likely that the Mongols, who like most nomadic
societies had little or no organized taxation, borrowed from the
pre-existing systems of their sedentary subjects or had
remarkably creative individuals, such as the Khwarazmian Turk
Mahmud Yalavach, who created new forms or imaginatively reworked
and applied older ones. Chapter 7, as was noted above, discusses,
in some detail, the Mongol military organization and manpower
recruitment that won them an empire. In his final chapter, Allsen
concludes that M ngke, the last Qaghan of a united Mongol realm,
was a great but not unflawed ruler. He failed to provide for a
smooth and peaceful transferal of power. This plunged the empire
into a throne-struggle that marked the beginning of the state's
dissolution. He was, however, able to carry out a program of
fiscal and organizational reform while deflecting his
conservative opposition with a program of conquest. The reforms
enabled the government to marshal the resources needed to fuel
this expansion and the expansion produced the new resources which
the administration could now efficiently harness to achieve
further conquests. It was this system of government that the
Chinggisids bequeathed to Central Asia. Allsen's magisterial
command of the sources and his clearly articulated and richly
documented exploration of the inner workings of this great steppe
empire make this book essential reading for those studying the
formation of Central Asian Society in medieval and early modern
times.
Peter B. Golden
Rutgers University
Khubilai Khan, His Life and Times, by Morris Rossabi. xvii+322
pages, list of illustrations, preface, note on transliteration,
notes, glossary of Chinese Characters, bibliography of Words in
Western Languages, bibliography of Works in Oriental languages,
index. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1988. $25.00.
Study of the history of Mongol China has long, of westerners
in particular, been an extremely onerous task not the least due
to an almost complete lack of the subject and period monographs
which, for other areas of Chinese history, provide initial
guidance at least in always difficult waters. Recently, however,
this has begun to change for the better and now a major gap in
our knowledge has been filled with the appearance of an
important, well-researched, clearly-written biography of Khubilai
khan (1215-1294), in many ways most successful and most
influential of all the Mongol rulers, and his times, by Morris
Rossabi.
Rossabi's book is a topical examination of the maior periods
of Khubilai's life based upon thorough synthesis of available
Western, Chinese and Japanese secondary scholarship, supplemented
by new primary source research where necessary. The biography is
in eight chapters, with copious notes and bibliography. In
chapter 1, Rossabi brings into focus Kubilai's credentials as a
Mongol and the world into which he was born, and in which he grew
up. Chapter 2 handles with great skill the critical period of
Khubilai's life when he served as his brother's (qan M ngke)
viceroy in China, and nearly became a victim of the great purge
unleashed by the new qan against all real and perceived enemies.
Chapter 3 turns to the key struggle of Khubilai with his brother
Arigh B ke, a claimant to succession as "great khan" with
credentials better than Khubilai's, the potentially dangerous
rebellion of Shan-tung warlord Li T'an, and the initial
institutional reworking of Mongol China to suit new conditions
(government of an isolated regime separate from the rest of the
Mongolian world order) by Khubilai and his advisors. Chapter 4
narrates the high point of Khubilai's life, the conquest of the
south, his greatest contribution to Chinese history, but also
begins the tale of unsuccessful foreign invasions and
never-ending Central Asian troubles with Khaidu and others. In
chapters 5 and 6 Khubilai appears as emperor and law-giver in
full control of his powers, and as an important cultural patron
in interesting times. The last chapter, chapter 7, deals with
the great monarch's decline and foreign policy mistakes,
principally the second invasion of Japan and attempts to acquire
extensive domains in mainland and insular southeast Asia.
Although each chapter stands by itself and covers a different
period or aspect of Khubilai's age, Rossabi skilfully forges
links between them by his considerations of the khan himself, as
a personality, the lives of those around him, and certain common
themes developed throughout the book.
Each topical discussion provides much more than a chronology
of events of bare bones discussion of some complex subject. In
each case, even in those in which much more research is obviously
needed before definite statements can be written (e.g. Khubilai
and Buddhism, the Mongois and Yuan culture etc.), Rossabi makes
an effort to provide a synthesis of what has been written to
date, as well as his own views on the subject. His book will
become, as a consequence, not only a guidebook for those carrying
on where Rossabi has left off, but a general introduction to Y an
dynasty history, something urgently needed but lacking prior to
the publication of the Rossabi biography.
Rossabi's book thus has many strengths and much merit and
will certainly become a classic in the field. Its principal
weaknesses lie, in this reviewer's eyes, in two areas. One is
Rossabi's failure to take a broad enough view of the "Mongolness"
of Khubilai and of his dynasty. Although Rossabi makes, I
believe, more effort than anyone else in Y an studies to avoid
looking at the Mongols, and their state in China, too much
through the rose-colored glasses of the Confucian historian, I
still find his Khubilai too much a Chinese sage emperor, and too
little a Mongol potentate (which even Prof. Rossabi claims he was
and remained--pg.23). The problem, in my view, has arisen due to
Rossabi's repeated failure to consider the Mongolian side to
certain key events in Khubilai's life, and to certain key
institutions with which Khubilai was associated. Rossabi, for
example, presents Khubilai's "reforms" in his princely apanage
and other territories placed under his control in China by qan
M ngke largely in Confucian terms as resulting from the "sage"
advice of Chinese advisors, as they are presented in the later
Chinese sources. In fact such reforms, as Thomas Allsen has
demonstrated in his Mongolian Imperialism (U.C. Press, 1987),
were going on throughout the Mongolian world, in a highly uniform
manner (Khubilai, by the way, held exactLy the same position in
China that his brother H leg did in Khorasan-Iran). Later,
moreover, when Rossabi comes to discuss the institutions
"created" by Khubilai for his new "Y an Dynasty," he seems to
regard them as more or less (except for the darughachi) a new
creation, and completely Chinese. In fact, nothing could be
further from the case and later "Y an" institutions included
substantial Mongolian elements (the imperial bodyguard system,
the apanage system, the province system, even the organization of
the Chung-shu Sheng, to give but a few examples), some of which
were not only continued by later Mongol rulers in China, but were
even taken over by the Ming. Rossabi also is incorrect in my view
in the small space he devotes to Khubilai's relations with the
allied Il-khans in Iran (--Rossabi hardly mentions them but both
sides pursued them with great interest since through them a
fiction of Mongol unity was maintained--), and his failure to
discuss the great symbolical importance of the "old homeland" and
the "capital," the city of Kara Kurum. This city, and not Shang-
tu or Tai-tu, as Ch. Dalai points out (Mongoliya v XIII-XIV
vekakh, Moscow, 1983), remained the official capital of the
Mongolian world empire into the 14th century, even though the
supposed "great khans" had taken up residence in China. Many more
examples could be provided.
Other problems of the book are more minor. In several places
Rossabi may have credited Khubilai with the creation of
institutions actually created by others (--this is someting often
done in Chinese traditional histories to buoy up the "sagely"
qualifications of an emperor). On page 121, for example, a "new"
system is described whereby revenues from apanages would be
entirely turned over to central government agents (and not to
grasping apanage holders), who would then divide them up between
central government and apanage holders, and redistribute the
shares of income to the interested parties. If I am not mistaken,
this change had already been accomplished under qan g dei at the
suggestion of Yeh-l Ch'u-ts'ai. Khubilai may have been doing
little more than confirming already established practice. The
same must also be true for the she (pg.120) ordered "organized"
by Khubilai. The "new" system seems identical to that already
existing under the Sung. Extending the system to north, as well
as south, would of course have been a change and perhaps this is
what Rossabi means.
There are minor problems of transliteration: Sub tei is a
spelling contrary to Mongolian vowel harmony and would not be
correct even if the u were umlauted. The General's name in Middle
Mongolian is Sube'edei-ba'adur. It would also be correct to write
it S bedei, with a long mark over the second syllable. Batur is
another form which is neither here nor there. Is the name from
Mongolian ba-atur (M. Mong. ba'adur) or is it the Turkic form of
the same name, which should be properly be written badur. Also, I
think the preferred reading of the Chinese name of Khubilai's
winter capital is Tai-tu (Daidu), not Ta-tu. Better yet would be
Khanbalikh.
In conclusion: Prof. Rossabi has written an excellent,
readable book marred, in my view, by only one serious problem,
Rossabi's attitude towards the "Mongolness" of Khubilai, his
times, and his regimes. However, read with this limitation in
mind, the book is to be highly recommended not ony to
Sinologists, and historians of the Mongol world, but also to any
outside these fields desiring a general introduction to Mongol
China. This the book provides amply.
Paul D. Buell
Center for East Asian Studies, Western Washington University
Bellingham, Washington, 98225
Edward Allworth (Ed.), Tatars of the Crimea: Their Struggle for
Survival (Central Asia Book Series). Durham and London: Duke
University Press, 1988. xii+396 pp. $52.50.
There are individual heroes and collective heroes in this
analysis of ethnic consciousness among the Tatars and case study
of their fate after their expulsion from the Crimea in 1944. The
authors clearly admire the tenacity with which the Tatars, far
from their traditional centers of culture, have preserved their
sense of community, and they seek to account for its remarkable
cohesiveness. They describe the hardships of the Tatars' exile
and their campaign to regain lost civil and political rights as a
legally recognized ethnic community, and they place all these
events in a proper historical context. Description and analysis
are reinforced by contemporary sources such as the writings of
leading Tatar cultural figures of the past and recent samizdat
publications, all of which are published here for the first time
in English.
Two figures stand out as representative of Tatar cultural
and political aspirations at crucial periods in their history.
Both asserted the claims of their people to an identity of their
own and to an existence as a distinct cultural and political
community. Alan Fisher discusses the goals of Ismail Gaspirali,
the founder of the influential newspaper, Terj man, in 1883,
particularly his ideas about the importance of a common literary
language for the Turkic people of Russia and the need for
educational reform. Fisher also suggests interesting parallels
between Gaspirali and his Tajik contemporary, Ahmad Donish, who
looked to Russia as an intermediary between Central Asia and
Europe, a connection both thought was essential if Muslim society
was to be reinvigorated. Edward Lazzerini develops this theme
further. He points out that Gaspirali wanted not only Russian
approval but also sustained support of his program and shows how
he tried to persuade the Russians (and his Muslim critics) that
"drawing closer" to Russia did not mean Russification, which, he
was certain, could only have the opposite effect of driving them
further apart.
The figure who embodies contemporary Tatar aspirations most
dramatically is Mustafa Jemilev. Like Gaspirali earlier, he is
both the ideologist and the inspirational leader of the Tatars.
Ludmilla Alexeyeva calls him a "national hero," a title he has
earned through his persistence in the face of unrelenting police-
state persecution. Extensive excerpts from samizdat materials,
including his dignified and reasoned testimony at his trials in
1970 and later on charges of slandering the Soviet state and
social system, establish him as one of the major human rights
activists in the Soviet Union.
Not only strong individuals but also whole communities
pressed the case for Tatar rights. Several authors examine
underlying social and cultural traditions to explain Tatar
cohesiveness in adversity. Seyit Ahmet Kirimca shows how the
Tatar national anthem and the works of three poets provided the
symbols essential for survival: Riza G l m points to the
importance of dance, the theater, and folk poems in endowing the
community with a sense of ethnic identity and continuity; and M.
Batu Altan emphasizes the crucial role of the family in
preserving an awareness of ethnic identity for two generations of
children at a time when the regime discouraged the teaching of
Tatar history and culture in institutions. The moving
recollections of Ayshe Seytmuratova, a girl of seven when she was
deported to Uzbekistan, are eloquent testimony to the strength of
family and community associations. She tells in direct, spare
language of her efforts to obtain an education and a teaching
position for herself without renouncing her Tatar heritage and of
her perseverance in seeking justice for her people.
The scholarly articles. the memoirs, and the samizdat
documents constitute a powerful case study of Soviet nationality
policy. As Edward Allworth points out in his analysis of the
ambiguities and dilemmas of that policy, even as late as 1986 the
Communist Party continued to display its hostility to the
slightest act of self-determination when it declared its
intention to combat vigorously all "expressions of localism." The
cause of the Tatars, which encompasses a century, is at the same
time a case study of modern nationalism. The materials assembled
here add substantially to our understanding of the phenomenon.
Keith Hitchins
University of Illinois, Urbana
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