Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"
Along the Silk Roads is an excellent addition to both Mongol Empire studies and the Global Middle Ages. Collectively, its chapters illustrate well the sheer scale of the political, economic, and intellectual world forged through the Mongol conquests and the ways in which individual human beings experienced this vast new world. . . . [And it] contributes to the much-needed task of repositioning Europe and the Mediterranean world vis-à-vis the rest of the medieval world and constructing a truly global view of the Middle Ages." * Journal of Asian Studies *
"An extremely welcome collection. . . . Biran, Brack, and Fiaschetti have succeeded in assembling a collection of papers that reflect the extraordinary cultural vitality and ethnic diversity of the Chinggisid empire."
* Journal of Islamic Studies *
"More important, however, is to emphasize the quality of the biographies in this volume, which can serve as models for future works on scientists, painters, craftsmen, and doctors of the Mongol period." * Silk Road *
"Yet another entry in the exciting work being undertaken on the Mongols’ pluralist world." * Asian Review of Books *
"The volume can serve very well as an introduction to the history of the Mongol world because the authors take so many different perspectives."
* Der Islam *
"This book collects a rich parterre of scholars and makes use of Chinese, Persian, Arabic, Latin, Russian, Armenian and many other sources: it certainly leaves the impression of a ‘thorough work’ and a remarkable instrument for the scientific community."
* Eurasian Studies *
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Notes on Dates and Transliterations
Introduction
Michal Biran, Jonathan Brack, and Francesca Fiaschetti
Part One. Generals
1. Guo Kan: Military Exchanges between China and the Middle East
Florence Hodous
2. Baiju: The Mongol Conqueror at the Crossfire of Dynastic Struggle
Sara Nur Yıldız
3. Qutulun: The Warrior Princess of Mongol Central Asia
Michal Biran
4. Yang Tingbi: Mongol Expansion along the Maritime Silk Roads
Masaki Mukai and Francesca Fiaschetti
5. Sayf al-Dīn Qipchaq al-Mans.ūrī: Defection and Ethnicity between Mongols and Mamluks
Amir Mazor
6. Tuqtuqa and His Descendants: Cross-Regional Mobility and Political Intrigue in the Mongol Yuan Army
Vered Shurany
Part Two. Merchants
7. Jaʿfar Khwāja: Sayyid, Merchant, Spy, and Military Commander of Chinggis Khan
Yihao Qiu
8. Diplomacy, Black Sea Trade, and the Mission of Baldwin of Hainaut
John Giebfried
9. Jamāl al-Dīn al-T. ībī: The Iraqi Trader Who Traversed Asia
Matanya Gill
10. Taydula: A Golden Horde Queen and Patron of Christian Merchants
Szilvia Kovács
Part Three. Intellectuals
11. Rashīd al-Dīn: Buddhism in Iran and the Mongol Silk Roads
Jonathan Brack
12. Fu Mengzhi: “The Sage of Cathay” in Mongol Iran and Astral Sciences along the Silk Roads
Yoichi Isahaya
13. ʿĪsa Kelemechi: A Translator Turned Envoy between Asia and Europe
Hodong Kim
14. Pādshāh Khatun: An Example of Architectural, Religious, and Literary Patronage in Ilkhanid Iran
Bruno De Nicola
15. Islamic Learning on the Silk Roads: The Career of Jalāl al-Dīn al-Akhawī
Or Amir
Glossary
Chronology
List of Contributors
Index
