Mongol Period Research Articles

Prostitution and its perception as a social and economic phenomenon in Iran and the Caucasus in the late Middle Ages

The connection between the Iranian world and the Caucasus is longstanding and encompasses various areas, including history, culture, language and religion. The objective of this article is to investi-gate the prevalence and taxation of prostitution in late medieval Iran from the inception of the Mongol period (Ilkhanate) to the decline of the Safavids. Prostitution was increasingly perceived as a form of tra-de and was therefore subject to taxation in the same way as other forms of trade. Notwithstanding the efforts of secular authorities to eradicate it and in spite of the fact that in Muslim Iran prostitution was deemed a breach of Islamic law, the practice endured on a notable scale.

Al-Asrūshanī’s Jāmiʿ aḥkām al-ṣighār as a Source for the History of Childhood in Muslim Societies

A comprehensive compilation of legal rulings about children, one of particular historical utility and yet largely overlooked, is Muḥammad al-Asrūshanī’s Jāmiʿ aḥkām al-ṣighār. It offers a rather holistic view of the legal status of Muslim children and, more importantly, insight into common concepts of childhood and attitudes to children in premodern Muslim societies. Moreover, although drawing on the written heritage of middle-class urban scholars, the normative yet multilayered text of Jāmiʿ provides many precise details on children’s lives and their social environment. This article introduces al-Asrūshanī’s unique work—its structure, contents, and sources—and offers, as a case study, an analysis of the chapter the author dedicates to enslaved children. While al-Asrūshanī intended some, or even the majority, of instances discussed in this chapter to address theoretical legal debates, others, particularly those drawn from fatwas, mirror the real experiences of enslaved minors, concubines, and enslavers. Together they provide a picture of a moderate form of domestic slavery in the Islamic world, particularly in Central Asia of the Mongol period.

On the origins and emergence of the Qaŋlï Turks

AbstractThe Qaŋlï (Qangli) Turks were a numerous people, active in Eurasia in the twelfth to thirteenth centuries, but their ultimate origins remain a matter of debate. Often considered by modern scholars to be a part of the Kipchaks (Cumans), others have different opinions. One of these links them to cart-riding early medieval Turkic tribes called Tägräks, known in Chinese sources as Tiele 鐵勒, among other forms. This article examines the earliest possible (eighth-century) references to the Qaŋlïs in the historical sources, and points to the potential links between them and various tribes seen among Turko-Mongol groupings of the ninth to tenth centuries mentioned in the Chinese sources, such as the Black Carts (Heichezi 黑車子). Another aspect that this article focuses on is how both historical and mythological texts of the Mongol period show the Qaŋlïs to be a people distinct from the Kipchaks. Ultimately, this study, which is based on both historical sources and modern research, proposes to locate the origins of the Qaŋlï Turks among Tägräk tribes.

Scientific Trips to and from Azerbaijan During The Ikhanid Mongol Period (656-736 AD) 1258-1335 AD

Scientific Trips to and from Azerbaijan During The Ikhanid Mongol Period (656-736 AD) 1258-1335 AD

Daoist Primers and Identity, 1340–1900

abstract: Since the Yuan period, Daoists have often presented their religion to adepts and outsiders in catechisms—concise introductions to the history of Daoism, its main gods, and its ideology. I focus on one type of catechism, a family of texts often entitled "Daojiao yuanliu" (Origins and development of Daoism). I trace the history, from the late Mongol period through the Qing, of various editions that were included in hagiographies and novels as well as in more highbrow encyclopedias and manuscript booklets. I show that these texts developed a specific theology and asserted a strong confessional identity, sometimes in tension with Buddhism, that reminded readers of the Mongol-era debates that resulted in the burning of the Daoist Canon in 1281. This discourse is markedly different from the more accommodating vision of Daoism found in most late imperial elite discourses. 摘要: 元代以來，道士們經常以稱為"道教源流"的文本向弟子與平民介紹道教的歴史、神靈以及教義。本文介紹了收錄在神傳、小說、類書及手抄本中的幾種不同版本的"道教源流"及其歴史。這些文本都主張一種特定的神學與道教身份，並提及元代的佛道辯論，以及 1281 年的《道藏》焚毀。

Dash Kasan; an imperial architecture in the Mongol capital of Sultaniyya

The village of Varāy (Viyar) is located at the foot of Āq Dāgh Mountain in the southeast of Sultaniyya, Iran, and is known for its impressive rock-cut architecture called Dash Kasan. The history of Sultaniyya, which later became the Ilkhanid (Mongol rulers) capital, began with the issue of an order by Arghūn Khan (1258–1291 CE), to build a huge city enclosed by stone walls and fortifications. According to many in the field, Dash Kasan occupied a prominent place in the development of Arghūn’s architectural project; first as a stone quarry, and then as a Buddhist monastery. This building is unique in its architectural design and decoration. The site’s two large-scale dragon snakes carved out of cliffs, and the development of a vast open space by cutting the solid rock are the only examples of their kind in Iranian art and architecture. Although most of the debates on the identity of this site to date are centered on its religious function during the Mongol period, there is little architectural evidence to support this idea. Hence, the nature and the scope of earlier studies are not sufficient to substantiate the architectural discourse surrounding this monument. The aim of this paper is to study this enigmatic rock-cut complex to provide a more detailed description of the current remains. According to the results, the architectural layout of this building suggests it was originally designed as pre-Ilkhanid Mongolian ceremonial halls and reflects a Chinese, East Asian architectural influence that was evident and pervasive throughout the Mongol territories.

About the Time of the Adoption of Islam by the Population of the Southern Ural

The object of the study is the adoption of Islam by the population of the Southern Ural. The subject of the study is the question of the time of the adoption of Islam in the territory of modern Bashkortostan – the largest region of the Southern Urals. The author examines in detail such aspects of the topic as the historiography of the issue, the spread of Islam among Bashkirs according to narrative sources – information from foreign travelers and Bashkir legends, archaeological sites with a Muslim funeral rite. In historiography, the question of the time of the adoption of Islam by Bashkirs has been repeatedly revised in the direction of antiquity. Narrative sources link the Islamization of Bashkirs with the activities of missionaries from Volga Bulgaria and the Golden Horde. In archeology, the spread of Islam on the territory of Bashkortostan is associated with the Chiyalik culture of the XII-XIV centuries. Special attention is paid to the funerary monuments of the nomadic population of steppe origin, dated XIII-XV centuries. Having settled in the land of Bashkirs, the nomads converted to Islam. A special contribution of the author to the study of the topic is a comparative analysis of the "pagan" and Muslim burials of the XIII-XV centuries, identified within the republic. A total of 84 burials were recorded. Of these, 31 burials were performed according to the "pagan" rite, dated XIII-XIV centuries., 53 burials were performed according to the Muslim rite, dated XIV-XV centuries. It is concluded that the archaeological data correspond to written sources reporting the adoption of Islam in Bashkiria in the XIV century. The novelty of the study lies in clarifying the dating of the three main stages of Islamization of the region's population. The penetration of Islam into the Bashkir environment occurs in the pre–Mongol period, the spread of Islam – in the Golden Horde period, the establishment of Islam - after the XV century. The process of Islamization ends with the disappearance of the burial burial rite and the transition to the modern Muslim funeral rite. Voluntary entry into Russia guaranteed Bashkirs freedom of religion.

The origin of the Qajar Shah dynasty according to their Y-DNA

The subject of the study was the genealogy of the Qajar dynasty, which ruled Iran in 1795-1925. Documentary sources indicate Gara Piri bey Qajar (XV century – 1513), the first beglyarbek of Karabakh with the center in Ganja (now Azerbaijan) as the earliest ancestor of the dynasty. At the end of the XVI century, the great–grandson of Gar Piri bey was appointed Shah Abbas I beglyarbek of Astrabad (now Gorgan, Iran), from whose descendant - Agha Muhammad Khan Qajar (1741-1797), the shah dynasty began. Agha-Mohammed Khan himself traced his family back to a legendary ancestor named Qajar, the son of Sartak-noyon from the Mongolian Jalai tribe, the mentor of Genghisid Argun Khan (1284-1291). According to other sources, the Qajars are a Turkoman tribe that settled in Transcaucasia during the Mongol period. These data on the early history point to the Qajar dynasty as having originally Central Asian origin. In 2007, a study of the Y-DNA of two modern representatives of different lines of the Qajar dynasty was conducted. Tests have shown that both lines really originate from a recent common paternal ancestor and belong to haplogroup J1-M267, widespread in the Middle East. However, apart from the genetic confirmation of the common paternal origin of these two lines and the declaration of the marginality of the ancestral legend, there is virtually no analysis in the work that gives a definitive answer to the question of the origin of the dynasty itself. In the development of this work, a more in-depth study of Y-DNA by new generation sequencing methods was carried out. The paternal origin of the Qajar dynasty from the indigenous population of the northern regions of Azerbaijan has been revealed.

Revisiting Buddhism in Ilkhanid Iran: Archaeology, Toponymy and Visual Culture

It is generally agreed that Buddhism, which already came to be known in West Asia during the Sasanian period through commercial exchanges with India, revived in Iran under the Ilkhanids. A pioneering study of Buddhist-Islamic interactions by Elverskog (Buddhism and Islam on the Silk Road, 2010) amply demonstrates the importance of the Mongol period for the understanding of the religious contacts between Buddhists and Muslims, with particular reference to the role of Tibet in this unique socio-cultural as well as scientific encounter (the latter subject is explored by several studies, notably Islam and Tibet – Interactions along the Musk Routes, 2016). On the other hand, it remains a challenging task as to how the impact of Buddhism on the visual and material culture of Ilkhanid Iran should be reassessed, apart from attributions of unusual architectural remains to former Buddhist sites or interpretations of Buddhis iconographical elements found in manuscript paintings and decorative objects.

Winding Routes and Precarious Switchbacks

Silk Road developments increased interconnectivity through trade, but little is written about the resulting effect on food diversity. I used three methodologically, geographically and temporally diverse studies examining aspects of food during the Silk Road period to identify key factors affecting botanical and dietary food diversification in Central Asia during the first millennium. Archaeological and historical data from a study of Tashbulak (800-1100) revealed narrowing of genetic diversity accompanying cultivation, but also broadening of food options through trade and human interventions that created new plant varieties. A comparative study of the medieval period (500-1300) using human remains and published isotopic (δ13C and δ15N) records of urban and non-urban consumers in the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan region showed the Silk Road fostered greater overall food diversity than occurred in the Iron Age and early first millennium (1300 BCE- 600 CE). It also showed that, although during the medieval period enhanced trade opportunities facilitated a food-diversity trend, the positive movement was eroded by urban, insular agricultural communities with reified social structures. Foodways analysis of recipe books revealed that during the Mongol period (1200-1400), multi-cultural interaction enhanced dietary diversity, whereas changing power dynamics, tradition, and sense of place countered the trend. The Silk Road was not a unilinear path toward dietary diversity, but rather, a series of winding routes beset with potentially precarious switchbacks. Travelling back along the first millennium Silk Road uncovers critical turning points that can inform global food diversity approaches in the 21st century.

A rock-cut tomb of the Mongol period in the Ilkhanid capital of Maraghe

By the time of Kublai’s death, the Mongol Empire had fractured into four separate khanates or empires including the Golden Horde [Kipchak] in the northwest, the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia, the Ilkhanate, based in modern-day Iran, and the Yuan Dynasty in the east. Although the burial architecture of the Yuan Dynasty and their funeral ritual have been the foci of the archaeologist, there have been no convincing conclusions about the other branches of the Mongol Empire. According to historical literature, all of the Ilkhanid Khans before Ghazan (1271–1304 CE) were buried in unknown places after their death. Archaeologically, not only we have no clue to trace the royal tombs of the pre-Ghazan period, even the identifiable tombs of the royal family members of the Ilkhanid Iran and high-ranking Mongol nobles have not discovered. Taking Maraghe, in Northwest Iran, as the first Ilkhanid capital (1256–1265 CE), the aim of this paper is to study the archaeological remains of the enigmatic rock-cut complex in the village of Varōy [Varjavy] to provide a more detailed description of the current remains. The results show that, while reassessment of the possible functions regarding this site suggest and outright contradict to the traditional views of scholars as a mithraeum, the architectural layout of this building is deeply intertwined with Mongol funeral sites and has much to tell about the relationship between rock-cut complexes and Ilkhanid cemeteries.

East Syriac Scribal Poetry in Paratextual Manuscript Parts

Abstract The present paper discusses various kinds of poetry represented in scribal paratextual parts of East Syriac manuscripts, such as introductions and colophons. In the current article, we have attempted to develop a general typology of this kind of verse pieces and to discuss the details of their transmission in diachronic scope, starting with the Mongol period and focusing on the Ottoman time, when this type of texts obtained a large popularity.

A New Source on the Saljūqs of Rūm and their Persian Chancery: Manuscript 11136 of the Marʿashī Library (Qum)

Abstract At the end of the twentieth century, the Ayatollah Marʿashī Najafī Library (Qum) acquired a fourteenth-century manuscript of munshaʾāt previously held in a private collection. This composite multitext manuscript contains about two hundred letters sent by or to officials of the Rūm Saljūq sultanate in the thirteenth century. The letters include official (sulṭāniyyāt) and private (ikhwāniyyāt) correspondence as well as decrees of nomination (taqrīrāt al-manāṣib). They are all in Persian. This article is a first study of the codicological features, structure, and contents of this manuscript. It suggests a production process that unfolded in several stages over a period of seventy years, from the reign of Ghiyāth al-Dīn Kay-Khusraw II (d. 644/1246) to the second decade of the fourteenth century. The Marʿashī manuscript expands considerably the volume of documents available on Saljūq Anatolia during the beginning of Mongol period. It is poised to become a major source on the political history of the period and will also help to understand the integration of Anatolia into the Persianate sphere.

АНУШ-ТЕГИН КАК ЭПОНИМ ХОРЕЗМИЙСКОЙ ДИНАСТИИ В МУСУЛЬМАНСКИХ ИСТОЧНИКАХ

In this article, the author analyzes the formation in Muslim literature of the twelfth — thirteenth centuries of the eponym of the dynasty of Khorezm rulers, whose power in this region begins in 1097 and ends in the era of the Mongol invasion. We are discussing the Anushteginid dynasty and the father of the first Khorezmshah, Qutb ad-Din Muhammad, after whom this dynasty was named by researchers. According to medieval Muslim historians, Anush-tegin or Nush-tegin Garcha/Garja himself never ruled Khorezm, but his descendants not only managed to gain a foothold in these lands, but also created one of the most powerful Muslim states of the Middle East, which was destroyed only by the Mongol conquerors. Despite the close attention to the power of the Khorezmshahs in the research environment, which has been reflected in numerous special works, to this day we do not see in Russian and foreign literature a single study devoted to the ancestor of the Anushteginid dynasty, or rather, the analysis of the description of his biography in Muslim sources. Researchers, relying mainly on reports on this subject by the historian of the first half of the thirteenth century, Ibn al-Asir, broadcast his story about Anush-tegin, often not taking into account the nature and volume of information about this eponym as part of earlier sources. We will also attempt to understand what Muslim authors of the twelfth century write about Anush-tegin, how fully his biography is reflected in these texts in comparison with ‘al-Kamil fi-t-Tarikh’ by Ibn al-Asir, and what is the specificity of their description of the biography of the ancestor of the Khorezm rulers. In addition, we will try to consider what pre-Mongol texts Ibn al-Asir and subsequent historians could rely on in their reconstructions of the history of Anush-tegin’s life and work, as well as what contradictions in this case could arise between individual authors. We hope that this work will be useful to specialists in the history of the Middle East in the pre–Mongol period, as well as to researchers of Muslim historical literature of the twelfth-thirteenth centuries.

몽골제국의 위구르력과 󰡔중수대명력(重修大明曆)󰡕

The Chinese-Uighur calendar, the so-called ''Qitai calendar'', was used for a century in Mongol Ilkhanid (1256-1335). Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1202-1274), a Persian astronomer of the 13th century, first introduced the Qitai calendar in his Īlkhānī-zij, which he compiled with Chinese astronomers at the Maragha Observatory under the order of Hulagu Khan (1215-1265). After his zij, the calender was described in a number of Islamic zijes in Iran and Central Asia. This calendar was used among the Mongols, Uighurs, and Turks of the ruling class in the Mongol Ulus. The Qitai calendar is a luni-solar calendar that combines the astronomical parameters and calculation methods of Chinese and Uighur calendars. It is known that the calendar is based on the Revised Daming-li (重修大明曆) of Jin (金) dynasty adopted in 1215 and the Futian-li (符天曆) of the Tang (唐) period. This paper, therefore, examines the contents and origins of the Qitai calendar through exploring its relationship with the Revised Daming-li and the Futian-li. Particularly, by comparing astronomical constants and calculation methods used in the both calendars, we trace the exchanges and reciprocal influence of astronomical knowledge between the East and the West during the Mongol period. As a result, we unravel how calendrical knowledge based on the Revised Daming-li had an exerted important influence on the compilation of the Qitai calendar in Mongol Ilkhan and the Shoushi-li (授時曆) in Mongol Yuan (元). Moreover, we can see how long the Qitai calendar and the Shoushi-li influenced neighboring countries in the East and the West of Central Asia, respectively.

Мечети с плоским перекрытием эпохи Крым­ского ханства

Research objectives: To study a group of mosques of Crimean Khanate’s period, namely, buildings with a flat beamed ceiling. To highlight various options for planning buildings and to search for their analogies. Research materials: Buildings of Crimean mosques from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, preserved to this day and known from archival materials. All Crimean mosques can be divided into two groups: domed buildings and buildings with flat beamed ceilings and a four-pitched roof. The second grouping is considered in this work. Research results: The consideration of a group of mosques with a flat rafter overlap allows us to divide them into two subgroups: basilicas and halls. The basilica constructions are rectangular buildings divided into naves by rows of columns or abutments supporting the beams. Buildings whose ceiling beams rest directly on the external walls can be attributed to hall mosques. Hall mosques, in turn, can be divided into square and rectangular in plan. Basilica mosques have been known in Crimea since the Golden Horde period. They have numerous analogies in the territory of Asia Minor where similar buildings appeared already in the twelfth century. In the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, a model of the official Seljuk mosque appeared on their basis. In the Ottoman period, the mosques of Asia Minor became mainly domed. In Crimea, along with the perception of the new fashion, the old Seljuk traditions were preserved. Rectangular hall constructions are simplified versions of basilicas, while square ones comprise the domed mosques. Novelty of the research: For the first time ever, an analysis of the complex of mosque buildings with flat beamed ceilings is carried out and various layout options are highlighted. In addition, a comparison is made with similar mosques both in Crimea of the Mongol period and Asia Minor of the Seljuk period.

A Rediscovered Syriac Amulet from Turfan in the Collection of the Hermitage Museum

Item ВДсэ-524 in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg is an amulet scroll written in Syriac which was discovered by the Second German Turfan Expedition (19041905) and kept afterwards in the Museum of Ethnology (Museum fr Vlkerkunde) in Berlin. The artifact originates in the Turkic-speaking Christian milieu of the Turfan Oasis, probably from the Mongol period. The text, however, reflects a long tradition of magical literature that goes back to ancient Mesopotamia and can be categorised as a piece of apotropaic (protective) magic. The article contains an edition of the Syriac text with translation and a discussion of its place of discovery, its overall composition and specific words and expressions found in the text. The authors point out likely connections between the Hermitage amulet and the Turfan fragments SyrHT 274276 kept in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preuischer Kulturbesitz and briefly discuss its similarity with amulet H彩101 discovered in Qara Qoto by the 19831984 expedition of the Institute of Cultural Relics, Inner Mongolia Academy of Social Sciences.

In vino veritas. Wine and its Context in the Uyghur Society: an Insight to the Economic Life of the Silk Roads

This paper deals with viticulture, viniculture and their social context in the Turfan region from the West Uyghur period (9th–12th cc.) up to the end of the Mongol period (14th century). A comparative analysis of narrative sources alongside documents written in Old Uyghur (ca. 10th–14th cc.) and Middle Mongolian (13th–14th cc.) sheds new light on the interplay between wine production, commerce and state interest, demonstrating that wine was already one of the most important staple products of the Turfan region in the earlier period and a commodity of primary interest to the Mongol Empire. The article illuminates Old Uyghur sources’ depictions of ortok partners, stressing how their peculiarities differ from the better-known ortoq partnerships employed by the Mongol aristocracy, and highlights growing interest among the nobility in wine production and the institutionalization of vinicultural assets during the Mongol period. The author argues that these processes mirror changes in transportation and Eurasian interregional contacts under Mongol rule. Finally, despite the scattered and fragmentary nature of these sources on local economy and society, the author argues that they prompt a reevaluation of trade along the Silk Roads.

Yihao Qiu, “Gift-Exchange in Diplomatic Practices during the Early Mongol Period”

Yihao Qiu, “Gift-Exchange in Diplomatic Practices during the Early Mongol Period”

The Spread of Gold Thread Production in the Mongol Period: A Study of Gold Textiles in the China National Silk Museum, Hangzhou

The Spread of Gold Thread Production in the Mongol Period: A Study of Gold Textiles in the China National Silk Museum, Hangzhou