Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia

Thomas T. Allsen9780521803359, 0521803357

Thomas Allsen is one of the foremost historians of the Mongol empire. His latest book breaks new scholarly boundaries in its exploration of cultural and scientific exchanges between Iran and China. Contrary to popular belief, Mongol rulers were intensely interested in the culture of their sedentary subjects. Under their auspices, various commodities, ideologies and technologies were disseminated across Eurasia. The result was a lively exchange of scientists, scholars and ritual specialists between East and West. The book is broad-ranging and erudite and promises to become a classic in the field.

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Table of contents :
Title Page……Page 1
Contents……Page 8
Preface……Page 10
Note on transliteration……Page 11
Abbreviations……Page 12
Part I. Background……Page 16
1. Introduction……Page 18
2. Before the Mongols……Page 23
Part II. Political–economic relations……Page 30
3. Formation of the Il-qans, 1251–1265……Page 32
4. Grand Qans and Il-qans, 1265–1295……Page 39
5. Continuity and change under Ghazan, 1295–1304……Page 46
6. Sultans and Grand Qans, 1304– 1335……Page 50
7. Economic ties……Page 56
8. Overview of the relationship……Page 66
Part III. Intermediaries……Page 72
9. Marco Polo and Po-lo……Page 74
10. Qubilai and Bolad Aqa……Page 78
11. Rashid al-Din and Pulad chinksank……Page 87
Part IV. Cultural exchange……Page 96
12. Historiography……Page 98
13. Geography and cartography……Page 118
14. Agriculture……Page 130
15. Cuisine……Page 142
16. Medicine……Page 156
17. Astronomy……Page 176
18. Printing……Page 191
Part V. Analysis and conclusions……Page 201
19. Models and methods……Page 204
20. Agency……Page 208
21. Filtering……Page 218
22. Summation……Page 225
Bibliography……Page 227
Index……Page 253