Islamic Central Asia is the first English-language anthology of primary documents for the study of Central Asian history. Scott C. Levi and Ron Sela draw from a vast array of historical sources to illustrate important aspects of the social, cultural, political, and economic history of Islamic Central Asia. These documents—many newly translated and most not readily available for study—cover the period from the 7th-century Arab conquests to the 19th-century Russian colonial era and provide new insights into the history and significance of the region.
Table of Contents:
Note on Translation and Transliteration
Map
Introduction
Part 1. Central Asia in the Early Islamic Period, Seventh–Tenth Centuries
Introduction
A. Central Asia and the Arab Conquests
B. Central Asia under the Samanids
C. The Age of Learning
Part 2. Encounter with the Turks
Introduction
A. Turkic Peoples of the Steppe
B. Qarakhanids: The First Turkic Muslim State in Central Asia
C. Central Asia in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries
Part 3. The Mongol Empire
Introduction
A. Temujin and the Rise of the Mongol Empire
Part 4. Timur and the Timurids
Introduction
A. Timur's Rise and Rule
B. Central Asia in the Fifteenth Century
Part 5. Central Asia in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
Introduction
A. The Shïbanids and Central Asian Society in the Sixteenth Century
B. Central Asia in the Seventeenth Century
Part 6. Central Asia in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
Introduction
A. The Age of Transition
B. The Uzbek Tribal Dynasties
C. The "Great Game" to Russian Rule
Glossary
Index
About the Author :
Scott C. Levi is Associate Professor of Central Asian History at The Ohio State University. He is author of The Indian Diaspora in Central Asia and Its Trade, 1550–1900 and editor of India and Central Asia: Commerce and Culture, 1500–1800.
Ron Sela is Assistant Professor of Central Asian History in the Department of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University Bloomington. He is author of The Legendary Biographies of Tamerlane: Islam and Heroic Apocrypha in Central Asia.
Review :
[A]n excellent collection, which will be a valuable sourcebook for courses on the history of Central Asia and Islamic history. As the first English-language anthology of historical sources on the region, it provides a wealth of materials, which can be used to cover a wide variety of themes. It should be on the syllabus of any undergraduate course on the history of Central Asia.
(Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient) The collection of this large number of primary sources into a single volume in readable English translation and published in paperback will make this a widely used resource for teaching the history of Central Asia at English-language universities everywhere.
(Ab Imperio) [T]he anthology is set up in an exemplary manner and the sources describe the extensive history . . . [It] will occupy an important place in studies on the history of Central Asia, the expansion of Islam, and the relationship between the peoples in the Islamic cultural world . . .
(Asiatische Studien / Études Asiatiques) [T]his is a fascinating and much-needed collection.
(Central Asian Survey) This careful compilation includes court chronicles, memoirs, legal documents, poetry, and more. The breadth of the coverage skillfully illustrates how Central Asia today is the result of many cultures, languages, and ethnicities. . . . Summing Up: Essential. A must for collections on Central Asia. October 2010, Vol. 48 No. 2
(Choice)
