Foto dell'autore

V. V. Barthold (1869–1930)

Autore di Turkestan Down to the Mongol Invasion

12 opere 53 membri 3 recensioni

Sull'Autore

Opere di V. V. Barthold

Etichette

Informazioni generali

Nome canonico
Barthold, V. V.
Nome legale
Bartol'd, Vasiliĭ Vladimirovich
Data di nascita
1869-11-15
Data di morte
1930-08-19
Sesso
male
Nazionalità
Russia

Utenti

Recensioni

From his entry in Iranica Online:
“His first monumental work, Turkestan v èpokhu mongol’skogo nashestviya (first published in 1898-1900; English edition of 1923 titled, Turkestan Down to the Mongol Invasion), contains a detailed survey of the historical geography of Central Asia and a study of its political and, to some extent, social history from the Arab conquest to the Mongol invasion. It laid a firm foundation to our knowledge of this period in the history of Central Asia and eastern Iranian lands in general, on which all subsequent research has been based, and it is still indispensable.” http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/barthold-vasilii

Just a foundational book, and the reader is caught up in fascination with its sheer detail.

For the Mongol invasion, its virtue is that it quotes the conflicting accounts of different Muslim historians. Juvaini (History of the World Conqueror) is a great read, and perhaps most accessible in English, therefore used; but other historians often flatly contradict him – and each other. A confusing situation, but a lesson in how much we don’t know for certain. When I first read this, my general note on it was, ‘an antidote to Juvaini, and Juvaini-derived’. That is, it often surprised me, and I saw that our history still depends on what Juvaini said. My main impression of this was that here we have the alternate accounts of events. “Juzjani maintains that Kharpust collected an army of 130,000 men, with which he prepared to attack Chingiz-Khan, while Juwayni puts the total of his forces at 20,000.” Which is it? I’m rather glad that Barthold doesn’t decide which it is. I’m not sure that we have better means of deciding, either, since 1900. “Ibn al-Athir says that the town surrendered and was spared, Juwayni that Chingiz-Khan accepted the submission of the inhabitants, but afterwards broke his promise and ordered them to be killed.” In his introduction on the sources, Barthold grants them a lot of historical sincerity – they strove to record the truth, even if they had partialities – but I think the point is, we shouldn’t underestimate the confusion of affairs. How accurate history was meant to be written in the circumstances, I don’t know; and that means we probably can’t write it today, at least without question marks on every page.

Barthold gives enough of the original historians for his book to have the almost first-hand, story-like charm that they do.
… (altro)
 
Segnalato
Jakujin | 1 altra recensione | Aug 31, 2014 |
The golden age of Islam

The use of the word "Mussulman" might be a bit odd for the modern reader, but this concise text (just 82 pages, with added introductions) was first published in 1918. The author was the foremost expert on the Islamic world in Russia and believed that interaction between cultures was the main factor of progress. His attention to Persia and the Mongol Conquest are the main attractions.

The Arabs took Egypt with an army of only 4 thousand men from a Byzantine Empire tired of war with Persia. Northern Mesopotamia had been another easy victim. The first Muslim rulers needed the help of non-Muslims and Christianity flourished under the Caliphate. Greek texts were translated into the languages of the new empire. The cliques the Christians formed hindered their later development. The conversion to Islam shattered the government's financial system. Upon conquest, the Arabs maintained separate quarters for their various tribes in the towns they conquered. This was also implemented in Damascus. In material culture the Caliphate owed more to Byzantium than to Persia, transplanting Egypt's textile industry to Syria. At a later date with regard to material culture the Mussulmans assigned first place to the Chinese and second to the Greeks (p.21).

In the beginning the Arabs often mixed up Greek philosophers, e.g. Plato and Plotinus, which also influenced Europeans. Tenth century Arab geographers expanded Greek geographical knowledge beyond the Caspian Sea to the littoral above Korea. Eloquence remained a characteristic of Arab literature and ideas a distinctive trait of the Persian. In Persia and Turkistan Islam brought down the caste system and large landed properties.

The various rulers of Persia and its northern borderlands all tried to attract writers and scholars. The Buids who had their home near the Caspian Sea submitted wholly to the influence of Arabic literature while remaining indifferent to the Persian. In Iran Islamic culture continued to flourish after the 11th century when decline set in elsewhere. City life passed from the shahristans of towns to the suburbs. Muslim traders converted the Bulgars living on the Volga while trade spread Islam to the East. Later Turkic invaders of the Islamic core had already been converted to the new religion. At the beginning of the 13th century trade between Mongolia and China was in Muslim hands and Muslims figured in the general headquarters of Genghis Khan before he began his campaign of conquests. Islamic literature in Chinese does not appear until the 17th century despite an Islamic presence since the 8th century.

After the mayhem and murder of a Mongol conquest, a time of greater political stability set in. The Khans brought cultured councillors who helped to establish their rule. The Khans helped with the reconstruction of town life and accorded patronage to medicine, mathematics (for bookkeeping) and astronomy (for astrology). Their rule did not lead to a return of barter but remained based on gold and later silver. The caravan trade with the Far East rose to new levels. After the division of the Mongol Empire close relations between Persia and China remained in place. They also improved ties with Europe as they shared enmity towards Egypt. This helped European culture to progress. China's astronomical studies came under Persian influence, which continued until the arrival of the Jesuits. Timur in Turkistan enhanced Islamic architecture with buildings in the Persian style, but bigger. The great mosque of Samarqand was already in decay during his lifetime.

Islamic culture kept shining for some time, but the Europeans obtained the upper hand. Chinese book printing was known in Persia, but not practiced. The Osmanli dynasty, was at first quite indifferent to religion at the beginning and had been given to dervish freethinking, was forced under stress of circumstances to renew the traditions of militant Islam. In 1593, during one of the European wars, the hitherto undocumented "green standard of the Prophet" that was found in Damascus, was taken for the first time into battle. The Moghul Empire in India was richer and more tolerant and had greater agricultural capacity than Europe (the author does not mention the intolerant later Moghuls here).
… (altro)
 
Segnalato
mercure | May 14, 2012 |

Statistiche

Opere
12
Utenti
53
Popolarità
#303,173
Voto
4.1
Recensioni
3
ISBN
20
Lingue
4

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