The Eurasian frontier after the first millennium A.D.: Reflections along the fringe of time and space

Medieval History Journal

Volumn 1, Issue 1, 1998, Pages 125-143

  Gommans, Jos ^a  

^a LEIDEN UNIVERSITY   (Netherlands)

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EID: 0009794067     PISSN: 09719458     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/097194589800100108     Document Type: Article

References (93)

1. This tentative article is part of my initial attempt to sketch some provisional outlines of a projected comparative study of Eurasian frontier societies. As such it closely relates to my earlier explorations of the theme: 'The Silent Frontier of South Asia, c. 1100 A.D.', The Journal of World History, 9(1), 1998
2. and 'The Embarrassment of Political Violence in Europe and South Asia', in K.A. van Kooij and J. Houben (eds), Violence Denied, Leiden, (forthcoming). All were inspired by lengthy discussions with Jan Heesterman.
3. As most lucidly described by C.W. Hollister, 'The Phases of European History and the Nonexistence of the Middle Ages', Pacific Historical Review, 61(1), 1992: 1-22.
4. D. Gerhard, Old Europe: A Study of Continuity, 1000-1800, New York, 1991 is a late example of a German tradition to see long-term continuities in European history.
5. See, e.g., O. Brunner, Sozialgeschichte Europas im Mittelalter, Gottingen, 1978. The French Annales medievalists also tend to follow this line but most of them keep focusing on the classical Middle Ages.
6. See J. Le Goff, L'imaginaire médiéval, Paris, 1985: 7-13.
7. F. Braudel, La méditerranée et le monde méditerranéen à l'époque de Phillippe II, Paris, 1949;
8. A.R. Lewis, Naval Power and Trade in the Mediterranean A.D. 500 to 1100, Princeton, 1951
9. and The Northern Seas: Shipping and Commerce in Northern Europe A.D. 300-1100, Princeton, 1958;
10. K.N. Chaudhuri, Trade and Civilisation in the Indian Ocean: An Economie History from the Rise of Islam to 1750, Cambridge, 1985
11. and Asia before Europe: Economy and Civilisation of the Indian Ocean from the Rise of Islam to 1750, Cambridge, 1990.
12. J.H. Bentley, 'Cross-Cultural Interaction and Periodization in World History', American Historical Review, 101(3), 1996: 766-68.
13. See also W.H. McNeill, The Pursuit of Power: Technology, Armed Force and Society since A.D. 1000, Chicago, 1982.
14. Highlighting frontier societies may bring about a renewed acceptance of cyclical time, very much in the spirit of the intelligent, fourteenth century observations of the Arab historian Ibn Khaldūn. Unfortunately, cyclical timeframes far too long have been relegated to the realm of past myth whereas the linear, tripartite compartment of history is still seen as one of the major achievements of enlightenment and modernity. Actually, the 'modern' concept of time stems from equally mythical views such as the sequence of the four world monarchies and the tripartite apocalyptic tradition of Latin Christendom.
15. See e.g., C.R. Whittaker, Les frontiéres de l'empire romain, Besançon, 1989
16. and B. Isaac, The Limits of Empire: The Roman Army in the East, Oxford, 1992: 408-18.
17. See especially J.C. Heesterman, 'Two Types of Spatial Boundaries', in E. Cohen, M. Lissak and U. Almagor (eds), Comparative Social Dynamics: Essays in Honour of S.N. Eisenstadt, Colorado, 1985: 59-72.
18. Also L. Febvre, 'Frontière', Revue de Synthèse Historique, Vol. 45(5), 1928: 31-44.
19. Often a distinction is made between arid and semi-arid zones. For the present purpose I have brought them together under the heading Arid Zone since this is the most relevant category in terms of stockbreeding. Obviously, even under the more humid conditions of monsoon Asia, many areas were not cultivated, or were cultivated only temporarily. These lacked, however, the vast mobile resources of the Arid Zone. For the ecological perspective of the Arid Zone, see the various publications of the UNESCO research project on the Arid Zone during the 1950s and 1960s, in serials such as Arid Programme, Arid Research and Arid Zone.
20. This is most clearly witnessed in Iran. See e.g., A.K.S. Lambton, Continuity and Change in Medieval Persia: Aspects of Administrative, Economic and Social History, 11th-14th Century, London, 1988.
21. For Balkh, see R.D. McChesney, Waqf in Central Asia: Four Hundred Years in the History of a Muslim Shrine, 1480-1889, Princeton, 1991: 234. The (semi-)arid zones of South Asia were also characterised by repeated renomadisation.
22. See e.g., H.G. Raverty, 'The Mihran of Sind and its Tributaries: A Geographical and Historical Study', 61, 1892: 155-508
23. and, more recently, Chetan Singh, 'Forests, Pastoralists and Agrarian Society in Mughal India', in D. Arnold and R. Guha (eds), Nature, Culture, Imperialism: Essays on the Environmental History of South Asia, Delhi, 1995: 21-48.
24. For the crucial importance of respectively the Alföld see A.N.J, den Hollander, 'The Great Hungarian Plain: A European Frontier Area', Comparative Studies on Society and History, Vol. 3 (1960): 74-88; 155-69;
25. the Moghan plains see R. Tapper, 'Nomads and Commissars on the Frontiers of Eastern Azerbaijan', in K. McLachlan (ed.), The Boundaries of Modern Iran, New York, 1994: 21-37;
26. the Mongolian steppe see O. Lattimore, Inner Asian Frontiers of China, Oxford, 1988;
27. and Haryana (see my forthcoming 'The Silent Frontier of South Asia, c. 1100-1800 A.D.', Journal of World History, Vol. 9(1), (1998).
28. Creating a cultural ecumene recently labeled Turko-Persia. See R.L. Canfield (ed.), Turko-Persia in Historical Perspective, Cambridge, 1991.
29. See C. Uray-Kühalmi, 'La périodisation de l'histoire des armements des nomades des steppes', Etudes Mongoles, 5, 1974: 145-55.
30. For southern India, see the interesting studies of J. Deloche, Military Technology in Hoysala Sculpture (Twelfth and Thirteenth Century), New Delhi, 1989
31. idem , Horses and Riding Equipment in Indian Art, Pondicherry, 1990.
32. For the improved use of early gunpowder in China, see J. Needham et al., Military Technology: The Gunpowder Epic, Part 7 of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Vol. 5 of Science and Civilisation in China, Cambridge, 1986: 1-18; 161-92;
33. for the Middle East, see A.Y. al-Hassan and D.R. Hill, Islamic Technology: An Illustrative History, Cambridge, 1986: 106-20;
34. for South Asia, see Iqtidar Alam Khan, 'Coming of Gunpowder to the Islamic World and North India: Spotlight on the Role of the Mongols', Journal of Asian History, Vol. 30(1), 1996: 27-45.
35. For the introduction of the trebuchet in China, see J. Needham and R.D.S. Yates, Military Technology: Missiles and Sieges, Part 4 of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Vol. 5 of Science and Civilisation in China, Cambridge, 1994: 203-40;
36. for the Middle East, see D.R. Hill, 'Trebuchets', Viator, 4, 1973: 115
37. and s.v. 'hisar', in Encyclopaedia of Islam, new edition, Leiden, 1954;
38. for India, see several references in M. Habib, The Campaigns of 'Ala'ud-din Khilji being the Khaza'inul Futuh (Treasures of Victory) of Hazrat Amir Khusrau of Delhi, Madras, 1931: 39-42, 48, 53-54, 65-66, 89-90.
39. See also my forthcoming 'War-horse and Gunpowder in India, c. 1000-1850', inj. Black (ed.), War and Warfare, 1450-1815, London, 1998.
40. See, e.g., W.E. Kaegi, 'The Contribution of Archery to the Turkish Conquest of Anatolia', Speculum, Vol. 39(1), 1964: 96-108;
41. M. Chamberlain, Knowledge and Social Practice in Medieval Damascus, 1190-1350, Cambridge, 1994: 29-47
42. and A. Wink, Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-lslamic World, Vol. 2: The Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquest 11th-13th Centuries, Leiden, 1997: 79-111.
43. D. Morgan, The Mongols, London, 1990: 84.
44. The English forest, the German Forst or the French forêt derive from the Latin forestis which refers not to the modern use of forest but, in general, more to waste. The same goes for the German Wald or the Anglo-saxon weald (F. Vera, Metaforen voor de wildernis, The Hague, 1997). Hence, it appears that there was some space for grazing animals but certainly less than in the Arid Zone. Similarly, in India the word jungle or jangal from Sanskrit jangala also refers not to dense forest but merely to uncultivated land.
45. D. Sinor, 'Horse and Pasture in Inner Asian History', Oriens Extremus, 19, Wiesbaden, 1972: 181-82.
46. Cf. R.P. Lindner, 'Nomadism, Horses and Huns', Past and Present, 92 (1981: 14-15.
47. See e.g., J. Abu-Lughod, Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250-1350, Oxford, 1989.
48. The best general account of the period is R. Bartlett, The Making of Europe: Conquest, Colonization and Cultural Change 950-1350, London, 1993.
49. I. Blanchard, 'The Continental European Cattle Trades, 1400-1600', Economic History Review, 39(3), 1986: 427-60.
50. See the studies of C.J. Bishko, especially his 'The Castillan as Plainsman: The Medieval Ranching Frontier in La Mancha and Extremadura', in A.R. Lewis and Th.F. McGann (eds), The New World looks at its History, Texas, 1963: 255-77.
51. Cf. A.R. Lewis, The Closing of the Medieval Frontier, 1250-1350', Speculum, Vol. 33(4), 1958: 475-83.
52. A. Wink, Al-Hind: Vol. 2: 1-8.
53. Cf. Abu-Lughod, Before European Hegemony: 261-91.
54. B.J. Murton, 'The Evolution of the Settlement Structure in Northern Kongu to 1800 A.D.', in B.E.F. Beck (ed.), Perspectives on a Regional Culture: Essays about the Coimbatore Region of South India, Delhi, 1979: 1-33
55. and B. Stein, Thomas Munro: The Origins of the Colonial State and his Vision of Empire, Delhi, 1989: 120-21. Also, the forthcoming monograph from Cambridge University Press of Prasannan Parthasarathi on the textile industry of southern India.
56. The so-called hero-stones or viragal bear witness of the increased tension between nomads and peasants after 1000 A.D. See Ajay Dandekar, 'Landscapes in Conflict: Flocks, Hero-stones, and Cult in Early Medieval Maharashtra', Studies in History, 7(2), 1991: 301-24.
57. For the ongoing impact of nomads and pastoralism in the dry tracts of South Asia, see e.g., G. Sontheimer, Biroba, Mhaskoba and Khandoba: Ursprung, Geschichte und Umwelt von pastoralen Gottheiten in Maharashtra, Wiesbaden, 1976;
58. the contributions of Chetan Singh, 'Forests', N. Bhattacharya, 'Pastoralists in a Colonial World', and Atluri Murali, 'Whose Trees? Forest Practices and Local Communities in Andhra, 1600-1922', in D. Arnold and R. Guha (eds), Nature, Culture, Imperialism: Essays on the Environmental History of South Asia, Delhi, 1995;
59. B.J. Murton, 'Land and Class: Cultural, Social and Biophysical Integration in Interior Tamilnadu in the Late Eighteenth Century', in R.E. Frykenberg (ed.), Land Tenure and Peasant in South Asia, Delhi, 1977: 81-99.
60. See my The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire, c. 1710-1780, Leiden, 1995: 68-104.
61. Interestingly, indigenous horse-breeding in Ming China was consciously disconnected from the breeding tracts of the Arid Zone and situated in the, for horses rather unhealthy, south; Tani Mitsutaka, Α Study on Horse Administration in the Ming Period', Acta Asiatica, Vol. 21, 1971: 73-97.
62. See e.g., M. Bloch, Feudal Society, Vol. 1, London, 1989: 125-30;
63. O. Brunner, Land and Lordship: Structures of Governance in Medieval Austria, Philadelphia, 1984: 1-95 ;
64. G. Duby, The Early Growth of the European Economy: Warriors and Peasants from the Seventh to the Twelfth Century, Ithaca, 1992: 48-49;
65. F. Redlich, 'The Praeda Militari: Looting and Booty 1500-1815', Vierteljahreschrift fur Sozial und Wirtschaftsgeschichte, Beiheft, Vol. 39, 1956: 1-79.
66. R.W. Kaeuper, War, Justice and Public Order: England and France in the Later Middle Ages, Oxford, 1988: 134-84;
67. Ph. Contamine, War in the Middle Ages, Oxford, 1984: 270-84.
68. The classic analysis on the so-called domestication of the European aristocracy is of course N. Elias, Über den Prozess der Zivilisation: Soziogenetische Untersuchungen, 2 vols, Frankfurt am Main, 1991. Elias, however, situates the more radical changes much later, in the eighteenth century and follows Burkhardt and Huizinga in their traditional view of the European Middle Ages.
69. R. Bartlett, 'Colonial Aristocracies of the High Middle Ages', in R. Bartlett and A. MacKay (eds), Medieval Frontier Societies, Oxford, 1989: 30.
70. For an enlightening 'continental' view of the European trading companies, see Thomas A. Brady Jr., The Rise of Merchant Empires, 1400-1700: A European Counterpoint', in James D. Tracy (ed.), The Political Economy of Merchant Empires, Cambridge, 1991: 117-61.
71. S. Gordon, Marathas, Marauders, and State Formation in Eighteenth-Century India, Delhi, 1994: 182-208.
72. See the iconoclasm of the Virasaiva sect described by V. Narayana Rao, Siva's Warriors: The Basava Purana of Palkuriki Somanatha, Princeton, 1990.
73. Even during the high point of Mughal rule, the imperial roads remained rather insecure. See the many examples provided by Fransisco Pelsaert in D.H.A. Kolff and H.W. van Santen (eds), De geschriften van Fransisco Pelsaert over Mughal Indie, 1627: Kroniek en remonstrantie, The Hague, 1979.
74. See the unpublished paper by J. Heesterman, 'Traditional Empire and Modern State', IDPAD symposium on State and Society, New Delhi, 5-9 March 1990.
75. A. Wink, Land and Sovereignty in India: Agrarian Society and Politics under Eighteenth-century Maratha Svarajya, Cambridge, 1986: 9-51.
76. J. Le Goff, L'imaginaire: 59-75
77. and H.P. Duerr, Traumzeit: Über die Grenze zwischen Wildnis und Zivilisation, Frankfurt, 1978.
78. See N. Cohn, The Pursuit of the Millennium: Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical Anarchists of the Middle Ages, London, 1961.
79. For the medieval fascination with liminal areas, see H. Pleij, Dromen van Cocagne: Middeleeuwse fantasieën over het volmaakte leven, Amsterdam, 1997.
80. Primarily based on D.D. Shulman, The King and the Clown in South Asian Myth and Poetry, Princeton, 1985
81. and J.C. Heesterman, The Inner Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Ritual, Kingship, and Society, Chicago, 1985.
82. For the cyclical migration between sedentary society and wilderness in South Asian tradition, see Th. Parkhill, The Forest Setting in Hindu Epics: Princes, Sages, Demons, Lewiston, 1995.
83. Actually, during the fourteenth century royal gift-giving shifted from Brahmans to sectarian leaders, B. Stein, Peasant State and Society in medieval South India, Oxford, 1994: 413.
84. For a general, albeit strongly biased, account of the religious mood of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, see Buddha Prakash, Aspects of Indian History and Civilization, Agra, 1965: 218-353, especially pp. 310-41. Referring to the new sects of 'Siddhas, Nathas and Yogins', Prakash speaks in terms of 'crusade against caste', 'efflorescence of the seeds of revolt and levelling' and 'movements of revolt and heterodoxy' which brought about a 'hectic urge to escape from the world and plunge in the enjoyment of pleasures, all sense of moderation and decency disappears and its place is taken by obscenity and vulgarity'.
85. For a similar but more recent and more balanced analysis of these cultural redirections, see V. Narayana Rao, D. Shulman and S. Subrahmanyam, Symbols of Substance: Court and State in Nayaka Period Tamilnadu, Delhi, 1992.
86. D.D. Shulman, 'Die Dynamik der Sektenbildung im mittelalterlichen Südindien', in S.N. Eisenstadt (ed.), Kulturen der Achsenzeit II: Ihre institutionelle und kulturelle Dynamik, Teil 2: Indien, Frankfurt am Main, 1992: 102-29.
87. Cf. S. Fuchs, Rebellious Prophets: A Study of Messianic Movements in Indian Religions, London, 1965.
88. A. Appadurai, 'Kings, Sects and temples in South India, 1350-1700 A.D.', The Indian Economic and Social History Review, Vol. 14(1) 1977: 47-73.
89. See e.g., D. Gold, 'The Dadu Panth: A Religious order in its Rajasthan Context', in K. Schomer et al. (eds), The Idea of Rajasthan: Explorations in Regional Iden'ity, Vol. 2: Institutions, Delhi, 1994: 242-64.
90. D.H.A. Kolff, Naukar, Rajput and Sepoy: The Ethnohistory of the Military Labour Market in Hindustan, 1450-1850, Cambridge, 1990.
91. E. Gellner, Anthropology and Politics: Revolutions in the Sacred Grove, Oxford, 1995: 164.
92. Similar warnings are expressed in C. Talbot, 'Inscribing the Other, Inscribing the Self: Hindu-Muslim Identities in Pre-Colonial India', Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 37, 1995: 692-723
93. and D. Ludden, 'History outside Civilisation and the Mobility of South Asia', South Asia, Vol. 17(1) 1994: 1-23.