Courses: Department of Central Eurasian Studies

Central Eurasian Studies >> Courses >> Course List
U320/U520 Islamic Central Asia from the Mongol Empire to the Russian Conquests
Scott Levi

This course is designed to introduce advanced undergraduate and graduate students to the cultural, political, religious and economic history of Islamic Central Asia from the thirteenth-century Mongol World Empire to the nineteenth-century Russian conquests. As there are no prerequisites for the course, we will begin the semester with a brief survey of the historical, anthropological and religious background necessary to navigate this period of Central Asian history. We will then turn to a more focused social and political analysis of Islamic Central Asia under the Mongol Empire. As the Mongol empire decentralized over the course of the fourteenth century, Central Asia's Chaghatai rulers were overcome by the rise of the last great nomadic empire, that of Amir Timur (Tamerlane). We will examine the career and milieu of this skilled military commander as he brutally extended his control from his capital of Samarqand across a vast territory stretching from the borders of India, deep into modern Turkey, and far into the nomadic steppe. We will see that, although the Timurid Empire was initially a powerfully destructive force and comparatively short-lived, in many ways it ushered in a period of cultural renaissance that helped to shape Central Asian identity in centuries to come.

The early modern era (sixteenth through eighteenth centuries) is a contested period in Central Asian historiography and for that reason merits our close attention. Our readings in the secondary literature will illustrate the general academic consensus that the commercial dominance of Dutch and English East India Companies in the Indian Ocean usurped the Central Asian 'Silk Road' trade and plunged the region into a lengthy period of economic isolation and cultural stagnation. We will contrast this with readings in primary sources and more recent studies which suggest that our region remained vital and very much involved in world historical processes. Topics to be addressed during this segment of the course include: the early modern transformation of the transcontinental caravan trade; the mechanisms of state formation and political stability in the three pre-colonial Uzbek states of Bukhara, Khiva and Khoqand; and a comparative analysis of Russian and Chinese motives and methods for colonial expansion into Central Asia during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The semester will conclude with a study of Russian colonial Central Asia and the Central Asians' struggle with modernity under Russian rule.

The readings for this course include a wide variety of secondary literature and excerpts from a number of relevant primary sources. They are intended to engage students in a number of historiographical problems, and to stimulate students to think critically about the recording and writing of Central Asian history.

Days and Time: Monday, 2:30-5:00.