27724		2:30-3:45	MW			LAZZERINI
	
A portion of the above section reserved for majors
Above section meets with CEUS-U 520	

Three kaganates—the Rus, the Khazar, and the Bulghar—vied for
political and economic influence in the heart of Central Eurasia
during the 500 years preceding the grand unification of the region by
Mongols and their allies. Representing the last, spectacular bloom
and power of pastoral nomadism, the Mongol Empire swept up Central
Eurasia, wrecking in the process numerous state formations, including
that of the Bulghars and Rus. Before then, from the Dnepr River
eastward beyond the Caspian Sea, and from Crimea and the Caucasus
northward to the Gulf of Finland, Lake Ladoga, and the upper reaches
of the Volga River, the three kaganates emerged to create the
earliest extensive urban cultures in this large region. With
urbanization came commercialization and the development of long-
distance trade routes and their necessary markets; following the
merchants came institutionalized religion with their attendant
cultures that drew upon the rich store of Christian, Judaic, and
Islamic traditions. Economic competition, political alliances,
cultural interaction, and wars forged and reflected development of a
zone of common interest that also attracted foreign attention from
powerful neighbors, including Byzantium, the Abbasid Caliphate, and
finally the Mongols.

Of the three “states,” only that of Rus has much of a historiography,
partly explained by the complete disappearance of the other two by
the 13th century and the cultural tradition that has claimed
continuity between Rus and the Russian Empire through Muscovy.
Challenging that tradition, while analyzing the extant sources
revealing the parameters of Khazar and Bulghar history, this course
will examine the three kaganates in all of their aspects and
interrelations.

Requirements

Extensive reading of primary sources—textual, archeological, and
numismatic—as well as major secondary studies.

No examinations

Written project derived from a reading of Ibn Fadlan’s Risale
(Travels to the Bulghars, 10th century).