The Mongol Empire between Myth and Reality: Studies in Anthropological HistoryBRILL, 2014 M10 23 - 408 pages In The Mongol Empire between Myth and Reality, Denise Aigle presents the Mongol empire as a moment of contact between political ideologies, religions, cultures and languages, and, in terms of reciprocal representations, between the Far East, the Muslim East, and the Latin West. The first part is devoted to “The memoria of the Mongols in historical and literary sources” in which she examines how the Mongol rulers were perceived by the peoples with whom they were in contact. In “Shamanism and Islam” she studies the perception of shamanism by Muslim authors and their attempts to integrate Genghis Khan and his successors into an Islamic framework. The last sections deal with geopolitical questions involving the Ilkhans, the Mamluks, and the Latin West. Genghis Khan’s successors claimed the protection of “Eternal Heaven” to justify their conquests even after their Islamization. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Part 1 The Memoria of the Mongols in Historical and Literary Sources | 15 |
Chapter 1 MythicoLegendary Figures and History between East and West | 17 |
Chapter 2 The Mongols and the Legend of Prester John | 41 |
Chapter 3 The Historiographical Works of Barhebraeus on the Mongol Period | 66 |
Part 2 Shamanism and Islam | 105 |
Chapter 5 Shamanism and Islam in Central Asia Two Antinomic Religious Universes? | 107 |
Chapter 6 The Transformation of a Myth of Origins Genghis Khan and Timur | 121 |
Part 4 Mamluks and Ilkhans The Quest of Legitimacy | 219 |
Chapter 10 Legitimizing A LowBorn Regicide Monarch Baybars and the Ilkhans | 221 |
Chapter 11 The Written and the Spoken Word Baybars and the Caliphal Investiture Ceremonies in Cairo | 244 |
Chapter 12 Ghazan Khans Invasions of Syria Polemics on His Conversion to Islam and the Christian Troops in His Army | 255 |
Chapter 13 A Religious Response to Ghazan Khans Invasions of Syria The Three AntiMongol fatwās of Ibn Taymiyya | 283 |
Epilogue The Mongol Empire after Genghis Khan | 306 |
Maps | 323 |
Genealogical Tables | 327 |
Chapter 7 Mongol Law versus Islamic Law Myth and Reality | 134 |
Part 3 Conquering the World Protected by the Tenggeri | 157 |
Chapter 8 From NonNegotiation to an Abortive Alliance Thoughts on the Diplomatic Exchanges between the Mongols and the Latin West | 159 |
Chapter 9 Hülegüs Letters to the Last Ayyubid Ruler of Syria The Construction of a Model | 199 |
331 | |
Illustrations | 373 |
383 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Abaqa Abbasid Abū Aḥmad al-Juwaynī al-Malik al-Nāṣir al-Maqrīzī Allāh Allsen Arabic version Arghun Armenian armies Ayyubid Baghdad Barhebraeus Baybars Bilād al-Shām Brill Cairo caliph Central Asia century chancellery Charles Melville Chinggis Khan Christian chronicle conquest cultural Damascus Denis Sinor diplomatic divine documents emirs Eternal Heaven fatwā Genghis Khan Ghazan Khan God’s historian Historiography holy Hülegü Ibn al-Nafīs Ibn Taymiyya Ilkhanid Ilkhans Inner Asia Iran Islam Jālūt Jean Richard John of Plano Kanz Khan’s king Latin legend legitimacy Leiden letter Lupprian Mamluk Mamluk sultan Medieval mission Mongol Empire Mongolian Muḥammad Mukhtaṣar Muslim myth Öljeitü origin Paris Persian Peter Jackson political Pope Prester John prince Prophet Qurʾān Qurʾānic Rashīd al-Dīn reference reign religion religious Reuven Amitai Reuven Amitai-Preiss Roberte Hamayon ruler Secret History sent Shāh Shāh-nāma shamanism Sharīʿa sources Studies Syria Syriac taqwīm Tatars Tenggeri theyāsā Timur Timurid tion tradition translation Transmission Turkic yāsā Zubdat ʿAbd