• Acta Via Serica
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.155-174
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• 2023

Trade along the Silk Routes reached its zenith during the Pax Mongolica, a period of relative stability in Eurasia that was created by the Mongol empire in the 13th and 14th centuries. It is generally believed that the Silk Routes declined after the disintegration of the Mongol empire in the second half of the 14th century and that they fell into disuse after the 1453 Ottoman conquest of Constantinople as the Europeans sought alternative maritime routes to Asia. This paper examines the aftermath of the Mongol-era overland and maritime Silk Routes from a non-Eurocentric perspective. Seen from the standpoint of various successors to the Mongol empire, such as the Timurid empire, the Mughal empire, the Uzbek khanate, the Ottoman empire, Manchu Qing, and Russia, the overland and maritime Silk Routes did not really collapse or sharply decline during the post-Mongol period. These Mongol successor states maintained close and thriving overland trade relations with each other or some important maritime trade relations with Southeast Asia. It may be argued that the Silk Routes in the post-Mongol world functioned rather independently of European seaborne commerce.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.141-164
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• 2021

The Khitans were a Turco-Mongol clan who dominated China north of the Yangtze River during the early mediaeval period. They adopted and then adapted many of the cultural traditions of their powerful neighbours to the south, the Song Chinese. However, before their absorption into the Mongol Empire in the late 13^th century they proved pivotal, firstly in the eastward expansion of the armies of Chinggis Khan, secondly, in the survival of the Persian heartlands after the Mongol invasions of the 1220s and thirdly, in the revival and integration of the polity of Iran into the Chinggisid Empire. Da Liao, the Khitans, the Qara Khitai, names which have served this clan well, strengthened and invigorated the hosts which harboured them. The Liao willingly assimilated into the Chinggisid Empire of whose formation they had been an integral agent and in doing so they also surrendered their identity but not their history. Recent scholarship is now unearthing and recognising their proud legacy and distinct identity. Michal Biran placed the Khitans irrevocably and centrally in mediaeval Asian history and this study emphasises their role in the establishment of the Mongol Empire.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.25-49
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• 2020

This essay, based on an oral presentation, provides the non-specialist, with an evaluation of the Mongols' influence and China and, to a lesser extent, on Russia and the Middle East. Starting in the 1980s, specialists challenged the conventional wisdom about the Mongol Empire's almost entirely destructive influence on global history. They asserted that Mongols promoted vital economic, social, and cultural exchanges among civilizations. Chinggis Khan, Khubilai Khan, and other rulers supported trade, adopted policies of toleration toward foreign religions, and served as patrons of the arts, architecture, and the theater. Eurasian history starts with the Mongols. Exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art confirmed that the Mongol era witnessed extraordinary developments in painting, ceramics, manuscript illustration, and textiles. To be sure, specialists did not ignore the destruction and killings that the Mongols engendered. This reevaluation has prompted both sophisticated analyses of the Mongols' legacy in Eurasian history. The Ming dynasty, the Mongols' successor in China, adopted some of the principles of Mongol military organization and tactics and were exposed to Tibetan Buddhism and Persian astronomy and medicine. The Mongols introduced agricultural techniques, porcelain, and artistic motifs to the Middle East, and supported the writing of histories. They also promoted Sufism in the Islamic world and influenced Russian government, trade, and art, among other impacts. Europeans became aware, via Marco Polo who traveled through the Mongols' domains, of Asian products, as well as technological, scientific, and philosophical innovations in the East and were motivated to find sea routes to South and East Asia.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.119-135
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• 2016

The initial phase of the Mongol invasion resulted in the establishment of relative political stability in the vast expanses of Eurasia, which came under the control of a single political entity - the Mongol realm. This contributed to a fairly rapid restoration of the commercial links and trade routes between the East and the West. During this period, Chinese silk again became available in large quantities in the Western markets. At the same time, the beginning of silk production and manufacturing of silk fabrics in Italy and the fashion flash for these goods in Western countries affected trade between Europe and the Muslim world. The centers of silk production in the Ilkhanid Empire were some provinces of Azerbaijan and Persia, where from it was exported in large numbers along the trade routes of Anatolia and Syria to the Mediterranean ports and further to the west. There are numerous testimonies of European travelers, and Muslim authors related the international silk trade in 13th-15th centuries, ie in the era from the Mongol Ilkhanid Empire till the reign of the Turkman Aqqoyunlu dynasty. One of the most informative documentary sources on this issue are the legislative codes (kanuname) of sultan Uzun Hasan from the Aqqoyunlu dynasty regarding the eastern provinces of the Asia Minor. This article presents and analyzes the information from these documents concerning the whole range of goods related to silk and silk fabrics trade in the period under the consideration.

• Asian review of World Histories
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.169-188
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• 2013

Tabriz under Mongol Ilkhanate rule commanded a global reach in the thirteenth-century Afro-Eurasian world. Tabriz functioned during this period not only as a commercial emporium and diplomatic center but as a seat of innovative artistic and intellectual activity. Consideration of Tabriz as a world historical city offers insight into the economic and social dynamics that shaped a critical passage in Eurasia's history including regions of the Mediterranean and East Asian zones.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.101-120
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• 2023

In March 1245, Pope Innocent IV authorized three missions to the Mongols, seeking information about this menace from the East and summoning Eastern Christian support against an anticipated Mongol onslaught. Only one of the missions, led by John of Plano Carpini, reached Mongolia-the first-known Western European party to reach East Asia by a land route. Traveling along the Silk Road's new "Grasslands Route," John and his companion Benedict reached the camp of Güyüg Khan, where they witnessed his installation as the Great Khan. Upon their return to the papal court in 1247, they delivered Güyüg's letter demanding the submission of the pope and all the West's princes. John also presented a detailed report on what he and Benedict had learned. A close reading of it reveals a master intelligence operative at work. In addition to presenting an overview of Mongol history and culture, Friar John's report provides detailed information on the Mongols' grand strategy, their military organization and armaments, and their battle tactics. Turning from intelligence gathering to military operations, he offered practical advice on how to meet and defeat the coming Mongol onslaught, an attack that, providentially for the West, never came. What did occur was a modest but significant migration of Western missionaries and merchants to East Asia in the century following this pioneering journey.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.29-59
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• 2019

As 'a total social fact,' drinks and drinking may serve as a lens through which we can view a distant society. Although not frequently discussed, drinking vessels serve the same function for accessing a past world hidden or forgotten behind written records. The present article is an art history attempt to seek a cultural link between liquor vessels used in medieval Korea and the political and social change of the period. The Goryeo period (918-1392) saw an unprecedented abundance of drinking vessels in various forms and decorations. Goryeo artisans and craftsmen produced ewers, pitchers, flasks, bottles, and others in addition to the pre-existing shapes of vessels mainly consisting of jars and bowls. I argue that this sudden burst of creativity during the Goryeo period was closely related to Goryeo's constant and diverse contacts with foreign powers. Their zone of international connections was not confined to the Chinese world, as we have commonly presumed. Even before the Mongol intervention, Goryeo was in contact with regions beyond East Asia through the northern nomadic states. Khitan Liao was recorded as having worked as a kind of international intermediary to link the Chinese and Islamic worlds. This medieval global culture became a norm in Goryeo society when it became an important part of the Mongol Empire. These nomadic powers brought global trends to Goryeo, and foreign drinks were among them; kumis, araq, and grape wines are just three cases of them discussed in this article. The change of alcoholic drinks led to, or was accompanied by, a new range of drinking vessels. Three types of ewers, familiar to East Asian consumers but foreign in their origin, are discussed in the main text to highlight such social change. Three more cases of drinking cups are also presented. The article shows that medieval Korean society was far more open to international art and culture than our usual understanding, and in their drinking vessels, Goryeo culture embraced global trends reaching China, the Islamic world and Europe.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.105-117
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• 2016

The Silk Road named by Ferdinand von Richthofen was not designated as a specific route. A lot of East-West trade routes had already existed across the continent and the geographical scope and definition of the Silk Road is still expanding. In particular, the claim that the Eastern end of the Silk Road reaches Gyeongju is an example of this expansion. Burial treasures from tombs on the Korean Peninsula have already been identified as products from the Sassanian Dynasty of Persia, and various archaeological and epical evidences support this finding. However, the specific route where these exchanges were made, around the 6th-8th centuries, has yet to be identified. Maritime as well as inland routes can easily be hypothesized. The Silk Road was largely activated by the Yam postal system with the expansion of the Mongol Empire. It not only served as an effective pathway for the Yuan to rule over the Goryeo, but also connected the Eastern end of the Silk Road to Gyeongju. This can explain the situation since the 13th century. Therefore, this paper claims that the Yeokcham system had been operating on the Korean Peninsula since the Unified Silla Kingdom, the previous period of Goryeo, or perhaps even before then. The Yeokcham should thus be regarded as a prototype of the Mongolian Yam, and the Korean peninsula should be recognized as another route which contributed specifically to the development of the Silk Road, not just as a user or a beneficiary.

• Asian review of World Histories
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.231-256
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• 2016

This paper presents a case study of the Muslim diaspora through comparative analysis of Islamic tombstones from the Southeast Coast of China under Mongol rule. The locations of the nisbas in the Islamic tombstones are widely dispersed, covering Xinjiang, Transoxiana, Iran, Khorasan, Khwarazm, Armenia, Syria, Palestine, and Arabia. Unexpectedly, we did not find a single named location from India or Southeast Asia. It is well known that notable descendants of distinguished families traditionally produced officials, intellectuals, and wealthy merchants, and surrendered to the Mongols during the war against the Qara Khitai Khanate and the Khwarazm Empire. There were a great number of appointed officials with Muslim names in the Jianghuai (around Lower Yangtze) and Fujian regions. This is consistent with the concentration of epitaphs written in Arabic on the southeast coast of China. The frequent use of the specific tradition of the prophet Muhammad associating the death of the exile with martyrdom in Islamic tombstones in Quanzhou, Hangzhou, and Yangzhou indicates that the Muslims in these port cities eventually established an interregional or diasporic identity of Muslim foreighners whoimmigrated into the region.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.79-95
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• 2019

This article presents a brief reconstruction of the historic journey of Benedict the Pole and John of Pian de Carpine, the first known Europeans after A.D. 900 who completed a successful return journey east of Baghdad and gave surviving accounts of their travels. The article, which focuses mainly on the role of Benedict the Pole, is divided into five parts: the reasons and organization of the deputation sent to the Mongols by Pope Innocent IV from 1245-1248, the route travelled by the Papal envoys, the existing versions of the two surviving accounts of the mission, the role of Benedict the Pole as the secretary and translator to the papal legate Pian de Carpine, and the outcome of the journey as seen from the perspective of Europe-Asia contacts.