Artistic Traditions of Inner Eurasian Cultures

Artistic Traditions of Inner Eurasian Cultures PDF Author: Ardi Kia
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1666918598
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 231

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book examines the cultural heritage of Inner Eurasia (Central Asia) through the arts, from prehistoric times to the ancient and medieval golden ages. The manuscript features extensive analysis of multiple Inner Eurasian cultural groups, their artistic traditions, and the development thereof throughout the region’s history.

Artistic Traditions of Inner Eurasian Cultures

Artistic Traditions of Inner Eurasian Cultures PDF Author: Ardi Kia
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1666918598
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 231

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book examines the cultural heritage of Inner Eurasia (Central Asia) through the arts, from prehistoric times to the ancient and medieval golden ages. The manuscript features extensive analysis of multiple Inner Eurasian cultural groups, their artistic traditions, and the development thereof throughout the region’s history.

The Huns

The Huns PDF Author: Hyun Jin Kim
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317340906
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 201

Get Book Here

Book Description
This volume is a concise introduction to the history and culture of the Huns. This ancient people had a famous reputation in Eurasian Late Antiquity. However, their history has often been evaluated as a footnote in the histories of the later Roman Empire and early Germanic peoples. Kim addresses this imbalance and challenges the commonly held assumption that the Huns were a savage people who contributed little to world history, examining striking geopolitical changes brought about by the Hunnic expansion over much of continental Eurasia and revealing the Huns' contribution to European, Iranian, Chinese and Indian civilization and statecraft. By examining Hunnic culture as a Eurasian whole, The Huns provides a full picture of their society which demonstrates that this was a complex group with a wide variety of ethnic and linguistic identities. Making available critical information from both primary and secondary sources regarding the Huns' Inner Asian origins, which would otherwise be largely unavailable to most English speaking students and Classical scholars, this is a crucial tool for those interested in the study of Eurasian Late Antiquity.

Central Asian Cultures, Arts, and Architecture

Central Asian Cultures, Arts, and Architecture PDF Author: Ardi Kia
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1498589065
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 151

Get Book Here

Book Description
Central Asia Cultures, Arts, and Architecture presents a journey through time, analyzing the history of Central Asian cultures, arts, and architecture since prehistoric times. It includes documentation of historical, cultural, artistic, and architectural accomplishments, and combines writings based on archaeological excavations and research of prehistoric, ancient, and medieval sites, as well as translations of ancient and medieval historical sources by Russian, Chinese, and other indigenous scholars. For over seven thousand years, Central Asian residents have left a record of distinguished cultural artifacts. Like creators of any age or period, they sought to respond as creatively as possible to the necessities of their societies as a whole, and those of their individual patrons. In doing so, as this book reveals, they have given us a timeless source through which we can detect the dynamic stages of their creativity throughout history, as well as the breath of our own rich cultural and artistic heritage.

Visual Culture, Heritage and Identity: Using Rock Art to Reconnect Past and Present

Visual Culture, Heritage and Identity: Using Rock Art to Reconnect Past and Present PDF Author: Andrzej Rozwadowski
Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 1789698472
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 150

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book presents a fresh perspective on rock art by considering how ancient images function in the present. It focuses on how ancient heritage is recognized and reified in the modern world, and how rock art stimulates contemporary processes of cultural identity-making.

Nomads as Agents of Cultural Change

Nomads as Agents of Cultural Change PDF Author: Reuven Amitai
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 082484789X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 362

Get Book Here

Book Description
Since the first millennium BCE, nomads of the Eurasian steppe have played a key role in world history and the development of adjacent sedentary regions, especially China, India, the Middle East, and Eastern and Central Europe. Although their more settled neighbors often saw them as an ongoing threat and imminent danger—“barbarians,” in fact—their impact on sedentary cultures was far more complex than the raiding, pillaging, and devastation with which they have long been associated in the popular imagination. The nomads were also facilitators and catalysts of social, demographic, economic, and cultural change, and nomadic culture had a significant influence on that of sedentary Eurasian civilizations, especially in cases when the nomads conquered and ruled over them. Not simply passive conveyors of ideas, beliefs, technologies, and physical artifacts, nomads were frequently active contributors to the process of cultural exchange and change. Their active choices and initiatives helped set the cultural and intellectual agenda of the lands they ruled and beyond. This volume brings together a distinguished group of scholars from different disciplines and cultural specializations to explore how nomads played the role of “agents of cultural change.” The beginning chapters examine this phenomenon in both east and west Asia in ancient and early medieval times, while the bulk of the book is devoted to the far flung Mongol empire of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. This comparative approach, encompassing both a lengthy time span and a vast region, enables a clearer understanding of the key role that Eurasian pastoral nomads played in the history of the Old World. It conveys a sense of the complex and engaging cultural dynamic that existed between nomads and their agricultural and urban neighbors, and highlights the non-military impact of nomadic culture on Eurasian history. Nomads as Agents of Cultural Change illuminates and complicates nomadic roles as active promoters of cultural exchange within a vast and varied region. It makes available important original scholarship on the new turn in the study of the Mongol empire and on relations between the nomadic and sedentary worlds.

A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia, Volume II

A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia, Volume II PDF Author: David Christian
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0631210393
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 662

Get Book Here

Book Description
Provides an all-encompassing look at the history of Russia, Central Asia, and Mongolia Beginning with the breakup of the Mongol Empire in the mid-thirteenth century, Volume II of this comprehensive work covers the remarkable history of “Inner Eurasia,” from 1260 up to modern times, completing the story begun in Volume I. Volume II describes how agriculture spread through Inner Eurasia, providing the foundations for new agricultural states, including the Russian Empire. It focuses on the idea of “mobilization”—the distinctive ways in which elite groups mobilized resources from their populations, and how those methods were shaped by the region’s distinctive ecology, which differed greatly from that of “Outer Eurasia,” the southern half of Eurasia and the part of Eurasia most studied by historians. This work also examines how fossil fuels created a bonanza of energy that helped shape the history of the Communist world during much of the twentieth century. Filled with figures, maps, and tables to help give readers a fuller understanding of what has transpired over 750 years in this distinctive world region, A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia: Volume II: Inner Eurasia from the Mongol Empire to Today, 1260-2000 is a magisterial but accessible account of this area’s past, that will offer readers new insights into the history of an often misunderstood part of the world. Situates the histories of Russia, Central Asia, and Mongolia within the larger narrative of world history Concentrates on the idea of Inner Eurasia as a coherent ecological and geographical zone Focuses on the powerful ways in which the region’s geography shaped its history Places great emphasis on how “mobilization” played a major part in the development of the regions Offers a distinctive interpretation of modernity that highlights the importance of fossil fuels Offers new ways of understanding the Soviet era A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia: Volume II is an ideal book for general audiences and for use in undergraduate and graduate courses in world history. The Blackwell History of the World Series The goal of this ambitious series is to provide an accessible source of knowledge about the entire human past, for every curious person in every part of the world. It will comprise some two dozen volumes, of which some provide synoptic views of the history of particular regions while others consider the world as a whole during a particular period of time. The volumes are narrative in form, giving balanced attention to social and cultural history (in the broadest sense) as well as to institutional development and political change. Each provides a systematic account of a very large subject, but they are also both imaginative and interpretative. The Series is intended to be accessible to the widest possible readership, and the accessibility of its volumes is matched by the style of presentation and production.

The Dawn of Tibet

The Dawn of Tibet PDF Author: John Vincent Bellezza
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442234628
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 363

Get Book Here

Book Description
This unique book reveals the existence of an advanced civilization where none was known before, presenting an entirely new perspective on the culture and history of Tibet. In his groundbreaking study of an epic period in Tibet few people even knew existed, John Vincent Bellezza details the discovery of an ancient people on the most desolate reaches of the Tibetan plateau, revolutionizing our ideas about who Tibetans really are. While many associate Tibet with Buddhism, it was also once a land of warriors and chariots, whose burials included megalithic arrays and golden masks. This first Tibetan civilization, known as Zhang Zhung, was a cosmopolitan one with links extending across Eurasia, bringing it in line with many of the major cultural innovations of the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age. Based on decades of research, The Dawn of Tibet draws on a rich trove of archaeological, textual, and ethnographic materials collected and analyzed by the author. Bellezza describes the vast network of castles, temples, megaliths, necropolises, and rock art established on the highest and now depopulated part of the Tibetan plateau. He relates literary tales of priests and priestesses, horned deities, and the celestial afterlife to the actual archaeological evidence, providing a fascinating perspective on the origins and development of civilization. The story builds to the present by following the colorful culture of the herders of Upper Tibet, an ancient people whose way of life is endangered by modern development. Tracing Bellezza’s epic journeys across lands where few Westerners have ventured, this book provides a compelling window into the most inaccessible reaches of Tibet and a civilization that flourished long before Buddhism took root.

A Concise History of Afghanistan-Central Asia and India in 25 Volumes

A Concise History of Afghanistan-Central Asia and India in 25 Volumes PDF Author: HAMID ALIKUZAI
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
ISBN: 1490735941
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1135

Get Book Here

Book Description
Thirteen years after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan Thirteen years after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, the gains that the international coalition has made with its local partners are real but reversible. Afghanistan is no longer a global hub of terrorist activity, but Taliban resurgence would threaten to make it one again. Reconstruction assistance has produced demonstrable progress in health, education, and economic well-being, but corruption and governance problems have undermined popular support for the government in Kabul and constrained the overall level of progress. Internationally, a coalition still backs the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) military mission. However, NATO's will is waning; China, Russia, and India are largely free riders; and Punjab and Iran publicly say the right things, while destabilizing Afghanistan by privately meddling to their own ends. Political and economic realities in the United States make the current level of American engagement in Afghanistan unsustainable. But as the commitment of coalition partners fades, what Washington decides will shape the future of South Asia. Looking ahead, there are three different scenarios for American engagement in Afghanistan. It remains to be seen exactly which route Washington will take. But it is clear that U.S. interests require a long-term commitment not only in Afghanistan but across the region. Lest it be forgotten, the consequences of ignoring the region in the 1990s were visited upon the United States on 9/11. So the most vital goals present-day are defeating the remnants of al Qaeda in Punjab, preventing the reemergence of terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan, ensuring the security of Punjab's nuclear weapons, and discouraging Punjab's use of extremism and terror as a policy instrument. There are three ways forward. Each entails a different degree of involvement and carries varying risks and rewards. The first option is the riskiest. Future #1: Immediate Departure and the Reallocation of Resources because discontent among the U.S. public over the war is already at an all-time high.

History of Central Asia, The: 4-volume set

History of Central Asia, The: 4-volume set PDF Author: Christoph Baumer
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1838608680
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1568

Get Book Here

Book Description
This set includes all four volumes of the critically acclaimed History of Central Asia series. The epic plains and arid deserts of Central Asia have witnessed some of the greatest migrations, as well as many of the most transformative developments, in the history of civilization. Christoph Baumer's ambitious four-volume treatment of the region charts the 3000-year drama of Scythians and Sarmatians; Soviets and transcontinental Silk Roads; trade routes and the transmission of ideas across the steppes; and the breathless and brutal conquests of Alexander the Great and Chinghiz Khan. Masterfully interweaving the stories of individuals and peoples, the author's engaging prose is richly augmented throughout by colour photographs taken on his own travels. This set includes The Age of the Steppe Warriors (Volume 1), The Age of the Silk Roads (Volume 2), The Age of Islam and the Mongols (Volume 3) and The Age of Decline and Revival (Volume 4)

A Comprehensive Survey of Rock Art in Upper Tibet: Volume III

A Comprehensive Survey of Rock Art in Upper Tibet: Volume III PDF Author: John Vincent Bellezza
Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 1803277742
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 1124

Get Book Here

Book Description
Focusing on the Eastern half of Stod, this is the third in a series of five volumes that comprehensively document rock art in Upper Tibet. It examines a panoply of graphic evidence found on stone surfaces, supplying an unprecedented view of the long-term development of culture and religion on a large swathe of the Tibetan Plateau.