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25 January 2011

Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange within and beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia

BOOK

Jason Neelis. Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility
and Exchange within and beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South
Asia. Dynamics in the History of Religion, vol. 2. Leiden; Boston,
Brill: 2011. ISSN 1878-8106; ISBN 978 90 04 18159 5
http://www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=210&pid=41872

Description: This exploration of early paths for Buddhist transmission
within and beyond South Asia retraces the footsteps of monks, merchants,
and other agents of cross-cultural exchange. A reassessment of literary,
epigraphic, and archaeological sources reveals hisorical contexts for
the growth of the Buddhist sagha from approximately the 5th century BCE
to the end of the first millennium CE. Patterns of dynamic Buddhist
mobility were closely linked to transregional trade networks extending
to the northwestern borderlands and joined to Central Asian silk routes
by capillary routes through transit zones in the upper Indus and Tarim
Basin. By examining material conditions for Buddhist establishments at
nodes along these routes, this book challenges models of gradual
diffusion and develops alternative explanations for successful Buddhist
movement.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction: Road Map for Travelers
Models for the Movement of Buddhism
Merit, Merchants, and the Buddhist Sagha
Sources and Methods for the study of Buddhist Transmission
Outline of Destinations

Chapter 2: Historical Contexts for the Emergence and Transmission of
Buddhism within South Asia
Initial Phases of the Establishment of Early Indian Buddhist
Communities
Legacy of the Mauryans: Aśoka as Dharmarāja
Migrations, Material Exchanges, and Cross-Cultural Transmission in
Northwestern Contact Zones
Saka Migrants and Mediators between Central Asia and South Asia
Dynamics of Mobility during the Kuāa Period
Shifting Networks of Political Power and Institutional Patronage during
the Gupta Period
Cross-Cultural Transmission between South Asia and Central Asia, ca.
500-100 CE
Conclusions

Chapter 3: Trade Networks in Ancient South Asia
Northern Route (Uttarāpatha)
Southern Route (Dakiāpatha)
Seaports and Maritime Routes across the Indian Ocean
Conclusions

Chapter 4: Old Roads in the Northwestern Borderlands
Environmental Conditions for Buddhist Transmission in Gandhāra
Gandhāran Material and Literary Cultures
Gandhāran Nodes and Networks
Routes of Buddhist Missionaries and Pilgrims to and from Gandhāra
Domestication of Gandharan Buddhism
Conclusions

Chapter 5: Capillary Routes of the Upper Indus
Geography, Economy, and Capillary Routes in a High Altitude
Environment
Graffiti, Petroglyphs, and Pilgrims
Enigma of an Absence of Archaeological Evidence and Manifestations
of Buddhist Presence
Conclusions

Chapter 6: Long-Distance Transmission to Central Asian Silk Routes and
China
Silk Routes of Eastern Central Asia
Long-distance Transmission Reconsidered
Conclusions

Chapter 7: Conclusions: Alternative Paths and Paradigms of Buddhist
Transmission
Catalysts for the Formation and Expansion of the Buddhist Sagha
Changing Paradigms for Buddhist Transmission within and beyond South
Asia.

[CONTACT DETAILS:
Jason Neelis,
Assistant Professor,
Department of Religion and Culture,
Wilfrid Laurier University,
Waterloo, ON, Canada N2L 3C5
email: jneelis--at--wlu.ca ]

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11 January 2011

Crossroads - Studies on the History of Exchange Relations in the East Asian World [New E-journal]

http://www.eacrh.net/ojs/

11 Jan 2011

Ostasien Verlag, Grossheirath-Gossenberg, Germany.

Supplied note:
"The online and print journal 'Crossroads - Studies on the History of Exchange Relations in the East Asian World' [est. 2010, ISSN: 2190-8796 - ed.] is designed as an international forum for contributions related to the history of exchange relations in the East Asian world. With an abstract to every article in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. - dz."

Self-description:
"The 'East Asian World' in this context comprises geographically speaking the regions of China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan (core region) and their neighbours or regions that were considered their 'peripheries' (such as for example Mongolia, Tibet, Vietnam etc.), including relevant predecessors (such as the Ryukyus, Bohai or Manchuria). Exchange relations and interaction with countries and regions beyond this East Asian world, like India, Russia and all the countries on the Eurasian continent, continental and insular Southeast Asia, regions around the Persian Gulf and generally the macro-region of what is designated as the 'Oriental world' - in contrast to 'Occidental Europe' - as well as interaction with for example the American or African continent are also part of the focus, as long as there existed important and/or sustainable contacts to the mentioned regions in East Asia. East Asia is thus treated as an entity made up of different countries and regions with similarities, but also with distinctive differences, concentrating on their interconnectedness and exchange relations, while emphasizing its relations to the macro-regions of Asia, Eurasia and the Orient, but also cross-Pacific interchange. The focus of contributions are both continental (overland) and maritime (overseas) exchange relations of bilateral and multilateral interaction structures. With regard to contents, major emphasis will be placed on the transfer of science and technologies, cultural aspects in their widest interpretation, religions, commodity and product exchange, trade, as well as migration and the organisation of functioning networks.
[...] Readers can choose between payment per article or annual subscription. If you want to subscribe to the Crossroads journal, please refer to the 'Subscriptions' section. If you want to submit an article, please read the 'Policies' and the 'Submission' sections first and then register."

Site contents:
* About the Journal (# People - Contact, Editorial Team, # Policies - Focus and Scope, Section Policies, Peer Review Process, Subscriptions, Author Self-Archiving, Delayed Open Access, # Submissions - Online Submissions, Author Guidelines, Copyright Notice, Privacy Statement, # Other - Journal Sponsorship, Site Map, About this Publishing System);
* Log In;
* Register;
* Search (All, Authors, Title, Abstract, Index terms, Full Text);
* Browse (By Issue, By Author, By Title);
* Current Issue [Open access TOCs and Abstracts. Subscription access to the PDF files with the full text and illustrations] Vol 1, 2010 (Articles: # Crossroads -- An Introduction - Angela Schottenhammer; # The Treaty of Shanyuan ? -- Then and Now: Reflections 1000 Years Later - Christian SCHWARZ-SCHILLING; # From Chen Cheng to Ma Wensheng: Changing Chinese Visions of Central Asia - Morris ROSSABI; # Song China and the multi-state and commercial world of East Asia - John CHAFFEE; # Some Glosses on the Sea Straits of Asia: Geography, Functions, Typology - Roderich PTAK; # A Buddhist Woodblock-printed Map and Geographic Knowledge in 13th Century China - Hyunhee PARK; # 'Brokers' and 'Guild' (huiguan) Organizations in China's Maritime Trade with her Eastern Neighbours during the Ming and Qing Dynasties - Angela SCHOTTENHAMMER; # Some Observations on Cash Metals from the Ryukyus 1664--1874 - Qing WANG);
* Archives of the Past Issues;
* Announcements.

URL http://www.eacrh.net/ojs/

Link reported by: Deike Zimmann (admin--at--eacrh.net)

Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract]

* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]:
Study
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - library/museum - NGO - other]:
Academic
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]:
Essential

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25 November 2010

Journal of Asian History on Trade in/with Asia

* Arasaratnam, Sinnappah, The Coromandel-Southeast Asia Trade 1650-1740. Journal of Asian History. 1984, Vol. 18:113-135.

* Chan, Hok-Lam, Commerce and Trade in Divided China: The Case Jurchen-Jin versus the Northern and Southern Song. Journal of Asian History. 2002, Vol. 36: 135-183.

* Forbes, Andrew D. W., The "Cin-Ho" (Yunnanese Chinese) Caravan Trade with North Thailand During the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries. Journal of Asian History. 1987, Vol. 21:1-47.

* Pearson, M. N., Spain and Spanish Trade in Southeast Asia. Journal of Asian History. 1968, Vol. 2:109-129.

* Rossabi, Morris, The Tea and Horse Trade with Inner Asia During the Ming. Journal of Asian History. 1970, Vol. 4:136-168.

* Serruys, Henry, Sino-Mongol Trade During the Ming. Journal of Asian History. 1975, Vol. 9:34-56.

* Whittaker, Dick, Conjunctures and Conjectures: Kerala and Roman Trade. Journal of Asian History. 2009, Vol. 43:1-18.


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05 July 2010

Strabo Route as a Part of the Great Silk Road

http://www.iicas-unesco.org/public_20_e.htm

Proceedings of the International conference Baku, November 28-29, 2008,
[International Institute for Central Asian Studies - IICAS], Samarkand-Tashkent 2009.
This compilation presents the proceedings of an international academic conference entitled 'The Strabo Route as a Part of the Great Silk Road', which took place in Baku on 28-29 November 2008. The conference was launched at the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences as a part of a larger international project aimed at complex studies of the issues related to the functioning of the first transcontinental trade route in the history of the world.
 
CONTENTS
* Alimova Dilorom, Rtveladze Edward, Abdurasulov Ulfat (Uzbekistan)
Central Asia-Transcaucasia-Rome: of the significance of the Amudarya water route via the Caspian sea to Transcaucasia
* Farda Asadov (Azerbaijan)
The Rus' on the Caspian Sea and on the Great Silk Road in the middle of 9th - beginning of 10th century
* Ilyas Babayev (Azerbaijan)
Archaeological traces of the Great Silk Road in Azerbaijan
* Murtazali Gadjiyev (Russia, Dagestan)
Strabo on the caravan trade of the Aorses
* Qoshqar Qoshqarli (Azerbaijan)
Strabo Route studies in Azerbaijan
* Omar Davudov (Russia, Dagestan)
The Caspian inshore trade routes and archaeological materials
* Vilayat Kerimov (Azerbaijan)
Architectural monuments of the north-west province of Caucasian Albania on the Great Silk Road
* Sergey Klyashtorniy (Russia)
The Road to Serindia: The itinerary of Strabo-Apollodorus and the Periplus of the Southern Seas
* Rauf Melikov (Azerbaijan)
On the participation of the tribes of ancient Azerbaijan in international trade
* Irada Najafova (Azerbaijan)
Strabo on the role of the Caspian Sea in international trade
* Marek Jan, Olbrycht (Poland)
Strabo and the mysterious Ochos - rivers of Central Asia and northeastern Iran in antiquity
* Shakir Pidayev (Uzbekistan)
Commercial and cultural connections of Bactria-Tokharistan with Khorezm (Antiquity and Middle Ages)
* Claude Rapin (France)
Strabo on the trade route from India to the Pont Sea:
Between the mirage of cartography and the reality of archaeology
* Maya Rasulova (Azerbaijan)
Numismatic information about the Transcaucasian arterial route
* Sevda Suleymanova (Azerbaijan)
"The Caspian Gates" in the Albanian province of Lpinia
* Yusuf Yakubov (Tajikistan)
Strabo on the rocks of Sogdia and Bactria during the time of Alexander of Macedonia's invasion

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01 July 2010

Tang Shipwreck [from the Maritime Silk Route]

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/tang-shipwreck/worrall-text
Maritime Silk Route
National Geographic Magazine, June 2009
Tang Shipwreck
By Simon Worrall
Photograph by Tony Law
A 1,200-year-old shipwreck opens a window on ancient global trade.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/tang-shipwreck/worrall-text
[...]
Heavy with Chinese cargo, the ship that sank off Belitung in the early ninth century was an Arab dhow. The wreck gives scholars an unprecendented time capsule of enterprise on the Maritime Silk Route, for centuries the nexus of international trade. Catching seasonal monsoon winds, merchants and mariners linked the Middle East to China through India and ports of call in between.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/tang-shipwreck/trade-route-illustration

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23 June 2010

Trade networks in the Inner-East-Southeast Asian borderlands

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?jid=JGH&volumeId=5&issueId=02

"Zomia" is a shorthand reference to the huge, massif  of mainland Southeast Asia, running from the Central Highlands of Vietnam westward all the way to northeastern India and including the southwest Chinese provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, and western Guangxi.
http://www.uoft.asiapacificreader.org/index.php?Itemid=36&id=37137&option=com_content&task=view

Zomia is a geographical term [... for] the huge massif of mainland Southeast Asia that has historically been beyond the control of governments based in the population centers of the lowlands.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zomia_(geography)

"Zomia and Beyond", a theme issue of the JOURNAL OF GLOBAL HISTORY,
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?jid=JGH&volumeId=5&issueId=02

Incl.
* Across Zomia with merchants, monks, and musk: process geographies, trade networks, and the Inner-East-Southeast Asian borderlands
C. Patterson Giersch
Journal of Global History, Volume 5, Issue 02, July 2010, pp 215-239

* Borderlands and border narratives: a longitudinal study of challenges and opportunities for local traders shaped by the Sino-Vietnamese border
Sarah Turner
Journal of Global History, Volume 5, Issue 02, July 2010, pp 265-287


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17 June 2010

Piracy and trade on the western coast of India (AD 1-250)

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a913514062
Piracy and trade on the western coast of India (AD 1-250) 
Author: Sunil Gupta
DOI: 10.1080/00672700709480449
Publication Frequency: 3 issues per year
Published in: Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, Volume 42, Issue 1 2007 , pages 37 - 51
Formats available: PDF (English)
Download PDF (2 MB)

Abstract
This paper explores the theme of 'piracy and trade in the Indian Ocean' with respect to the situation prevailing on the western coast of India in the first three centuries AD. References to pirates on the western Indian coastland contained in Graeco-Roman sources such as the Periplus Maris Erythraei (first century AD), the Natural History of Pliny (first century AD) and the Geographia of Ptolemy (second century AD) have been taken at face value and integrated into historical discourse without critical analysis. This study seeks to situate the 'piracy and trade' theme in proper historical perspective; both in the context of the western Indian coastlands and the Indian Ocean in general. The study draws from archaeological surveys of the Konkan and Kanara coastal tracts conducted between 1992-96 and 2000-2002.

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01 June 2010

Dutch Slavery and Slave Trade in the Indian Ocean in the Seventeenth Century

http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jwh/14.2/vink.html

Markus Vink. 2003.
"The World's Oldest Trade": Dutch Slavery and Slave Trade in the Indian Ocean in the Seventeenth Century.
Journal of World History, June 2003, Vol. 14, No. 2
http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jwh/14.2/vink.html

Abstract:
[...] This article discusses various aspects of Dutch slavery and slave trade in the Indian Ocean: the markets of supply and demand or geographic origins and destinations of slaves; the routes to slavery or the diverse means of recruitment of forced labor; the miscellaneous occupations performed by company and private slaves; the size of Dutch slavery and the volume of the accompanying annual slave trade; and the various forms of slave resistance and slave revolt. The findings presented here are tentative, illustrating broad contours in bold, sweeping strokes. Further research will be necessary to fill in the details and shed new light on the world's oldest trade in the Indian Ocean basin, but the protracted history of silence has finally ended. [...]

Markets of Supply: Origins of Slaves
Markets of Demand: Destinations of Slaves
Routes to Slavery
Slave Occupations
Size of Dutch Slavery and Volume of the Slave Trade
Slave Resistance and Slave Revolt
Conclusion
Notes


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31 May 2010

Application of Geo-Informatics to the Study of the Royal Road from Angkor to Phimai

http://hdl.handle.net/2433/88033

Kyoto University Research Information Repository 
Center for Southeast Asian Studies 
Southeast Asian Studies  Vol.46 No.4 
http://hdl.handle.net/2433/88033

File: 460405.pdf, 2.13 MB, Adobe PDF
Title: Application of Geo-Informatics to the Study of the Royal Road from Angkor to Phimai
Authors: Lertlum, Surat & Shibayama, Mamoru

Keywords: 
Angkor
archaeology
area study
geo-informatics
Phimai
remote sensing and GIS
royal road

Issue Date: 
31-Mar-2009
Publisher: 
京都大学東南アジア研究所
Journal title: 
東南アジア研究
Volume: 46 Issue: 4
Start page: 547 End page: 563

Abstract: 
[...] In this project, archaeological and anthropological knowledge was used together with geo-informatics, information and geo-physics technologies to identify, pinpoint and study the ancient road from Angkor in Cambodia to Phimai in Thailand that is described in the inscription of the Pra Khan temple in Angkor, Cambodia.
Application of geo-informatics to this project revealed the following results:
(1) Application of GIS/RS confirmed the hypothesis proposed by archaeologists based on the Pra Khan inscription that an ancient road once ran from Angkor in Siem Reap area of Cambodia to Phimai in Nakorn Ratchasima, Thailand. In particular, parts of the ancient road were clearly recognized by analyzing the archaeological sites found standing along a line on satellite images and aerial photographs.
(2) Buildings and facilities related with the ancient road, such as ancient bridges, ancient industry sites, and dharmshalas (rest-house chapels), were newly discovered through the same analysis.
(3) Predictions and assumptions derived from RS/GIS methodologies were verified by field surveys conducted by specialists in archaeology, anthropology, and informatics. In other words, RS/GIS methodologies also could be used to decide an area of field survey in advance. [...] This paper describes the role and significance of geo-informatics in the study of the royal road from Angkor to Phimai, presents new findings obtained from application of geo-informatics in archaeological studies, describes how GIS/RS technologies were applied, and discusses effectiveness of applying the satellite image ASTER1) and SRTM2) elevation data in the project.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2433/88033


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20 April 2010

Islam and Tibet: Cultural Interactions along the Musk Routes

http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/islamtibet/lunchtimelecture.html

Islam and Tibet: Cultural Interactions along the Musk Routes
Warburg Institute Lunchtime lecture - 2 February 2006

In their lunch time lecture Dr. Akasoy and Dr. Yoeli-Tlalim presented four aspects of their research:

[....]
The musk routes: In Arabic literature from the 9th century onwards Tibet is frequently described as the land of musk. A variety of sources attest to the importance of the musk trading routes for the contacts between Islamic and Tibetan cultures. A comparison of the uses of musk in Islamic and Tibetan medicines revealed, for example, that alongside musk as a trading good, ideas of its use travelled as well.
[...]


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16 April 2010

BOOK: Casale, G. 2010. The Ottoman Age of Exploration. Oxford U. Press USA.

Src: H-Net list for Asian History and Culture (H-ASIA--at--H-NET.MSU.EDU)

April 15, 2010

Member Publication: "The Ottoman Age of Exploration" by Giancarlo Casale
**************
From: Giancarlo Casale (glcasale--at--gmail.com)

Dear List Members,

I'm pleased to announce the publication of my new book, The Ottoman Age of
Exploration (Oxford University Press USA, February 25, 2010). Book
description and table of contents follow. Thank you for your indulgence,

Giancarlo Casale

Description:

In 1517, the Ottoman Sultan Selim the Grim conquered Egypt and brought
his empire for the first time in history into direct contact with the
trading world of the Indian Ocean. During the decades that followed, the
Ottomans became progressively more engaged in the affairs of this vast and
previously unfamiliar region, eventually to the point of launching a
systematic ideological, military and commercial challenge to the
Portuguese Empire, their main rival for control of the lucrative trade
routes of maritime Asia.

The Ottoman Age of Exploration is the first comprehensive historical
account of this century-long struggle for global dominance, a struggle
that raged from the shores of the Mediterranean to the Straits of Malacca,
and from the interior of Africa to the steppes of Central Asia. Based on
extensive research in the archives of Turkey and Portugal, as well as
materials written on three continents and in a half dozen languages, it
presents an unprecedented picture of the global reach of the Ottoman state
during the sixteenth century. It does so through a dramatic recounting of
the lives of sultans and viziers, spies, corsairs, soldiers-of-fortune,
and women from the imperial harem. Challenging traditional narratives of
Western dominance, it argues that the Ottomans were not only active
participants in the Age of Exploration, but ultimately bested the
Portuguese in the game of global politics by using sea power, dynastic
prestige, and commercial savoir faire to create their own imperial
dominion throughout the Indian Ocean.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: An Empire of the Mind (pp.3-12)
Chapter One: Selim the Navigator, 1512-1520 (pp.13-33)
Chapter Two: Ibrahim Pasha and the Age of Reconnaissance, 1520-1536
(pp.34-52)
Chapter Three: Hadim Süleiman Pasha's World War, 1536-1546 (pp.53-83)
Chapter Four: Rüstem Pasha versus the Indian Ocean Faction, 1546-1561
(pp.84-116)
Chapter Five: Sokollu Mehmed Pasha and the Apogee of Empire, 1561-1579
(pp.117-151)
Chapter Six: A Man, a Plan, a Canal: Mir Ali Beg's Expeditions to the
Swahili Coast, 1579-1589 (pp.152-179)
Chapter Seven: The Death of Politics (pp.180-204)

Notes: pp.205-248
Works Cited: pp.249-270
Index: pp.271-281


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15 April 2010

Networks of Trade in the Caucasus, 1750-1925

http://www.arisc.org/Projects-&-Programs

ARISC Graduate Fellowships 2009-10

The American Research Institute of the Southern Caucasus (ARISC)
announces the recipients of the 2009-10 Graduate Fellowship competition.

- Megan Dean (Stanford University): Neither Empire Nor Nation:
Networks of Trade in the Caucasus, 1750-1925.
[...]
http://www.arisc.org/Projects-&-Programs

"Neither Empire Nor Nation: Networks of Trade in the Caucasus, 1750-1925"
Megan Dean, Ph.D. candidate (Stanford University)
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
5:30pm
ISET building (CRRC)
Zandukeli 16
Tbilisi, Georgia
Megan Dean will be presenting her ongoing research, "Neither Empire Nor Nation: Networks of Trade in the Caucasus, 1750-1925" at Tbilisi's Caucasus Research Resources Center (CRRC) on March 31st at 5:30 pm. Her work probes the limits of identity politics, state control and violence and explores how basic economic exchanges and cultural interactions unfolded in daily life in the Caucasus, a frontier zone of multiple empires.  A 2010 recipient of the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC) Graduate Fellowship for her research at the National Archives of Georgia, she is also a Ph.D. Candidate in history at Stanford University in California.
http://www.arisc.org/Projects-&-Programs


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