Lane, George

English

SOAS Research Online

Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studieshttp://journals.cambridge.org/BSOAdditional services for Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies:Email alerts: Click hereSubscriptions: Click hereCommercial reprints: Click hereTerms of use : Click herealan j. k. sanders: historical dictionary of mongolia. (asian/oceanian historical dictionaries, 42.) lxxiii, 419 pp. lanham and oxford: the scarecrow press, 2003. £40.george laneBulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies / Volume 68 / Issue 02 / June 2005, pp 324 ­ 326DOI: 10.1017/S0041977X05270155, Published online: 06 September 2005Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0041977X05270155How to cite this article:george lane (2005). Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 68, pp 324­326 doi:10.1017/S0041977X05270155Request Permissions : Click hereDownloaded from http://journals.cambridge.org/BSO, IP address: 212.219.238.14 on 30 Oct 2012324 REVIEWSour main source for this story, Juwayni, can also be accused of biased andtendentious writing. His presentation of the eradication of the Assassins canbe seen as a way of justifying Hülegü’s campaign and later actions (as well asdrawing attention away from the conquest of Baghdad and the eradication ofthe Caliphate). In any event, other reasons—some more cogent—also presentthemselves: Mongol imperial ideology, the Mongol move westwards acrossIran into Anatolia, and probes into Syria and upper Mesopotamia which pre-ceded Hülegü’s arrival in the area, and Möngke’s desire to strengthen theToluids at the expense of the Jochids of the Golden Horde (a convincingsuggestion made by T. Allsen in his Mongol Imperialism (1987)). Finally thereis the whole issue of whether Hülegü was exceeding his brief by establishinga dynasty in Iran and the surrounding countries, a question raised by PeterJackson in his famous article ‘The dissolution of the Mongol empire’ (CentralAsiatic Journal, 32, 1978, 186–244). Readers—be they student or expert—should get a richer treatment of this important topic.A second matter is that of the nature of the early Ilkhanid state. Lanehas provided here a concise summary of the main arguments of his recent bookEarly Mongol Rule in Thirteenth Century Iran (London, 2003), which haspresented a convincing case for looking at the first decades of Ilkhanid rule ina more positive light than has usually hitherto been presented. Certainly, he iscorrect in suggesting that we have been led astray by the impression created bythe atrocities committed by the Mongols in their first campaign in the region(1219–23), as well the sorry state of the country described by Rashid al-Din atthe end of the thirteenth century (thus justifying the policies of his patron,Ghazan, carried out by himself). The author is surely right when he shows thatthe reign of Hülegü and his son Abagha (1265–82) was one of relative stabilityand even prosperity. At the same time, perhaps Lane has gone a little too farin painting the rosy picture of the welcome accorded to Hülegü by the rulersand people of Iran and its environs. Certainly the people of Mayyar farriqin,southern Iraq and Aleppo had little positive to say about the nature of Mongolconquest, and those of eastern Anatolia also may have had some reservationsregarding the benefits of Mongol rule after the harsh measures carried outthere in 1276–77. It is also not clear that the Sunni Muslims in Iraq and thesurrounding countries accepted the eradication of the ‘Abbasid caliphate withequanimity. The research of S. Heidemann (Das Aleppiner Kalifat (AD 1261):vom Ende des Kalifates in Bagdad der Aleppo zu den Restaurationen in Kairo(Leiden, 1994)) and my own readings in the Arabic sources from Egypt andSyria lead me to think differently.These reservations do not detract from the value of Lane’s volume as awhole. I intend to use it in my introductory lectures and courses on theMongols, and particularly recommend the volume to teachers, as well as to allthose who wish to learn about the Mongol expansion and empire, especially inthe Middle East.REUVEN AMITAIALAN J. K. SANDERS:Historical Dictionary of Mongolia.(Asian/Oceanian Historical Dictionaries, 42.) lxxiii, 419 pp.Lanham and Oxford: The Scarecrow Press, 2003. £40.This second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Mongolia is able to focuson the new, emerging, Mongolia and include the names and details of people,325REVIEWSinstitutions, places and events that have been of great importance over the lastdecade, a formative period in Mongolia’s history. While updating the entriesto reflect these new developments, Alan Sanders has not neglected Mongolia’sglorious past and the country’s pride in its eventful history. This slim volumeremains a useful reference book for the historian and general researcher, and aconvenient tool for academics as well as journalists.Alan Sanders has a solid background not only in journalism but also inacademia. He worked as an editor for the BBC for five years and has beena regular contributor to the Far Eastern Economic Review as well as regularlywriting articles and chapters for a wide range of journals, yearbooks, books,collections, and reports concerned with Mongolia. His academic credentialsinclude a lectureship at SOAS between 1991 and 1995, a fellowship of theLondon Institute of Linguists, membership of the Royal Society for AsianAffairs and the Royal Institute of International Affairs, and participation inboth the Anglo-Mongolian Round Table conferences and the quinquennialcongresses of the International Association for Mongol Studies. He has writtentwo other books on Mongolia and published two books on Mongolian, thespoken language.This new edition of his Historical Dictionary makes a welcome and timelyappearance. New interest in Mongolia has been evident in recent years and in2004 three major studies of Chinggis Khan and Mongol rule have appeared.Unfortunately this book has a serious omission: it contains only one veryinadequate map, which shows administrative districts and little more. Othermaps showing geological features, historical sites, economic activity, agricul-tural zones, and industrial developments would have proved very useful. Thisand the small black and white photographs are the only shortcomings of whatis otherwise an excellent reference guide to Mongolia.Certain aspects of this compact reference tool deserve particular mention.The chronology from 1162, the birth year of Chinggis Khan, to the present(2002) is accessible and gives a Mongol-eyed view of history. The entriesbecome progressively more detailed towards the end of the twentieth centuryand the beginning of the new. The revised and enlarged bibliography iscomprehensive and is sub-divided into eight broad categories which arefurther divided into more specific subject areas. It is served by an introductorycommentary on the current situation in Mongol and Mongolian studies. Fiveappendixes detail the membership of the government and assemblies since1992, listing members of the Great Hural or national assembly, the LittleHural or executive council, and the Democratic Party’s National AdvisoryCouncil for 2001. Select biographical details of the members can be foundin the main body of entries.The main body of the book contains a comprehensive selection of entriesall clearly cross-referenced. There is no attempt to categorize the dictionaryentries, but this is in no way a criticism. Subjects are easily located and relatedentries are clearly marked in bold print. Chinggis Khan is given three pagesbut he is cross-referenced not only to his sons and successors but to modernhistory, with the attitudes of political leaders and institutions towards theirfamous ancestor scrutinized in a revealing summary. Chinggis Khan’s birthdayhas only been celebrated in recent history since the death of Stalin but theofficial government view of the great man was negative, and sympathetic tothe virulently anti-Chinggisid attitude of Soviet Russia. He was applaudedfor uniting the steppe tribes of Eurasia but otherwise denounced as a cruelreactionary and oppressor. The dictionary traces the rehabilitation of Chinggis326 REVIEWSKhan with another network of cross-references to connect this particular entrywith the wider scope of the book.In the medieval period the boundaries of Mongolia were considerablylarger than they are today. Simple, concise entries deal with these outlyingoutcrops of the empire from its glory days. The Ilkhanate of Iran receivesonly thirteen lines and the Yuan dynasty of China nine, though the GoldenHorde of Russia is awarded a full page. Inner Mongolia has two pagesdevoted to its affairs and Xinjiang half a page in recognition of its scatteredMongol-speaking communities.The potential audience for this book is reflected in the background andachievements of the author. The detailed information pertaining to Mongolia’scurrent political, economic, industrial and social situation make it an indis-pensable and accessible tool for journalists, but its equally detailed data onhistorical and academic issues, coupled with the excellent bibliography, alsomake it a valuable volume for scholarly use.GEORGE LANEEAST ASIASTEPHEN ESKILDSEN:The Teachings and Practices of the Early Quanzhen Taoist Masters.(SUNY Series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture.) vii, 274 pp.Albany: State University of New York Press, 2004. $50.The Quanzhen (Complete Realization) School of Taoism emerged in northernChina in the twelfth century when the rule of the Northern Song- dynasty hadcrumbled and foreign powers held a firm grasp on the region. Adherents ofQuanzhen Taoism developed a preference for life in celibate communities,which makes this branch and organization of Taoism acceptable to today’sChinese government. The White Cloud Monastery in Beijing is the leadingTaoist centre for the education and the pious life of Taoists in northern China.It calls to mind the patriarch Qiu Chuji (1148–1227) who in the early thirteenthcentury departed to visit Chinggis Khan. The Mongol potentate wished tolearn about the techniques of longevity, a reputed concern of Taoism. Thisevent was described by A.Waley in The Travels of an Alchemist, The Journeyof the Taoist Ch´ang-ch´un from China to the Hindukush at the Summons ofChingiz Khan (reprinted London, 1963). Any study of the historical setting forthe developing Quanzhen School will consider the article by P. Demiéville,La situation religieuse en Chine au temps de Marco Polo (Oriente PolianoRome1957, pp.193–236). In the work under review Eskildsen shows that such studiesstill have much to offer. Qiu Chuji was one of the ‘Seven Realized Ones’, whoform, almost exclusively, the ‘early Quanzhen masters’ of the title of this book.They in fact founded Quanzhen Taoism in the provinces of Shandong andShensi where they established individual affiliations or lines of transmission.Some of these affiliations still flourish today, for example, the Longmen paithat claims Qiu Chuji to be the ancestor patriarch.The speciality of these Taoists was the sublimation of the way of life inorder to retrieve the original transcendent quality and integrity of the heavenlylife endowment. The literary collections of the Seven Realized Ones show a

Review of Alan J. K. Sanders, 'Historical Dictionary of Mongolia'

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Review of Alan J. K. Sanders, 'Historical Dictionary of Mongolia'

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