History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The Crossroads of Civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750

by R. Shabani Samghabadi (Co-Editor), B.A. Litvinsky (Editor), Zhang Guang-da (Co-Editor)

In this third volume covering the flourishing period from the third to the eighth century A.D., scholars describe the powerful role played by the Sasanian state in Iran, the Gupta empire in India and the T'ang dynasty in China. Waves of nomadic migrations and the formation of steppe empires left their mark on political and social life. This multiethnic society had its roots in the great religious traditions of Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Christianity and Shamanism. The Islamization of a great part of the region brought fundamental changes to all aspects of life. Intensive trade along the Silk Route encouraged cultural and scientific exchanges, making this period one of impressive artistic and intellectual creativity.

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction

569 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2006

Reviews

[Bryn Hammond · Rating 5 out of 5]

These were hard to get hold of. They've been a bit bagged, too, as uneven (scholarship-wise), but I found them worth the hassle. Large coverage of ideas: religion, science, the arts. Massive in scope, in fact.

[Riq Hoelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Silk Road fans who have enjoyed Richard Frye's excellent THE HERITAGE OF CENTRAL ASIA may well have wondered, what's next? Is that all there is? Fortunately, there is more and it is to be found in this magnificent series produced by your tax dollars and UNESCO. These volumes deal in considerable depth with all the topics introduced by the Frye book. Just as with that book, while a scholarly work, it is accessible to the general reader. And it is reliable and reflective of modern research in the areas.
Edited and written by a Scientific Committee composed of two scholars from each of the seven Central Asian countries -- Afghanistan, China, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan, Mongolia and the former USSR -- and five experts from other countries -- Hungary, Japan, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, the quality of the scholarship is excellent. The experts are the tops in their fields and the chapters accurately reflect the latest research and theories. Only the Chinese writers succumb to a nationalism that causes them to reveal the influence of the modern political situation. Even then, the information is not wrong, but simply shaded in emphasis. Tibet is called a kingdom whereas other writers have called it an empire. The invasions and conquests of the Xiong Nu (Hsiung Nu) receive a line here and there while the Chinese conquests and influences receive many paragraphs, even though the time periods for each are roughly comparable. Etc. But it is not serious, and anyway, the nomads are dealt with more fully in other volumes in the series.
The bottom line is that one simply cannot find this material anywhere else, unless by pursuing many, many obscure journals from all parts of the world,including faraway India, which are no longer available and often written in other languages.
For purposes of the book, Central Asia is defined as the civilizations of Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, Pakistan, northern India, western China, Mongolia and the former Soviet Central Asian republics.
Contents:
* Historical Introduction (B.A. Litvinksy, Zhang Guang-da)
* Sassanian Iran - economy, society, arts (N.N. Chegini, A.V. Nikitin)
* Sassanian Iran - intellectual life (A. Tafazzoli, A.L. Khromov)
* The Kushano-Sassanian Kingdom (A.H. Dani, B.A. Litvinksy)
* The Kidarite Kingdom in Central Asia (E.V. Zeimal)
* The Hephthalite Empire (B.A. Litvinsky)
* Eastern Kushans, Kidarites in Gandhara and Kashmir, and Later Hephthalites (A.H. Dani, B.A. Litvinsky, M.H. Zamir Safi)
* The Gupta Kingdom (K. Chakrabarti)
* Khwarizm (E.E. Nerazik, P.G. Bulgakov)
* Sogdiana (B.I. Marshak, N.N. Negmatov)
* The City-states of the Tarim Basin (Zhang Guang-da)
* Kocho (Kao-ch'ang) (Zhang Guang-da)
* Northern Nomads (L.R. Kyzlasov)
* The Turk Empire (D. Sinor, S.G. Klyashtorny)
* The Western Regions (Hsi-yu) under the T'ang Empire and the kingdom of Tibet (Mu Shun-ying, Wang Yao)
* Tokharistan and Gandhara under Western Turk rule (650-750) (J. Harmatta, B.A. Litvinsky)
* Religions and Religious Movements - I (Ph. Gignoux, B.A. Litvinsky)
* Religions and Religious Movements - II (B.A. Litvinsky, M.I. Vorobyova-Desyatovskaya)
* The Arab Conquest (B.A. Litvinsky, A.H. Jalilov, A.I. Kolesnikov)
* Central Asia, The Crossroads of Civilization (B.A. Litvinksy, Zhang Guang-da)
* Maps
* Bibliography and References
* Index
Bibliographical information:
Subtitle: The Crossroads of Civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750
Editor: B.A. Litvinsky
Co-editors: Zhang Guang-da and R. Shabani Samghabadi
Published: 1996 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (unesco.org), Paris