Mongols, Turks, and Others

The interaction between the Eurasian pastoral nomads - most famously the Mongols and Turks - and the surrounding sedentary societies is a major theme in world history. Nomads were not only raiders and conquerors, but also transmitted commodities, ideas, technologies and other cultural items. At the same time, their sedentary neighbours affected the nomads, in such aspects as religion, technology, and political culture. The essays in this volume use a broad comparative approach that highlights the multifarious nature of nomadic society and its changing relations with the sedentary world in the vicinity of China, Russia and the Middle East, from antiquity into the contemporary world Reuven Amitai, Ph.D. (1990) in Middle Eastern Studies, Hebrew University, is Associate Professor of Middle Eastern History at the Institute of Asian and African Studies at the Hebrew University. He has published extensively on the history of the late medieval Muslim world, particularly on the Mamluk Sultanate and the Mongol Ilkhanate. Michal Biran, Ph.D. (2000) in Middle Easter...