Paul D. Buell

T

here is an enormous literature on the age of Mongolian Empire, that period extending from approximately the late 13th century, as prequel, through much of the 14th century, later in Russia, in which Mongols, their states, and successor states dominated the stage in much of the Old World. Unfortunately it is very uneven in quality, much of it in less common languages, and marred by an excessive concern for philological detail. There is also a notable lack of useful overviews, those available either being too popular, and inaccurate, or just plain silly, or so ponderous in detail as to be virtually unreadable by a general audience. Unfortunately, given the complexity of the field, with sources in so many languages, some of them still unpublished, and the decline that Mongolian studies has undergone in recent decades, in the United States in particular, this situation is unlikely to change any time soon.

The bibliographical survey of the field that follows is not even remotely complete, nor could it be given the limited space available for this article. My purpose in providing it is rather to offer a useful guide to what is available, including some items in less common languages, either because these items are extremely important, or because they are the only literature available in major areas of interest. Nonetheless, the main emphasis is on those works that are the most easily read and understood by the non-specialist.

History of the Field

Despite the obvious interest of the topic, since the Mongols touched so many cultures in creating their empire, and in many ways brought Europe, in particular, out of its shell, serious scholarly study of the history of the age of Mongolian Empire and of its successor states only dates back a little over 300 years. The early works included a first biography of Cinggis-qan2, of which there are now a large number. It was written by Petis de la Croix (Histoire du Grand Genghizcan) and published in 1710 in Paris. Like most works from this first age of study of the topic, based as they were upon only a most limited sampling of primary source material, it is little read today. One early examination of the rise of the Mongols that is read today are the relevant chapters of Edward Gibbon's monumental Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (various editions). Gibbon was the first to advance a social interpretation of the rise of Cinggis-qan that is still in vogue today.

Not long after Gibbon's time, a more serious study of the age of Mongolian Empire began, in Russia, where the great Russian orientalist school began to study all things Mongolian as a cooperative effort. It had the advantage of a ready access to documents in the original Mongolian as well as in other Asian languages, including, as time went on, Chinese. The infl uence of this school is still felt today, both within Russia, and without, thanks to many émigré scholars such as the late Nicholas Poppe who lived and taught in Seattle, Washington, for many years. The present author was among his students.

Outside Russia, the first truly comprehensive history of the Mongols and their age appeared in 1824, that of French-Armenian Constantin d'Ohsson (Histoire des Mongols, 4 volumes, various editions, original published in Paris). It is still useful today because of d'Ohsson's masterful use of the Persian sources. In the years after d'Ohsson, a concerted effort was made, it is still continuing, to publish, translate and annotate these sources to make them available to the non-specialists. Among the earliest efforts in this area was E. Quatremère's edition and translation of a portion of the text of Rashid al-Din's history (Histoire des Mongols de la Perse, Paris, 1836). Shortly thereafter, the Russians also began to publish translations of Chinese sources, in most cases making them available for the first time to a European audience. Of special note in this regard, were the translations published by E. Bretschneider, in his still useful Medieval Researches, From Eastern Asiatic Sources, first published in 1888. Another major milestone was Henry Yule's annotated edition of Marco Polo, appearing in 1876, later updated by Cordier and republished in 1903. Their combined effort is still the most usable translation of Marco Polo, and the notes are a gold mine for scholars.

As more sources became available, specialized studies began appearing as well. These included Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall's histories of the Mongols in Russia, and in Iran (1840 and 1841-1843)3, only fully superceded in recent decades. Less successful was a general history in English, by Henry H. Howorth (History of the Mongols from the 9th to the 19th Century, London: Longmans, Green, and Company, 1876-1927), since Howorth was unable to read his primary sources in the original languages.

In the 20th century, various national schools of Mongolian studies fl ourished. The most important of these, as might be expected, was the Russian school, which continued strong throughout the late Czarist and Soviet periods. Two of its most important exponents were V. V. Barthold, whose worked straddled the Czarist and Soviet periods, and B. Y. Vladimirtsov, who produced many works including a biography of Cinggis-qan and an important examination of early Mongolian society from a Marxist perspective, the first based upon the most important Mongolian sources including the Secret History of the Mongols. Also important within the Russian schools, not only for his own work, but for the many scholars that he trained, was Nicholas Poppe. Among his many works, his study of the Mongolian documents in the aPhags-pa Script is still the standard work on the topic. More recently working in Russia was the Buriyat Ts. Munkuyev, a leading interpreter of early Mongolian society and politics from a Marxist perspective.

Prominent within the German school were B. Spuler, who wrote highly detailed histories, several times updated, on Mongol Russia and Iran (replacing those of Hammer-Purgstall), and Erich Haenisch. Haenisch, although not the first to reconstruct the Mongolian text of the Secret History of the Mongols from Chinese transcription (he was proceeded by Paul Pelliot in France), still produced a valuable edition of the text and a dictionary of the Mongolian words occurring in it4, among many works. Also important German scholars, both still living at the time of writing, are Herbert Franke, although more of a Sinologist than Mongolist, and the Turkologist and linguist G. Doerfer. Doerfer's voluminous dictionary of Mongolian and Turkish loan words found in Modern Persian is a major resource for anyone working in the field since key concepts are accompanied by detailed essays that put each into a cultural and historical context.

Even more important than the German school, in terms of total output, was the French school long dominated by Paul Pelliot (1878-1945). In addition to major articles and collections of notes (he never wrote an actual book) published during his life time, his posthumous works, some of major importance for the field, continued to appear for several decades after his death. His masterpiece, incomplete, he never got past the letter "C", is his massive Notes to Marco Polo, including full discussions of such topics as "Cinggis-qan" and "cotton," although much of it is philological, making the text, poorly organized in any case, difficult to get through. As noted, Pelliot was also the first to reconstruct the Mongolian text of the Secret History of the Mongols5.

Pelliot had many students, including Louis Hambis, who was actively involved in producing the series of posthumous works of Pelliot, as well as major translations of primary sources on his own, and the German Paul Ratchnevky, whose contributions to the field of Mongolian studies are many. They include a highly usable life of Cinggisqan based primarily upon Mongolian and Chinese sources (but not Persian, since Ratchnevsky does not read Persian). Also a student of Pelliot was the American, F. W. Cleaves, who in turn had many important students himself. Over several decades, nearly all published in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Cleaves produced a series of profusely documented (even with notes on notes) examinations of source material, above all inscriptions. Cleaves was also the author of a translation of the Secret History of the Mongols, although it is in a particularly obscure language and is difficult to read and lacks a promised volume of notes. Continuing the Cleaves, and thus Pelliot tradition, although he is somewhat more interpretive, in the United States was David Farquhar (who was also a student of Poppe). His magnum opus is a detailed exegesis, produced posthumously, of the government of Mongol China as it appears in the Yuanshi, "Official History of the Yuan" (various editions), that is, of China's Mongol dynasty.

Another extremely important national school is that of the Japanese which has concentrated its efforts on the history of the Mongols in East Asia in particular. Since the Japanese, before 1945, were in physical contact with the Mongols, and closely allied with them (an advantage of the Russian school as well), and have always had maximum access to East Asian sources, the work of this school has often been far in advance of anything being produced in the Western world. Leading scholars of the Japanese school include Yanai Wataru, who more or less invented the field in Japan, Haneda Toru, Iwamura Shinobu, who produced valuable work on Mongolian social and economic history, and Maeda Naonori . Maeda's life was cut short but his ideas on imperial Mongolian government remain vital to this day.

Although the age of the Mongolian Empire is less directly studied in China, except so far as it impinged on China, and then rarely in comparative terms, Chinese scholarship in the field has continued to be important. Most useful of Chinese publications in the general area are numerous high-quality editions of source material. Recently such publications included two separate editions, one with a dictionary of the text's Arabic and Persian terminology, of the surviving chapters of the Huihui yaofang, "Muslim Medicinal Recipes"6. This was once part of a large encyclopedia of Islamic medicine prepared, apparently, for the Mongol rulers of China. The text is unique not only in including Arabic script entries for Arabic and Persian terms otherwise given in Chinese transcription, but also as the only Chinese text to quote Galen and other Western authorities.

Also major contributions of Modern China to the field is a new version (by Ke Shaomin) of the Yuanshi, called XinYuanshi, "New Yuan History" (various editions), and the unexampled Mengwuer shiji, "Historical Record of the Mongols," of Tu Ji (various editions). Tu Ji's history is, without doubt, one of the finest works ever produced on the Mongols of the imperial period (and somewhat after), but little known since it is written in Chinese. Among Chinese specializing in the field was Wang Guowei, whose life was also cut short before he could realize his full potential. He produced annotated editions of early Chinese sources that remain highly useful. Foremost among younger scholars devoting themselves to the study of the Mongol age is Hsiao Ch'i-ch'ing. In addition to many other valuable works, Hsiao is the author of the best available essay on late qanate China in the Cambridge History of China.

Finally, there is the native Mongolian (people's republic) school, perhaps the most important of all since the Mongols are closest to their own traditions and its output has been voluminous, although much Mongolian scholarship has gone forward isolated from what is being done elsewhere. This has either been for political reasons, during the period of Soviet infl uence, or simply because of the physical isolation of Mongolia from the larger research libraries and the limited foreign language skills of many Mongolian scholars (this is changing rapidly). Mongolian contributions are particularly important in the area of social history, since they know their own culture best, in material culture, for the same reason, and in archaeology. Although the first to carry out fieldwork specifically devoted to sites associated with the Mongol imperial period were Russian archaeologists, including S. V. Kiselev, who carried out the first excavations at the site of the imperial Mongol capital of Qaraqorum, the Mongols are the ones doing most of the digging today, although Chinese archaeologists are much involved too, in Inner Mongolia and adjacent areas, as well as at many sites in China proper relating to the Mongol era, and efforts by Russians continue. Unfortunately, while excavation reports published by Chinese, Russian, and other scholars are relatively accessible and thus well known, those published by Mongolian scholars in Mongolia are not. Few libraries located outside Mongolian-speaking areas have any Mongolian books at all, not to mention excavation reports, rarely collected outside of Mongolian libraries. In the United States, only the Wilson Library of Western Washington University, in Bellingham, Washington, has large holdings of such material, both from the Ulaanbaatar and Inner Mongolian side.

Among the many Mongolian scholars concerned with the early history of their country, before and the during the Mongol age, and immediately after, are N. Ishjamts, Kh. Perlee, Sh. Bira, the latter still very active, Sh. Natsagdorj, B. Sum'yabaatar, and Ch. Dalay. Particularly important is the work of Dalay whose study of Mongolia in the Mongol age presents a thesis that strongly counters that of John Dardess that the Mongols became Confucianized as Mongolia became, in essence, a part of China. Also an important Mongolian scholar is D. Gongor. His two-volume Khalkh Tovchoon, "Short History of the Khalkha," offers the fullest social history of the Mongols, including those of the period of empire, ever written, in any language. Also an achievement of Mongolian scholarship is the only full translation of the Yuanshi into Mongolian by Dandaa (pen name of Ch. Demcigdorj).

In addition to the national schools, there are also a great many scholars working in various countries more or less independently, only loosely associated with anything that might be considered a school. Among them, still living, but already having had a long career, is Igor de Rachewiltz. He was born in Italy but is currently living in Australia. The contributions of Igor de Rachewiltz to so many areas of the field are too numerous to list here, but perhaps his greatest contribution of all will be his translation of the Secret History of the Mongols, with full apparatus, to appear in 2003, the product of decades of work. Igor de Rachewiltz has also worked extensively with Chinese biographical materials connected with major figures of the Mongol Yuan dynasty. He and his associates have not only produced a large biographical dictionary relating to the first period of Mongol control in China, but also have published several reference works aimed at making Chinese literary sources more accessible to scholars.

Another scholar making a strong individual contribution was the great Turkish historian Ismail Hakki Uzunçarsili. Although he was primarily interested in the history of Turkey and its origins, institutionally, the relevant chapters of his Osmanili Devleti Teskilâtina Medhal ("Overview of the Organization of the Ottoman Government") remains the best institutional history of any of the successor qanates, in this case, Mongol Iran. Uzunçarsili’s work is particularly valuable in that it provides substantial information regarding the context in which Ilqanate institutions existed and developed. Unfortunately, Turkish, outside of Turkish studies, is not a commonly read language and Uzunçarsili’s work, including his many other contributions, and those of Turkish scholars in general, remain largely unappreciated.

Most scholars in the United States also work in isolation and are not really part of a national school since the field of Mongolian studies is largely unrecognized there and most of those devoting all or part of their scholarly energies to the Mongol age do so as part of other fields. On example is Thomas Allsen. Allsen is one of those few scholars knowing both Chinese and Persian well, although based in Iranian studies. Allsen has produced a number of important institutional studies, including the standard work on the era of Möngke qan (1251-1259), but has recently devoted himself to the issue of cultural exchanges between the Islamic and Chinese worlds during the Mongol Age. Another example is the present author, more a Mongolist but still based in Chinese studies, but also knowing some Persian, a number of other important source languages, including Western ones, and very strong on the Altaic side. Like Allsen he has produced a number of institutionally-based studies and like Allsen he has now turned to the cultural history of the Mongol age, focusing on the history of food and comparative medical history.

Today, with centuries of scholarship to draw on, and nearly all of the important sources published and readily available, we would anticipate the dawn of a golden age of Mongolian studies, the study of the age of Mongolian Empire in particular, since interest in that period in other fields is now at a high level. Alas, it is not likely to be so for two very good reasons. One is an acute shortage of true specialists in the field, that dying breed, very rare to begin with, comprised of those with the necessary linguistic and other skills to study the period broadly with a maximum use of primary sources in all the many languages that have to be dealt with. Most scholars in the field today, and some are very competent, are based in some other area to the exclusion of Mongolian studies and tend to view the Mongol age through the rose-colored glasses of their own particular regional hobby-horses. Most important, few know any Mongolian at all and thus are unable to gain a feeling for the insider's view of events and people. A second reason for pessimism is the almost complete past failure to support the field as a legitimate area of scholarly inquiry, outside of a few, very rare institutions, some of those dying. This is particularly true in the United States. Thus, even if the proper specialists emerge, who will employ them The example of the present author who works entirely on his own, enjoys no institutional support whatever, and, most important, has no students thus making no contribution to the future, is not that atypical. Can we really afford to have an important field of scholarly inquiry that is, for all practical purposes, "out of the loop," especially today when the strategic importance of Central Asia grows by the day.

Bibliographical listings

The bibliographical listings provided below are highly selective and have been chosen either because the present author finds them particularly useful or because they provide virtually unique coverage. The listing is under the following somewhat arbitrary categories:

  1. General Works, Collections
  2. Reference
  3. Historiography
  4. Translations of Primary Sources
  5. Cinggis-qan
  6. Mongolia to 1206
  7. Mongolian Empire
  8. Mongol China
  9. Golden Horde
  10. Ca'adai Ulus, Qaidu, and Turkistan
  11. Mongol Iran
  12. Military
  13. Food, Medicine
  14. Diplomatics, International Relations, Cultural Exchanges
  15. Trade, Economic History
  16. Art, Architecture, and Textiles
  17. Religion
  18. Archaeology
  19. Black Death

Following most sections is a short commentary on works listed that the present author has found particularly useful. Works discussed in the introduction are usually not discussed again.

1. General Works, Collections

There is a real shortage of useful general works on the Mongols. The best of the general surveys are those by J. J. Saunders, David Morgan, and Michael Weiers, in German. My new Dictionary is intended to replace all three of these works. Also essential for any attempt to gain an overview of the topic are the works of Owen Lattimore. Franke and Twitchett, although concentrating on China, provide useful background information not only on the Mongols, but on their steppe predecessors including the infl uential Kitan.

2. Reference

3. Historiography

4. Translations of Primary Sources

There is now a wide range of translated sources available for those interested in the age of Mongolian Empire. Essential are the late John Boyle's translations of Persian sources, particularly his masterful translation of the history of Juvaini, and the forthcoming translation of the Secret History of the Mongols by Igor de Rachewiltz. Also particularly recommended are the new Gibb translation, now complete, of The Travels of Ibn Battuta, Lech's partial translation of Al-'Umari, and Peter Jackson and David Morgan's new rendering of the travels of William of Rubruck. The available Chinese material is mostly fairly technical but Waley's The Travels of an Alchemist is is particularly readable, and the translation of some early Chinese eyewitness accounts by Haenisch, Yao, Olbricht, Pinks is highly useful. Pelliot and Hambis provide a good translation of part of another early Chinese source, the Shengwu qinzheng lu, "Record of the Personal Campaigns of the Sagely Militant," which may be based upon a now-lost Mongolian chronicle. Containing mostly notices from the European side, Yule's Cathay and the Way Thither is still is still worth examining. For those interested in cultural history, food and medicine in particular, I recommend our A Soup for the Qan. This is supplemented by the recipes translated by Teresa Wang and Eugene N. Anderson.

5. Cinggis-Qan

Ratchnvesky's Life still remains the best. A new biography utilizing the Persian sources too is urgently needed.

6. Mongolia to 1206

7. Mongolian Empire

There is a rich literature, only sampled here, on Mongolian Empire, much of it highly technical. Particularly important are the works of Thomas Allsen. His Mongol Imperialism remains the best monograph on the era of Möngke (r. 1251-1259) and one of the best monographs in the entire field. Unfortunately out-of-print, but highly readable, is Igor de Rachewiltz's Papal Envoys to the Great Khans. See also the relevant biographies, including my own work, in Igor de Rachewiltz, Chan Hok-lam, Hsiao Ch'ich'ing and Peter W. Geier's In the Service of the Khan. My own "Chinqai (1169-1252): Architect of Mongolian Empire," is a corrected expansion of the biographical article found there with substantially more context provided. The works of Smith are always recommended, whatever the topic since they are very well thought out and extremely well documented.

8. Mongol China

The literature on Mongol China is vast, although not always readable. The best overview can be found in the relevant chapters of the Cambridge History of China by Allsen, Hsiao, Rossabi, Dardess, and Mote, although the last two see Mongol China as more of a Chinese entity than this writer. Still essential for the earliest period of Mongol rule in China is Igor de Rachewitlz's "Personnel and Personalities in North China in the Early Mongol Period" and the biographies in de Rachewiltz, Chan, Hsiao and Geier are equally essential for the early Yuan period, although they too see Mongol China as too Chinese, and Confucian. Also highly recommended for early Yuan is Morris Rossabi's Khubilai Khan. For those that read Asian languages, Iwamura and Meng provide excellent social history. Jay provides a readable look at the issue of Song loyalism, the supposed refusal of many members of the Song elite to serve or even acknowledge the existence of their Mongol conquerors. Although somewhat after the period, the many works of Henry Serruys make for highly interesting reading. Martin, although containing many errors, and now out-of-date, can still be useful for a basic orientation regarding the first Mongol conquests.

9. Golden Horde

11. Mongol Iran

The relevant chapters of the Cambridge History of Iran, particularly the chapter by J. A. Boyle, provide the best coverage, but the articles by J. M. Smith are extremely important, particularly his "Mongol Manpower and Persian Population," which argues that there really were hordes of Mongols and not just a few, as is generally argued. On Uzunçarsili see above.

12. Military

This is a popular book but is extremely well done although the narrative does contain errors. The illustrations are excellent. On Mongol China, see also Hsiao's The Military Establishment of the Yuan Dynasty above.

13. Food, Medicine

Works by Sabban are highly recommended for those interested in the history of food as it relates to the Mongol era. She sees the food of the time as more Chinese than I myself do, for example, but see my examination of early Mongol foodways in "Pleasing the Palate of the Qan: Changing Foodways of the Imperial Mongols." The same material is reviewed in more detail in A Soup for the Qan cited above, but see also my "Mongolian Empire and Turkicization," published after A Soup for the Qan and incorporating later research. Smith's "Mongol Campaign Rations: Milk, Marmots and Blood" represents first class detective work.

14. Diplomatics, International Relations, Cultural Exchanges

The best work in this category is unquestionably that by Thomas Allsen, but see also the relevant sections of a Soup for the Qan which looks at some of the same traditions from the perspective of food and medicine. John Carswell below also provides an excellent survey although focusing on art, namely blue and white porcelain. Kotwicz and Franke remain classics and Skelton, Marston, and Painter offer a highly useful survey of early Western relations with the Mongols. See also de Rachewiltz Papal Envoys to the Great Khans cited above.

15. Trade, Economic History

Both Allsen and Phillips are highly recommended. Phillips is particularly readable. It is one of the few books related to the period in question that is broadly interpretive.

16. Art, Architecture, Textiles

Carswell's beautiful book is now a classic. It is highly recommended.

17. Religion

Pallisen's profusely documented dissertation (Mico Bibliotheca Anthropos) on native Mongolian religion in the era of Mongolian Empire is still most useful but it should now be read with the relevant sections of work by Roux in mind. Pelliot's posthumous Recherches is dense but excellent. Touching on the same Christian culture of East Asia is Rossabi's highly readable study of Rabban Sauma.

18. Archaeology

Pending a full publication of new Mongolian excavations, Kiselev, for those reading Russian, remains essential.

19. Black Death

There is a huge literature on the Black Death and the works listed above are only a very limited selection of it. Gottfried is a useful introduction but see also new work by Scott and Duncan.

Notes

  1. This bibliographical essay is a much expanded and updated version of that appearing in my forthcoming Historical Dictionary of the Mongolian World Empire.
  2. This is the correct, Mongolian spelling of his name.
  3. Hammer-Purgstall, Joseph von, Geschichte der Goldenen horde in Kiptschak : das ist: der Mongolen in Russland, etwa 1200-1500: mit ausfhrlichen Nachweisen, einem beschreibenden Übersicht der vierhundert Quellen, neun Beilagen, enthaltend Dokumente und Auszüge, und einem Namen-und Sachregister, Amsterdam, APA Philo, 1979 (1840), and Hammer-Purgstall, Joseph von, Geschichte der Ilchane, das ist der Mongolen in Persia. Mit neun Beilagen und neun Stammtafeln, Darmstadt: C. W. Lesk, 1842-43.
  4. Erich Haenisch, MangŸol un Niuca Tobca'an, Die geheime Geschichte der Mongolen, Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1962, and Erich Haenisch, Wörterbuch zu MangŸol un Niuca Toba'an, (Yüan-Ch'ao Pi-shi) Die geheime Geschichte der Mongolen, Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1962.
  5. Paul Pelliot, Histoire secrète des Mongols. Restitution du texte mongol et traduction français des chaptires i vi, Oeuvres posthumes I, Paris, 1949.
  6. Kong, S.Y., et al. Huihui yaofang. Hong Kong: Hong Kong zhong bianyi yinwu youxian gongsi, 1996, and Song Xian. Huihui yaofang kaoshi. Two volumes. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju (Zhongwai jiaotong shiji congkan), 1999.

About the Author

Paul D. Buell holds a PhD in History, an MA in Chinese, and a Certificate in C Programming, and is an independent scholar, translator, and editor living in Seattle, Washington, where he runs his own consulting and translation service. He also works concurrently for Independent Learning, Western Washington University, located in Bellingham, where is he also an adjunct professor of Western's Center for East Asian Studies. He is the author of more than 80 books and articles, including the forthcoming Historical Dictionary of The Mongol World Empire, to be published by Scarecrow Press in 2003. He specializes in the institutional and cultural history of the Mongolian Empire, the comparative history of human and veterinary medicine, modern Central Asia, and lexicography. He has been a translator of Mongolian since 1968, of Modern Icelandic since 1976, and of Kazakh and Uzbek since 1981. During the years 1968-1970 he researched and wrote the National Intelligence Survey Social Characteristics Volume for Mongolia while an employee of the US Bureau of the Census in Washington, D.C. and between 1981 and 1994 was a consultant for the Foreign Broadcast Information Service of the US Central Intelligence Agency and prepared bi-weekly summaries and interpretations of the Kazakh press. He is a current author-contributor for Jane's Sentinel China and Northeast Asia, and Jane's Sentinel Russia and the CIS, and recently served as an associated editor of the World Military Encyclopedia, edited By S. L. Sandler (ABC-CLIO, 2002)



Welcome to the First Issue! | Sheba@Saba-Trading.com: A Yemeni Trading Link Three Thousand Years Old | The Origin of Chess and the Silk Road | The Mongols and the Silk Road | Age of Mongolian Empire: A Bibliographical Essay | Lecture Summary:"Genesis of the Indo-Iranians: Archaeological and Linguistic Aspects" | Letters