Commodity and Exchange in the Mongol Empire: A Cultural History of Islamic Textiles

by Thomas T. Allsen

Overview

In the thirteenth century the Mongols created a vast transcontinental empire that transported skilled artisans from one cultural zone to another. Among those transported were Muslim textile workers, resettled in China, where they made clothes for the imperial court. In a fascinating account, the author considers the significance of cloth and color in the political and cultural life of the Mongols. Situated within the broader context of the history of the Silk Road, the book will interest not only historians of the Middle East and Asia, but also art historians and textile specialists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521583015
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	07/13/1997
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization
Pages:	156
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.33(h) x 0.67(d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. Consumption and use; 3. Acquisition and production; 4. Clothing and colour; 5. Cultural transmission; 6. Conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

"...we may be doubly grateful for the quality of this study." Bernard O'Kane, MESA Bulletin

"...Allsen's book is truly groundbreaking." Ruth I. Meserve, The International History Review

"...an important and well-written study of cultural adaptation and reidentification, which tells us far more about Mongol beliefs and practices than Islamic textiles." Warren C. Schultz, Religious Studies Review

"This is a fascinating and erudite book." Religious Studies Review

"This book is a major contribution to Mongol history; to the history of textile production, use, and exchange; to the study of the Central Asian steppe; and to the more general problems associated with cultural exchange and interaction." Leonard Helfgott, American Historical Review

"...Occidentalists and Orientalists alike will find in Allsen's book a valuable correction to the cultural stereotyping that has often characterized sedentary-biased scholarship concerning the role of nomadic peoples in the millennial phenomenon of East-West cultural transmission." Speculum

From the Publisher