![Illuminated manuscripts, like this one of the Buddhist deity Sahasra Pramardini, were only still being made in Nepal during the Indian persecution of Buddhism and consequently Tibet during the mid-ninth century through the start of the eleventh. Illuminated manuscripts like this one helped both Tibetan Buddhist teachers and students bring the famous teachings back to central Tibet.
Buddhism, which flourished when first introduced to Tibet in the middle of the seventh century, experienced a time of decline beginning in the second half of the ninth century continuing through the end of the tenth. This can be attributed to warfare fought among the Tibetan, Uighur Turks, and Chinese that had been brought on by the frequent changing of allies causing great imbalances in political power.[i] These battles, which were often and high in damage and causalities, eventually created a massive financial debt within the Tibetan Empire that fed off the resources that were quickly disappearing. The lack of resources, natural and human, forced Tibet into signing peace treaties with China that ensured the end of “the era of Tibetan expansion in Inner Asia”[ii]. The remaining debt in Tibet, now halted from the profit found in expanding, had nowhere to come to rest except on the Tibetan people themselves. This came in the form of taxation and with no organized system of power, central Tibet collapsed. The debt affected every aspect of Tibetan culture, and even Buddhist monasteries and temples had a major drop in financial support from the government. Previously, historical legends recounted an extremely violent and massive persecution of Buddhism in Tibet stemming from a king who had turned his back on the religion[iii]. However, most historians agree that this is most likely an example of legends being taken to heart and attribute finanical problems as the real cause;
“ It seems possible that the persecution, despite its great importance in later thought, was in essence a withdrawal of funding, no doubt due to a poor current-accounts balance rather than to anti-Buddhist sentiment, that came to be very much exaggerated in its retellings.”[iv]
Image courtesy of Naresh Shakya.
— Mapping Cultures: The Fall of the Tibetan Empire and a Decline in Buddhism
Indiegogo | Asianhistory | US History Minus White Guys](http://25.media.tumblr.com/da7c028fa83607af84c1c865a282aca9/tumblr_mmprf6ZX401qh6o2ho1_500.png)
Illuminated manuscripts, like this one of the Buddhist deity Sahasra Pramardini, were only still being made in Nepal during the Indian persecution of Buddhism and consequently Tibet during the mid-ninth century through the start of the eleventh. Illuminated manuscripts like this one helped both Tibetan Buddhist teachers and students bring the famous teachings back to central Tibet.
Buddhism, which flourished when first introduced to Tibet in the middle of the seventh century, experienced a time of decline beginning in the second half of the ninth century continuing through the end of the tenth. This can be attributed to warfare fought among the Tibetan, Uighur Turks, and Chinese that had been brought on by the frequent changing of allies causing great imbalances in political power.[i] These battles, which were often and high in damage and causalities, eventually created a massive financial debt within the Tibetan Empire that fed off the resources that were quickly disappearing. The lack of resources, natural and human, forced Tibet into signing peace treaties with China that ensured the end of “the era of Tibetan expansion in Inner Asia”[ii]. The remaining debt in Tibet, now halted from the profit found in expanding, had nowhere to come to rest except on the Tibetan people themselves. This came in the form of taxation and with no organized system of power, central Tibet collapsed. The debt affected every aspect of Tibetan culture, and even Buddhist monasteries and temples had a major drop in financial support from the government. Previously, historical legends recounted an extremely violent and massive persecution of Buddhism in Tibet stemming from a king who had turned his back on the religion[iii]. However, most historians agree that this is most likely an example of legends being taken to heart and attribute finanical problems as the real cause;
“ It seems possible that the persecution, despite its great importance in later thought, was in essence a withdrawal of funding, no doubt due to a poor current-accounts balance rather than to anti-Buddhist sentiment, that came to be very much exaggerated in its retellings.”[iv]
Image courtesy of Naresh Shakya.
— Mapping Cultures: The Fall of the Tibetan Empire and a Decline in Buddhism
Indiegogo | Asianhistory | US History Minus White Guys
Map of the Tibetan empire at its greatest extent between the 780s and the 790s CE.
The Tibetan Empire once covered land that includes the countries of: India, Afghanistan, Nepal, China, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
Indiegogo | Asianhistory | US History Minus White Guys
emystomology:
“The Mir-i Arab Madrasa was built across from the Kalyan Mosque in the 1530’s, during the reign of Ubaydallah Khan, in Bukhara. It has continued functioning as a madrasa until the present. Like the Kalyan Mosque, the madrasa exhibits a traditional four-iwan courtyard plan….the structure’s namesake, Mir-i-Arab, was a 16th-century Naqshbandi sheikh from Yemen. He had a powerful influence on the Shaybanid ruler Ubaidullah Khan and also financed the original complex…”
(via emystomology-deactivated2013040)
beyondsilkroads:
theskaldspeaks:
asianhistory:
The Black Plague is famous in the Medieval period in Europe for having wiped out one-third of Europe’s population. But the plague was even more devastating in Asia. The Bubonic Plague also has much less artwork of how it affected Asia as opposed to Europe and Asia’s history with the Bubonic Plague isn’t as documented so it isn’t exactly clear how much it influenced culture, though it did influence history.
It is theorized that the Black Plague originated in Eurasia in the 13th and 14th centuries. Because the Mongol forces took over a large part of Asia, including China (the Yuan Dynasty), Korea (then Goryeo), Mongolia parts of India, parts of Siberia and into Tibet, Vietnam and far into the Middle East, there was a large mix of culture at one time.
It started in force when the Mongol horde was fighting against European forces in Caffa, present day Crimea, which was a seaport for Italian merchants. The Mongols besieged Caffa but started to die off from disease rather than fighting. The Mongols were forced to retreat thanks to the encroaching disease but not before hurling the bodies of their dead over the walls to spread the disease to them. From Caffa it reached Italy and spread into Europe.
The Mongolian Empire coincides with a great influx of trade from the Silk Road which only facilitated the spread of the virus into Asia. The Silk Road connected Italy to Persia, to the Middle East, to India and into China and Mongolia. While a normal virus might not have been able to spread so fast, the new opened trade routes made it very easy to spread to Asia.
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So…. the Black Death is what stopped the Mongols from taking Europe, essentially?
That’s hard to say, since it didn’t come to pass but my guess would be the Black Plague kept the Mongols from advancing further into Europe. I assume by “taking” you mean all of Europe but the Mongols were in East Europe. It depends on how you define Europe and Eurasia but the Mongols had made it as far west as Moscow and Kiev, into Turkey, into some of the Slavic countries and almost into Scandinavia.
I’d say the Black Death helped topple the Mongols but it sped up the process. When the Mongols took over land, the Great Khan would put one of his sons or a relative or someone he trusted into positions of power in those states which became known as khanates. The “lesser” khans would then be the regents to the Great Khan.
The Mongols then faced what had happened to the Roman Empire where people would make power plays or not get along with the Great Khan. Towards the end, it was probably more of an Empire in name only. With the Black Plague, it created great shortages in manpower so soldiers would die off, guards would die off and regular people would die off. What that did was it weakened some of the khanates. For instance, Yuan (China) had a bad economy from it and some khanates started to fall apart or collapsed from within. The result became that more and more khanates became more independent. So countries like Bulgaria, Crimea, Iran, Iraq and the various -stan countries started to become their own countries and not part of the Empire.
But you could see the Black Plague as having stopped the Mongols, yes. Although it’s my personal belief that an Empire of that size with so much territory is only as effective as long as its leaders and regents are nice to each other, the Plague made the Mongols pull back and have to deal with problems of their infrastructure. It probably wouldn’t have helped that the Great Khan put his family members in charge of territories. If European history has taught us anything it’s that wars of succession tend to be the most bitter. If the Great Khan had died, imagine so many territories with their own armies and forces and resources are now going to vie for power to be the Great Khan. I believe, and I could be completely wrong since it never came to pass, that had the Empire continued to expand unchecked, the Empire would have broken apart and split into warring nation-states all trying to be Great Khan and command authority over the others.
I suggest they read The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Kahn Saves His Empire, and Genghis Kahn and the Making of the Modern world, which both explore these topics in layman writing.
There was a female Mongolian representative/diplomat in Paris, France but as I recall from The Secret History, that didn’t end up being well received in France.
The Black Plague is famous in the Medieval period in Europe for having wiped out one-third of Europe’s population. But the plague was even more devastating in Asia. The Bubonic Plague also has much less artwork of how it affected Asia as opposed to Europe and Asia’s history with the Bubonic Plague isn’t as documented so it isn’t exactly clear how much it influenced culture, though it did influence history.
It is theorized that the Black Plague originated in Eurasia in the 13th and 14th centuries. Because the Mongol forces took over a large part of Asia, including China (the Yuan Dynasty), Korea (then Goryeo), Mongolia parts of India, parts of Siberia and into Tibet, Vietnam and far into the Middle East, there was a large mix of culture at one time.
It started in force when the Mongol horde was fighting against European forces in Caffa, present day Crimea, which was a seaport for Italian merchants. The Mongols besieged Caffa but started to die off from disease rather than fighting. The Mongols were forced to retreat thanks to the encroaching disease but not before hurling the bodies of their dead over the walls to spread the disease to them. From Caffa it reached Italy and spread into Europe.
The Mongolian Empire coincides with a great influx of trade from the Silk Road which only facilitated the spread of the virus into Asia. The Silk Road connected Italy to Persia, to the Middle East, to India and into China and Mongolia. While a normal virus might not have been able to spread so fast, the new opened trade routes made it very easy to spread to Asia.
Read More
76945-costume-research—and-more:
THE TAJIK CHAPAN
A chapan is a long-sleeved calf-length men’s coat or cape worn over clothes. These coats are typically made of silk, usually in combinations of green, black, purple, yellow and beige. They are adorned with intricate threading and come in a variety of patterns.
The chapan is worn in Central Asia, including Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and other surrounding countries. Afghan president Hamid Karzai is often shown wearing a chapan.
Today the robe is heavily quilted but for special occasions to honor individuals gold embroidered velvet and more elaborate designs are commissioned. In Uzbekistan the multicolored silk cloth known as Khan Atlas or King of Satins is created from a dyeing & weaving technique called Ikats.
You can see good collections of the old & antique Chapan at the Museum near the Sitorai Moxi Khosa or the Summer Palace of the Emir of Bukhara.
Nearer to home, perhaps at the Kuala Lumpur Islamic Museum you can see some of these beautiful Chapan on display together with other exhibits from Central Asia. I must say, they do have beautiful display at the Islamic Museum in Kuala Lumpur
Source ‘1
source 2
(Source: 76945-costume-research-and-more)
