Mapping Civilizations Across Eurasia

Contents
Part I Introduction
1 Mapping Civilizations
	The Genes Behind Civilization
	The Course of Civilization’s Development
	Modules of Civilization
	Interactions Between Civilizations
	Current Dilemmas
	The Outlook for Civilization
Part II Studies on Civilization
2 From Movable Type to the World Wide Web
	Recollections in the Long River of Time
	An Advanced Society
	The Meteoric Rise of Arabian Civilization
	Civilizations that Influenced the World
	Super-Stable Structure
	Western Science Migrates East
	The I Ching and Microelectronics
	The C++ Project
	In Today’s World
3 Speaking of Mesopotamia
	The Cradle of Civilization
	Heirs to Ancient Civilizations
	Complex Role of the British
	Iraq and Syria Today
4 My Take on the Middle East
	What Is the “Greater Middle East”?
	Decoding the Region’s History of Violent Conflict
	Islamic Tradition
	The Development Dilemma and Democracy’s Double-Edged Sword
5 Cultural Conflict and Integration Throughout History
	Cultural Integration: From Nomadic Society to Agrarian Society
	Inclusiveness: The Root of the Chinese Nation’s Vitality
	Years: Paper’s Long March to the West
	Kaifeng and Baghdad: Concurrent Global Cultural Centers
6 Tracing the Footsteps and Influence of Xuanzang and Ibn Battuta
7 My Views on Orientology, Area Studies and Silk Road Research
	Orientology: A Retrospective
	Overview of Area Studies
	Placing Our Hopes in Silk Road Exploration and Research
Part III Silk Road
8 Cultural Interaction Along the Silk Road
	Five Silk Road Trailblazers
	Faith and Worship
9 The New Silk Road: Strategic Thinking
	Sea Power, Terrestrial Power and Geopolitics
	New Era, New Power, New Reasoning
	Silk Road Rules of Conduct
10 Frankincense, Oil and Geopolitics
	The 2015 Doha Forum
	Frankincense and Oil
	Actions of the Colonialists
	Relations Between Middle Eastern Oil-Producing Countries
	The War in Iraq and Oil Prices
	Pax Americana and New Geopolitics
	Future Energy Demands
	Whither the Middle East?
11 China and Pakistan: A Historical View
	The Indus Valley Figurines: Who Are We?
	The Gandhara Statues: We Belong to Everyone
	Cheng He and Chen Cheng: We Are Friends from Afar
	Babur and Akbar: We Bestow Order and Harmony
	Karakoram Mountains: We Are Not Your Barriers
	The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor: We Bring Prosperity
12 Tempest in Eurasia: Russia, Ukraine and Georgia
	Prelude to the Russo-Ukrainian War
	Shared Roots
	Turkic, Norman, Slavic and Mongolian Peoples
	The Grand Principality of Moscow and the Kipchak, Crimean and Kazan Khanates
	Proud but Isolated Georgia
	Ukraine’s Destiny
	Pawns in a Strategic Game: Ukraine and Georgia
	Tough but Vulnerable
Part IV Survey of Greater Central Asia
13 Greater Central Asia and the New Silk Road
	What Constitutes “Greater Central Asia”?
	Three Environments, Three Cultures
	Turbulent Times Along the Silk Road
14 Migration of Populations  Within Greater Central Asia
	Clues to Understanding Greater Central Asia
	The Warp and Weft of History
	4,500–2,300 Years Ago: Indo-European Tribes Migrate Eastward in Four Waves
	Second Century BCE to Eighth Century CE: Altaic Tribes Migrate from East to West in Three Waves
	Eighth–Twentieth Centuries: Successive Invasions by Arabs, Mongols, and Russians
15 Greater Central Asia: A Cultural Mosaic
	Herding Sheep by Lake Baikal
	History of Lake Baikal
	Greater Central Asia as Seen from Southern Gansu and the Hexi Corridor
	Scientists and “Father of Algebra”
	Lahore: Sights and Thoughts
	Central and Southern Asia: Like “Lips and Teeth”
	The Sogdian Homeland
	Tradition and Modern: Kazakhstan’s Old and New Capital
16 My Journeys to Xinjiang: From Dream to Reality
	Hami Wheat and “Hami Melon”
	Turpan: Ancient Documents, Origins of Its People
	Urumqi’s Erdaoqiao and an Elderly Turkic Language Scholar
	Korla’s Hong Konger
	Kucha’s Murals and Pipa Tunes
	Khotan: Gangzi Rou and Donkey-Powered Cart
	Kashgar: Cultural and Religious Status
	Yining: Nomads and Border Town
	Altay: Tuva and an Eight-Year-Old Girl
Part V Portrait of India
17 Experiencing Emerging India
	Indian Affinities
	Bangalore and Soft Power
	Closed-Door Brainstorming Session in Goa
	Calcutta and Vestiges of the British Raj
18 Getting Acquainted with the Indian Elephant
	Ethnicities and Tongues
	Rebellion, Independence, Constitution
	Religious Society, Secular Nation
	Democracy, Rule of Law, Corruption and Electoral Bribery
	Great Wealth, Extreme Poverty and Tardy Justice
	Tradition vs. Westernization: The Sole Option?
19 India’s “Special Administrative Region”—Pondicherry
	Tamil Nadu’s Ancient Tongue
	Snapshot of Chennai
	Britain and France Battle for India
	India’s Union Territory
	Culture and Customs of Pondicherry
20 India’s Take on “Belt and Road”
	Ancient Civilization, Massive Population, Advantageous Geography
	India’s Early Maritime Navigation
	The Indian Ocean: An Inland Arab Sea
	Maritime and Land-Based Trade Under the Mongols
	The Indian Ocean After the Sixteenth Century
	Belt and Road: But How Do the Indians See It?
	Three Sorts of Reactions
	Tenor of Sino-Indian Relations
	May Each Party’s Beauty Shine Forth
Part VI Persian Cultural Sphere
21 Early Civilizations on the Iranian Plateau
	Geography and Human Environment
	Three Early Civilizations
	Aryans: Masters of Iran
	The Median and Persian Kingdoms
	The Achaemenid Empire
	Grecian Influence
22 Renascence of Persian Culture
	Hellenization and Persianization
	The Prophet Born Smiling
	Parthian Empire: Founded on Horseback
	Persia Pushes Back Against the Romans
	Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism Under the Sassanids
	Anushirvan and the Sassanian Renascence
23 Islam and the Invaders
	Persia: Islamization and Arabization
	Persianization of Islam
	Islamic Civilization: The Perso-Arabic Version
	The Persians Establish Regional Regimes
	Invasion by Turkic Peoples and Mongols
	The Timurid Empire and Islamic Renaissance
24 Persian Poetry and Painting
	Persian Cultural Awareness: Inspired by Invaders
	Hallmarks and Evolution of Persian Four-line Verse
	Sufi Poetry: Intoxicated by Romance
	From Bas-Reliefs to Persian Miniatures
	Miniature Painting Guide: My Name Is Red
25 Shia Islam and the Safavid Dynasty
	Sufism and Sufi Orders
	Turkmen Military Alliances and the Safavids’ “Red Heads”
	Shah Abbas the Great
26 Persian Civilization and Iran’s Modernization
	The Qajar Dynasty Reforms
	The Pahlavi Dynasty
	The White Revolution
	Revolution and Modernization, Cleric-Style
Part VII Caucasus
27 Ethnographic Museum on the Border Between Europe and Asia
	The Caucasus: Geography and Culture with a Difference
	A Virtual Museum of Peoples and Tongues
28 Musical Chairs in the Caucasus
	The Tujüe Make Their Entrance
	The Persian Renaissance
	The Russian Long-term Strategy
29 North Caucasus: Russia’s Southern Frontier
	Unique Peoples of the North Caucasus
	Circassian Traumas
	Crimean War: Causes and Consequences
	Soviet Era: Policy Toward North Caucasus
	The North Caucasus after the Second Chechen War
30 The Post-Soviet South Caucasus
	Georgia and its “European Complex”
	Azerbaijan and Black Gold
	Armenia and a Twentieth-Century Massacre
	Awkward Transcaucasia
31 South Caucasus: International Machinations
	Maneuvers of the Turks, Iranians and Russians
	What the United States, EU and Russia May Envision
Part VIII Turkish March
32 Westward Migration of the  Turkic-speaking People
	From the Yenisei River to the Danube (552–1529)
	From Principality to Empire (1299–1566)
	From Brave Armies to Conniving Courtiers (1566–1699)
33 The Road to Republicanism
	From “Study the Barbarians” to “Reform and Adjustment” (1699–1839)
	From Reform to Revolution (1839–1908)
	Constitutional Monarchy to Republic (1908–1923)
34 Toward a Modern Republic
	A Fitting Hero for His Era (1919–1938)
	The Atatürk Era—without Kemal Atatürk (1938–1980)
	Geopolitics and Changes in Social Structure (1980–2014)
35 European Turkey:  The Bosphorus and Edirne
	Living in Both Europe and Asia
	A Visit to Architect Sinan’s Chef-d’oeuvre
36 Anatolian Turkey: Trabzon and Konya
	Greek Church, Tea Plants and a Wedding Party
	Checking out Rumi’s Roots
37 Emergence of Neo-Ottomanism
Part IX Conclusions
38 The Ancient Silk Road: “Geography as Destiny”
	Emerging from Africa, Surveying the World
	West Asia: Cradle of the Agricultural Revolution
	Nomadic Commerce and the Spread of Civilization
	Silk, Spices and Empire Building
	Linking Europe and Asia by Land and Sea
	Pax Mongolica: The Ultimate Land-based Power
39 The New Silk Road: Eurasia’s Historical Destiny
	Maritime Power and the Rise of Western Europe
	The Industrial Revolution and Colonial Empires
	World War I and the American Surge
	World War II and American Hegemony
	The New Silk Road: Reliant Upon the East
Index