Though perhaps less well-known today than the great empires that surrounded them, the historic peoples of Central Asia—such as the Scythians, the Sogdians, the Xiongnu nomads of Mongolia, the Turkic peoples, and many others—produced cultures of major significance.
In the 24 lectures of Crossroads of Civilization: A History of Central Asia, taught by Professor Eren Tasar of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, you will embark on a wide-ranging journey into the majestic landscapes, steppe and desert cultures, resplendent cities, and epic conquests that characterized this mysterious part of the world. Along the way, you will:
- Travel into the history of the many peoples who dominated the region, from the Scythians and Sogdians to the empire of the iconic Tamerlane.
- Learn about the region’s nomadic peoples; their religious practices, display of power through elaborate burials; their remarkable animal art; and their often-lavish yurts.
- Encounter the conquering powers that ruled Central Asia, such as the Persian Achaemenid Empire, the Arab Abbasid caliphate, which brought Islam; and the fearsome Mongols.
- Explore the sophisticated culture that grew under the Samanids, Timurids and Shibanids, seen in wide patronage of the arts, sciences, and scholarship, and construction of dazzling monuments.
- Delve into the policies of the Tsarist colonial regime and the cotton economy it created, causing suffering and rebellion.
- Visualize the Soviet rule of the region, marked by tragic famines and later substantial development; trace the Chinese domination of East Turkestan, and the challenges and successes of the modern Central Asian nations.
Crossroads of Civilization: A History of Central Asia reveals a part of the world that is relatively unknown to many of us, but which has played an integral role in the unfolding of human civilization, from the Far East to the frontiers of Europe.
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