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UNIT 1.1-3 • HERODOTUS (& Megasthenes)
- full texts
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- Herodotus of Halicarnassus History
AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
author: Herodotus of Halicarnassus
when: ca.484-420 BCE
where: Halicarnassus > Athens > Thurii
context/summary: born in a Dorian city under the Persian yoke; composed for an Ionian (Athenian) elite, retired to Athens colony Thurii in Italy; “Father of History” / “Father of Lies”; organized earlier written sources and oral traditions into the first Greek ‘istoria ("inquiry") at time of Peloponnesian War and the height of the Athenian Empire
NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: History (Gk. ‘istoria “Inquiry”)
when: ca.480 BCE
who: Croesus, Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius, Xerxes, etc.; varied ethnic groups
where: ecumene (i.e. the "inhabited world" as known by the Greeks)
context/summary: opposion of Hellenes ("Greeks") vs barbaroi ("oogah-boogahs") in diametrical opposition and symmetrical balance; cultural relativism (changeable nomos vs unchanging physis); violent men overstepping boundaries (hybris) will get their comeuppance (nemesis); remembrance of Hellenic unity amid wartime division ("Inquiry"), ca.420 BCE
- Megasthenes Indica
AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
author: Megasthenes
when: ca.350-290 BCE
where: Asia Minor (mod. Turkey)
context/summary: born in Late Classical Period; served as ambassador to India for Seleucus I Nicator, the immediate successor (diadochus) of Alexander III Megas ("the Great"), within one generation after the conquest of the Persian Empire
NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Indica (Gk. Indika, “On India”)
when: ca.300 BCE
who: Chandragupta (reigned ca.321-297 BCE) founder of the Mauryan (“peacock”) Dynasty and grandfather of Aśoka (reigned ca.268-232 BCE); various ethnic groups and castes; various customs and animals
where: river basins of the Indus and Ganges
context/summary: opposion of Hellenes ("Greeks") vs barbaroi ("oogah-boogahs") in diametrical opposition and symmetrical balance; cultural relativism (changeable nomos vs unchanging physis) (On India, ca.300 BCE)
- ancient texts
-
- Hdt.1.0-5
structure of the historia
- 0. great & marvelous deeds of both Hellenes (Greeks) & barbaroi (non-Greeks)
- 1. conflict > Persians say Phoenicians started it, “stole” (i.e. raped) Io from Argos to Egypt
- 2. then Hellenes “stole” double: Europa from Tyre to Crete, Medea from Colchis
- 3. then they say Alexander (aka Paris) “stole” Helen to Troy
- 4. Phoenicians say Io went willingly
- 5. H. will not say these stories are true, but will himself start with the first man whom he knows wronged the Greeks (i.e. Croesus)
- 1.6-13, 93-94
Croesus and Lydia – Lydian logos
- 1.131-40
Cyrus the Great and Persia – Persian logos
- 1.192-200, 214-16
Babylonians & Massegetae – Babylonian logos
- Hdt.2.1-34
Egyptian geography – Egyptian logos, pt.1
- 2.35-37, 44-50
Egyptian customs – logos, pt.2
- 2.110-120; Hdt.3.11-12
Egyptian history – Egyptian logos, pt.3
- Hdt.3.16-43
Cambyses conquers – Egyptian logos, pt.4
- 3.79-89 (skim 90-97)
Revolt of the magi & Darius – Revolt of the magi
- 3.98-117
eschatoi ("edge-dwellers") – logos
- Hdt.4.1-82
Scythians – Scythian logos, pt.1
- 4.83-144
Darius vs Scythians – Scythian logos, pt.2
- 4.145-205
Libyans – Libyan logos
- Hdt.5.1-22
Thracians & Macedonians – Thracian logos
- Hdt.7.32-35
Xerxes Invasion – hubris of Xerxes
- 7.144-174, 202-232
the 300 – Battle of Thermopylae
- Hdt.8.136-144
embassy to the Athenians & Spartans – Greekness (to Hellenikon)
- Megasthenes – commentary
F1
- lectures & videos
- meet Dr.G :: ambassadors (sample active notes)
- lectures L01 :: L02.1 • L02.2 :: L03
- Up2DrG? E1 Muiderpoortstation
- E2 Raw & Uncooked (how to: ossenworst)
- recipe (20 DC-Xp) aglio oglio e peperoncino (with garum)
Iron Chef: Ambassador
- handouts
- active reading
- CR01 :: CR02 :: CR03
- map project
- M03 resources > megamap :: inspiration :: Hdt.IV
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UNIT 2.4-6 • XUANZANG (& Egeria)
- full texts
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- Xuanzang Xiyu ji
AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
author: Xuanzang
when: ca.602-664 CE
where: Chang'an (mod. Xi'an)
context significance: born near Luoyang (Henan) at the end of the Sui dynasty; ordained as a Buddhist priest in Chengdu (Sichuan); enjoyed the patronage of the Tang dynasty emperor Taizong (upon his return)
NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Da Tang xiyu ji
(“Records of Regions to the West of the Tang Dynasty”)
when: ca.630-645 CE
who: met by Harsha of Kanauj (aka Kumara-raja, aka Shiladitya-raja), of the Vardhana dynasty, and Bhaskaravarma of Kamarupa (also Kumara-raja “king's son”), a vassal of Harsha, ca.660-650 CE; also supported by Avalokiteshvara-bodhisattva his divine guardian
where: various South Asian Buddist reliquaries (stupas) and monasteries (sangaramas), particularly the Nalanda Monastery (Mahavihara), primary center of Mahayana Buddhist learning
context/summary: opposion of raw vs cooked, Buddhist cosmology with Lake Anavatapta at the center of the ecumene (Jambudvipa), with four rivers leading in the four cardinal directions to the Land of Men (China), Land of Horses (Suli - Eurasian steppe), the Land of Gems (Tukhara - Afghanistan) and the Land of Elephants (Five Indies, or India); folktale & fable (jataka); examples of Buddhist piety, or lack thereof (“Records of Regions to the West”), ca.640 CE
- Egeria Itinerarium
AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
author: Egeria (Etheria, or Aetheria)
when: ca.380 CE
where: Iberia (Spain)? Gaul (France)?
context/summary: rare instance of a letter written by a woman (a nun?), for women (a convent?), about pilgrimage to Jerusalem; composed during the reign of Theodosius I
NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Perigrinatio (“pilgrimage”), or Itinerarium (“itinerary”)
when: ca.380 CE
who: Jesus of Nazareth
where: Jerusalem, or Holy Lands (Mt. Sinai to Constantinople); liturgical worship; Lent, Palm Sunday, Easter holy days
context/summary: ("Pilgrimage"), ca.400 CE
- ancient texts
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- preface
- introduction
- XZ 1.2
- i.20 king called Gold Flower drives naga (dragon) chariot
violent breed of dragon-men detroyed
etiology: fine dragon horses
- i.22* king's brother mutilates self to protect against false allegations (Potiphar's Wife motif); mutilated member grows back due to merit (kindness to cows)
etiology: Extraordinary Monastery
- i.26* Suli from the Chu River to Kesh (XZ 1.16), all vassals of the Turks
the land, people and language called Suli; script uses ca.30 characters
outer garments of animal skin, inner garment linen
shave the tops of their heads,
sometimes use silk headbands
tall but weak and pusillanimous;crafty and deceitful; greedy cheapskates
strong cultivate the land, rest do commerce
ethnography: Suli (Land of Horses)
- XZ 1.16
- i.37* Tukhara; bounded on north by Iron Gates, east Congling Mountains,
south Great Snowy Mountains, west Persia; Amu Darya flows west through country; naturally divided into twenty-seven states; all vassals of the Turks
climate warm and damp, and epidemics prevail;
priests take seasonal “rain-rest“
character of people, mean and cowardly;
appear low and rustic; good faith and rectitude only when dealing with each other
language differs somewhat — twenty-five letters to express everything,
writing goes left to right; more literature than Suli;
most use fine cotton clothes, some use wool; gold and silver in commerce, coins of different type
ethnography: Tukhara (Land of Treasure)
- XZ 1.28
- i.45 Siuehu-khan, son of Yehu-khan of the Turks, rebels and attacks monastery
dreams of lance through heart, calls off attack
etiology: Vaisravana-deva statue & sangharama
- i.47* Buddha first attained enlightenment, preach to first disciples (householders/merchants); gives them relics (hair, nail clippings)
shows how to build shrine
etiology: first stupa
- XZ 1.33
- i.53 disciple of Ananda has priestly garments made of the shanaka plant
etiology: imperishable monastic sanghati-robe of Shanakavasa
- XZ 1.34
- i.56 Little Vehicle sangharama, founded by Kanishka-raja for Chinese hostages
etiology: seasonal sangharama (monastery)
- i.59greedy frontie) king driven away by parrot-form spirit
etiology: statue of spirit (deva?)
- i.60 Rahula builds stupa without a relic, has a dream to take day's first offering
lifts stone top, puts relics inside, hem of garment caught when stone replaced
etiology: oily sangharama
- i.62 heavenly spirit (deva) Shuna came from afar to this mountain to rest
etiology: annual earthquakes
- i.63* arhat (saint) preaches to naga (dragon)
his sramanera (attendant-novice) hitches ride on their flying carpet
naga-raja gives arhat immortal food, not novice, who becomes jealous/angry
novice uses religious merit, becomes naga, kills naga-raja, causes lake storms
Kanishka-raja learns, builds sangharama and stupa near naga, destroyed 6x
starts to fill in lake, naga transforms into old Hindu holy man (brahman)
naga powers: “rides on the clouds, drives the winds, passes through space,
glides over the waters”
if K. wins, little renown; if he loses, suffers humiliation of defeat
K. hesitates, naga raises storm, K. reverent and uses accumulated merit
flame from shoulers, storm scattered, men start to fill lake
naga again takes brahman form, reveals self as naga-raja, asks for mercy
both will do evil–K. killing, naga holding anger:
“deeds and their consequences will be plainly manifested when the good and evil are brought to light”
seventh time rebuilds–sounds drum to drive off storms
etiology: sangharama & stupa; drum ritual
- i.66 white relic floats up and circles monastery
- i.67 in the time of the Buddha (Tathagata), a spirit (deva?) offers hospitality,
builds on mountain crag
etymology/etiology: Pilusara (elephant strength) Stupa
- i.68 the Buddha (Tathagata), shared rice from the spirit (deva) with the arhats
uses toothpick
etymology/etiology: Willow-Twig Sangharama
- XZ 2 Indica
- a. names of India
- i.69 India, Shendu, Yindu, “Country of the Brahmans”
- b. country, extent and climate
- i.70 technically Five Indies; sea on three sides, Snowy Mountains to the north, shaped like half-moon; seventy countries; north foothills, east cultivated, south wooded; west barren
- c. measures of length
- yojana** (“day's march”) = 8 krosha (“lowing of a of a cow”) = 4000 dhanu (“bow”)
= 8000 hasta (“cubit”), etc. until anu (“grain of dust” i.e. atom)
**30-40 li / 17-23 km / 10-14 miles
- d. astronomy, the calendar, etc.
- i.71
- e. towns and buildings
- i.74
- f. seating, clothing, etc.
- i.75
- g. dress, habits, etc.
- i.76
- h. cleanliness, ablutions, etc.
- i.77
- i. writing, language, books, etc.
- i.78
- j. Buddhist schools, books, discussions, discipline
- i.81
- k. castes & marriage
- i.82
- l. royal family, troops, weapons
- i.83
- m. manners, administration of law, ordeals
- i.84
- n. forms of politeness
- i.85
- o. medicines, funeral customs, etc.
- i.86
- p. civil administration, revenues, etc.
- i.87
- q. plants and trees, agriculture, food, drink, cookery
- i.88
- r. commercial transaction
- i.89
- XZ 1-2 outline
- XZ 3-4 outline
corrigenda: 3.6 i.149 Kashmir dragon-lake, i.158 Buddha's tooth, i.161 arhat's garment
- XZ 5-6 outline
- XZ 7-8 outline
- lectures & videos
- lectures L04 :: L05 :: L06
- webinar W04 :: W05
- Up2DrG? E2 Raw & Uncooked (how to: ossenworst)
- recipe (20 DC-Xp) ghee
- handouts
- active reading
- CR04 :: CR05 :: CR06
- maps
- xuanzang :: megamap
- how to
- how to map :: how to read
- essay
- guidelines :: self & peer edit
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U01 | U02 | U03 | U04 | U05 | REVIEW
UNIT 3.7-9 • AL-BIRUNI (& Ibn Munqidh)
- full texts
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- Abu Rayhan al-Biruni
AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
author: Abū Rayḥān Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Bīrūnī
when: ca.973-1050 CE
where: Khwarizm (or Kiva) > Ghazna (mod. Ġaznī)
context/summary: native Persian speaking scholar, fluent in Arabic, Greek and Hebrew literature; learned Sanskrit; impressed into the service of Ghaznavid ruler Maḥmūd
NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Kitab al-Hind (“On India”), or Taḥqīq mā li-l-hind min maqūlah maqbūlah fī al-ʿaql aw mardhūlah
(“Verifying All That the Indians Recount, the Reasonable and the Unreasonable”)
when: ca.1040 CE
who: supported by Maḥmūd of Ghazna (ca.970-1030 CE), then his son and successor, Mas'ud (ca.1030-1040 CE)
where: upper Indus and upper Ganges river basins centers of Hindu learning
context/summary: opposition of Hinduism and Islam; cosmology and cosmogony; science of Khwarizm Kitab al-Hind (“On India”), ca.1040 CE
- Usama Ibn Munqidh
AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
author: Majd al-Dīn Usāma ibn Murshid ibn ʿAlī ibn Munqidh al-Kināni al-Kalbi
when: 1095-1188 CE
where: Shaizar (Gk. Larissa, mod. Saijar or Šaizar) > Mosul > Damascus > Cairo
context/summary: born at the time of the First Crusade (1095-1099 CE); served as a faris (“knight”) under the rulers of Mosul, Damascus and Cairo, through the Second Crusade (1147-1150 CE) and later back to Damascus under Sala al-Din (reigned 1174-1193 CE), who eventually retook Jerusalem.
NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Kitab al-I‘tbar (“Contemplations”)
when: ca.1183 CE
who: dedicated to Sala al-Din
where: Levant, or al-Šam (i.e. Syria, including Lebanon, Israel, Palestine)
context/summary: diametrical opposition of Arabs vs Franks (i.e. Europeans); cultural relativism of Shaizar Kitab al-I‘tbar (“Contemplations“), 1183 CE
- ancient texts
-
- lectures & videos
- W07 :: lecture • 07.2 | discussion • 07.1 • 07.3
- W08 :: lecture • 08.2 | discussion • 08.1 • 08.3
- W09 :: lecture • 09.2 | discussion • 09.1 • 09.3
- Up2DrG? E3 • Lange IJ
- handouts
- active reading
- CR07 || CR08 || CR09
- maps
- megamap
- how to
- how to map || how to GoogleEarth || how to read
- essay 02
- guidelines || self & peer edit
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U01 | U02 | U03 | U04 | U05 | REVIEW
UNIT 4.10-12 • IBN BATTUTA (& Ibn Fadlan)
- full texts
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- Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta
AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
author: Ibn Battuta, or ʾAbū ʿAbd al-Lāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Lāh al-Lawātī al-Ṭanǧī ibn Baṭūṭah
when: ca.1304-1369 CE
where: Tangier (mod. Ṭanǧa), Morocco (al-Maghrib)
context/summary: Arabic speaking Berber, legal scholar (qadi) of the Maliki school of jurisprudence; took advantage of the pax Mogolica to travel much of the known (Islamic) world
NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Riḥlat (“Travels”), subtitled
Tuḥfat an-Nuẓẓār fī Gharāʾib al-Amṣār wa ʿAjāʾib al-Asfār
(“A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling”), as dictated to Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi al-Gharnati
when: ca.1355 CE
who: numerous rulers and territories, including those he called the "seven mighty" rulers: Abu Inan Faris, the Marinid sultan of Morocco; Al-Malik al-Nasir, Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria; Abu Sa“id, khan of the Two Iraqs (Il-khanate); Ozbeg-khan of the Qipchaq khanate (the steppe); Tarmashirin-khan of Chagatai khanate (Turkestan); Muhammad bin Tughluq, sultan of Dehli (India); and Toghon Temür of the Yuan khanate (China).
where: the entire known Islamic world
context/summary: opposition of the community of Islam (ummah) vs other peoples of the Book (dhimmah); orthodox Sunni vs other sects (e.g. Shia, Nusayri/Alawi); the Malaki school vs other legal schools; etc. of Tangier Rihla ("Travels"), 1355 CE
- Ahmad Ibn Fadlan
AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
author: Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān ibn al-ʿAbbās ibn Rāšid ibn Ḥammād
when: ca.880-960 CE
where: uncertain origins > Baghdad > Volga River > Baghdad
context/summary: legal scholar (qadi) in the court of the Abbasid caliph Al-Muqtadir (908-932 CE)
NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Risala (“Journal”)
when: 921 CE
who: iltabar (vassal) of Khazars; Bulgars; Rus
where: Volga River basin (mod. Ukraine & Russia)
context/summary: diametrical opposition of Arabs vs Rus (i.e. Vikings); cultural relativism Risala ("Journals"), 921 CE
- ancient texts
Ibn Battuta Travels
unabridged
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OWE text
abridged |
UC Berkeley Office of Resources for International and Area Studies |
Introduction [i.1-7]
Ibn Juzayy |
Introduction [i.1-40]
H.A.R. Gibb |
Writing the Rihla: 1355
ORIAS Introduction
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ch.I [i.8-70]
North Africa (al-Maghreb) and Egypt |
ch.I [i.41, 43-77] |
Across North Africa to Cairo: 1325
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ch.II [i.71-156]
Syria (al-Sham) |
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Cairo to Jerusalem, Damascus, Medina, and Mecca: 1326
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ch.III [i.158-187]
Damascus to the Hijaz |
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The hajj – from Medina to Mecca: 1326
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ch.IV [i.188-248]
Mecca |
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ch.V [i.249-264]
From the Hijaz to Kufa |
ch.II [i.78-105] |
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ch.VI [ii.271-359]
Il-Khanate (Iraq and Persia) |
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Iraq and Persia: 1326-1327 |
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ch.VII [ii.360-412]
Southern Arabia (al-Yaman),
East Africa, and Persian Gulf |
ch.III [i.106-121] |
Red Sea to East Africa and
the Arabian Sea: 1328-1330 |
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ch.VIII [ii.413-517]
Asia Minor (al-Rum) and South Russia (Qipchaq Khanate, or “Golden Horde”) |
ch.IV [i.123-166] |
Anatolia: 1330-1331 |
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ch.IX [iii.539-592]
Turkestan and Khurasan (Chagatai Khanate) |
ch.V [i.167-181] |
Lands of the Golden Horde & The Chagatai: 1332-1333 |
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ch.X [iii.593-618]
Sind and Northwest India |
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ch.XI [iii.619-656]
Delhi and its Sultans |
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Delhi, the Capital of Muslim India: 1334-1341 |
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ch.XII [iii.657-708] & XIII [iii.709-734]
Sultan Muhammad ibn Tughluq, pt.1-2 |
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ch.XIV [iii.735-767]
Ibn Battuta in Delhi |
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ch.XV [iv.773-796]
From Delhi to Cambay (Khambat) |
ch.VI [ii.183-213] |
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ch.XVI [iv.797-821]
South India |
ch.VII [ii.214-240] |
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ch.XVII [iv.822-846]
The Maldives |
ch.VIII [ii.241-260] |
Escape from Delhi to the Maldive Islands and Sri Lanka: 1341-1344 |
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ch.XVIII [iv.847-856]
Ceylon (Sri Lanka) |
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ch.XIX [iv.857-866]
Coromandel, Malabar and the Maldives |
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ch.XX [iv.867-873]
Bengal and Assam |
ch.IX [ii.261-271] |
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ch.XXI [iv.874-887]
South-East Asia |
ch.X [ii.272-281] |
Through the Strait of Malacca to China: 1345-1346 |
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ch.XXII [iv.888-910]
China |
ch.XI [ii.282-300] |
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ch.XXIII [iv.911-933]
From China to Morocco |
ch.XII [ii.301-310] |
Return Home: 1346-1349 |
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ch.XXIV [iv.934-945]
Spain (al-Andalus) |
ch.XIII [ii.311-316] |
To al-Andalus and Morocco: 1349-1350 |
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ch.XXV [iv.946-978]
The Country of the Blacks (al-Sudan) |
ch.XIV [ii.317-340] |
Journey to Mali: 1350-1351 |
- lectures & videos
- W10 :: lecture • 10.2 | discussion • 10.1 • 10.3
- W11 :: lecture • 11.2 | discussion • 11.1 • 11.3
- Up2DrG? E4 • Indische Buurt & Tropenmuseum
- handouts
- term list || active reading
- CR10 || CR11
- maps
- megamap || arab world
- how to
- how to map || how to GoogleEarth
how to read || how to essay & (fold the cheese)
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U01 | U02 | U03 | U04 | U05 | REVIEW
UNIT 5.13-14 • ÁLVARES
- full texts
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- Francisco Álvares
AUTHOR'S CONTEXT
author: Francisco Álvares, S.J.
when: ca.1465-1541 CE
where: Coimbra (Portugal) > Lisboa
context/summary: priest of the Society of Jesus (or Jesuit order); member of embassy sent by Manuel I of Portugal to Abyssinia, specializing in canon law (legal scholar); joined by Armenian Matheus, ambassador from Eleni of Abyssinia to Manuel; witness to tensions between the ambassador, Dom Rodrigo, and his second, Jorge d'Abreu; opening of sea-route to India in age of exploration
NARRATIVE CONTEXT
title: Verdadeira Informação das Terras do Preste João das Indias ("A True Relation of the Lands of Prester John of the Indies")
when: ca.1520-27 CE
who: Álvares, Dom Rodrigo, Matheus, Eleni, Lebna Degnal (Prester John)
where: Abyssinia (mod. Eritrea and Ethiopia); Massawa, Axum/Adua, Lalibela
context/summary: opposition of Roman Catholic and Ethiopian Orthodox (Coptic Christian); language, religion and customs of Abyssinians; political organization S.J. Prester John of the Indies, ca.1525 CE
- ancient texts
-
- lectures & videos
- W12 :: lecture • 12.2 | discussion • 12.1 • 12.3
- W13 :: lecture • 13.2 | discussion • 13.1 • 12.3
- handouts
- term list || active reading
- CR12 || CR13
- maps
- M13 • megamap || arab world || indies
- how to
- how to grade • scorecard • worksheet
how to map • how to GoogleEarth
how to read || how to essay || how to finish
- essay
- guidelines || self edit
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