March 11-13


Kublai Khan. by Liu Kuan-Tao (Yuan Dynasty, ca. 1280 CE). Hanhing scroll. Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Please read one of Saunders and Marshall; answer one of the following questions, due Monday March 10.  Also read Ochsenwald/Fisher, pp. 135-145.

 1. Why did the Mongols attack the Middle East and how did the attack
proceed?
2. What was the impact on the Middle East of the Mongol assault?
3. How did the Mamluks defeat the Mongols?

4. How does Saunders explain the spread of the Turks in the Middle East? Comparison with Golden?
5. What does Saunders believe to be the importance of the Turks' arrival in the Middle East? Comparison with Golden?

• J. J. Saunders , "The Turkish Eruption" from his History of Medieval Islam. Study guide for Saunders .
• Robert Marshall , Selections, from his Storm from the East: From Genghis Khan to Khubilai Khan, Univ of California Press, 1993. Click on Hulegu's Campaign for a map of this Mongol campaign through the Middle East. Study guide for Marshall

Map of the Mongol Empire

Some websites relating to Mahmud of Ghazni and Firdausi and his Shahnama.

Mahmud of Ghazni (Afghan view)

Mahmud of Ghazni (Indian view)

Mahmud of Ghazni (Hindu nationalist view)

Ferdowsi (Iranian view)

Selections from the Shahnama in Farsi

Characters in the Shahnama

The Shahnama at NPR (audio - in English and Farsi)

A Farsi/Persian website on the Shahnameh

The famous British project on the Shahnama - organized by Cambridge University, but international and truly wonderful!

NYT Book Review of Dick Davis' recent translation of some parts of the Shahnama - "The Epic of Iran"

The "Great Mongol Shahnama"