The Limits of Universal Rule: Eurasian Empires Compared

by Yuri Pines (Editor), Michal Biran (Editor), Jörg Rüpke (Editor)

All major continental empires proclaimed their desire to rule 'the entire world', investing considerable human and material resources in expanding their territory. Each, however, eventually had to stop expansion and come to terms with a shift to defensive strategy. This volume explores the factors that facilitated Eurasian empires' expansion and from ideology to ecology, economic and military considerations to changing composition of the imperial elites. Built around a common set of questions, a team of leading specialists systematically compare a broad set of Eurasian empires - from Achaemenid Iran, the Romans, Qin and Han China, via the Caliphate, the Byzantines and the Mongols to the Ottomans, Safavids, Mughals, Russians, and Ming and Qing China. The result is a state-of-the art analysis of the major imperial enterprises in Eurasian history from antiquity to the early modern that discerns both commonalities and differences in the empires' spatial trajectories.

Genres: History, Politics

350 pages, Hardcover

First published October 19, 2020

Reviews

[Xian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a solid book that presents a compelling argument for the significant and lasting influence of the Mongol Empire on its successor states across Eurasia. It also lays a basic foundation for what American political theorist Haz al-Din calls 'Mongol modernity'. It notes that the Mongol rule was unique in Eurasian history, controlling vast regions and profoundly reshaping their dynamics for centuries. The core idea is that the new continental empires emerging after the Mongol period were all indebted to the Mongols, even if not always acknowledged. My examples are confined to China and Russia, but the book delves into the Gunpowder Empires as well.

For the Ming dynasty, which emerged directly from the crumbling Mongol Empire, the early court defined itself in relation to the empire of Chinggis Khan and his descendants. With plenty of sources, Pines shows how the Ming court drew on Yuan-period Sinophone works for textual and conceptual precedents regarding the inclusion of diverse regions as territory. The formation of Ming borders themselves was also profoundly influenced by the legacy of the Mongol Empire and contemporary Mongol polities. Ming rulers further attempted to win the allegiance of powerful Yuan commanders, regardless of their ethnicity.

In Russia, Moscow's expansion began under the guidance of Mongol overlords. Russian Riurikid princes shared Mongol notions about how power should be organized. They also acquired expertise in managing sparsely populated space through Mongol regulatory mechanisms like census-taking and record-keeping. The result was that Moscow could "piggy-back onto a millennium of accumulated statecraft when it came under Mongol rule". The area where Mongol and Russian combatants interacted is described as one where they shared notions of sovereignty and politics, contributing to a shared "Eurasian political culture". Subsequent Russian leaders continued practices of expansion and integrating skills, having been compelled into expansion by the Mongols.