Mike > Recent Status Updates

Blown away by the relationship between surf tourism and the Suharto regime.

A lot of potential to use this book as an illustration of the difficulties of Spanish imperial admin.

Very good insights into development of Hadith and Ulama. Readable for HS and gives clarity to ambiguities.

Clarification on Shi’a belief of divine connection of the Imam after Muhammad.

Ali cast in an unfortunate light, as inheritor of a corrupted Umma.

Prior page makes interesting point for why Christians would want Muslim conquest over Byzantines (lower taxes and less religious interference - don’t care about Christian sects).

Good, dispassionate analysis of the struggle over Muhammad’s successor after his death.

Introduction deals with the idea of “parallel history” between the West and Islamic world. Interesting conversations on periodization.

Last chapter was good for how the Mongols were co-opted in the 20th century.

This gets interesting with how the historical legacy of the Mongols was established. Who followed their ruling style and how were they remembered?

Gunpowder empires have their roots in Turko-Mongol history. These people took the place of Arab predecessors and expanded and enforced their rule with guns and cavalry.

The plague brought down the economic links between the different Mongol empires and led to a quicker deterioration of their authority.

A good chapter to potentially have students read.

“The Mongols had the power, at least temporarily, to impose new international systems of technology, agriculture, and knowledge that superseded the predilections or prejudices of any single civilization; and in so doing, they broke the monopoly on thought exercised by local elites.”

Good section on trade during Pax Mongolia. Emphasis on overseas trade and expanding commercial contacts as opposed to conquest.

Just read about the religious debates during Mongke’s reign.

Mongol destruction of Eastern European aristocracy helped accelerate decline of feudalism?

Now the Mongols are getting pretty clever with the slaying of their aristocratic enemies.

Interesting to learn the Mongols weren’t known for their mutilation of their enemies. Lots of evidence given on prior to pages to show contemporaries who were more brutal in the way they killed enemies.

Interesting info regarding the difference the Mongol diet made when compared to their foes (in this case the Jurched).

Excellent detail on Mongol legal code.

Sorting through Temujin’s struggles for supremacy over Jamuka and Ong Khan.

Really great intro to his siege of Burkhara and how the Mongols were able to defeat the highly trained soldiers with surprise movements and lightning fast engineering.

Focused on Aurangzeb’s conflicts with those who resisted Mughal rule. Emphasized the political, as opposed to religious, character of those who rebelled by showing Hindus and Muslims on both sides of the conflict.