Research Catalog

Old Uyghur documents concerning the postal system of the Mongol Empire

Title

Old Uyghur documents concerning the postal system of the Mongol Empire / Márton Vér.

Author

Vér, Márton

Publication

Turnhout, Belgium : Brepols, [2019]
©2019

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Book/Text	Use in library	HE7181 .V47 2019q Oversize	Off-site

Details

Description

263 pages; 30 cm.

Summary

This is the first collected edition of the Old Uyghur fragments related with the postal system in the Mongolian period. It is well known that the Mongols recognized the need for a fast and reliable flow of information and commercial goods at an early stage of their conquests. This necessity led to the establishment of an empire-wide postal relay system. Unprecedented in both size and efficiency, the pan-Eurasian network of messengers and postal stations became one of the Chinggisids' most important imperial institutions. This new volume of the 'Berliner Turfantexte' presents an edition and English translation (with detailed commentary) of the surviving Old Uyghur documents related to the postal system of the Mongol Empire (13th-14th centuries), many of which are previously unpublished. Mostly preserved in the Berlin Turfan collection, these unique texts were unearthed in the Turfan region and in the vicinity of Dunhuang. Comprising a range of administrative records and other documents with links to the postal system, they provide multiple snapshots of its operation at local and regional level. Their study therefore enables us to examine the postal system from a completely different point of view than that found in previous reconstructions, which tended to focus on narrative sources. Exposing administrative strata and regional nuance, the work sheds new light on this vital aspect of imperial Mongol rule. The book concludes with a bibliography, indices and tables of concordance. This work will be of interest for specialists in Turkology, Mongolian studies, medieval Central Eurasian history, information history and the Mongol Empire.

Series Statement

Berliner Turfantexte ; XLIII

Uniform Title

Berliner Turfantexte ; 43.

Subject

Genre/Form

Translations.
Texts.
Sources.

Note

"Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Akademien Vorhaben Turfanforschung."

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-251) and indexes.

Language (note)

Turkic and English.

Contents

Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction -- 1.1. General introduction -- 1.2. Research history of the material -- 1.3. Description of the material -- 1.3.1. Uyghur documents -- 1.3.1.1. Official documents -- 1.3.1.1.1. Decrees and administrative orders -- 1.3.1.1.1.1. Provision orders -- 1.3.1.1.1.2. Kazig orders -- 1.3.1.1.1.3. Miscellaneous orders -- 1.3.1.1.2. Official accounts -- 1.3.1.1.3. Official registers -- 1.3.1.2. Private documents -- 1.3.1.2.1. Lists and registers concerning the ulag-system -- 1.3.1.2.2. Other private lists -- 1.3.2. Middle Mongolian decrees -- 1.3.3. The Middle Mongolian decrees in comparison with the Uyghur administrative documents -- 1.4. Introduction to the critical edition of the documents -- 1.4.1. Keywords and their meaning(s) -- 1.4.2. Order of the documents -- 1.4.3. The system of transliteration and transcription and the system of quotation -- 1.4.4. Appendices -- 2. Edition of the documents -- 2.1. Official documents -- 2.1.1. Decrees and administrative orders -- 2.1.1.1. Provision orders -- 2.1.1.2. Kazig orders -- 2.1.1.3. Miscellaneous orders -- 2.1.2. Official accounts -- 2.1.3. Official registers -- 2.2. Private documents -- 2.2.1. Lists and registers concerning the ulag-system -- 2.2.2. Other private lists -- 3. Appendices -- 3.1. Word index -- 3.2. Index of personal names -- 3.3. Index of geographical names -- 3.4. Bibliography -- 3.5. Abbreviations, sigla and conventions -- 3.6. Concordances -- 3.6.1. Concordance according to the signature -- 3.6.2. Concordance according to the place of preservation.

ISBN

2503584179
9782503584171

LCCN

2020288948

OCLC

on1085166777
SCSB-14435350

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library