ART IN THE WAKE OF THE MONGOL CONQUESTS
GENGHIS KHAN AND HIS SUCCESSORS
Professor David J. Roxburgh
Tel.: (617) 496 1056
roxburgh@fas.harvard.edu
Teaching Fellows:
Aden Kumler kumler@fas.harvard.edu
Ladan Akbarnia akbarnia@fas.harvard.edu
Course Description:
Is Genghis Khan’s characterization "as terrifying as genocide
and as dreadful as the plague" (Time, Dec. 31, 1999) sufficient? His
legacy entailed the destruction of social and cultural order,
but paradoxically,
his empire also forged a dynamic relationship between nomadic
and sedentary
societies. Genghis Khan’s successors went on to foster a climate of
intense cultural activity in art and architecture, producing
complex fusions
of artistic traditions between the Middle East and China. These are the
major concerns of the course which focuses on the art and
architecture produced
from the thirteenth century on under Genghis Khan and his
successors. Genghis
Khan and his Mongol horde traversed Eurasia to create an
unprecedented world
empire, their most enduring legacy stamped on the lands of Iran
and Central
Asia through their successors, the Ilkhanid and Timurid dynasties. This
imperial order established a new relationship between nomadic groups and
sedentary societies, an ongoing symbiosis of "steppe"
and "sown."
To bolster their claim to rule, successive leaders exploited
the knowledge
of indigenous bureaucrats and craftsmen to execute their
cultural program.
Regional artistic traditions were manipulated and transformed
into new hybrids
that could demonstrate the ruler's might and beneficence to the nomadic
elite as well as to the multi-cultural urban populations under
their control.
As complex embodiments, these works reveal an evolving
political structure
and social order.
The course examines how meanings are encoded through language, forms, and
aesthetic features, how they are made legible, and how they may function
as propaganda.
The environments from which the Mongols emerged and into which they came
are initially considered in terms of the heritage, culture, and ecology
of the Mongols and the peoples of the lands they conquered. How did the
Mongols remember their nomadic past as the balance of their
lives shifted,
when they became increasingly sedentarized? Which symbolic elements could
be easily translated through the available forms of sedentary
art and architecture?
In subsequent lectures, key monuments of Ilkhanid and Timurid
art and architecture
will provide a framework for analyzing different facets of the process of
cultural assimilation, the changing Mongol response–at first hostile
and then receptive–to the sedentarized cultures that they
encountered
and then ruled.
Art and architecture were clearly understood as powerful tools that could
give shape to a new hegemony and maintain the socio-political order. What
makes the Mongol context unique in this regard is the fusion of
previously
distinct artistic traditions and identities (e.g.
Perso-Islamicate, Chinese,
Turkic, Inner Asian) into new forms, often by the relocation of groups of
craftsmen from across the empire, and the interaction between
cultural outsiders
and insiders across levels of nomadic and sedentary societies.
Which ideological
forms did the Mongols and their successors choose to exploit
that were alien
to their own tradition (e.g., history, biography, genealogy)?
In instances
where translation was possible, for example in courtly ceremonial and its
settings, what interweavings occur between permanent and
impermanent architecture?
How were the Mongols accommodated within Perso-Islamicate tradition?
Other themes and topics include the structures developed to propagate a
new aesthetic; systems of artistic production and patronage;
the manipulation
of traditional forms and modes of expression; the role accorded to women
in Mongol society and the emergence of other patronage groups (religious
and bureaucratic elites, the military class); the range of
motives for cultural
patronage and building; tensions between nomadic and sedentary
groups; and
continuities and changes in attitude toward the Genghisid-Mongol legacy
throughout the period covered by the course.
Key readings are extracted from a wealth of
recent literature
in addition to primary sources available in English
translation. No previous
classes in Islamic art and architecture or in Middle Eastern history and
culture are required.
Readings:
Readings should be completed before the lecture for which they
are assigned.
Readings for the lecture course are in a sourcebook available
at the Science
Center; some of the readings, marked with an asterisk *, are on reserve
at Lamont and Hilles libraries. The sourcebook also contains
maps for reference.
The only required book, David Morgan, The Mongols, can be
purchased at The
Coop or Harvard Book Store. Four films on the Mongols are also on reserve
at Lamont.
Course Web-Site:
Copies of the syllabus, assignments, and term sheets from lectures may be
accessed through the course's web-site
(http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~lab46/).
A selection of slides from lectures and readings will also be available
through the web-site for midterm and final examination preparation. Slide
carousels will also be available for exam review in Lamont and
Hilles libraries.
Excursion:
Students will visit the exhibition The Legacy of Genghis Khan:
Courtly Arts
and Culture in Western Asia, 1256—1353, at the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York. Arrangements for travel will be made by the Core office
and they will cover the costs. Before our visit, one of the
exhibition’s
curators, Dr. Linda Komaroff, will give a lecture at Harvard
about the conceptualization
of the exhibition and its organization. We will also meet with
Dr. Stefano
Carboni, co-curator of the exhibition, during our visit to the
Metropolitan.The
exhibition includes some 200 objects on loan from collections
in North America,
Europe, Russia, Turkey, and China. The principal emphasis of
the exhibition
is the impact of China’s Yüan (Mongol) dynasty,
founded by Kubilai
Khan, Genghis Khan’s grandson, on the art of Iran under
the contemporary
Ilkhans (a Mongol dynasty founded by Hulegu, Kubilai’s brother). The
objects on show include works in wood, metal, ceramic,
textiles, jewelery,
and stone, and works on paper. Among the most important are two
manuscripts
commissioned by the Ilkhans–the Great Mongol copy of Firdawsi’s
"Book of Kings" (Shahnama) and Rashid al-Din’s history of
the world, the "Gatherer of Chronicles" (Jami’
al-tawarikh).
The exhibition is a once in a lifetime opportunity to view this
rich array
of unique objects. Given its importance, students are strongly encouraged
to join the group in the excursion to New York and will have the option
of writing an essay about the exhibition as their final project.
Requirements:
Attending the lectures, sections, and completing the readings
are pre-requisites
to success in the course. The requirements of the course (and
their percentages
to the final grade) are:
Section: Attendance and participation (25%)
Examinations:
Midterm (15%) and final (30%)
Short paper: Spatial analysis of a plan (no research required), 2 pp. max
(5%)
Long paper: Choose one of the following (each one no more than 10—15
pp., 25%):
1. Essay about the exhibition, The Legacy of Genghis Khan
2. Paper based on course readings, lectures, and some additional
research
The long paper will be selected from a list of
possible topics.
The students should discuss their ideas in consultation with their section
leader and submit an outline and thesis statement at the section
in week 12.
The paper, accompanied by notes, a bibliography, and illustrations, will be
due in the reading period on Tuesday January 7th.
Further guidelines about the exhibition essay will follow. The essay will
be based on the student’s critical evaluation of the exhibition’s
conception and its installation (the arrangement of objects through space,
lighting, and wall texts). Insights about the staging of the
exhibition will
be available from the curators–Linda Komaroff will give a lecture and
Stefano Carboni will meet with us after viewing the exhibition. Additional
materials will be uploaded to the web-site when they are
available–e.g.,
ground plans; museum press releases and advertisements for the exhibition;
the exhibition catalogue; and a sample of exhibition review essays.
Synopsis of Lectures:
Week 1:
Sept. 17, I. Introduction
Sept. 19, II. Images of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane from Then until Now
Week 2:
Sept. 24, I. Genghis Khan and the Mongol Imperium
Sept. 26, II. The Mongols in China
Section, FILM: Mongols: Storm from the East
Week 3:
Oct. 1, I. Arts of the Steppe before the Mongols
Oct. 3, II. Arts of Iran and Central Asia before the Mongols
Section, Landscapes of Empire: Steppe and Sown
Week 4:
Oct. 8, I. Textiles in Exchange and Use
Oct. 10, II. Architecture of Mongol Persia
Section, Nomadic Arts, Ethnography, and Material Culture (short
paper due)
Week 5:
Oct. 15, I. Art of Mongol Persia
Oct. 17, II. The Art of the Book: Rashid al-Din's Universal History
Section, Image and Ideology (Study of paintings in Sackler Museum)
Week 6:
Oct. 22, I. The Great Mongol "Book of Kings"
Oct. 24, II. Tamerlane's Cities: Samarkand and Shahr-i Sabz
Section, Review session for Midterm
Week 7:
Oct. 29, I. Tamerlane’s Tents and Palaces
Oct. 31, II. Midterm
Section, The Role of the Patron
Week 8:
Nov. 5, I. Shrine Culture and Women’s Piety
Nov. 7, II. Curating the Exhibition: The Legacy of Genghis Khan
(Guest Lecturer,
Linda Komaroff)
Section, Analyzing Timurid Architecture
Week 9:
Nov. 12, I. New Allegiances: Shahrukh's Cultural Program
Nov. 14, II. Forging Genealogies in History and Biography
Section, Constructing Self-Images
EXCURSION
Nov. 16, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Week 10:
Nov. 19, I. The Timurid Artistic Workshop
Nov. 21, II. The Timurid Visual Idiom
Section, Workshop Structure and Practices
Week 11:
Nov. 26, I. Rival Courts: The Dissemination of an Ideal
Nov. 28, II. THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
Week 12
Dec. 3, I. On the Margins of Empire: China and Central Asia
Dec. 5, II. Muhammad Siyah Qalam's Nomads and Demons
Section, "Chinoiserie" (Outline of long paper due)
Week 13:
Dec. 10, I. Courtly Culture under Sultan Husayn, the Last Timurid Ruler
Dec. 12, II. The Artist Bihzad
Section, Review session for final exam (Long paper due in Reading
Period)
Week 14:
Dec. 17, I. The Turco-Mongol Legacy
Lectures and Readings:
Week 1:
I Introduction
II Images of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane from Then Until Now
Readings:
David Morgan, The Mongols, pp. 32—111 (chaps. 2—4)
Week 2:
I Genghis Khan and the Mongol Imperium
II The Mongols of China
"Section" FILM: Mongols: Storm from the EastReadings:Morgan, The
Mongols, pp. 112—174 (chaps. 5—6)
Morris Rossabi, "The Cultural Patron," from Khubilai Khan, 23 pp.
(sourcebook).
* Adam Kessler, "The Mongol Era and the Yuan Dynasty," 23 pp. in
Empires Beyond the Great Wall: The Heritage of Genghis Khan, pp.
145—167
Week 3:
I Arts of the Steppe before the Mongols
II Arts of Iran and Central Asia before the Mongols
Section: Landscapes of Empire: Steppe and Sown
Readings:Joseph Fletcher, "The Mongols: Ecological and
Social Perspectives,"
40 pp. (sourcebook)
* Robert Irwin, "The Emergence of the Islamic World System
1000—1500,"
pp. 32—61, in The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World,
ed. Francis Robinson
Week 4:
I Textiles in Exchange and Use
II Architecture of Mongol Persia
Section: Nomadic Arts, Ethnography and Material Culture
Short paper due in Section
Readings:Thomas Allsen, Commodity and Exchange in the Mongol Empire, chaps.
1, 2, and 4 (sourcebook)
Rossabi, "The Silk Trade in China and Central Asia," 13
pp. (sourcebook)
* Sheila Blair and Jonathan Bloom, Art and Architecture of Islam
1250—1800,
pp. 5—19 (chap. 2) (sourcebook and on reserve)
Week 5:
I Art of Mongol Persia
II The Art of the Book: Rashid al-Din's Universal History
Section: Image and Ideology (Study of paintings in Sackler Museum)
Readings:* Sheila Blair and Jonathan Bloom, Art and Architecture of Islam
1250—1800, pp. 21—35 (chap. 3) (sourcebook and on reserve)
Priscilla Soucek, "Ceramic Production as Exemplar of
Yuan-Ilkhanid Relations,"
12 pp. (sourcebook)
Blair, "Patterns of Patronage and Production in Ilkhanid
Iran: The Case
of Rashid
al-Din," 21 pp. (sourcebook)
* Blair, Compendium of Chronicles, pp. 12—15, 60—90, 114—16
(sourcebook and on reserve)
Week 6:
I The Great Mongol "Book of Kings"
II Tamerlane's Cities: Samarkand and Shahr-i Sabz
Section: Review session for Midterm
Readings:* Oleg Grabar and Sheila Blair, Epic Images and
Contemporary History,
pp. 1—55
Week 7:
I Tamerlane’s Tents and Palaces
II Midterm
Section: Role of the Patron
Readings:Beatrice Forbes Manz, "The Legacy of Timur,"
20 pp. (sourcebook)
Lisa Golombek, "Tamerlane, Scourge of God," 31 pp.
(sourcebook)
Roy Gonzalez de Clavijo, Embassy to Tamerlane, 1403—1406,
chaps. 12—13
(sourcebook)
Bernard O'Kane, "From Tents to Pavilions: Royal Mobility and Persian
Palace Design," 20 pp. (sourcebook)
Week 8:
I Shrine Culture and Women’s Piety
II Curating the Exhibition: The Legacy of Genghis Khan (Guest
Lecturer, Linda
Komaroff)
Section: Analyzing Timurid Architecture
Readings:Golombek, "The Paysage as Funerary Imagery in the
Timurid Period,"
12 pp. (sourcebook)
Roya Marefat, "Timurid Women: Patronage and Power," 21
pp. (sourcebook)
Soucek, "Timurid Women: A Cultural Perspective," 24 pp.
(sourcebook).
Week 9:
I New Allegiances: Shahrukh's Cultural Program
II Forging Genealogies in History and Biography
Section: Constructing Self-Images
Readings:* Thomas W. Lentz and Glenn D. Lowry, Timur and the
Princely Vision,
pp. 67—157 (chap. 2)
Eleanor Sims, "Ibrahim—Sultan's Illustrated Zafarnama of 1436 and
Its Impact in the Muslim East," 12 pp. (sourcebook)
Anon., "Synoptic Account of the House of Timur," 10 pp.
(sourcebook)
November 16: EXCURSION TO NEW YORK
Visit exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and meet with
Stefano Carboni
Week 10:
I The Timurid Artistic Workshop
II The Timurid Visual Idiom
Section: Workshop Practices
Readings:Anon., Arzadasht, 5 pp. (sourcebook)
Golombek, "Discourses of an Imaginary Arts Council in
Fifteenth-Century
Iran," 17 pp. (sourcebook)
* Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, pp. 159—237 (chap.
3)
David J. Roxburgh, "Persian Drawing, ca. 1400—1450: Materials and
Creative Procedures" (sourcebook).
Week 11:
I Rival Courts: The Dissemination of an Ideal
II Thanksgiving
Week 12:
I On the Margins of Empire: China and Central Asia
II Muhammad Siyah Qalam's Nomads and Demons
Section: "Chinoiserie" (Outline of long paper due)
Readings:Yolanda Crowe, "Some Timurid Designs and Their Far
Eastern Connections,"
11 pp. (sourcebook)
Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt, "Siyah Qalem and Gong Kai: An
Istanbul Album
Painter and a Chinese painter of the Mongolian Period," 13
pp. (sourcebook)
Week 13:
I Courtly Culture under Sultan Husayn, the Last Timurid Ruler
II The Artist Bihzad
Section: Review session for final exam (Long paper due in Reading
Period)
Readings:* Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the Princely Vision, pp. 239—301
(chap. 4)
Subtelny, "Scenes from the Literary Life of Timurid
Herat," 19 pp.
(sourcebook)Week 14: Readings:* Lentz and Lowry, Timur and the
Princely Vision,
pp. 301—327 (chap. 5)
Final Paper due in reading period, Tuesday January 7th
Required Books:
David Morgan, The Mongols (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers,
reprint 1990)
Sourcebook, available at the Science Center
Educational Films:
Mongols: Storm from the East, Films for the Humanities, Inc,
1994. 4 parts:
1. "Birth of an Empire" (50 mins.)
2. "World Conquerors" (50 mins.)
3. "Tartar Crusaders" (50 mins.)
4. "The Last Khan of Khans" (50 mins.)
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