Empire in Asia: A New Global History: The Long Nineteenth Century

Description

Asia was the principle focus of empire-builders from Alexander and Akbar to Chinggis Khan and Qianlong and yet, until now, there has been no attempt to provide a comprehensive history of empire in the region. The History of Empire in Asia addresses the need for a thorough survey of the topic. Volume I traces the evolution of a constellation of competing empires in Asia from the 13th through to the 18th centuries. It describes the history and characteristic features of imperial regimes in each major sub-region of Asia, from the Ottomans and Safavids in the West, Romanovs in the North, Mughals in the South, the Mongols & their successors in Inner Asia, to the Ming and Qing Dynasties in the East. Volume II covers the long 19th century, commonly seen in terms of ‘high imperialism’ and the global projection of Western power. It explores the dynamic, volatile and contested processes by which, by the early years of the 20th century, Asian states, space and peoples became deeply integrated into the wider dynamics of global reordering. The two volumes of The History of Empire in Asia offer a significant contribution to the theory and practice of empire when considered globally and comparatively and are essential reading for all students and scholars of global, imperial and Asian history. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Contents Illustration Acknowledgments Linguistic Conventions List of Contributors Series Introduction: Reordering an Imperial Modern Asia Concepts and Historiography Definitions Revisiting Empire in Asia Notes Introduction: Globalizing Empire in Asia Entanglements and Empire Framing Time, Place, and Themes Notes Chapter 1 In the Center of It All: Thoughts from the Edge of Empire Introduction Defining Empire Empires and States Material Foundations Empire and Culture Conclusion Notes Chapter 2 Legal Fiction: Extraterritoriality as an Instrument of British Power in China in the “Long Nineteenth Century” Designing and Implementing Extraterritoriality Establishing a British Supreme Court Practice in Amoy (Xiamen) Disciplining British Subjects Deploying the Regime More Widely Conclusion Notes Chapter 3 East Asian Empire and Technology: Imperial Japan and Mobilizing Infrastructure, 1868–1931 Science and Imperialism: Approaching the “Problem” of East Asia and the Early Modern East Asia: Asia as Exception Meiji Japan as a “Progressive” Model Meiji Japan: Infrastructure and Intimations of Empire, 1853–95 Meiji Infrastructure: Rail and Transportation Rail and Colonial Expansion: Contested Spaces and Nascent Empire The South Manchuria Railway Zone Taisho Japan and Styles of Colonial Rule: Apparent Contradictions Planning and Nationalism The Embrace of the Rational: Toward an Imperial Modernity Notes Chapter 4 Suzerainty versus Sovereignty: Establishing French Empire in Indochina Sovereignty versus Suzerainty Cambodia, 1856–67 Vietnam, 1874–85 Laos, 1865–93 Conclusion Notes Chapter 5 Staking Out an Imperial States System: The Imperial Frontier in Asia in the “Long Nineteenth Century” The Imperial Frontier The Nineteenth-Century Frontier The Imperial Frontier and the Asian States System Conclusion Notes Chapter 6 Human Mobility in Russia’s Asian Empire Russian Asia and Asian Russia Movement: Variations on a Theme Embracing Mobility The Discontents of Movement Conclusion Notes Chapter 7 Faith in Empire: Ottoman Religion and Imperial Governance in the “Long Nineteenth Century” Ottoman Religion and Imperial Governance, ca. 1800 Relationship between Religion and State “Defensive Modernization,” Reforms, and the Threat of the West The Impact of the Tanzimat on State Ideology Narrowing of the Religious Sphere Soft Power and the Domestication of Religious Authorities Conclusion Notes Chapter 8 Maritime Goes Global: The British Maritime Empire in Asia Maritime Empires in Asia Pre-1800 The British as a Maritime Power in Asia A Thalassocracy: Victorian Imaginings? The Great Modern Asian Port Challenges to British Maritime Empire The Empire from the Deck of a Ship Conclusion Notes Chapter 9 Empire in the Long Run: Asia in the Nineteenth Century Notes Index