Empires to Be Remembered: Ancient Worlds Through Modern Times

Description

By applying a comparative approach the volume focuses on a select group of „empires“ which are generally not in the focus of empires studies. They are studied in detail and analyzed due to a strict concept that takes into account real history and reception history as well. Reception history becomes more and more an important element in empire studies although this topic is still often more or less underdeveloped. The volume singles out a series of such “forgotten empires”. It aims to provide a methodologically clearly structured as well as a uniform and consistent approach. It develops a general set of questions that help to compare and distinguish these entities. This way the volume intends to examine and to illuminate empires that are generally ignored by modern scholarship. Introduction Contents Part I: Theories of Empires: An Ongoing Debate Imperial Turn: Challenges, Problems and Questions 1 Reasons and Motivations for Newer and Younger Discourses on the Topic of Empire 2 Something Other than a Nation-State? Factors of Integration and Legitimation for Empires 3 Pre-Modern, Modern and Post-Modern Empires? Why Perspective Matters 4 Previous and Ongoing Attempts at Definition 4.1 Development/Genesis 4.2 An Improvising and Dynamic Arrangement of the World and the Geographical Dimension 4.3 Range 4.4 Heterogeneity 4.5 Plurality of Forms of State 4.6 Various Elites/Agents in Continuity 4.7 The Ability to Wage War and the Military 4.8 Administration, Bureaucracy and Memory 4.9 Strong Center (?) 4.10 Control and Competition: The Relationship to Third-Party Power Factors 4.11 Ideology, Mission, and Religiousness in Imperial Policy 4.12 Protection and Solicitude 4.13 From Crisis to Resilience 4.14 Transformation Processes 4.15 Retrograde Consciousness of Tradition: Historical Heritage and Empire Historians 5 Discontinuities Between Earlier and More Contemporary Empires 6 Basic Results Bibliography Part II: Empires and Bureaucracies Empires and Bureaucracies: A Transdisciplinary Approach 1 Previous Research 2 Administration and the Formation of State 3 Written Sources: Bureaucracy and Literacy 4 Simplistic Versus Modernistic Models 4.1 Taxation 4.2 Government, Bureaucracy and Subject 4.3 Top-Down Communication, Bottom-Up Reporting 4.4 Jurisdiction: Petitions-Administration of Justice 4.5 Bookkeeping and Archives 4.6 Bureaucratic Handbooks and Inventories 5 Reach and Effectiveness of Bureaucracies 5.1 Bureaucracy, a Rival of Empire? 6 Conclusion Bibliography Part III: Europe|Europa Anspruch und Wirklichkeit: Imperiale Ambitionen der Bourbonen im Ancien Régime 1 Einleitung: Ludwig XIV. und die Monarchia universalis 2 Imperiale Diskurse in Frankreich von Karl VIII. bis Ludwig XIV. 3 Imperiale Ambitionen der Bourbonen im 17. Jahrhundert? 4 Warum gab es kein französisches Imperium im 17. Jahrhundert? Bibliography Der Fall Polen-Litauen: Ein vergessenes Imperium in den nationalen Traditionen Ostmitteleuropas? 1 Realgeschichte 1.1 Einleitung: Bezeichnung, Entstehung und Entwicklung 1.2 Die Anfänge und die Unionsbildung 1.3 Strukturanpassungen 1.4 Reformen 1.5 Integrationsmaßnahmen und ihre Reichweite und Wirkung 1.6 Ein ``Großfürstentum Ruthenien´´ als dritter Faktor? 1.7 Grundlegende Verfassungsregelungen 1573 1.8 Machtpolitische Rivalitäten in Permanenz: Blockaden 1.9 Die außenpolitische Lage bis zu den drei Teilungen 2 Rezeption 2.1 Die Frage nach dem Imperium 2.2 Ethnisierung und Nationalisierung der Deutungen 2.3 Historiographie und aktuelle Rezeption 2.4 Spannungsverhältnisse in der litauischen und weißrussischen Deutung 2.5 Die Rolle der Ukrainer 3 Zusammenfassung Bibliography Vergessene Europäische Imperien der Neuzeit: Ein Überblick 1 Begriffsbestimmung Imperium 2 Vergessene europäische Imperien der Frühen Neuzeit 2.1 Venedig (1204-1797): Mittelmeer-Seemacht und Territorialstaat 2.2 Ungarn als Donau-Großreich unter Matthias Corvinus (1458-1490) 2.3 Polen-Litauen als ostmitteleuropäische Doppelmonarchie und imperiale Realunion (1386-1772) 2.4 Schweden als Ostsee-Imperium (1611-1721) 2.5 Die europäische Pentarchie als werdende Großmächte-Konstellation (1763-1914) 3 Die Erinnerung an vergessene Imperien Bibliography Part IV: Early Medieval Steppe Empires in Europe The Hun and Avar Empires 1 Steppe Empires? 2 Origins: A Eurasian Translation of Empire? 3 Imperial Expansion and Its Structural Conditions Bibliography Primary Sources Secondary Sources From the Eurasian Steppes to Christian Europe: Bulgarians and Magyars in the Early Middle Ages 1 Introduction 2 The Bulgars 2.1 The Early History 2.2 The Danubian Bulgarians 2.3 The Expanding Empire 2.4 Decline, Revival, and Fall 2.5 Hegemonic Structures 2.6 Centers of Power 2.7 The Populations 2.8 Rulership and Ideology 3 The Magyars 3.1 Magyars as Steppe People 3.2 Prehistory 3.3 The Conquest 3.4 Hegemonic Structures 4 Criteria-Oriented Conclusion: The Term Empire 4.1 The Contemporary View 4.2 Modern Criteria for the Concept of Empire Bibliography Primary Sources Secondary Literature Part V: The Mediterranean and the Near East|Das Mittelmeer und Vorderasien Exploring Elam as Empire 1 What Makes an Empire? 2 Elam as Empire (or Not) Through Its History Bibliography Carthage and the Ancient Discourse on Empire 1 Introduction 2 Birth, Peak, Decline and Fall of the Carthaginian Empire 3 Structure of the Carthaginian Dominion 4 Reception 5 Carthage, an Empire? Bibliography An Islamic Afro-Eurasian Empire: The Ottomans (1299-1923) 1 Origins, Expansion, Early Ottoman Identity and Institutions 1.1 Origins and Expansion 1.2 Early Ottoman Identity 1.3 Ottoman Institutions 2 From Frontier Principality to a Global Empire 3 The Long Nineteenth Century and Ottoman Modernization 4 World War I and the Disintegration of the Empire 5 Conclusion Bibliography Part VI: Central Asia Before Islam An Empire of Graeco-Bactrians and Indo-Greeks? 1 Methodological Preliminaries 2 The History of the Graeco-Bactrians and the Indo-Greeks 3 Characteristics of the `Empire´ 4 Outlook: An `Empire´ to Be Remembered? Bibliography The Kushan Empire 1 Introduction 2 Kushan History 3 The Kushan Domain 4 The Origins of the Kushans: From the Yüeh-zhi to the Great Kushans 5 The Legacy of the Kushans 6 Imperial Ideal in the Kushan Domains Bibliography Part VII: Iranian and Central Asian Formations of Empires in the Shadow of Mongol Rule Khwārazm: An Empire with Feet of Clay? 1 Introduction 2 Geography and Economy: A Vibrant Region of Mobile Pastoralism 3 Political History: A Short Summary 4 Ingredients of Empire: Military Manpower. Nomadic Specificities 5 Nomad Movements and Khwārazm 6 Ingredients of Empire and Practice of Power: Co-Opting Regional Rulers 7 Modes of Expansion: Using and Creating a Power Vacuum 8 Ingredients of Empire: Ideas and Claims of Universal Rule Bibliography The Mongol Ilkhante of Iran: Realm or Empire? 1 Preliminary Remarks on the State of Research 2 Leading Questions 3 Formation Process 3.1 The Imperial Paradigm 3.2 Hülegü´s Mission and the Question of Legitimacy 3.3 Religion and Legitimacy 4 Territory and Boundaries of the Ilkhanate 5 Center and Periphery 6 Approach to Government, Institutions, Administrative Structure 6.1 The Mongol Army and the Royal Household 6.2 Civil Administration 6.3 The End 7 Aspects of Culture and Transcontinental Transmission 8 Reception: Factual and Perceptional Impacts of Mongol Rule in Iran 9 Conclusion Bibliography Part VIII: Southeast Asia Imperial Kingdoms in Southeast Asia: The Case of Bagan (Pagan) 1 Introduction 2 An Outline of the History of Bagan 3 The Components of an Imperial Kingdom 4 Conclusions and Comparisons Bibliography Part IX: Africa and Eurocentrism Urban and State Synoecism in African Societies Bibliography Imagining African Empires, Debating the Case of Dahomey 1 Debates, Preconditions, and General Observations 1.1 Characteristics of Empires 1.2 African Political Systems 1.3 Origins of African States and Empires 1.4 Hints at some Historic West-African Empires 2 Understanding Dahomey, its Realities and Representations 2.1 Abolitionism and the pro-Slavery Response: Two Late Eighteenth Century Histories of Dahomey 2.2 Norris´ and Dalzel´s Histories of Dahomey: Stereotyping an African Empire 3 Conclusion Bibliography The West-African Kingdom of Benin 1 Introduction: Origins, Sources and Writings 2 Real History 2.1 Prehistory, Periodisation and Research 2.2 Benin Under the Rule of the Obas 2.3 Political Structure: Legitimised by Tradition 2.4 Economic Structures 3 History of Reception 3.1 Theoretical Context: Defining the Status 3.2 Cultural Structures: Religion, Sacrifices and Imperial Memory 4 Conclusion Bibliography Part X: The Americas|Die Amerikas Die Inka: Ein Verwobenes Imperium 1 Quellenkritik 2 Der Zentrale Andenraum, die Kernzone des Inka-Reiches 3 Die Andine Gesellschaft 4 Das Imperium der Inka: Die Anfänge 5 Konsolidierung und Anfänge Imperialer Herrschaft 6 Die Imperiale Expansion 7 Die Innere Struktur des Imperiums 8 Die Inka 9 Die Administration 10 Die Feldzüge 11 Die Integration in das Imperium 12 Der Niedergang 13 Zusammenfassende Überlegungen 14 Rezeption: Der Zerfall des Imperiums und das Entstehen der ``Andinen Utopie´´ 14.1 Das Imperium zerfällt 15 Die Andine Utopie entsteht 16 Die Wiederkehr der Andinen Utopie und der ``Sozialistische Staat der Inka´´ im 20. Jahrhundert Bibliography Das imaginierte und instrumentalisierte Imperium der Haudenosaunee 1 Realgeschichte 1.1 Gründung, Entstehung und Begriffsbildung 1.2 Die Irokesenkonföderation im 17. Jahrhundert 1.3 Die Irokesenkonföderation im 18. Jahrhundert 2 Rezeptionsgeschichte 2.1 Die Haudenosaunee in der Wahrnehmung der Europäer und Amerikaner und als Inspirationsquelle für die US-Verfassung? 2.2 Der Deganawideh-Mythos und das ``Gesetz des Großen Friedens´´ 3 Schlussbemerkungen zur Imperiumsdebatte Bibliography Part XI: General Observations and Considerations Die Weltreiche in der Geschichte 1 Das Thema 1.1 Frühe Großreiche 1.2 Landreiche: Seereiche 1.3 Politische Irrwege? 1.4 Volk und Staat 1.5 Die Weltgesellschaft References Index