Colloque : Turko-Mongol Rulers, Cities and City-Life in Iran and the neighboring countries’

Si jamais vous passez par ou vivez à Tokyo :

Turko-Mongol Rulers, Cities and City-Life in Iran and the neighboring countries

Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo

12th-13th September 2009.

This conference aims to investigate the various types of relationship that the Turko-Mongol rulers had with cities and city life by bringing together specialists in various periods and of various disciplines (history, archaeology, history of art). Contributions will deal primarily with Iran (in its broader sense) but also Central Asia, Anatolia and the Arab World :

For nearly a millennium, Iran was ruled by Turkish or Mongol dynasties of nomadic origin. It is well known that the Mongol Ilkhans remained true to their nomadic ways, moving from one camp to another and living under tents. But elements of a nomadic way of life are also to be found, to various degrees, among all the other dynasties. The Saljuqs, the first Turkish dynasty of nomadic origin to have ruled over Iran, were not the Iranized kings sometimes described and they lived very far away from the cities they controlled. At the other end of the period, the Qajars, which cannot be considered as a nomadic dynasty, nonetheless used to leave Tehran in summer for greener places near Damavand.

To what extent the Turkish and Mongol princes who ruled the Middle East and Central Asia lived – or not – like their subjects? Some important research has already been done on this topic, in particular on the Ilkhans and the Safavids, but it remains sparse and isolated. This conference aims to give a more global view of the various types of relationship that the Turko-Mongol rulers had with cities and city life by bringing together specialists in various periods and of various disciplines (history, archaeology, history of art).

Among the themes of the conference that we wish to explore are: the type of lifestyle (itinerant or sedentary?) of the Turko-Mongol rulers and the role and importance of their ‘capital’; a place of power (palaces, gardens, mausoleums, fortresses, ordo, etc.); the changing relationship of the rulers towards cities and city-life.

The main area dealt with will be Iran (in the broader sense), but special consideration will also be given to the neighboring areas in Central Asia, Anatolia and the Arab world.

The conference is open to the public. The language of the conference is English. The proceedings will be published.

Scholars and students in the field are welcome to attend the conference.

For a presentation of the scientific goals of the conference, the abstracts of the papers and biographical abstracts of the speakers, the registration form, please visit the conference site.

This conference is organized jointly by the Institute of Oriental Culture (Univ. of Tokyo), the Sonderforschungsbereich ‘Differenz und Integration’ (Univ. Halle & Leipzig), the NIHU Program IAS Center (Univ. of Tokyo), with the financial support of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Japan-Germany Research Cooperative Program).

David Durand-Guédy (for the organizing committee)

email : david_durandguedy@ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp

September 12

09:30-10:00 Registration

10:00-10:30 Welcome, presentation, keynote address

10:30-12:30 : Panel 1 : Early Turkish Dynasties (with a 20 mn break after the first paper) Chair : M. Haneda (Tokyo)

- P. Golden (Rutgers) : ‘Proto-Urban and Urban Developments among the Pre-Chinggisid Turkic Peoples’

- M. Inaba (Kyoto) : ‘Sedentary Rulers on the Move : Travels of the Early Ghaznavid Rulers and their Capital’

- Y. Karev (Halle) : ‘The Royal Court of the Western Qarakhanids in the Capital City of Samarqand’

12:30-14:00 Lunch break

14:00-15:10 : Panel 2 : The Saljuqs Chair : K. Shimizu (Kyushu)

- D. Durand-Guédy (Tokyo) : ‘The Tents of the Saljuqs’

- A. Peacock (Ankara) : ‘Courts and Cities in Saljuq Anatolia’

15:10-15:40 Coffee break

15:40-17:25 : Panel 3 : The Mongols and the Mamlûks Chair : D. Matsui (Hirosaki)

- M. Biran (Jerusalem) : ‘Rulers and City’s Life in Mongol Central Asia (1220-1370)’

- T. Masuya (Tokyo) : ‘Capitals and Seasonal Palaces : Cities under the Great Khans and the Ilkhans’

- K. Franz (Halle) : ‘The Castle and the Country : Turkish Urban-Centred Rule from the Ayyûbids to the Mamlûks’

18:30 Reception (Restaurant in Hongo area)

September 13

09:45-10:55 : Panel 4 : The Timurids and Turkomans Chair : H. Mashita (Kobe)

- Ch. Melville (Cambridge) : ‘The Itineraries of Shahrukh b. Timur (1405-1447)’

- M. Subtelny (Toronto) : ‘Between City and Steppe : Gardens as Loci of Political Rule under the Timurids’

11:25-12:35 : Panel 4 (part 2) Chair : Y. Goto (Kwansei Gakuin)

- Cl.-P. Haase (Berlin) : ‘Dynastic Mausolea of the Timurids and their Ornaments : Propaganda and Memorial’

- J. Paul (Halle) : ‘A Landscape of Fortresses : Eastern Anatolia in Astarâbâdî’s Bazm wa Razm’

12:35-14:00 Lunch break

14:00-15:10 : Panel 6 : Later Dynasties Chair : H. Komatsu (Tokyo)

- N. Kondo (Tokyo) : ‘The Last Qizilbash ? The Early Qajar Rulers and their Capital Tehran’

- J. Noda (Tokyo) : ‘Turkistan as the Capital of the “Kazakh Khanate” in the 16-19 Centuries’

15:10-15:40 Coffee break

15:40-16:50 : Concluding Panel Chair : K. Morimoto (Tokyo)

- General response : M. Hamada (Kyoto)

- General discussion

- Concluding address (D. Durand-Guédy)