BOOK REVIEW #1

In brief

The author starts with an interesting hypothesis of presenting the present day middle east and central Asia as the centre of the world through which humanity has been trading since antiquity. He then proceeds to narrate key events that shaped the region (and later, the world) by dedicating chapters for each event/power. For instance, the crusades and Mongols each get their own chapter. The book is structured well chronologically and each chapter ends after building the reader’s interest for the following one. The 521-page book covers diverse topics such as the Romans, Persians, religions that sprung from the region, trade, the crusades, the bubonic plague, political systems, age of discovery, slavery, empire-building and so on. It is really a treat for someone who has an outline knowledge of global history and would like to develop his/her knowledge further. However, people who are interested in the specific developments and continuity in this region of the world, this book becomes slightly disappointing as you read further into the second millenium. The author has tried hard to sell the Silk roads region as the centre of the world for the forthcoming decades as the conclusion, which seemed hastily reached. Nevertheless, it is a pleasant read.

He focusses on the geographical features that make these select countries unique and presents his take roughly in the form of a SWOT analysis.

Mongols FTW

One of the good things that I liked about this book is its devotion of time to Mongols, their origins, strategies, governance, social practices and ultimately the fissures amongst the hordes. For a book NOT on Mongols, I really was able to see how they fit in the larger scheme of things w.r.t silk roads. The author has tried to divert our attention from the chilling acts they are usually known for by arguing that it has often been their last resort to beat the submission out of the resisting tribes/kingdoms. Further, he dwells further into their administrative systems and how practical the rulers were w.r.t religion. I really chuckled at the encounter of the Mongol leader with a Christian missionary sent by the Pope. It is one of the aspects of the book that really did justice to the book w.r.t reader expectations.

Where are the Ottomans?

One of the many important empires that I was looking forward to reading within the context of silk roads was the Ottoman empire. Spanning across three different continents and lasting for more than six centuries, I was eager to read about their contributions to the trading networks and their longevity in general. Sadly, this book abandons Constantinople (Istanbul) after its fall in the 15th century, and only surfaces later when the Ottoman territory is being divided between Britain and France in the 20th century. Similar treatment was meted out to the earlier caliphates in the region as well such as the Abbasids, Ummayads, etc.

Shifting the centre to western Europe

In the later half of the book, the centre of narrative was shifted entirely to Western Europe and their viewpoints and before long we are sucked into the tired and tested ‘this led to world wars’ routine that accompanies a lot of history books. While this is a completely justified narrative if your book was ‘The influence of Western Europe on silk roads’, it clearly is not justified when you are reading ‘THE Silk roads’. The author tries to justify this shift by arguing that the ‘world’s centre’ kept shifting consistently starting from the cradle of civilization in Levant. For instance, when the Americas and the sea-route to India from Europe were discovered, he argues that the center of the world shifted westwards to Spain and Portugal from the Italian city states such as Venice and Genoa that had so far held virtual monopoly over trade through Levant (and consequently to India and China in the east). At this point of time Britain and Netherlands were the backwaters who were going to dominate on the back of a strong navy and mercantile system respectively in about a couple of centuries — becoming the new centers. I really wondered while reading through this point in the book on what is happening in Persia at this time? Moreover, the center of the world narrative to put mildly is a bit flawed since there were multiple centres of power lining the silk roads, and therefore it is a bit generous to assume that the silk roads’ very point of existence was to lead towards the ‘power centres’ in Venice and Lisbon.

In addition to these points, some lazy conclusions could have been better avoided such as the Ramayana supposedly being influenced by the Iliad and Odyssey on the account of Alexander reaching the Indus river, or the very farfetched notion that the plunder in South America financed the building of Taj Mahal, etc. While I understand the author’s honest attempt to not be Euro-centric by looking at how critical he is in the last few chapters, assigning all blame for the unfortunate developments in the world to European powers is still Euro-centric. It’s just not so in a positive way.

Interesting tidbits you will find in this book

• Who was/were thought to be Prester John (the legendary Christian saviour figure) during the crusades?
• What is the connection between Yale university and Chennai (formerly Madras), a city in the south of India?
• What is the connection between ‘Slavic’ cultures and Scandinavia? I was not really expecting this.
• What did BBC do in foreign countries? And what were its consequences in let’s say Iran?

---

𑀵