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An account of the re-emergence of Persia as a world player and the reassertion of its cultural, political and spiritual links with Turkic Lands, this book opposes the way in which, for too long, the whole period of Mongol domination of Iran has been viewed from a negative standpoint. Though arguably the initial irruption of the Mongols brought little comfort to those in its path, this is not the case with the second 'invasion' of the Chinggisids. This study demonstrates that Hülegü Khan was welcomed as a king and a saviour after the depredations of his predecessors, rather than as a conqueror, and that the initial decades of his dynasty's rule were characterised by a renaissance in the cultural life of the Iranian plateau.
List of contents
1. The Sources 2. Divine Punishment or God's Secret Intent? 3. Baghdad and its Aftermath 4. The Uneasy Borders a. Abaqa and the West b. Berke Khan and the North c. Baraq Khan and the East 5. The Provinces a. Kirman b. Shiraz c. Herat 6. The Juwaynis 7. Kwaja Nasír al-Din Tusi 8. Poets, Sufis, and Qalandars 9. Return of a King
About the author
After spending 20 years living, working and seeking adventure throughout the Middle East and then later in the Far East, during which years he worked as an English teacher, a freelance writer and journalist and as a businessman. George Lane returned to his more concentrated academic life in 1991 when he took up work and studies at SOAS. Since then he has been concerned primarily with Medieval Islamic History and with Iran and Central Asia in particular, George Lane has two young chilfren with whom he lives with his wife in Dulwich, S. E London.
Summary
An account of the re-emergence of Persia as a world player and the reassertion of its cultural, political and spiritual links with Turkic Lands, this book opposes the way in which, for too long, the whole period of Mongol domination of Iran has been viewed from a negative standpoint. Though arguably the initial irruption of the Mongols brought little comfort to those in its path, this is not the case with the second 'invasion' of the Chinggisids. This study demonstrates that Hülegü Khan was welcomed as a king and a saviour after the depredations of his predecessors, rather than as a conqueror, and that the initial decades of his dynasty's rule were characterised by a renaissance in the cultural life of the Iranian plateau.
Additional text
'No doubt it will be a while before such a comprehensive study of these years of Ilkhanate is again attempted, not least because Lane has written such a rich and provocative book that brings together much relevant material neglected in standard narrative accounts.' - Journal of School of Oriental and African Studies
