In Central Asian oases of the Tarim Basin we find 25 city-states intermittently independent from 200 B.C. until as late as 1800 A.D.
NICOLA DI COSMO – Ph.D. University of Indiana – Professor at University of Canterbury
Dear Dr. Kolkey,
My answer to your question I am afraid is not going to be satisfactory for the purpose of your research, since there is not enough information to reconstruct adequately the ancient Tarim states’ life and economy, not to mention how they fought or why they went to war. The description we have comes from the Chinese sources, which have been translated and commented by Hulsewe and Loewe in a very important book “China in Central Asia: The Early Stage, 125 B.C. – A.D. 23 an Annotated Translation of Chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty” Leiden, 1979. This is the book to consult to know more about the Tarim Basin, but I sincerely doubt you could glean enough information to build any solid case on the domestic political decision-making process.
The facts reported in the Chinese sources show a slant towards foreign politics, and in particular the extent to which bigger powers were able to influence the political life of these city-states. For instance, the hostages sent to China or to the Xiongnu (typically members of prominent families sent to the greater power to “insure” an alliance) were possibly being groomed to succeed to the throne, so that the greater could control the king (or equivalent) once this was chosen. Succession struggles are then very likely to be influenced by the particular foreign allegiance of each claimant.
My sense is that the information available would be too flimsy and too hard to confirm independently of a single source to establish a clear case, but perhaps would provide sufficient material for comparative purposes, as you suggest in your reference to ancient India. As for your project in general, which I find intriguing, I am curious, and in fact much interested, in whether your wide-ranging study includes also nomadic “polities? – If so, which cases?
Best wishes,
Nicola Di Cosmo
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BRIAN VIVIER -- Ph.D. Yale University -- Special Projects Manager, East Asia Library, Yale University
I am afraid that I cannot come up with much that will help you with this project
immediately. The sources for Tarim Basin city-states are written in a number of
languages and often difficult to interpret. Most of these materials have been
excavated from sites within the Tarim Basin, and political vicissitudes over the
last hundred years have spread these documents among libraries across Asia and
Europe. As a result, scholarship on the political and military history of Tarim
Basin states has progressed slowly compared with that of other regions. The
difficulty of the sources makes it difficult to work out factional politics and
the importance of personal ambition in the initiation and conduct of wars. The
work that has been done--often impressive and pioneering studies combining
history, philology, and archeology--is published primarily in Chinese and
Japanese. If you can use Asian language materials, I recommend starting with
books by the Chinese historians Rong Xinjiang and Zhang Guangda, and by the
Japanese historians Moriyasu Takao and Ikeda On.
In a broader sense, most historians of Inner Asia have treated military matters
in terms of conquests and revolts. Your thesis would be a genuine departure
from trends in the received literature. Inner Asian historians also frequently
look to ecological factors to explain conflict, particularly the differences
among nomadic and sedentary groups. But personal ambition does appear in
explanations of political formation. Although it does not deal with the Tarim
Basin, you might take a look at a classic article by Joseph Fletcher: "The
Mongols: Ecological and Social Perspectives," Harvard Journal of Asiatic
Studies, Vol. 46, No. 1 (Jun., 1986), pp. 11-50.
At risk of sounding discouraging, I fear that the fragmented sources that we
have for the Tarim Basin city-states will make it difficult to demonstrate the
real and alleged reasons that elites gave for launching wars, and working out
what we can learn will require a substantial engagement with the primary
sources. At the same time, sophisticated work on the military history of Inner
Asia would make an important contribution to the field.
Good luck,
Brian
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