Review of the Book: Vér, Márton. Old Uyghur Documents Concerning the Postal System of the Mongol Empire
This article analyzes Dr. Márton Vér’s book dedicated to the study and publication of documentary sources related to the functioning of the postal service of the Mongol Empire. The pan-Eurasian network of couriers and postal stations, unprecedented in size and efficiency, became one of the most impo...
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Tatarstan Academy of Sciences, Marjani Institute of History
2020-03-01
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| Series: | Золотоордынское обозрение |
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| Online Access: | http://goldhorde.ru/en/stati2020-1-11/ |
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| author | Mustakimov I.A. |
| author_facet | Mustakimov I.A. |
| author_sort | Mustakimov I.A. |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article analyzes Dr. Márton Vér’s book dedicated to the study and publication of documentary sources related to the functioning of the postal service of the Mongol Empire. The pan-Eurasian network of couriers and postal stations, unprecedented in size and efficiency, became one of the most important imperial institutions of the Chinggisids. This book, published in the Berliner Turfantexte series, contains texts and English translations (with detailed commentary) of 63 ancient Uighur documents of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, 18 of which are published for the first time.
Mostly preserved in the Berlin Turfan collection, these unique texts were discovered in the Turfan region and in the vicinity of Dunhuang. Comprising a range of administrative records and other documents with links to the postal system, they provide multiple snapshots of its operation at local and regional level. Their study allows us to consider the postal system from new positions, since previously, when covering the history of the postal system, researchers focused on narrative sources. Documentation related to the postal service in the Turfan region was published in both Turkic (Uyghur) and Mongolian languages. Large differences in the form of Uyghur and Mongol decrees and orders of the end of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, according to the fair remark of Dr. Vér, indicate the parallel existence of at least two clerical traditions here. Studying the language of Uyghur documents allowed the author of the work under review to clarify the meaning of some key terms related to the postal service. The book ends with indexes, a bibliography, a list of abbreviations, concordances of published documents, and a table of measures and weights from the Mongol period.
It was suggested that it would be appropriate to publish facsimiles of documents along with the typed Uyghur text in the future. Some shortcomings of the selected transcription and some inconsistency in the chronological characteristics of Uyghur sources were pointed out too.
However, the comments made do not affect the scholarly significance of the peer-reviewed work. The monograph will be of interest to specialists in the field of Turkology, Mongolian studies, medieval history of Eurasia, and especially to those investigating the history of the Mongol Empire. In particular, the conclusions and advances of the Hungarian scholar will be useful in analyzing Turkic documentary sources of the Golden Horde and post-Golden Horde times. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ec1f1d4432f64b38bfe8673a6f704e86 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2308-152X 2313-6197 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-03-01 |
| publisher | Tatarstan Academy of Sciences, Marjani Institute of History |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Золотоордынское обозрение |
| spelling | doaj-art-ec1f1d4432f64b38bfe8673a6f704e862025-08-20T02:42:48ZengTatarstan Academy of Sciences, Marjani Institute of HistoryЗолотоордынское обозрение2308-152X2313-61972020-03-018120020510.22378/2313-6197.2020-8-1.200-205Review of the Book: Vér, Márton. Old Uyghur Documents Concerning the Postal System of the Mongol EmpireMustakimov I.A. 0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0052-5136Institute of International Relations of Kazan Federal University Kazan, Russian Federation imus2007@mail.ruThis article analyzes Dr. Márton Vér’s book dedicated to the study and publication of documentary sources related to the functioning of the postal service of the Mongol Empire. The pan-Eurasian network of couriers and postal stations, unprecedented in size and efficiency, became one of the most important imperial institutions of the Chinggisids. This book, published in the Berliner Turfantexte series, contains texts and English translations (with detailed commentary) of 63 ancient Uighur documents of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, 18 of which are published for the first time. Mostly preserved in the Berlin Turfan collection, these unique texts were discovered in the Turfan region and in the vicinity of Dunhuang. Comprising a range of administrative records and other documents with links to the postal system, they provide multiple snapshots of its operation at local and regional level. Their study allows us to consider the postal system from new positions, since previously, when covering the history of the postal system, researchers focused on narrative sources. Documentation related to the postal service in the Turfan region was published in both Turkic (Uyghur) and Mongolian languages. Large differences in the form of Uyghur and Mongol decrees and orders of the end of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, according to the fair remark of Dr. Vér, indicate the parallel existence of at least two clerical traditions here. Studying the language of Uyghur documents allowed the author of the work under review to clarify the meaning of some key terms related to the postal service. The book ends with indexes, a bibliography, a list of abbreviations, concordances of published documents, and a table of measures and weights from the Mongol period. It was suggested that it would be appropriate to publish facsimiles of documents along with the typed Uyghur text in the future. Some shortcomings of the selected transcription and some inconsistency in the chronological characteristics of Uyghur sources were pointed out too. However, the comments made do not affect the scholarly significance of the peer-reviewed work. The monograph will be of interest to specialists in the field of Turkology, Mongolian studies, medieval history of Eurasia, and especially to those investigating the history of the Mongol Empire. In particular, the conclusions and advances of the Hungarian scholar will be useful in analyzing Turkic documentary sources of the Golden Horde and post-Golden Horde times.http://goldhorde.ru/en/stati2020-1-11/old uyghur documentsmongol empirechinggisidspostal system |
| spellingShingle | Mustakimov I.A. Review of the Book: Vér, Márton. Old Uyghur Documents Concerning the Postal System of the Mongol Empire Золотоордынское обозрение old uyghur documents mongol empire chinggisids postal system |
| title | Review of the Book: Vér, Márton. Old Uyghur Documents Concerning the Postal System of the Mongol Empire |
| title_full | Review of the Book: Vér, Márton. Old Uyghur Documents Concerning the Postal System of the Mongol Empire |
| title_fullStr | Review of the Book: Vér, Márton. Old Uyghur Documents Concerning the Postal System of the Mongol Empire |
| title_full_unstemmed | Review of the Book: Vér, Márton. Old Uyghur Documents Concerning the Postal System of the Mongol Empire |
| title_short | Review of the Book: Vér, Márton. Old Uyghur Documents Concerning the Postal System of the Mongol Empire |
| title_sort | review of the book ver marton old uyghur documents concerning the postal system of the mongol empire |
| topic | old uyghur documents mongol empire chinggisids postal system |
| url | http://goldhorde.ru/en/stati2020-1-11/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mustakimovia reviewofthebookvermartonolduyghurdocumentsconcerningthepostalsystemofthemongolempire |