IMC 2014: Sessions

Session 519: Communication in the Mongol Empire

Organiser:	Chu Ming-Kin, Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS), Universiteit Leiden
Moderator/Chair:	Felicitas Schmieder, Historisches Institut, FernUniversität Hagen
Paper 519-a	Bureaucrats, Qadis, and Mongols: How Persian Elites Reacted to Mongol Law and the Consequences for Governance in the Ilkhanate (Language: English) Florence Hodous, European Research Council Project 'Mobility, Empire & Cross-Cultural Contacts in Mongol Eurasia', Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Paper 519-b	Indigenous Elite Networks and Mongol Governance in 13th-Century North China (Language: English) Chu Ming-Kin, Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS), Universiteit Leiden Index terms: Administration, Politics and Diplomacy, Social History
Abstract	This panel explores epistolary communication in the Mongol empire across Eurasia in a comparative perspective. From the letter of the Armenian Constable Smbat (1248), through Hülegü Khan's diplomatic initiatives westwards, and up to the epistles written by literati in 13th century North China – this panel attempts to address questions in connection with indigenous elites and their Mongol overlords across Eurasia. What sort of pattern emerged in their relationship? How did elites shape Mongol administration and governance as well as the written record? How did elites and conquerors negotiate cultural misunderstandings?