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About the Author

Michal Biran is Associate Professor at the Institute of Asian and African Studies at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Works by Michal Biran

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Birthdate
1965
Gender
female
Nationality
Israel

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Qaidu was a Mongol prince - a great-grandson of Genghiz Khan - who revolted against the authority of Kublai Khan and set up a de facto independent khanate in Central Asia (specifically Transoxiana, Semirechye, parts of Xinjiang, and part of western Mongolia). His long wars with Kublai and with the Ilkhans of Persia are credited by Biran with helping both to break up the Mongol Empire and to prevent further Mongol expansion on other fronts. After his death, his sons lost the khanate to Du'a, Qaidu's ally from the Chaghadaid branch of Genghiz Khan's family, under whose descendants it became one of the most long-lasting Mongol states, its final remnants being extinguished in the late seventeenth century, while Qaidu's own Ögödeid branch dwindled to obscurity.

Qaidu has often been cast as an ideologically committed traditionalist, clinging to traditional nomad ways in violent opposition to Kublai Khan's sinicizing policies and similar trends in the Ilkhanate. Biran argues that this is mistaken - Qaidu was essentially a pragmatist and the chief reason he and Kublai pursued different policies in this regard was the different circumstances in nomad-dominated Central Asia and sedentary China. If Qaidu had an ideology beyond his own aggrandizement, it was to restore the house of Ögödei to its rightful place next to those of Jochi, Chaghadai, and Tolui, these four being the principal sons of Genghiz Khan. This goal, as mentioned above, was decisively undone shortly after his death.

Information-dense without falling into academic impenetrability, the book is well worth reading for anyone interested in the Mongol Empire and its disintegration. It's also rather short - about 200 pages, nearly half of which is taken up by notes, maps, genealogical tables, etc.

(Said maps, at least in the pocket edition, sadly leave a few things to be desired.)
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Flagged
AndreasJ | Jul 15, 2016 |
The author tries to focus on the positive impact of Chinggis Khan on the Muslim world. We all know Chinggis Khan was a bed news for Islam so I do wnat to see that positive side, especially if it come from a Jewish author in the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
 
Flagged
saidshafik | Jul 11, 2009 |

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