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
Mongols, Turks, And Others: Eurasian Nomads And The Sedentary World (Brill's Inner Asian Library) (2004) — Editor — 35 copies
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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.)… (more)