An Afterlife for the Khan
Muslims, Buddhists, and Sacred Kingship in Mongol Iran and Eurasia
- 213 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
An Afterlife for the Khan
Muslims, Buddhists, and Sacred Kingship in Mongol Iran and Eurasia
About this book
In the Mongol Empire, the interfaith court provided a contested arena for a performance of the Mongol ruler's sacred kingship, and the debate was fiercely ideological and religious. At the court of the newly established Ilkhanate, Muslim administrators, Buddhist monks, and Christian clergy all attempted to sway their imperial overlords, arguing fiercely over the proper role of the king and his government, with momentous and far-reaching consequences. Focusing on the famous but understudied figure of the grand vizier Rashid al-Din, a Persian Jew who converted to Islam, Jonathan Z. Brack explores the myriad ways Rashid al-Din and his fellow courtiers investigated, reformulated, and transformed long-standing ideas of authority and power. Out of this intellectual ferment of accommodation, resistance, and experimentation, they developed a completely new understanding of sacred kingship. This new ideal, and the political theology it subtends, would go on to become a central justification in imperial projects across Eurasia in the centuries that followed. An Afterlife for the Khan offers a powerful cultural and intellectual history of this pivotal moment for Islam and empire in the Middle East and Asia.
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Information
Table of contents
- Imprint
- Subvention
- Title
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Note on Usage and Transliteration
- Introduction
- 1.  Indian Prophet or Father of Arabian Paganism? The Buddha and the Buddhists in the History of India
- 2.  Perfect Souls, Imperfect Bodies: Refuting Reincarnation at the Mongol Court
- 3.  Converting Fortune: From Buddhist Cakravartins to Lords of Auspicious Conjunction
- 4.  King of Kalam: ĂljeitĂźâs Theological Domestication
- 5.  From Ancestor Worship to Shrine-Centered Kingship: Ilkhanid Confessional Politics and the Debate over Shrine Visitation
- Epilogue: Kingship and the Court Debate after the Mongols
- Notes
- References
- Index