Expect a flood of new posts in the next few days, now that I am able to actually have things to put up. Thank goodness for school - I would atrophy without it.
Here's some article comparisons for Russian history. I was on a kick for the Khazars, a Jewish(!)-led Medieval nomadic group based just to the northeast of the Black Sea. I strayed from that and showed my love for colonialism and adventure, etc etc etc in the second article but it all turned out well. My professor's comments on the work included his admiration for my position as an 'archival junkie'.
The articles are George V. Lantzeff's "Russian Eastward Expansion before the Mongol Invasion" (The American Slavic and East Europe Review, Vol. 6, pp1-10) and Richard Foltz's "Judaism and the Silk Route" (The History Teacher, Vol. 32, No. 1, pp9-16). Enjoy.
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Lantzeff’s work focuses on the colonial policies of competing Russian principalities from the tenth century to the fourteenth century. The wealthy Novgorodian Republic and the Principality of Rostov-Suzdal – an entity that would become the Grand Duchy of Muscovy – were two major participants in the conflict. Initially a discussion of the Novgorodian tribute collected from tribal groups up to and including the Ural Mountains, Lantzeff expounds upon the rough competition between the Republic and Rostov-Suzdal on a martial and political level. Rostov-Suzdal’s founding of Nizhny Novgorod, a major part of Rus’ colonialism, spelled the end of that era as the Tatars invaded.
Lantzeff does a fine job of explaining the fairly unexplored area of Rus’ colonialism in his “Russian Eastward Expansion before the Mongol Invasion”. It is a surprise on an academic level that such little emphasis is put on early Russian colonialism, considering the founding of Novgorod as an essentially Varangian possession as well as Russia’s future as an empire known for its frontier expansionism. Considering the generally unaddressed nature of the issue, Lantzeff’s work is a suitable introduction to pre-Mongol Russian expansion to the east: it shows the amateur Russian historian that even outside of the traditional territory of rival principalities, the struggles between the territories of European Russia were long-reaching.
The reasons for and background surrounding Rus’ colonialism provided by Lantzeff are clear enough to the casual reader. The Novgorodians sought new resources to continue the building of their mercantile empire, and Rostov-Suzdal finally acted on the greedy eye it had cast on the colonial possessions of the rival trade republic. Lantzeff mentions repeatedly, and rightfully so, the originality and importance of the Novgorodians’ frontiersmen-esque methods in establishing colonies and charging tribute from the indigenous people and settlers: it would be a technique put to use by not only the Russians in time to come but by almost all other colonial powers as an introductory method of gaining regional control. Lantzeff’s use of Russian chronicles in describing the lands being colonized by the Rus’ inspires thoughts of a semi-mythical far-off land. Admittedly, the distance to be crossed between say, Novgorod and the Ural Mountains, is fairly impressive; the descriptions given by Lantzeff only enhance this quality. His use of statistics and official records, too, add to the scope of the conflict: the participation of almost a hundred princes in an alliance aiming to grab up Novgorod’s riches, the large amounts of captives as a result of martial actions between Novgorod and Rostov-Suzdal as well as the surprisingly consistent dates between attacks put the situation into perspective.
The lack of much detail outside of statistics and basic reasoning in Lantzeff’s work did prevent the article from shining in a particular fashion. The author could have gone much more in-depth with his work and seemed to toe the line between basic historical information and further description that would have helped his work significantly. True, Lantzeff covered the necessary facts of the situation: he addressed the “who and where” as well as whatever else background was needed for his work but did not go into detail. An example of this would be his addressing of the actual battles between the Novgorodians and the Rostov-Suzdalians, as well as the Rostov-Suzdalians and the Volga Bulgars: there was no discussion of battle tactics or superior arms, nor was there a record of the obvious value of raiding gained by the future Muscovites (although Lantzeff does mention the garnering of the spoils). The author seems to ignore the grand amount of comparisons that could be made between the Rostov-Suzdalians and their later Muscovite counterparts who instituted a fairly similar system of colonialism. Lantzeff spoke of Kiev’s preference toward Novgorod as opposed to Rostov-Suzdal as well as the general ire directed at Novgorod from the other princely states but did not discuss any background – namely, that Novgorod regularly paid heed as well as tribute to Kiev due to its powerful position in regional economics and politics (a trend that would end very soon as the Mongols made their way westward) and that the two powers relied on each other for economic and military means. A final overarching fact that Lantzeff seemed to ignore was the political clout of Novgorod throughout the ages. Its economic power, geographic position, relationship with Kiev and general importance as a Rus’ principality allowed Novgorod much leeway in terms of its actions (political or martial) and monetary ventures, which Lantzeff could have addressed as it is a factor of importance in the colonial competition between Novgorod and Rostov-Suzdal. After all, Novgorod participated heartily in Mongol politics after the Horde had effectively collapsed the other Russian principalities – a fact that Lantzeff only brushes on at the end of the article.
“Russian Eastward Expansion before the Mongol Invasion” is an interesting and informative article that does a decent job of explaining the very early colonial ventures of the Russian people. While Lantzeff accomplishes the task of providing a suitable background to the conflict between the Rostov-Suzdalians and the Novgorodians, he does not delve deep enough into the situation to sate a reader expecting more than an overview of the events. On the whole, however, the article is most certainly an acceptable piece of work and has no problem gaining the attention of a reader who is new to the information.
Works Cited
Lantzeff, George V. "Russian Eastward Expansion before the Mongol Invasion." The American Slavic and East European Review 6.3 (1947): 1-10.
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Here is the other - this is the one that pertained (vaguely) to the Khazars, but more to medieval Jews in general.
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“Judaism and the Silk Route” is an article pertaining to the impact made upon the Silk Route by followers of Judaism throughout history. Richard Foltz examines Judaism’s cohabitation with local beliefs including Iranian ideology, a factor that allowed Judaism to spread along the route and not only give birth to small pockets of Jewish traders along the Eurasian beltline but also influenced indigenous peoples’ beliefs and actions. Foltz also speaks about the adaptive ability of the Jews in the face of Islamization in Central Asia, leaving them to be the only non-Muslim religious minority in the area.
A positive aspect of Richard Foltz’s work on this subject is that it is immersive in its scope. Foltz’s work on “Judaism and the Silk Route” is one of the few examples of academic work that I have seem that is not neck-deep in discussion pertaining to the limitation and oppression of Judaic merchants and operatives on the Eurasian landmass. Rather, to someone who is new to the subject of continent-spanning Jewry, it is a welcome matter: throughout history, followers of Judaism have fostered transcontinental trade on a scale as massive as the almost fantastical Silk Route (or Road). Foltz starts with a historical background of the Levant and the Middle East pertaining to the Jews, specifically their time in Mesopotamia under the heel of the Babylonians and the flowering of Jewish activity under Persian influence. The foundations of several major cities in Iran can be sourced to Jewish ex-slaves and even the ideology of Persia has influenced and been influenced by Judaism: the systems of belief share similar holidays and legends pertaining to the region, a fine example of the influence and prospering of Jews in the region. Foltz’s detailed explanation of the Radanites and their power base in the Mediterranean shows that, despite the seemingly negative reputation given to European Jews, they were still a force to be reckoned with from an economic standpoint.
As Foltz mentions, the various converts to Judaism along the Silk Route are a very interesting (and sometimes peculiar) aspect of the Jews’ widespread nature. The actions of Mediterranean Jews led them to communication with the “Khazars” – a nomadic Turkic group centered on the northeast shore of the Black Sea who hoped to trade slaves with the Jews. Foltz’s use of the Turkish proverb, “There is no Iranian merchant without a Turkish associate, just as there is no cap without a head” strikes home the relationship between the two differently-civilized worlds of sedentary people and nomadic people in terms of a symbiotic relationship. The Khazar elite eventually converted to Judaism in order to gain the further benefit of what they perceived as ‘religious neutrality’ – that is to say, they would be more privileged than their shamanistic steppe kin due to foreign traders’ familiarity with the Jewish people. This is a very interesting factor: a nomadic group, normally suited to raiding and on-the-move living, wished to gain partial immunity against oppressors by converting to a religion that most viewed as a trader’s ideology. As a student of nomadic history, that concept is a very exciting one and is definitely something I will have to investigate in other regions such as Eastern Central Asia and Eastern Europe. The influence of the Jews on indigenous peoples (and vice versa) as well as the founding of Jewish communities along the Silk Route fosters a uniquely interesting chain of settlements and communication across Eurasia – from Marseille in France to Kaifeng in China.
The positive nature of Foltz’s work here is overshadowed by the fact that little to no mention is made of anti-Jewish sentiment in the regions that they begin to influence. Throughout the early tenure of the Jewish people in Persian lands, a great amount of good was done for the Jews by the Persian royalty; a case for this would be Cyrus the Great’s order to rebuild the Temple of Solomon. However, they were also placed under heavy scrutiny: early Zoroastrian texts list Judaism among the many beliefs that its follower had oppressed. Later dynasties in Persia did not necessarily oppress the Jews but actively sought to limit any Jewish gains toward positions of authority. The large Jewish minority in Central Asia, while influential and long-lasting, did attract negative attention – the Arab conquests resulted in Bukharan Jews having to pay exorbitant taxes, the Mongol Invasions decreased the number of Central Asian followers of Judaism greatly and eventually the hardline Islamic nomadic tribes of the region would turn against the Jews through forced conversion and violence. Foltz fails to mention these events entirely, and thus is not even able to remark upon the fact that one of the only reasons that the Jews were targeted by their oppressors in Central-to-Eastern Eurasia was their perceived higher wealth due to trade along the Silk Route.
“Judaism and the Silk Route” is definitely written in a fashion to ignore the negatives while focusing more on the positive impacts and receptions of the Jewish people operating on and as a result of the Silk Route. While he completely glosses over negative events, Foltz’s work is informative and interesting to someone who may have not been aware of the far-reaching nature of Judaism or the impact of Classical-to-Pre-Modern Jews upon trade and ideology. Foltz’s talk of a continent-spanning Jewish community not suspicion or oppression is sorely wishful thinking across the wide expanse of history; however, that is not to say that for a time it did not exist and prosper.
Works Cited
Foltz, Richard. "Judaism and the Silk Route." The History Teacher 32 (1998): 9-16.
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I don't know why the formatting comes out so weirdly on these, but I'm not particularly troubled by it. If anyone's bothering to read, I hope they won't mind.
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