Iran to India: The Shansabānīs of Afghanistan, c. 1145-1190 CE

Alka Patel

Published by Edinburgh University Press 2021

Iran to India

The Shansabānīs of Afghanistan, c. 1145-1190 CE

Alka Patel

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474482240

Overview
Contents

About this book

Brings together all the architectural patronage attributed to the Shansabānīs in Afghanistan and Pakistan (Swat and lower Indus region)

Creates an architectural biography of this pivotal polity and its trans-regional empire
Treats built remains as independent, primary sources – and juxtaposes them with the principal texts – to create a complex understanding of the historical processes the Shansabānīs initiated throughout the landscapes they re-conjoined
Provides the first analysis of this important epigraphic corpus
Serves as the starting point for future research on the medieval epigraphy of Afghanistan and Pakistan

This book charts the origins and rise of the Shansabānīs, a nomadic-pastoralist or transhumant group from modern central Afghanistan. As they adapted and mastered the mores of Perso-Islamic kingship, they created a transregional empire unseen in the region for almost a millennium, since the Kushanas of the early centuries CE.

The Shansabānīs’ imperialism of little more than a half-century belies their longue durée significance: they altered the geopolitical landscapes of eastern Khurasan through the Indo-Gangetic plains, reconnecting these regions in continuous flows of people, objects, and ideas that broadened the Persianate world and had consequences into the modern age of nation-states in Central and South Asia.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Figures Publicly Available Download PDF	vi
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xii
Note on Dates and Transliteration Publicly Available Download PDF	xiv
Map of Imperial Ambitions Publicly Available Download PDF	xv
Map of Historical Ghur and Contiguous Regions Publicly Available Download PDF	xvi
Genealogy of the Shansabanis of Afghanistan Publicly Available Download PDF	xvii
Introduction: The Elephant and its Parts Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
CHAPTER 1. Kingly Trajectories Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	40
CHAPTER 2. Beginnings Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	79
CHAPTER 3. Thee Early Shansabanis: Firuzkuh, Bamiyan, and Tiginabad/Old Qandahar, c. 1140s–1170s Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	132
CHAPTER 4. One and Several: Gharjistan, Chisht, and Imperial Firuzkuh Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	190
CHAPTER 5. The “Ports of India”: Ghazna and Bust-Lashkari Bazar Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	237
CHAPTER 6. Encountering the Many “Indias” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	277
Epilogue: Iran to India Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	338
Appendix: Shansabani Religious and Historical Inscriptions in Afghanistan and Pakistan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	342
Works Cited and Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	357
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	391

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 424
Illustrations
- Other: 184 colour illustrations
Keywords: Islamic Studies

eBook

Published: April 21, 2022
ISBN: 9781474482240