- Title Pages
- Dedication
- List of Plates
- Notes on Contributors
- Introduction
- 1 Central Asia: West and East
- Nomad
- 2 Nomads and the Shaping of Central Asia: from the Early Iron Age to the Kushan period
- 3 Nomad Migration in Central Asia
- 4 Regions and Territories in Southern Central Asia: What the Surkhan Darya Province tells us about Bactria
- City
- 5 Bactria, Land of a Thousand Cities
- 6 Ai Khanum Reconstructed
- 7 The Culture of Parthian Nisa between Steppe and Empire
- 8 Termez in Antiquity
- 9 The Arrangement of Buildings in the Quarters of a Sogdian City
- Invasion
- 10 Ardashir’s Eastern Campaign and the Numismatic Evidence
- 11 The Sasanian relief at Rag-i Bibi (Northern Afghanistan)
- 12 The Fortifications at Gobekly-depe
- 13 The Bullae of Gobekly-depe
- 14 Gorgân and Dehistan: The North-East Frontier of the Iranian Empire
- 15 The Fortifications of the City of Gyaur Kala, Merv
- 16 Money
- 16 Money as a Marker of Cultural Continuity and Change in Central Asia
- 17 Some Questions Regarding the Numismatics of Pre-Islamic Merv
- 18 Monetary Circulation in Ancient Tokharistan
- 19 Money in Eastern Central Asia before AD 800
- Religion
- 20 Religious Iconography on Ancient Iranian Coins
- 21 The Fire Temple at Tash-k’irman Tepe, Chorasmia
- 22 A Tower of Silence of the Sasanian Period at Bandiyan: Some observations about Dakhmas in Zoroastrian Religion
- 23 Buddhism and Features of the Buddhist Art of Bactria-Tokharistan
- Index
- Maps
Central Asia: West and East
Central Asia: West and East
- Chapter:
- (p.8) (p.9) 1 Central Asia: West and East
- Source:
- After Alexander: Central Asia before Islam
- Author(s):
JOHN BOARDMAN
- Publisher:
- British Academy
This chapter discusses the interest of the west in the history of Central Asia. It explains that central Asia has been studied by many western scholars and explorers, including British archaeologist Aurel Stein and traveller Sir John de Maundeville. Central Asia figured prominently in the days of political concerns about the safety of British India in the nineteenth century and this generated the interest of scholars. Today, the boom in Central Asian studies is further encouraged by the presence in Britain of those who have worked in this field and the source of many new publications on both prehistoric and historic periods.
Keywords: Central Asia, history, west, Aurel Stein, John de Maundeville, British India
British Academy Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
- Title Pages
- Dedication
- List of Plates
- Notes on Contributors
- Introduction
- 1 Central Asia: West and East
- Nomad
- 2 Nomads and the Shaping of Central Asia: from the Early Iron Age to the Kushan period
- 3 Nomad Migration in Central Asia
- 4 Regions and Territories in Southern Central Asia: What the Surkhan Darya Province tells us about Bactria
- City
- 5 Bactria, Land of a Thousand Cities
- 6 Ai Khanum Reconstructed
- 7 The Culture of Parthian Nisa between Steppe and Empire
- 8 Termez in Antiquity
- 9 The Arrangement of Buildings in the Quarters of a Sogdian City
- Invasion
- 10 Ardashir’s Eastern Campaign and the Numismatic Evidence
- 11 The Sasanian relief at Rag-i Bibi (Northern Afghanistan)
- 12 The Fortifications at Gobekly-depe
- 13 The Bullae of Gobekly-depe
- 14 Gorgân and Dehistan: The North-East Frontier of the Iranian Empire
- 15 The Fortifications of the City of Gyaur Kala, Merv
- 16 Money
- 16 Money as a Marker of Cultural Continuity and Change in Central Asia
- 17 Some Questions Regarding the Numismatics of Pre-Islamic Merv
- 18 Monetary Circulation in Ancient Tokharistan
- 19 Money in Eastern Central Asia before AD 800
- Religion
- 20 Religious Iconography on Ancient Iranian Coins
- 21 The Fire Temple at Tash-k’irman Tepe, Chorasmia
- 22 A Tower of Silence of the Sasanian Period at Bandiyan: Some observations about Dakhmas in Zoroastrian Religion
- 23 Buddhism and Features of the Buddhist Art of Bactria-Tokharistan
- Index
- Maps
