This article studies two questions related to al-Khansā'’s mutaqārib poem, rhyming in -ālahā: how was it changed through anthologisation and what is its relation to the Qur'ān and Surah 99? Whereas the six-verse excerpt in al-Mubarrad's Kāmil is full of Qur'ānic echoes, the Dīwān version of the poem has few such echoes. The analysis, however, opens up a possibility that the Qur'ān's first audience may well have recognised in Surah 99 features familiar to them from marthiyas.

Khwājah Qāsim Tushtarī’s recently discovered Recognizing God (Maʿrifat-i Khudāy taʿālā) is one of the only texts known to have survived from the early Alamūt period of Ismaili Muslim history. This article analyses the work in the context of the “new Invitation” (daʿwat-i jadīd) to the Ismaili faith that al-Shahrastānī (d. 548/1153) tells us was inaugurated by the Fāṭimid Imam al-Mustanṣir billāh (d. 487/1094) and championed by Ḥasan-i Ṣabbāḥ (d. 518/1124). The text emphasises that the ultimate purpose of human existence is to know God, and that the path to this knowledge is through the Imam of the Time. The concepts of the ‘true teacher’ (muʿallim-i ṣādiq) and ‘sage’ (ḥakīm) are examined and the literary culture fostered at the Ismaili fortresses, particularly Girdkūh, is explored. Significantly, the article draws attention to the position of Sanāʾī Ghaznawī (d. circa 525/1131) in Persian Ismaili literature and to the very early development of pious, devotional and homiletic poetry as well as the “mathnawī metre” in Ismaili environments, which may have helped set the stage for some of the most significant poetic achievements of mystical Islam: the writings of Farīd al-Dīn ʿAṭṭār (d. circa 618/1221) and Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī (d. 672/1273).

Persian arts of the book reached new heights under the patronage of the Timurids, in particular in the atelier of prince Bāysunghur (1399–1433) in Herat. This paper introduces a dual-text manuscript produced there in 833/1430, now held in the Suleymaniye Library in Istanbul, which has previously escaped scholarly attention. Up until now its scribe, Saʿd Mashhadī, has been known only for his copy of the Tārīkh-i Jahāngushāy of ʿAtā-Malik Juvaynī (834/1431). He has been identified with Maulānā Saʿd al-Dīn named in the ʿArża-dāsht, the report written by Bāysunghur's chief librarian, Jaʿfar Tabrīzī. On the basis of the report and a study of the calligraphy, I argue Saʿd Mashhadī penned a third manuscript for Bāysunghur, an early copy of the Zubdat al-tawārīkh, c.829/1426. This article attempts to provide a fuller picture of the calligrapher. A number of biographical dictionaries mention a contemporary called Ḥāfiẓ Saʿd, a follower of Qāsim Anvār, who was a prominent poet and riddle writer. Beginning with a poetic connection between the two names in a biographical work, and pursuing an in-depth study of his Dīvān, which, through riddles, reveals an association with Bāysunghur's atelier, I suggest that Saʿd Mashhadī and Ḥāfiẓ Saʿd could be the same person. Whether or not this is the case, this study sheds new light on an important but little known court poet and Sufi and a calligrapher in the royal atelier.

This article explores the part played by Sir Henry Dobbs, the ‘man on the spot’, in shaping the 1921 Anglo-Afghan Treaty. The treaty provisions being negotiated were important to the security of the Indian frontier, internally and internationally, as they defined the formal relationship between India and Afghanistan right through until Indian independence. In contrast with existing accounts, the analysis presented here contends that Dobbs did have a significant influence both on the negotiating process and on the eventual result. It demonstrates how in his role as chief negotiator Dobbs drew on experience and techniques that he had earlier acquired as a political officer in frontier areas. His aim seems to have been to influence matters so that the treaty would deliver on what he regarded as important while giving away nothing that he thought damaging. The article thus sheds light on how—in a novel and volatile context—Dobbs handled differing views in London and Delhi, and negotiated with the Amir. Given the necessary authority by the British Government, he finally arrived at an agreement accepted by the various parties—Afghans, the Viceroy and the British Government in London. The source for this revised perspective on the negotiations and fuller understanding of his role are Dobbs’ recently-discovered letters and private papers, previously unavailable to historians, together with a re-examination of official sources prompted by this new material.

In ‘The World of the Skandapurāṇa’, published in 2014, Hans T. Bakker presents a possible scenario for the composition of the Skandapurāṇa1 (SP), dating its conception to the reign of the Maukhari king Avantivarman in the late sixth century and the completion of its first recension to the times of king Harṣa in the first half of the seventh. Because of the attention it receives in the text, Vārāṇasī is identified as the most likely place of origin;2 the authors of the text belonged to the Pāśupata Śaivas, writing for a broad audience of mostly lay Māheśvaras.3 In this paper I would like to comment on some aspects of this scenario by investigating the relations between the SP and king Harṣa – both his person and his region of origin, the kingdom of Thanesar. I will argue that there are internal indications that the original constituent parts of the text may originate from there — and that its further development may have been impacted by the political reality of Harṣa having come to power. My argument will consist of three parts: the first related to the geography of the sacred places mentioned in the SP, the second concerning the way Harṣa is alluded to in the chapters describing the birth and consecration of Skanda and the third about the expansion of the original, “core” part of the SP.

This article aims to discuss the question of the inculturation of Syriac Christianity in Central Asia, based on archaeological examples including architectural evidence from a particular ethnocultural area: Sogdiana. It questions to what extent the Eastern Syriac Church has become rooted in local culture, thus enabling Christian communities to express their faith in both material and artistic ways. This article is divided into two sections which present a comprehensive study of the medieval sources relevant to the spread and establishment of Christianity in the Central Asian landmass by considering and analyzing existing tangible evidence. In doing so, it provides assessment of comparable evidence, which demonstrates both the “extended” and an “immediate” context in which Eastern Syriac Christianity was accepted, adapted and transformed into a localised expression of Christian faith.

In a recent survey of modern China, historian Rana Mitter noted: “The war between China and Japan may have been the single most important event to shape twentieth-century China”. This perspective hasn't been around for very long. The relevance of China's War of Resistance against Japan (KangRi zhanzheng) has been revaluated by historians in recent years, a prime example of this being Mitter's book on the subject and the work of Hans van de Ven. For years, the victory of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1949 was crystallised into a crucial turning point and the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party/KMT) was seen as corrupt and ineffective, as epitomised by Lloyd Eastman's studies. Eastman's verdict is not entirely contradicted by some of the new scholarship, although important revisionist works have led to a reassessment of the KMT state-building efforts, in particular during their pre-war decade in power, the so-called Nanjing decade (1927–1937). Although the ‘rediscovery’ of the war came later in the English-language than it did in Chinese, it is undeniable that recent years have seen a growing interest in the period, both in academia and in popular culture. The three monographs under review here are, in many ways, illustrative of the best new research on the conflict. They provide comprehensive insight on the impact of the war on the Nationalists' state-building efforts in fiscal policy, propaganda, and justice. All are first monographs, springing from meticulous doctoral and post-doctoral research anchored on a plethora of new primary sources. They make important contributions to our understanding of the impact of the war in China, as well as to economic history, media studies, and legal history more broadly.