Kategoria BISAC: History >> Asia - General

The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE) found Japan guilty of deliberately promoting drug abuse as a weapon to further its imperialistic aims in Asia. This study provides the historical context behind the IMTFE's findings from the annexation of Taiwan in 1895 to the end of World War II. Given the extent to which drug use permeated the politics, economy, and culture of Asia, it was inevitable that Japan's rise as an imperial power would lead to contact with, and increasing involvement in, the opium and narcotics trade. This study argues that the nature of that...

In reaction to British imperialism during the 19th and 20th centuries, Indian Muslims and Hindus imagined and invented their separate and distinct religious communities and communal nationalisms. These were institutionalized in the subcontinent's political systems by the British government in collaboration with Indian politicians. Stern argues that this production of communalism has been crucial in structuring the composition and organization of South Asia's politically dominant classes, and that they, in turn, have been crucial in determining parliamentary democracy's growth or atrophy on...

The clash between Communism and Islam in the Soviet Union pitted two socio-political systems against one another, each proclaiming ultimate truth. This study examines the first decades of the struggle in Central Asia (1917-1941), where an ancient religious tradition faced an aggressive form of secular modernity. The Soviets attempted to break down Muslim culture and remold it on Marxist-Leninist lines. Central Asians played complex roles in this effort, both defending and attacking Islam, but mostly trying to survive. Despite Stalin's totalitarian aims, the Soviet regime in Central Asia...

Peimani challenges the practical indifference of many Western and non-Western countries with interests in Central Asia and the Caucasus to their plight. Independence in 1991 suddenly worsened all the economic and social problems of the countries of the Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia) and Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan). Their failure to address their numerous economic problems and to develop their economies has created a suitable ground for the rise of social and political popular dissent, including ethnic conflicts, in all these...

The Taliban's fall and the massive American military and political presence in South and West Asia have created grounds for a polarization into two camps: India, Iran and Russia, to which China is affiliated, and the United States and Pakistan. In Peimani's analysis, their incompatible interests will push them towards confrontations with regional and international implications.

Contrary to expectations, the fall of the Taliban did not bring peace and stability to Afghanistan. The Afghan interim government is simply too weak to act as a central government; this results in the...

In the first two decades after W.W.II, social scientist heralded Turkey as an exemplar of a 'modernizing' nation in the Western mold. Images of unveiled women working next to clean-shaven men, healthy children in school uniforms, and downtown Ankara's modern architecture all proclaimed the country's success. Although Turkey's modernization began in the late Ottoman era, the establishment of the secular nation-state by Kemal Ataturk in 1923 marked the crystallization of an explicit, elite-driven 'project of modernity' that took its inspiration exclusively from the West. The essays in this...

This volume continues the detailed examination of the British Library Kharosthi scrolls--extremely fragile and brittle fragments of manuscript on birch-bark rolls. Although their provenance is uncertain, there are strong indications that they came from Hadda in eastern Afghanistan and were most likely written in the early first century A.D. during the reign of the Saka rulers, making them the oldest known Buddhist manuscripts.

Fragments 16 and 25 are two long, relatively narrow fragments that obviously belong to the same scroll. Two texts were written on the scroll, each by a...

Each tablet was...

Praise for the previous edition:

"Wyatt knows his subject well enough and has enough enthusiasm for it to make his book . . . entertaining as well as eminently educational."--David McElveen, Asiaweek

"A very readable account. . . .We come away from reading it with a clearer understanding of...

This reference analyzes and chronicles the Soviet occupation of and withdrawal from Afghanistan in the period from 1973 to 1990 by an observer in the area who relied on a variety of sources and cross-checked them carefully. The analysis of events leading to the Soviet withdrawal covers the important negotiations and relates them to the historic changes that were taking place in the Soviet Union and in its relationships to the rest of the world. This analysis and chronology is indispensable to students and researchers assessing the final years of the Soviet Union, events in Afghanistan, and...

The development of Chinese, Mongolian, and Tibetan Studies in the West since World War II has been accompanied by a dramatic growth in the number of doctoral degrees awarded for research concerned with the countries and civilizations of East Asia. In many cases, the dissertations written for these degrees offer a wealth of specialized information and reflect changing trends in scholarship. And, as China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan have become increasingly important on the world scene economically and politically, these dissertations have likewise become more significant to researchers. This...

With over 5,000 entries, this book provides information on the men and women who played a significant role in British India from 1583 to 1947. In addition to military and governmental leaders, the book includes entries on leaders in business, the church and missions, art and literature, and science and medicine. An effort has also been made to include the women who played an important role in India.

The only other reference work on the subject, Buckland's Dictionary of Indian Biography, was published in 1906. This book updates that work, covering the last 40 years of...

Utilizing contemporary accounts of India, China, Siam and the Levant, this study provides rich detail about these exotic lands and explores the priorities that shaped and motivated these bold envoys and chroniclers. Ames and Love offer a fascinating look at the symbiotic nature of cross-cultural interaction between France and the major trading regions of the Indian Ocean basin during the 17th century. During this period of intense French interest in the rich trade and cultures of the region, Louis XIV and his minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert in particular were concerned with encouraging...

China is a site for the evolution, not only of Chinese nationalism, but the nationalism of various non-Han ethnic groups. During the 20th century, these ethnic groups constructed and expressed their own identities and nationalism through interaction with one another and with outside influences. This interdisciplinary anthology contains nine original works that pluralize our understanding of nationalism in China by illustrating the various intellectual strains of China's nationalist discourse, the dichotomy between the political authorities' and grass roots' experiences, and the...

In this detailed account of civilian lives during wartime in Asia, high school students, undergrads, and general readers alike can get a glimpse into the often dismal, but surprisingly resilient, lives led by ordinary people-those who did not go off to war but were powerfully affected by it nonetheless. How did people live on a day-to-day basis with the cruelty and horror of war right outside their doorsteps? What were the reactions and views of those who did not fight on the fields? How did people come together to cope with the losses of loved ones and the sacrifices they had to make on a...