SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The object of this thesis is a) to examine the importance of the "Compendium of Histories" as a work of Muslim scholarship and as an early example of the composition of a universal history, and to indicate the significance of the text as a source for Mongol History, its relation to the original Mongol sources, their Far Eastern versions and other contemporary sources; b) to assess the author's approach to history and historical composition, the consequences of his views on the subject, and the reasons which led to the compilation of the Tarikh-i Mubarak-i Gazani; c) to present the results, including additional passages, of an exegetical study of Book I of the text, made on the basis of two leading and two subsidiary manuscripts of the Tarikh-i Mubarak-i Gazani, and the genealogical tables known as the Nasab-nama-yi Muluk and the "Mu'izz al-ansab" in conjunction with the available Mongol historical writings and the appropriate scientific literature; d) to present the results of a detailed examination of the onomastic material, including numerous vowelled and pointed forms of names and titles recovered from the manuscripts, together with their proposed readings; a systematic identification of tribal affiliations and genealogical lineages is given and an attempt is also made to demonstrate the importance of the tribal and family themes in Mongol history as disclosed by the text; e) to show the need for a careful consideration of the author's symbiosis of Mongol and Islamic terminology, based on actual usage in the text; f) to display the linguistic peculiarities of the text as regards both the Mongol and Persian elements of the author's style; g) to present a translation of Book I of the Tarikh-i Mubarak-i Gazani, which has been made on the basis of the results obtained under the headings enumerated above; h) to defend the thesis that the Tarikh-i Mubarak-i Gazani, as the fundamental Muslim text for Mongol history, must be subjected to the same critical and analytical treatment, as has been applied in the West, for example, to the production of classical texts; only then will it be possible to make full use of it as a source for the comparative study of the social and political evolution of Mongol institutions, in conjunction with the various other early sources, upon which the final generalizations in the field must ultimately be based.