Articles

The paper discusses issues in the contemporary historiography of Telugu (Andhra) ethnonationalism as part of research on national movements and development of political consciousness of the peoples of independent India. The growth of religious and ethnic nationalisms, separatism and autonomous movements in the contemporary world has put forward the necessity of rethinking the above processes within the framework of ethnonational policies pursued by states. In the Republic of India whose 1.5 billion people speak 19.5 thousand languages and dialects and represent more than ten religions (including three world religions) as well as many religious beliefs, the problems of ethno-linguistic and ethno-confessional belonging get increasingly politicized as a powerful resource for regional and all-India political, economic, cultural and other elites. Authors of this paper discuss aspects of foreign and Soviet/Russian scholarly studies along the following lines: 1) nationalism and federalism within the all-India context (with a particular focus on South India); 2) the setting up of Vishalandhra and building it into India’s administrative territorial framework of the 1950s; 3) the Telangana movement, or the ‘Greater Andhra’ restructuring process.

The paper is dedicated to analysis of the problems of presenting the grammatical information in the text of ‘Dhātupāṭha’ which is treated by the Indian grammatical tradition as created by Pāṇini himself (V cent. b.c.) in the form of an ‘Appendix’ to his Sanskrit Grammar ‘Aṣṭādhyāyī’. Having shortly characterized certain historical problems associated with ‘Dhātupāṭha’, the author puts special stress on the fact that all the nowadays available versions of the ‘Appendix’ have reached us in presentation of the later commentators and grammarians, and thus the problem of Pāṇini’s authorship of the treatise is still remaining unsolved. The grammatical information found in ‘Dhātupāṭha’ and not quite consistently presented in it needs to be explicitly opened. That is why the most basic tenets of Sanskrit verbal grammar are — in the shortest way possible — explicated in the paper.- Thus, the paper is supplied with the data concerning verbs’ classification into 10 classes through the help of the so called “presence basis”; the roots are characterized in accordance with their correspondences with the grammemes of Active and Middle voices; the information on the so called “accentuation” in verbal roots and in forms produced from them and on the meta-lingual properties of Sanskrit tones is given; the principles of the distribution of the ‘Dhātupāṭha’ roots into 3 different groups (‘seṭ’, ‘ániṭ’and ‘veṭ’) in accordance with their interaction with the connective ‘-i-‘ are explained; the information concerning the meanings references applied to a number of roots in the ‘Dhātupāṭha’ is also provided. In conclusion, the devices of coding the grammatical information which has been important for ‘pāṇinists’ of all times and which is present in the treatise are explained through the help of the two illustrative samples extracted from one of the versions of ‘Dhātupāṭha’ (S.Katre’s).

The article examines the determining factors of the formation and development of one of the most acute disputes in the interstate relations between Indonesia and Malaysia, namely territorial dispute. The author turns to its origin in the historical past of the region. Based on the analysis of several agreements concluded between Great Britain and the Netherlands in the colonial era, the main reasons for the development of contradictions are revealed. Special attention is given to the problem of interpretation of the corresponding agreements.

In the shadow of the Emergency declaration in 1975, the Indian government suspended a number of basic human rights including the freedom of conscience, peaceful assembly and association. Eventually it banned some 20 rightwing religious organizations opposed to the socio-political course of Indira Gandhi and attacked their leaders on the grounds of causing unrest, inciting religious riots and provoking communal violence. Though religious and sectarian groups tried to maintain a united front against the government, they lost that battle. As a result, various religious communities were predictably deprived of legal representation and protection at courts, which intensified the violation of human rights and highlighted a need of negotiation process between the government and respective leaders of Indian religious groups. The anti-secular onslaught shed light on the discrimination treatment of minorities, primarily Muslims and Sikhs. The initiation of a forced sterilization campaign of male population predominantly in Muslim areas along with demolition of slums with a large number of Muslim population revealed the glaring hypocrisy of Indian democracy based on the principles of secularism and inclusiveness. This article examines the mid-1970s ban on a number of religious organizations in India and attempts to explore its influence on the Indian society in the subsequent decades. Currently, in the light of ideological confrontation between secularist forces and radical religious groups the study of the “dark” Emergency period implicates the importance of the constitutionally based principle of freedom of conscience and its implementation in real life.

Religious ceremonies of the Western Zhou era (1027–771 BC) are rarely the subject of research. The specificity of epigraphic sources of the epoch makes it possible to correlate their data with synchronous written sources and sources of a later time and restore a picture of the religious life of the society of the era studied. The author of the article based on the analysis of the content of inscriptions on bronze vessels of the early period of the Western Zhou era (1027–966 BC) highlights regular and occasional religious ceremonies, as well as their elements, such as ritual feasting, ritual drinking of wine, the instruction of van, various types of sacrifices. The study showed that some of the considered ritual ceremonies and their elements are found unchanged in the historical source “Chunqiu Zuozhuan” of the Chunqiu era (771–453 BC), and some have no analogues in the subsequent era.

Several Sufi shrines important for Iranian mysticism are located in the region of Khurasan. One of them is the mausoleum of shaykh Ahmad from Jam — a 12th-century Sufi mentor, also known as «Ahmad-i Jam». Ahmad’s circle of devotees burgeoned into a significant Sufi community of the region while his descendants maintained the shrine and enjoyed beneficial positions in Khurasanian state and society. The article explains the main functions of Sufi center as a place for the joint religious rites, meetings and debates, where representatives of various movements could exchange religious experience. Based on the materials of Sufi hagiographies and correspondence, the author also attempts to assess the role of Islamic mysticism in the political events in the Middle East and investigate the relationship between the descendants of Ahmad-i Jam and the rulers of the 14th–15th centuries — the Karts, Tamerlane and his son Shahrukh. Special attention is paid to the role of the Jami shaykhs in the Tamerlane’s conquest of Khurasan and subsequent events.

This work continues the study initiated in the article “Hatra, Sasanids, and Arabs: Political History”. It focuses on references to the fall of the city of Hatra in Arabic verses and legends. A comparison of those references to the data of antique sources allows to supplement the picture of events. The war which led to the fall of Hatra (240 A.D.) began with an invasion of the region of Shahrazur by Arabs from the Ḳuḍāʿa tribal confederation. Although Muslim writers claim that the king of Hatra subsequently made an attack upon Southern Mesopotamia (Sawād) and captured a woman from the Sasanid family, those assertions appear false. Sasanid king Ardashir I Pabagan (225–240) put the blame for the invasion upon the king of Hatra, from whose possessions the Ḳuḍāʿites had arrived, and moved his troops against that city. After a month (or some more time) of siege, the Sasanian troops took Hatra employing a stratagem. That was reflected in a legendary story of a failed romance between Ardashir’s son Shapur (or a Sasanid general) and the Hatraean princess, who gave the city over to the enemies. As an extraordinary event, the fall of Hatra took root in the historical memory of the inhabitants of the Euphrates region and is mentioned by poets related to those places.

Recently Soviet studies of African history, as well as Soviet journalistic writing on Africa draw a significant attention of non–Russian historians. The image of Africa which was created by Soviet Africanists seems an obvious and easy subject to those who use post-colonial methodology. Soviet historiography of African history is usually characterised out of historical and comparative context, which prevents an analysis of its multi–layered and complex nature, as well as its historical transformation, its real achievements and its no less real limitations. The article investigates the major tendencies and trends in Soviet historiography of African history in the context of major developments in world African studies. It analyses their trajectories and assesses them from the point of view of their contribution to the academic understanding of African history. It also defines the main stages of the development of Soviet historiography of African history from the late 1920s until the late 1980s and gives a short overview of its main schools, each with its different topics, approaches and sources. The importance of this study derives from the fact that until now no comparative–problematic analysis of the Soviet historiography of African history has been done. A particular stress was made on its historical context, which helps to prevent a distortion of its image.

The period of king Injong’s reign (the second quarter of the 12th century) was specially chosen to describe the history of Koryŏ–Song relations. Active contacts between the Korean state Koryŏ (918–1392) and the Chinese Song Empire (960–1279) began in the 11th century. They developed in several directions. First, it was an exchange of diplomatic missions of equal status: in peaceful years, states exchanged one or two embassies annually, and merchants who had a certain freedom of action and did not depend much on the political situation sometimes brought messages from the Song. Trade exchange developed more actively, including the neighboring state of Liao (907–1125), with which the Song conducted indirect trade through Koryŏ. The last direction was mutual trips of Buddhist monks and the exchange of religious literature. At the beginning of the 12th century, both states faced enormous difficulties in domestic politics: the uprisings of Lee Jagyŏm and Myoch’ŏn in Koryŏ, and Song Jiang and Fang La in Song. In addition, both states faced a serious external threat in the face of the Jin state (1115–1234), which in 1126 forced Koryŏ to recognize vassalage, and in 1127 tore off the northern territories from the Song, marking the beginning of the division into the epochs of the Northern and Southern dynasties. Song repeatedly asked Koryŏ to take its side against Jin, but the Korean king preferred to observe neutrality first, and then submit to the Jurchen state in order to avoid war. This attitude caused dissatisfaction with the Song government, but it had no way to influence the decisions of the Korean neighbor. Shortly after the final loss of the northern territories, the Southern Song practically ceased official diplomatic contacts with Koryŏ.

After arriving to India as a part of French East India Company mission and becoming de facto head of all French settlements in Asia, François Martin (1634–1706) chose a place for a future commercial post on the Hindustan peninsula coast, concluded agreements with local rulers concerning the ownership of this territory, and founded a settlement, which subsequently began to attract thousands of Frenchmen. Among them were both the trading company employees and ordinary people willing to shift from cold Europe to comfortable tropics. As a result, Pondicherry turned into the most famous French colony in India, and François Martin’s name became part of the history of French colonialism. Throughout 30 years of his service for the French East India Company, François Martin was keeping a diary; after more than two centuries, in 1931, it was published in France as a three-volume edition. In his ‘Mémoires’ Martin introduces in detail the milestones of establishing the French trade system, the sea voyages to Madagascar and further to Asia, discusses the performance of other European companies in Hindustan, describes local princely states and their interaction, and presents his assessment of the achievements of the French on the peninsula. Based on primary sources that have never been used by Russian Indologists, the article focusses on the role of François Martin in setting up strategically important French territories in South Asia at the turn of the XVIII century.

In the 2nd and 3rd century A.D. the rulers of the city of Hatra (Northern Irak) bore the titles of kings of ʿrb, where ʿrb denoted lands between Euphrates and Tigris rather than Arabs. However, Arabs dwelt in those places too and preserved memories of tribes from the Ḳuḍāʿa confederation staying there. The course of Hatra’s history was largely determined by Emperor Septimius Severus (193–211)’ two failed attempts to capture it, in 198 and 199. Considering the Roman threat, the rulers of Hatra applied to Parthian Arsacids for protection. Parthian king Valgash (Vologeses) V (190/91–207) granted the ruler of Hatra his protection. The rulers of Hatra became vassals of the Arsacids and had to assist them, including by military force. Due to that, the ruler of Hatra fought in 225 on the Parthians’ side against the Sasanids, who, in their turn, attempted to capture the city, yet, with no success. After the Arsacids’ downfall, the rulers of Hatra became allies of Rome. Then the Sasanids undertook another campaign against Hatra and finally took it (240). Shapur, son of Ardashir I, the founder of the Sasanid empire, took part in that campaign. Since Shapur was then co-ruler of Ardashir, the capture of Hatra is often described in Oriental sources as an achievement of his reign.

Basing on the documents from the investigation file, the paper displays the life of the famous actress of the Japanese Theatre and Cinema - Okada Yoshiko. Together with her beloved man - Sugimoto Ryokichi (who was the member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Japan), she crossed the Soviet-Japanese border in Sakhalin Island in 1938, hoping to start a new happy life in the Socialist country. Instead, they were immediately arrested and forced to “admit” that they came to the USSR with the spying purposes. After about a year Sugimoto war judges and shot, and Okada was sentenced for 10 years in the concentration camps. Nevertheless, she was not broken down, she managed to survive, come to Moscow and start working on the State Radio and for some Moscow theatres.

The present article is a further extension of the authors’ previous publication dealing with the main milestones in the development of the Department of Near and Middle East History during the years of Soviet power. This part of the study covers the range of issues relating to the functioning of the staff of the department from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 to the present day. The challenges faced by domestic higher education and Oriental studies in the post-perestroika period are described, as well as the characteristics of the departmental leaders who were able to ensure the consistent development of the department in the new realities of a rapidly changing world. A considerable part of the article is devoted to the analysis of academic and pedagogical activities of the Department’s teaching staff at the present stage. The members of the Department actively and fruitfully work on creation of new high-quality training programs for Orientalists specializing in the history of the Middle East, making a significant contribution to training and education of Orientalist specialists at Moscow University, and promoting Oriental studies and historical science in general.

The article is dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Dega V. Deopik, Professor, PhD in History, whose brilliant research and educational work is closely related to the Institute for Asian and African Studies of the Moscow State University. The article dwells upon major fields of his research activity in oriental studies. Nevertheless, the scope of his academic interests is much wider, it embraces archaeology, ancient history and culture, origin of writing in the Eastern Asia, etc. In the article a special attention is given to the Vietnamese studies, his first and for long major special field, and also to his works on countries and peoples of the South-East Asia as well as ancient history of the Eastern Asia, so called Old China. Mentioned are his achievements in studying epigraphic artifacts and medieval chronicles and also development and implementation of quantitative methods in oriental studies. It is emphasised that Dega V. Deopik is also a distinguished teacher, research advisor and lecturer.

This article is devoted to rethinking the understanding of creativity - zuo in the treatise of Wang Chong (c. 27 - 100 AD) “Discourses in the Balance” (Lunheng), which is a logical continuation of the ideas of some of his predecessors. The article draws attention to the peculiarities of the philosopher's literary thought and compares them with the ideas of Yang Xiong (53 BC - 18 AD) from the treatise Exemplary Speeches (Fayan). The main provisions of Wang Chong's literary thought are revealed on the basis of an analysis of the chapters from “Discourses in the Balance”, which the philosopher wrote to fight works that were incorrect, from his point of view. Thanks to a scrupulous examination of such works, the philosopher managed not only to generalize the important thoughts of his predecessors in relation to literary creativity, but also come to many new discoveries that were successfully developed by subsequent literary theorists. The philosopher understands literature - wen quite broadly and includes in it those types of written creativity that during the next era will be excluded from the concept of wen. The thinker himself does not believe that wen means in general everything written in hieroglyphs, and therefore excludes matter-of-fact reports from wen, which is carried out by local officials. Wang Chong assigns a separate place to odic poetry in the wen system and even places a partial emphasis on the aesthetic function of literature. He considers discourse - lun to be a standard of wen, to which he refers his own treatise. The thinker puts forward certain requirements for the style of reasoning and observes them himself throughout the entire treatise, turning it, on the one hand, into a theoretical work, and on the other, into a practical one, on the pages of which this theory is embodied.