The Routes and The Realms: A Connected History of Central Asia (ca. 300-1700)

This course examines the concept of "Central Asia" and how the formation of modern Central Asian republics, each labelled with specific ethnonyms, has obscured the region's profoundly interconnected history that transcends current political boundaries. It offers a longue durée approach to the region's history as part of the Turko-Indo-Persianate world. It addresses Central Asia as a shared space where nomadic and sedentary societies lived together for centuries, mixed with each other and created the region's multifaced cultural identity.