The death of the last ‘Abbāsid Caliph al-Musta‘ṣim bi-llāh (d. 1258) has been the object of contradictory historical accounts by medieval historians both in the East and the West. Was he put to death by starvation? Did he have melted gold poured down his throat? Was he executed by Hülegü's own hands, or even by a Georgian Prince? Was he rolled in a carpet and kicked to death, hanged, or strangled? Writers of the period offer colourful portrayals of this event. Some saw it as martyrdom, others as a humiliating death preceded by moral admonishment and blame by Hülegü. Building upon earlier studies, this article offers a comprehensive view of the extant sources on the topic produced both in the Abode of Islam and Western Europe, as well as in Armenia and Georgia. Rather than seeking the “facts” behind the accounts, this article adopts a literary-critical and socio-political approach, arguing that the accounts are replete with symbolism targeting their specific audiences, and that the choices made by the historians on the manner of the Caliph's death were meant to offer commentary on—and evaluation of—‘Abbāsid rule.

Public opinion is formed by the information that the public consumes. The state, whether democratic or authoritarian, employs various media of communication to influence people's opinions and behaviours. In the nineteenth century, Afghan rulers would traditionally use force and religion to gain popular support and strengthen their authority. In the second half of the century, they started to use print technology to build their relationships with the public. The state's print, however, had to compete with the institution of the bazaar that had long served as the central place where information circulated in public. This article, drawing mostly on unexamined Afghan sources, offers an account of how the bazaar operated as a source of information and how the Afghan state tried to suppress it. The history of this information conflict uncovers new aspects in the troublesome relationship between the government and the governed in Afghanistan.

The Collection of Namgyal Monastery (Mustang, Nepal) preserves two long and narrow scrolls painted on both sides, of exquisite artistic quality. This article describes and investigates the iconographic and symbolic meaning of the paintings and the use of these objects. One of the scrolls shows the Eight Auspicious Symbols and deities that personify diverse group of offerings painted in an elegant Newari style. The other scroll features an intriguing representation of the Eight Charnel Grounds in a continuous landscape. Full of delicate and charming details, it illustrates the Mahasiddhas, Guardians, Nāgas and stupa of the respective directions. The back of both scrolls has a vajra chain at the bottom and flames represented above it. The scrolls must have been used to encircle specific mandalas. Such objects are rather rare, and it is interesting to reflect on their former use, even more so as no contemporaneous objects of that type are known. The stylistic features of the paintings reveal the broader relationships of the Mustang region to neighbouring areas. Relationships can also be established to objects preserved in the same collection, such as a collection of metal stupa of similar design and typical for the Mustang region and the western Himalayas.

This article analyses philological and literary aspects of a jātaka tale with a pygmalionesque motif involving a craftsman who falls in love with a non-human woman. This tale circulated along the Silk Road in at least six different versions: two original Sanskrit versions; one Tibetan translation from the Sanskrit source; one Tocharian adaptation; and two Chinese translations that also adapt the work to a smaller degree than the Tocharian version. By analysing the textual contexts and the content of the tale in all its alterations, this article shows that the two versions that differ most from the others, the Tocharian and the older Chinese version, are closely related to each other. Further analysis of the Tocharian version situates the tale among its literary kin. An analysis of the formulaic elements of the Tocharian tale indicates possible relations to Chinese chu-kung-tiao and pien-wen genres. The article also suggests the Tibetan lha mo as a link between Indian prosimetric campū style and the two Chinese genres. Finally, the analysis of the cluster of motifs in the tale is paralleled with canonical Western texts by Ovid and E. T. A. Hoffmann, opening fruitful venues for literary scholarship regarding human-like objects.

This article focuses on the authorship of the Kül Tégin and Bilge Kağan inscriptions and manages to reveal the different layers of the text. Through a careful analysis of the Old Turkic inscriptions and the relative Chinese accounts concerning the Türk royal lineage after Bilge Kağan, it concludes that the text on the south side of the Kül Tégin Inscription and the north side of the Bilge Kağan Inscription were narrated by the younger son of Bilge Kağan, Teŋri Teg Teŋride Bolmış Türk Bilge Kağan, in Kaiyuan XXVIII (ca. 740). In that year his elder brother (Teŋri Teg Teŋri Yaratmış Türk Bilge Kağan) passed away, so the Chinese emperor sent envoys to ‘appoint’ him as the new Türk kağan. He took the opportunity of the visit of Chinese delegates led by Li Zhi to ask the Chinese craftsmen to inscribe his words onto his father's memorial. The same text was also inscribed onto the blank side of his uncle's memorial, while inserting a quotation of his father's words.

This article examines gender representation in early Chinese histories with a focus on Shiji 史記 (Records of the Historian). Presenting beautiful and evil women, rather than male rulers, as responsible for political crises is a long-standing practice of Chinese historiography. Previous scholarship contends that this practice began with such depictions in Shiji and thus stems from its model impact upon subsequent histories. By scrutinising the interplay between the two genders within royal houses, this article extends the scope of previous scholarly examination from women to their husbands, i.e. the male rulers. Comparison of the causation chains of political disasters as built in Zuozhuan 左傳 (Zuo Commentary), Guoyu 國語 (Discourses of the States), and Shiji shows that Shiji diminishes women's agency, describing them as neither the original cause of political crises nor a tool to shield rulers from criticism. Unlike its predecessors, Shiji presents political catastrophes as ruler-dominant consequences resulting from their own unrestricted desires and cross-boundary misbehaviour, explaining the rise and decay in history.

The political reforms made along the Gansu-Kökenuur border in the aftermath of the Lubsang-Danzin Rebellion (1723-4) represented the first significant change to that frontier to occur in centuries. Only recently have scholars begun to consider the repercussions of these changes for the powerful religious institutions of this region known as Amdo. This article utilises Chinese histories, Tibetan-language materials and Chinese-language land deeds from the eighteenth century to illustrate the drastic increase in imperial oversight and regulation of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and monastics in Amdo, especially those of the Xining River watershed. Significantly, the policies and practices directed toward these monasteries and monastics were those traditionally employed for Chinese Buddhists of the empire's interior. In addition, the reforms introduced in the Xining region helped to set the tone and precedents for how the Qing would later engage with monasteries and monastics elsewhere in Amdo.