In the very first sentence of his newly-released book, author Krishan Kumar reveals that the study of empires has never been so popular. This revelation might come as a surprise for those of us who believed that with the demise of European empires — the British, French, Dutch, Belgian and Portuguese — after World War II, imperialism had become an outmoded concept.
Empires were large-scale, multinational and multicultural entities and this book examines the ideas and ideologies that shape not only our thinking on those entities, but also the policies of imperial rulers themselves.
According to the book, most Europe-based empires were inspired by the Roman Empire. They learned from it — especially its decline in the 15th century.
The Roman Empire inspired so many others but itself looked further back in history — to the Ancient Greek leader Alexander the Great — for inspiration. In fact, when Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the 3rd century BCE Maurya Empire, was asked how he built up his power, he is said to have replied: “I watched Alexander when I was still a young man.” Alexander the Great, he claimed, could have gone on to conquer all of India because his model of rule was superior to that of all the Indian princes.
Fast forward to the Roman Empire and thinkers such as Cicero were of the opinion that “the extension of citizenship to all of Rome’s subjects was of the essence of Rome’s empire, expressing its highest and most characteristic principle. It was the thing that made it distinctive in the world, setting it off from all other states and empires, past and present,” according to the book.
In his book, Kumar has selected five empires: The Ottoman, Habsburg, Russian, British and French. “At least I can say that the empires I have chosen represent, by any standard, size, power (and) impact, the most important of the modern empires and that all of them would have to be included in any account of the role of empires in the world.”
The first empire Kumar tackles is the Ottoman Empire. European writer have often wrongly confused Turks with the Ottomans and the latter has often been described as being savage and cruel.
The Ottoman Empire can be defined as a dynastic, multinational empire, ruling over a variety of peoples. In writer Colin Imber’s words, “the Ottoman Empire was not…exclusively Islamic, nor was it exclusively Turkish. Rather it was a dynastic empire in which the only loyalty demanded of all its multifarious inhabitants was allegiance to the sultan… It was, in the end, the person of the sultan and (religious), ethnic, or other identities that held the empire together.”
Ottomans were not exclusively Turks. The term Turk refers to an ethnic group that includes members from the Balkans, Anatolia and Arab countries. The Ottomans had a mission to protect all Muslims and to spread the cause of Islam in the world. The Ottoman Empire was a Muslim empire. Throughout its history, Islam was an indelible part of its identity. Ottoman rule was characterized by a pragmatism and realism that created “a remarkable model of how different communities can live under the mantle of a supranational power. However, when Turkish nationalism emerged in the 19th century, its ideas entirely opposed to the Ottoman tradition, (it) would lead eventually to the dissolution of the empire itself.
The Habsburg Empire is probably the least known among the empires chosen by Kumar. He describes it as “tortuous, treacherous and protean.” Indeed, the Habsburg Empire ruled a disparate group of countries that included Spain, Italy, Burgundy, the Netherlands, Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, Croatia and parts of Germany. The Habsburg Empire also ruled over territories in Africa, Asia and the New World. Germans were the largest single group within the Habsburg Empire, which was founded in the 1520s, and the German language and German culture became dominant at its imperial court.
The Habsburg Empire lasted for 600 years, however, it did not fall because of any economic miscalculations. In fact, historian Michael Mann believes “the Habsburg economy was a capitalist success and Kumar adds that the empire’s downfall happened when it lost World War I.
The three remaining empires — the British, the French and the Russian — fell after World War II. It is in Russia where the loss of its imperial past is felt so strongly. Vladimir Putin himself declared that the dismantlement of the Soviet Union was “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century” and “a genuine tragedy for the Russian people.”
Europe no longer runs the world. Its empires have disappeared. However, Russia under Putin is still showing a strong affinity toward imperialism. Look toward the east and it is clear that China is a new superpower. After centuries of neglect, China has recovered and it is on the verge of becoming the world’s largest economy. Could it be the new face of imperialism? Empires may have vanished but is the nation state that claims sovereignty and tends toward ethnic uniformity a viable alternative? Only time and academic study will tell.
“Empires, for all their faults, show us another way, a way of managing the diversity and differences that are now the inescapable fate of practically all so-called nation-states,” Kumar concludes.
Book Review: Exploring the world’s powerhouses throughout time
Book Review: Exploring the world’s powerhouses throughout time
New book series ‘Arabian Explorers’ reintroduces seminal works on Arabian history.
- Travelogues from Burton, Doughty, Wellsted and Palgrave feature in Arabian Explorers Series
DUBAI: Driven by romanticism, imperial ambition, and scholarly curiosity, a succession of European adventurers set sail for Arabia throughout the 19th century, laden with expectation and a desire to unravel its mysteries. For many, the goal was a deeper understanding of the region’s history, religion, geography, peoples, and wildlife, as well as the uncovering of Biblical truth. For some, natural history, ethnology, cartography, and archaeology were combined into a single expedition, resulting in the publication of multi-disciplinary personal narratives that fed the Victorian hunger for adventure, discovery, and escapism.
Among them were Charles Montagu Doughty — the first European to enter Hegra, the Nabateans’ second city after Petra — and James Raymond Wellsted, a second lieutenant of the East India Company, who survived a hurricane off the coast of Magna and took part in a detailed study of the Gulf of Aqaba. Arguably the most famous, however, was the eccentric Englishman Richard Francis Burton, a complex figure remembered for his keen sense of adventure, overt Orientalism, and undertaking the Hajj in disguise. He also embarked on an outlandish mission in search of the legendary gold mines of Midian, an ancient region or tribal confederation mentioned in both the Qur’an and the Bible and thought to be located in north-west Arabia.
The newly-published Arabian Explorers Series reintroduces travelogues by all three, as well as by William Gifford Palgrave, an intriguing figure who served variously as a soldier, interpreter, priest, missionary, spy, and diplomat. Published by Empty Quarter Press, the series seeks to bring the authors’ vivid depictions of Arabia to a new audience.
“Throughout their journeys, each author recorded some of the most detailed analyses and observations of Arabia in the English language and precious details about society, cultural customs, political structures, ancient heritage sites, and the shifting power dynamics of the peninsula in this period,” says Jeff Eamon, editor-in-chief at Empty Quarter Press. “We aim to couch each text in its proper context so readers can appreciate their significant historical value (and) understand each author’s subjectivities and perspectives.”
The reprints include newly commissioned maps, glossaries, and forewords by leading historians, placing these complex and often provocative legacies in context. Included are new editions of Palgrave’s “Personal Narrative of a Year’s Journey Through Central and Eastern Arabia (1862-63),” first published in 1865; volume one of Burton’s “The Land of Midian (Revisited),” originally published in 1879; Wellsted’s “Travels in Arabia Volume Two,” printed in 1838; and Doughty’s “Travels in Arabia Deserta Volume One,” a monumental text first published in 1888.
“Much of the written information that we have about 19th-century Arabia comes from these travelogues,” explains Eamon. “They have long provided precious information for scholars, students of history, and general readers interested in Arabian culture, social customs, and heritage. With Saudi Arabia’s current investment in its wealth of cultural assets and heritage sites, these publications are amazing sources of information. Doughty, for instance, is the first to document Hegra in minute detail, with detailed sketches of the Nabataean tombs, which have become a major part of Saudi Arabia’s cultural offering.”
The four travelogues have inspired academic inquiry for over a century, but have also sparked debate, not least because of the biases inherent in their authors’ views. Burton in particular, has faced accusations of Orientalism and of perpetuating stereotypical views of Arabia. His observations were often tinged with a sense of superiority and colonial arrogance, although he had great admiration for both Islam and Arab culture.
“Burton’s views on the Arab world were complicated,” admits Dane Kennedy, a historian of the British imperial world and author of the foreword to “The Land of Midian (Revisited).” “His comments on the Bedouin could be highly critical, though he also promoted a romanticized view of them as princes of the desert. Furthermore, he was a forceful defender of the Islamic faith and Arab culture, so much so that many of his countrymen ostracized him, believing him to be a convert to Islam.
“He was a man of many talents and vast contradictions. He was both an agent of British imperialism and a critic of it. He was a bigot and a relativist. He was, above all, a man of immense curiosity about other cultures, and he sought to satisfy that curiosity by learning some 25 languages, travelling widely across India, Arabia, Africa, Latin America, and other lands, and often acquiring an intimate knowledge of the local communities he encountered.”
Palgrave, who made a foolhardy attempt to cross the Nafud desert in July without local guides and barely made it to salvation in Jubbah, also viewed the world through a Eurocentric, colonial lens. The first Westerner to successfully cross the Arabian Peninsula from the Red Sea to the Arabian Gulf (west to east), he travelled in disguise — as a Syrian physician — and filled his narrative with vivid, compelling observations of the landscapes, tribal dynamics, and cultural practices of the Arabian Peninsula. He achieved immediate acclaim upon the publication of “Personal Narrative,” thanks in part to his love of storytelling.
“We are now more than 150 years on from Palgrave’s Arabian travels and his narrative can be read on various levels — from travelogue to adventure story,” says James Parry, a cultural heritage writer and author of the foreword to the new edition of “Personal Narrative.” “It’s worth remembering that he had a great sense of theatre and wrote his account with his audience very much in mind — it’s a very entertaining read. His descriptions of the places and tribes he visited are fascinating, even if some of his comments about local people and customs are seen as problematic today. They need to be understood as the product of their time, and his account as an historical document.”
All four travelogues filled in much of the outside world’s knowledge of the Arabian Peninsula. Burton’s account of his journey from Cairo to Makkah, for example, gave the British public a much richer understanding of the region and its peoples.
“Despite their flaws, it is important to recognize that each author spent years travelling in Arabia, learning the language and customs of its people long before mass transit made the peninsula easily accessible to outsiders,” says Eamon. “While some of their observations can be dismissed now, they nonetheless help paint a picture of pre-industrial Arabia.
“History-telling is fickle,” he adds. “It carries with it the same baggage that weighs down any human experience. The Arabian Explorers Series is just this: a collection of human experiences, however flawed, that contribute to the broader mosaic that is the history of Arabia.”
What We Are Reading Today: ‘Machine Learning for Physics and Astronomy’ by Viviana Acquaviva
As the size and complexity of data continue to grow exponentially across the physical sciences, machine learning is helping scientists to sift through and analyze this information while driving breathtaking advances in quantum physics, astronomy, cosmology, and beyond.
This incisive textbook covers the basics of building, diagnosing, optimizing, and deploying machine learning methods to solve research problems in physics and astronomy, with an emphasis on critical thinking and the scientific method.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘Data Science for Neuroimaging’
Authors: Ariel Rokem & Tal Yarkoni
As neuroimaging turns toward data-intensive discovery, researchers in the field must learn to access, manage, and analyze datasets at unprecedented scales.
Concerns about reproducibility and increased rigor in reporting of scientific results also demand higher standards of computational practice.
This book offers neuroimaging researchers an introduction to data science, presenting methods, tools, and approaches that facilitate automated, reproducible, and scalable analysis and understanding of data.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘A History of Biology’ by Michel Morange
This book presents a global history of the biological sciences from ancient times to today, providing needed perspective on the development of biological thought while shedding light on the field’s upheavals and key breakthroughs through the ages.
Michel Morange brings to life the dynamic interplay of science, society, and biology’s many sub-disciplines, enabling readers to better appreciate the interdisciplinary exchanges that have shaped the field over the centuries.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Renormalization Group and Condensed Matter Physics’
Authors: David Nelson & Grace H. Zhang
Renormalization group ideas have had a major impact on condensed matter physics for more than a half century.
This book develops the theory and illustrates the broad applicability of the renormalization group to major problems in condensed matter physics.
Based on course materials developed and class-tested by the authors at Harvard University, the book will be especially useful for students, as well as researchers.
