The Heritage of Central Asia

by Richard N. Freye

Book Overview

A study of the heritage of Central Asia. It brings together such distinct elements as the world of Zoroaster, the Achaemenid ecumene, the Sakas and later waves of nomadic invaders, the spread of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 155876111X
• ISBN13: 9781558761117
• Release Date: January 2012
• Publisher: Markus Wiener Publishers
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

needs better maps

I give this book a four because, although it is awkwardly written, it did provide me with a well-ordered summary of the early history of central Asia. Some reviewers complained about its lack of detail, but I think this is more due to the lack of written historical sources than to the author's failure to grasp the subject. He does a good job with what he has, (or so I must assume because I myself am not a specialist in the field). It was interesting to learn about the Sakas and the Kushans, groups I had never heard of before. But please, I have read several books now on central Asia and I have yet to find one with decent maps. The maps in this book are atrocious. For a university professor not to be able to provide maps is simply not being aware of the resources he has right at hand. Just go to the geography department and ask any graduate student, where you will probably get a quality product and cheap as well. I gather that Bactria was roughly present Afghanistan, that Sogdiana was roughly north and east of that, that the Scythians were roughly north and west of that, and that the Sakas were somewhere in the area of eastern Iran, but I am still only guessing because the maps in this book were no help at all.

Various reviews for Central Asia

"One of the best academic books of the year." -Choice "In this handy book, Richard Frye surveys the true history of this much-contested crossroad, touching on the supreme importance of water and oases, analyzing the influence of Zoroastrianism and Islam, and describing in detail a harshly beautiful landscape's various peoples, places, and cultures." -Washington Post BOOK REVIEW The Heritage of Central Asia: From Antiquity to the Turkish Expansion Professor Frye has made countless contributions, during the past half-century, to the study of the early history of Iran and Central Asia. Much of this--especially though not exclusively on the pre-Islamic period--has been the result of highly specialized research. But, to his great credit, he has not shrunk from writing, from time to time, works of synthesis which have made the results of his own research and that of others accessible to a wider readership. Usually these books have been very successful--a conspicuous example is his celebrated The Heritage of Persia (1962). It is true that its sequel, the oddly named The Golden Age of Persia: The Arabs in the East (1975) was not quite on a level with its predecessor. But in The Heritage of Central Asia Frye has, quite overtly, attempted to write for Central Asia a book which would cover a similar period, and serve a similar purpose for students and other interested readers, as The Heritage of Persia did for the lands to the west. The books begins with scene-setting chapters, on 'Geographic realities,' 'Peoples, Languages, Customs and Beliefs,' and pre-history. History proper then begins with a discussion of the cult of Zoroaster leading into an account of Achaemenid Persian rule in Central Asia, and on through Alexander and Hellenism via the Kushans, Buddhism, the Sogdians and so forth (not neglecting various important nomad groupings) to arrival of Islam and 'the Iranian-Islamic Oecumene'. The final chapter, 'The Present is Born,' brings the Turks on to the scene. There are six valuable appendices. Each chapter has a limited number of endnotes which provide introductory guidance to further reading. I have found this a most useful book for undergraduate teaching purposes. It tackles a period and an area unfamiliar to most students in a way that makes its subject both comprehensible and interesting. The book is a worthy companion volume to The Heritage of Persia. --Journal of Islamic Studies 11, no. 3 (2000) Opening with consideration on geography, peoples, languages, customs and beliefs, the author indicates the impact that the Zoroastrian cult and the Achaemenid centralization had on the region, where Alexander brought Hellenization, especially to the Bactrians, after discussing the Kushans, he investigates the silk route and the spread of Buddhism to the East, as well as the trading of the Sogdians; the rest of the book deals with Islamic situations, there are several appendices on such topics as literary sources, geographical names, deiti

Great Overview of History of Central Asia

With the publication of Dr. Richard Frye's The Heritage of Central Asia from Antiquity to the Turkish Expansion (Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 1996, hardcover (ISBN 1558761101 ) and softcover (ISBN 155876111X), 264 pages) at last we have for Central Asia an overview book worth reading by novice and veteran alike. As the title implies, topics in the book include geography, pre-history, Zoroastrianism and Achaemenid Persians, Alexander the Great and the Greeks, the Parthians, nomads, Kushans, Silk Road trade, Buddhism, Sogdians, Muslims, Turks and much more. There are several (somewhat small) maps and a fair number of illustrations and photographs. Appendix topics include sources, geographical names (always a challenge in Central Asia), rulers in Bukhara and Samarkand, Sogdian deities, languages and coinage. The book is fully-indexed. Professor Frye of Harvard University is one of the deans of the field, especially in the area of Persia and author of numerous books including the recently re-published Bukhara. The very real accomplishment of this book is its comprehensive form which for once does not concentrate solely on a single time or place, but instead successfully communicates a feel for what was happening in all the regions throughout these historical periods. Much is to be learned and many questions will be answered. In some areas of research, of course, due to insufficient sources, the jury is still out and Frye does what one wants him to: he sets up the parameters of the question and the possibilities such that when someday new finds are made, the reader can judge them in the proper context. When he speculates, he informs the reader that that is what he is doing and refrains from offering theories without evidence as if they were fact. The conjectures too, as well as the facts, are always interesting coming as they do from a researcher of this stature and experience. Dr. Frye, who met the famous Sir Aurel Stein, first of the Foreign Devils of the Silk Road, and by extension his work, is a link back to the earliest Silk Road research and forward to what may be revealed by future excavations of mummies in Xinjiang and in the newly-independent republics of Central Asia. This book will be a valuable and often-consulted volume in the library of anyone with a passion for the Silk Road.