A Review of Ostrowski on the Mongol Empire
Given that our contemporary concepts of nation states and diplomacy arose from the Mongols, the Mongol Empire serves as a fascinating topic for those interested in world history to explore. Donald Ostrowski is one of the leading historians of the Mongol Empire. Ostrowski has a PhD from Pennsylvania State University, and teaches world history at the Harvard Extension School, and chairs the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies’ Early Slavists Seminars at Harvard University. Through his written works “The ‘tamma’ and the Dual-Administrative Structure of the Mongol Empire”, and “The Mongol Origins of Muscovite Political Institutions”, which were published in 1998 and 1990 respectively, we can …show more content…
Ostrowski contends that the “Muscovite princes introduced Mongol political and military institutions into Muscovy on a wide scale during the first half of the fourteenth century.” Communications system, lateral succession, and collective responsibility in Muscovite political institutions and practices were either “ongoing practices typical of lands influenced by the pre-Mongol steppe nomads or they were introduced into Muscovy anew but given a significantly different sense according to the difference between Mongol institutions and practices and those of the steppe nomads…” Not only this, but Muscovite political institutions and practices were also similar to those at Sarai, which was the Mongol kingdom that ruled part of Eastern Europe and much of Central Asia during the thirteenth and fourteenth …show more content…
In Ostrowski’s varying explanations of the meaning of Tamma based on different scholars whose interpretation of the concept derived from both Mongol and Non-Mongol sources, Tamma testifies to the Mongols’ willingness to adopt methods of administration. The Mongols’ willingness to acclimate contributes to their successful conquests. Likewise, Ostrowski also realizes the Mongols’ limits on their power within their own realm, which can also be reflected in Mongol rule throughout Asia and Muscovy. Even though civil and military institutions in fourteenth century Muscovy were altered, modified, and transformed through various internal and external influences, Ostrowski admits there are no contemporary sources that explicitly states “that a Muscovite institution was based on a Mongol model.” Ostrowski does an excellent job in displaying an objective standpoint on the Mongols’ influence on other civilizations, and shares a number of possible perspectives of what enabled them to rule their empire. Ostrowski makes it clear that no one assertion about the Mongols is absolute, yet readers can still see why the Mongol Empire is such an integral part of world
Given that our contemporary concepts of nation states and diplomacy arose from the Mongols, the Mongol Empire serves as a fascinating topic for those interested in world history to explore. Donald Ostrowski is one of the leading historians of the Mongol Empire. Ostrowski has a PhD from Pennsylvania State University, and teaches world history at the Harvard Extension School, and chairs the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies’ Early Slavists Seminars at Harvard University. Through his written works “The ‘tamma’ and the Dual-Administrative Structure of the Mongol Empire”, and “The Mongol Origins of Muscovite Political Institutions”, which were published in 1998 and 1990 respectively, we can …show more content…
Ostrowski contends that the “Muscovite princes introduced Mongol political and military institutions into Muscovy on a wide scale during the first half of the fourteenth century.” Communications system, lateral succession, and collective responsibility in Muscovite political institutions and practices were either “ongoing practices typical of lands influenced by the pre-Mongol steppe nomads or they were introduced into Muscovy anew but given a significantly different sense according to the difference between Mongol institutions and practices and those of the steppe nomads…” Not only this, but Muscovite political institutions and practices were also similar to those at Sarai, which was the Mongol kingdom that ruled part of Eastern Europe and much of Central Asia during the thirteenth and fourteenth …show more content…
In Ostrowski’s varying explanations of the meaning of Tamma based on different scholars whose interpretation of the concept derived from both Mongol and Non-Mongol sources, Tamma testifies to the Mongols’ willingness to adopt methods of administration. The Mongols’ willingness to acclimate contributes to their successful conquests. Likewise, Ostrowski also realizes the Mongols’ limits on their power within their own realm, which can also be reflected in Mongol rule throughout Asia and Muscovy. Even though civil and military institutions in fourteenth century Muscovy were altered, modified, and transformed through various internal and external influences, Ostrowski admits there are no contemporary sources that explicitly states “that a Muscovite institution was based on a Mongol model.” Ostrowski does an excellent job in displaying an objective standpoint on the Mongols’ influence on other civilizations, and shares a number of possible perspectives of what enabled them to rule their empire. Ostrowski makes it clear that no one assertion about the Mongols is absolute, yet readers can still see why the Mongol Empire is such an integral part of world