Roderich Ptak

Bert G. Fragner

Ralph Kauz

Angela Schottenhammer

English summary: Horses, horse-breeding and horse-keeping, as well as the trade in these animals played an important role in the history of Asia's pre- and early modern civilisations. However, horses were unequally distributed over the Asian continent and their acquisition was usually associated with different expectations. When the knowledge spread that horses could be profitably used in warfare as well as for overland transportation and for agriculture, this did not only promote trade relations, but also led to the emergence of new cultural links, often between distant sites, both by land and by sea. The contributions to this volume, twenty-one articles in all, are based on a conference entitled "Horses in Asia" that was organised by the Institute of Iranian Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in October 2006.The articles are arranged into four regional sections: (1) Iran and West Asia, (2) Central Asia, (3) the Indian Ocean, (4) and China. They are complemented by a preface and two introductory essays. Each article takes its own approach, while, at the same time, opening doors to related academic fields, the main interest lying in the transfer of horses between different regions. German description: In der Geschichte der vor- und fruhmodernen Zivilisationen Asiens spielten Pferde - ihre Zucht und Haltung sowie der Handel mit ihnen - eine herausragende Rolle; sie waren in ungleicher Weise uber den gesamten asiatischen Kontinent verteilt, und ebenso unterschiedliche Erwartungen wurden an ihren Erwerb geknupft. Die Erkenntnis, dass sich Pferde militarisch, als Transportmittel und in der Landwirtschaft gewinnbringend einsetzen liessen, forderte nicht nur den Handel mit ihnen, sondern liess Pferde ganz allgemein zu einem wichtigen kulturellen Bindeglied zwischen Orten und Landern werden, die oftmals weit voneinander entfernt lagen, sowohl uber Land wie uber den Seeweg. Die hier vorgestellten einundzwanzig Beitrage sind das Ergebnis einer gleichnamigen Tagung, die im Oktober 2006 auf Einladung des Instituts fur Iranistik der Osterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften durchgefuhrt wurde. Sie sind nach Regionen geordnet: (1) Iran und Westasien, (2) Zentralasien, (3) Indischer Ozean (4) und China. Erganzt werden sie durch ein Vorwort und zwei einfuhrende Artikel. Die einzelnen Beitrage gehen das Thema auf der Basis unterschiedlicher Ansatze an und bieten jeweils Anknupfungspunkte zu benachbarten Disziplinen. Das Hauptinteresse gilt jedoch dem Transfer von Pferden zwischen den Regionen.

Horses in Asia

Held in Bamberg, 30th September to 4th October 1991, by the Societas Iranologica Europaea

Proceedings of the Second European Conference of Iranian Studies

Florian Schwarz

Starting from important new archaeological findings and insights that have led to a rethinking of the history of viticulture in Iran and its wider Asian context, this volume explores various aspects of the cultural, social and political significance of grape wine in the Iranian cultural sphere. It assembles specialized studies and interpretative essays ranging from the question of the origins of viticulture and winemaking and the trade of wine between the Iranian plateau and China to viticulture and wine consumption in 20th-century Kafiristan, from the place of intoxicating beverages in hadith to the nature and function of wine in classical Persian poetry and Iranian architecture, from the ambiguities of alcohol in pre-modern Persia to the challenges of modernity and colonial encounters.

Bert G. Fragner

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