著者

早川 尚志

出版者

日本イスラム協会

雑誌

イスラム世界 (ISSN:03869482)

巻号頁・発行日

no.86, pp.33-59, 2016-10

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This paper examines control over transportation in Eastern Turkestan under the rule of the late Mughūl Ulūs (mid-16th to late 17th century), the dynasty that was pivotal in completing the process of Islamization in Eastern Turkestan. Controlling transportation has always been of vital importance so that rulers retain their dominion and authority over a given territory, even more so in huge inland empires, like the ones that Muslims built in Eurasia during the Medieval Ages. This was the case in Eastern Turkestan going as far back as the time of the Western Turkic Khaganate. In the middle of the 13th century, this area hosted a well-maintained postal system known as "yāmchī system" under the Yuán dynasty. However, after the decline of Yuán dynasty's rule, the rise of the Chaghatay Ulūs and under the rule of the Mughūl Ulūs, it is not well established what kind of control regulated transportation in this area. In order to grasp the complexities of Mughūl Ulūs's rule over Eastern Turkestan from the perspective of transportation three points of interest are discussed. First, the manzil network is examined in order to give a picture of the infrastructure of transportation in this area. Second, travel passes are explained: which authority issued them, what was granted through their possession, and what was the state of affairs of the actual caravans 34 and the security that was promised to them. Last but not least, the argument is concluded by analyzing the postal systems in East Turkestan under the Mughūl Ulūs, where, contrary to the era of Mongol rule, a failure of the stated system is acknowledged. After giving an outline of the transportation system and the way in which it was governed during the late Mughūl Ulūs, the paper concludes that this represents a clear example of the failure of a transportation system in a country that was disintegrating.