In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century, the widespread destruction and population displacements caused by the Ottoman-Safavid wars and the Celali revolts plunged Armenian communities of Anatolia and the Caucasus into a profound crisis. The crisis extended to manuscript production, as the devastation of monastic scriptoria resulted in a severe shortage of books. Yet the same period also witnessed the proliferation and growing affluence of Armenian merchant communities, along with merchants’ increasing involvement in book production. This article examines the experience of Step‘anos of Tokat, a refugee priest, poet, and manuscript-maker with strong links to Tokat’s trade community, to explore the social history of Armenian manuscript production and the transformation of the ‘scribe’ from a copyist-artisan working as part of a monastic scriptorium to a mobile expert-entrepreneur serendipitously placed in a privileged position by the crisis in book production.
Indo-Iranian languages and literature, Literature (General)
Tibetan pastoralists often say that many know how to graze animals (ཟོག་ལུག་འཚོ་བ), but few know how to nurture them (ཟོག་ལུག་སྐྱོང་བ). Skyong (སྐྱོང) means nurturing or attending to something or someone with tenderness. While conducting fieldwork research among Tibetan pastoralists in eastern Tibet, I learned that animals were dying from eating discarded plastic khata (ceremonial scarves) and prayer flags. Even those who nurture animals through winter, when grass was scarce and snowstorms were constant, were not sure what to do to prevent this. This ethnographic experience inspired me to make a documentary film and to experiment with flash ethnography on this topic of the sacred status of khata in relation to its poisonous contemporary materiality. This flash ethnography takes creative license, allowing khata to speak.
Dāphā bhajan is a participatory genre of Hindu–Buddhist devotional music, sung by groups of farmers and other Newar singers in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. It is deeply integrated with local neighbourhood communities, but owing to recent disasters (the 2015 earthquake, the 2020–2022 Covid-19 pandemic) and ongoing cultural changes, its sustainability is in doubt. In 2022–2023 the authors conducted a survey of selected groups to investigate the performers’ perspectives. In this preliminary report we find that dāphā groups showed resilience in recovering from the recent disasters, the main effect of which was to exacerbate ongoing systemic problems. Chief among these is the difficulty of recruiting and training new members, to which some groups are responding with innovative solutions. But a range of other interconnected issues also emerged. We conclude that although many groups exhibit continuing vitality and an integrated relationship with the local communities in which they are embedded, their dependence on traditional models may be unsustainable without a degree of change.
Soy sauce is an Oriental fermented condiment, and key ingredient in many Asian cuisines. As consumers around the world are becoming more adventurous with their eating choices and preferences, the demand for and popularity of Asian cuisines are increasing globally. The underlying basis of soy sauce fermentation is intricate microbial interactions which play a vital role in defining the quality, flavour, and smell of the resulting soy sauce. Traditional soy sauce fermentation consists of a two-step process: koji and moromi fermentation. Despite the presence of beneficial microorganisms in soy sauce, various harmful microorganisms can also be found during the koji or moromi step, thus resulting in soy sauce contamination. Therefore, studying the biodiversity and interactions of microorganisms is critical in ensuring soy sauce quality. The present review thus discusses in depth the various bacterial and fungal species that are either beneficial or harmful to soy sauce fermentation. The present review also discusses the advances in soy sauce fermentation such as the enhancement of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in soy sauce by microorganisms, the enhancement of soy sauce flavour by mixed starter culture, and by genome shuffling starter culture.
The trail to Kuari Pass passes through the heart of Garhwal in the Western Himalayan region of India. The way up to the pass is known for some of the most jaw dropping vistas of high Himalayas. While peaks like Mt. Dronagiri, Bhramal, Hathi and Gauri are constant companions on the route, a vantage point at Jhandi Dhar brings one face to face with many other prominent snow peaks like Kedarnath, Kedar Dome, Mana Mandir, Neelkantha, Kamet, Chaukhamba and the magnificent Nanda Devi, behind her rocky sentinels of the Bugyal Koti range. Beyond snow peaks, the trail offers serene forest patches of ancient oaks and walnuts together with the experience of traversing expansive Himalayan meadows at multiple occassions along the way. This journey to Kuari Pass is the first of many that I plan to undertake, with a central focus on trekking in and around Mt.Nanda Devi’s sphere of influence. Trails to Rudranath, Bagini Glacier, Nanda Devi East Base Camp and Shipton’s Dibrughetta across Dharansi Pass await and I earnestly hope that the Goddess allows us into her courtyard each time like the way she welcomed us on the Kuari Pass trail.
All images have been taken by the author, except for the last (page no. tba). It has been taken by Abhilasha Rawat.
Gender in the contemporary everyday life of the Darjeeling men is a ritual of reiterating the colonial hypermasculinity that ultimately reinforces the stereotyped notion that the Gorkha men are muscular men whose hegemonic masculinity makes them merely worthy of wars. This toxic masculinity is the major object of criticism by the ecofeminists who have shown how detrimental this hypermasculinity is for both women and ecology. This article, by revisiting the alternative textuality of everydayness as manifested in the select Lepcha folktales of the Hills, aims at uncovering an endogenous eco (alternative)masculinity that may act as a genderqueer model based on which the Gorkha men may learn to replace their colonial internalized ‘ethic of daring’ with the ‘ethic of caring’ in their everyday future. As an interpretation of the folktales by a ‘non-indigenous ally,’ a hybrid methodology has been used by combining various perspectives from the theories related to gender and sexuality, ethno-poetics, folkloristics, etc. The article begins by arguing that the scope of studying everyday life has to be expanded from merely focusing on the micro and the oblivious towards accommodating the hidden ‘non-everyday’ inclusive alternatives that are embedded in the everyday textuality of the folktales. Thereafter, it tries to assert how the politicization of the possible everyday based on an understanding of the history of mentality as revealed through the folktales, can initially, allow the Darjeeling men to recall ‘the not yet-real,’ but plausible, genderqueer male identities of yore. This might eventuallyencourage them to turn the everyday,contemporary space of a martial, Gorkha-hypermasculinity into a multivocal everydayness of alternatives in the near future,with the ‘gentlemen warrior’ evolving into eco-men who, along with aposthuman intimacy, arecompetent in nurturing the feminine and the ecology.
In the second chapter of The Gift, Fyodor Konstantinovich Godunov-Cherdyntsev recalls a “Kirghiz fairy tale” about a human eye that wants “to encompass everything in the world.” The plot of the story goes back to a Talmudic parable about Alexander the Great. The parable was retold in Russian by a number of writers and scholars in the 19 th and early 20 th centuries. However, it seems unlikely that Nabokov did use in any original piece of Inner Asian folklore in his novel. More probable is that he invented the “fairy tale” proceeding from one of the Russian versions of the parable. At the same time, Nabokov’s version is based on a number of international literary and folkloric motifs and is related to the “Kalmyk fairy tale” in Pushkin’s novel The Captain’s Daughter and to 19 th century Russian literary fairy tales in verse. While the central theme of Nabokov’s parable is the insatiability of human vision and the frailty of life, its con- and subtexts allude to some other recurrent themes of the novel — death and immortality, the quest for paradise, closed doors and exile, sources of love and poetical inspiration. The Oriental coloring of the tale (and the second chapter of the novel in general) appears to be a literary play with a limited number of texts, in particular with The Captain’s Daughter and A Journey to Arzrum. This allows discussing the “Kirghiz fairy tale” as an intratextually meaningful part of the novel rather than a marginal encrustation. It seems that Nabokov’s literary work with “migratory” plots and folklore texts was in a way close to the methods and ideas developed in Alexander Veselovsky’s school of comparative literary studies.
ABSTRACT: Background: Japanese Kampo medicine is a traditional medicine with roots in ancient Chinese medicine. Because traditional physicians had been abolished in Japan, the present mainstream of Kampo treatment is that physicians who learned modern Western medicine prescribe Kampo extract products based on Western medical diagnosis. This situation is different from that in other east Asian countries, and the physicians require scientific clinical evidence. Methods: Clinical studies were searched from literature databases, clinical trial registry sites, and “Evidence Reports of Kampo Treatment (EKAT)” published by the Japan Society for Oriental Medicine. Results: At the approval of Kampo products, scientific clinical evidence was not required because they have a long-period experience as a decoction. However, in the 1990s, Kampo products became a subject for national reevaluation; double-blind and placebo-controlled clinical trials. At the time, a methodological foundation for conducting clinical assessments of Kampo medicines was established. From 2000 onwards, with the evidence-based medicine era, the field of Kampo medicine also saw many randomized controlled trials, and their evidence was collected and published as EKAT. In the 2010s, post-marketing clinical trials of Kampo products also had to be conducted in this environment due to the need for ethical and scientific assurance. Currently, there are numerous clinical trials of Kampo products being conducted with high-grade trial designs. Conclusion: The situation of Kampo clinical studies reflects the unique history and position of Kampo medical system and Kampo products in Japan.
In a political conflict like Kashmir, human loss is the first tragedy coupled with the economic damage to the oppressed class. Repeated shutdowns that include curfews and protests have dented the economy of Kashmir, a fact that is irrefutable. However, this is supplemented by the ‘normalcy period’ that paves way for the economic captivity of the region. The Narendra Modi government’s decision to abrogate Article 370, which guaranteed a special status to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) under the Indian constitution, and divide the J&K state into two separate Union Territories on 05 August 2019 has already immensely dented the local economy to the tune of 17878 crore of Indian rupees. The decision is expected to further tarnish the economy of J&K, an economy which could have been enhanced to serve the needs of local people and the developmental project of the state. In the past, there were instances when the state’s economic potential was compromised (e.g., the agreement between Reserve Bank of India and Government of J&K), which furthered the state’s dependence on New Delhi. In an official report, the state government admitted that the conflict has condensed per capita Gross Domestic Product growth, Foreign Domestic Investment inflow, exports, and trade flow in the state. The report also mentioned that J&K lost 16000 crore during the unrest of 2016. During the years 2016 and 2017, 168 curfews were imposed in nine districts of J&K, resulting in huge financial loss to locals. In 2019, the region witnessed the longest ever communication blockade of 214 days, resulting in huge losses to local businesses, and in some cases even closures. The cost of the Kashmir conflict is difficult to ascertain due to limited studies on the subject and non-availability of data. In this paper, I document the economic cost of the Kashmir conflict and the effects of Indian imperialism on the region’s society and economy using a conflict economics framework.
In the present work, we examine the personal adornment in proboscidean ivory from the Bell Beaker period at the hypogeum of Padru Jossu, Sanluri (Sardinia, Italy) currently preserved in the Museo Civico Archeologico Villa Abbas of Sardara. For the first time, a complete study –morphological, use wear and archaeometric– of this material has been conducted. The typological study established two categories: buttons and pins. Those categories were also subdivided into three groups respectively. Technological and functional analyses were made difficult by the strong degradation of the items and the presence of glue and varnish. The archaeometric study highlighted the diverse provenances of the proboscidean ivories, suggesting a chronological difference in the geographical sources, as well as in the mobility patterns implicit in the movements of the raw material. The ivory from the older Stratum iii is predominantly from the Asian elephant, and in the later Stratum ii the exclusive supplier species is the African Savannah elephant. It is also important to mention that in the ensemble from Stratum iii, one of the items seems related to the Eastern types of ossi a globuli, linking this Asian ivory with an Aegean and Oriental axis of mobility.
The article considers some little-known manuscript songs of the Bagatsokhurovsky Jangar epic cycle contained in the Archive of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts (Russian Academy of Sciences), Scientific Archive of the Russian Geographical Society, and Manuscript Collection of the Faculty of Asian and African Studies (St. Petersburg State University). The textological analysis of the little-known manuscripts never to have been introduced into wide scientific discourse shows those are ‘clean manuscript copies’, i. e., copies of somewhat ‘field manuscripts’ authored by different researchers.
History of Asia, Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)
The article reveals the stages in the formation of the USSR policy in the field of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict resolution, the features of the developed policy and practical conclusions that could be useful in advancing the current Middle East policy of the Russian Federation. Initially, the Soviet Union perceived the Palestinian theme primarily from the point of view of the problem of refugees. However, Moscow increasingly felt the need for reliable allies in the region. The movement for cooperation between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the USSR was bilateral: the PLO departed from revolutionary romanticism and began to follow a pragmatic line to expand contacts with opponents of Israel. Moscow began to consider the activities of the PLO as part of the national liberation movement, took a sharply anti-Israeli stance. Such a distortion led to a loss of freedom of maneuver in the region and to the announcement of deliberately non-constructive proposals for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement. Only since 1985 the USSR returned to a more flexible position, which sought to combine the interests of the Palestinian people and Israel. At the present stage, Russian diplomacy uses Soviet experience and connections, especially in the sphere of personal contacts. But Russia’s role in the Middle East conflict resolution has decreased due to subjective and objective reasons. Against the backdrop of the Arab Spring and the Civil War in Syria, Palestinian issues have become secondary in the agenda of Moscow, which, however, can lead to a new surge of violence and tension. Special relations with the Palestinian national liberation movement have always been an advantage of Soviet and then Russian diplomacy. The authors believe that this advantage should be used more actively to strengthen Russia’s positions in the region.