Articles

Authors consider interaction of factors of Tuareg nationalism/ separatism and Islamist radicalism/jihadism in Mali. They show the influence of the Arab Spring on the development of the processes of growth of Islamist radicalism and Tuareg separatism in the northern regions of this country. Authors analyze the fourth Tuareg uprising, the Islamist revolution in Azawad that took place in the summer of 2012, the Islamist offensive in southern Mali in 2013 and its impact on relations between Bamako and Tuareg nationalists, as well as a new jihadist offensive in recent years. It is concluded that the central government of Mali and the Tuareg nationalists again turn out to be situational allies, since they now face one main enemy that threatens the existence of both the Malian state and potential real Tuareg autonomy, Azawad - Islamist jihadi radicals.

Russian Freemasonry in China - an extremely interesting phenomenon, it was markedly different from the Masonic lodges of the Western Diaspora of Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Hong Kong. There was no specific “Russian” Masonic lodge in China, Freemasonry among the natives of Russia in the 1920-1930's turned into an arena of political struggle and mutual accusations, the opposition of conservative, monarchist, socialist and other ideas. It also turned out to be closely connected with moral and esoteric quests, intertwined with Roerichism and mysticism. Another feature was that, unlike Westerners, Russian Freemasons have never raised the question of the possibility of participation of the Chinese in the activities of the lodges, or on cooperation with the Chinese administration. Russian Freemasonry and the parallel anti-Masonic movement lived their own, active, but closed life. Accusations of Freemasonry were a traditional way of settling scores between various Russian groups, and the term “Freemason” became a formula for accusations of the worst sins. The Sungari Lodge in Harbin was founded on the wave of the opening of new Masonic organizations across northeast China on July 5, 1928, and operated for twelve years. In opposition to Freemasonry among the Western diaspora, which was not painful to discuss, was not politicized and did not serve as an arena for clashes between various groups, Russian Freemasonry in China was closely related to the search for new meanings of transformation of society, the discovery of “friends” and “enemies”, and it reflected the deep debate in the Russian émigré environment.

This article is devoted to the 120th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding scientist Alexander Andreevich Guber. This is a tribute to the memory of his life and activities associated with Moscow State University, with the IVYA at Moscow State University, where he taught courses on the history of Indonesia for the first time and made great efforts to found a new department of the history of the countries of the Far East and Southeast Asia, the head of which he remained until the end of his days.

Index of the journal’s articles and materials published in 2022.

In the XVIII century, the first Lutheran priests arrived from the Saxon city of Halle to the south of Hindustan, in the city of Tranquebar. As employees of the Danish Royal Mission, they worked among pagans, studied their languages, translated texts of Holy Scripture and other Christian literature into local languages, printed these translations in the printing house they established, and taught local children in schools. They regularly sent detailed reports on their work to Germany. In addition to information about the God-pleasing activities of Lutheran pastors, these reports contained detailed information about the region: natural and climatic conditions, political structure, daily lives of the local population, religion and cults, etc. The first years of the mission’s existence in Tranquebar, the main work was conducted under the leadership of Pastor Bartolomäus Ziegenbalg (1682–1719), who lived in India from 1706 until 1719. In this article, the missionaries’ reports, most of which were compiled by Ziegenbalg, and his letters from India are used as the main sources. The key problem to which the article is devoted is the understanding of the Indian institute of caste by European settlers of the beginning of the XVIII century. The missionaries made attempts to interpret the caste system, comparing it with the traits of the social organization of Europe familiar to them. They did not fully understand the nature of caste and caste ideology. However, they considered the existence of the caste system as the main obstacle to the spread of Christianity in India.

The article is focused on a problem of the role of European prisoners of war interned in the concentration camps of Turkestan during the First World War, in the events of the Civil war in Central Asia. The problem considered in the article has not yet been researched in historiography. Both the materials of Soviet documents and the memoirs of participants in those events in English, French and German were used as sources. The problem of the place of prisoners of war in the recent history of Central Asia was considered both in the context of the regional events of the civil war and in the international context. The sources published in the collections, as well as documents from the archives of the Russian State Archive of War and Peace. The main type of sources in the process of writing the article were the memoirs of foreign prisoners of war, as well as eyewitnesses to the events of those days. In this case, the corpus of narrative sources allowed in the process of disclosing the problem to fill a number of gaps associated with the formality and informative paucity of documentary sources.

The article considers the milestones of evolution of the Department of Near and Middle East History since its establishment within the Faculty of History of Lomonosov Moscow State University and up to the collapse of the USSR. The research is based on the analysis of scientific and pedagogical activities of prominent Soviet professors and scientists who worked at the department and considerably influenced the development of Russian Oriental Studies within the walls of the Moscow University. During the existence of the Soviet state the teaching staff of the Department worked actively and effectively on creation of new quality curricula and training programs for oriental studies, development of innovative lecture courses and corresponding textbooks taking into account the latest trends and tendencies in teaching. This helped to provide the Soviet generation of students with a sufficiently complete understanding of the historical development and current state of the socioeconomic and cultural life of the countries and regions under study. The scientific life of the Department during the Soviet period was characterized by a gradual shift in the focus of research interests of its staff from topics describing the national liberation struggle of the peoples of the Near and Middle East against colonial oppression, the history of the labor movement, the activities of communist parties and trade union organizations, towards the issues of civilizational development of the East, the ways of development of the nations in the context of the bipolar world, etc. The most significant polemical subjects were reflected in the capital scientific works of the Department, which over time acquired a more diverse and analytically profound character.

This article is an attempt to re-construct the political biography of Iyās Ibn Ḳabīṣa, one of the chieftains of the Arabic tribe of Ṭayyiʾ, who was at the service of the Sasanids in the late 6th and the early 7th centuries. In the mid-6th century Banū Ṭayyiʾ were included into the sphere of influence of the Lakhmids, the rulers of al-Ḥīra and vassals of the Sasanids. Iyās quickly made his way up and in 578/9 was the interim governor of al-Ḥīra while the Sasanid king was busy selecting a new Lakhmid ruler. Later on, Iyās was involved in war against Byzantium at the north-western borders of the Sasanid empire. An important episode of Iyās’ career took place in 591 when Iyās and his fellow tribesmen assisted Sasanid king Chosroes II (591–628) in fleeing from the rebellious general Warahrān Chūbīn. Apparently as a reward Chosroes appointed Iyās his governor of ʿAyn al-Tamr. Iyās, formally inferior to the Lakhmid king in rank, behaved rather independently and even could threaten the latter with an armed clash. Following the dismissal of al-Nuʿmān III, the last Lakhmid king (579–601), Chosroes appointed Iyās governor of al-Ḥīra (602). Iyās was able to consolidate his power, but in the same year lost the battle of dhū Ḳār. Fearing punishment, he misinformed Chosroes about the outcome of the battle and fled. Chosroes dismissed Iyās and discontinued the practice of appointing Arab rulers of al-Ḥīra.

The article explores the role of Sanjay Gandhi (1946–1980) in socio-political and cultural life of contemporary India and traces the roots of his “personality cult” in the society. Though over forty years have passed since his death, the controversy surrounding his figure does not subside even today. In India a number of public facilities boast Sanjay Gandhi’s name and his controversial persona often becomes the subject of populist rhetoric of political parties, news reports, as well as the prototype of characters in fiction. Sanjay Gandhi entered the Indian politics in the notoriously famous mid-1970-s marked with the declaration of national Emergency. In order to gain more political influence, he started strengthening the Indian Youth Congress — the youth wing of the Indian National Congress party. Simultaneously Sanjay Gandhi gathered a clique of his personal advisers, some of whom were important politicians from different states of the country. They were the ones who implemented into life Sanjay Gandhi’s socio-political programs including the family planning and city-beautification projects etc. But nowadays, too, the name of Sanjay Gandhi evokes mixed feelings in the Indian society. Different political parties, including the Congress, continue to blame him for the excesses of the Emergency. This article is an attempt to study the phenomenon of Sanjay Gandhi’s “personality cult” through tracing its history, identifying the factors of its formation, and giving some examples pertaining to the “cult”.