Papers by Zsuzsanna Zsidai
The Great Steppe II. Humanities Forum. Papers presented to the 2nd Forum of Social Sciences "The Great Steppe". Astana., 2017
The identification of people living on the medieval Eurasian Steppe has always been a serious and... more The identification of people living on the medieval Eurasian Steppe has always been a serious and common problem discussed by scholars researching the early history of this territory – and one of these peoples is the ”Turk”. These Turkic peoples were mostly depicted as barbarian nomads in medieval Islamic sources. However, at the same time, the settled Muslim authors were fascinated by their life and trade, hence they give us a valuable description of their lifestyle, environment and the like. Since most of the Turkic peoples were nomads, their history - at least the earlier stages - might be retraced from the works written mostly by outsider writers with a negative approach. Regarding Turkic peoples’ medieval history, we must face the fact just like in the case of other nomadic peoples’ history, that if we want to consider their historical wiriting, we can rarely find their own written sources. Due to this, we need to search for other possibilities in order to gain a deeper understanding of the processes in their history, while taking into account all the methodological issues that may arise. In this paper, I would like to show a different interpretation of some texts written by Arabic authors. This ”other” point of view will be diverse from those found in the sources of the Turkic peoples’ history and I intend to use various genres of Arabic literature such as geographical and historical works and dictionaries from the 9-12th centuries. My aim is to emphasize that based on the eastern texts, there is still some space left for further interesting studies in the field of the early history of the Eurasian Nomads.
IV. International Farabi Readings. Almaty, Kazakhstan. , 2017
Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad al-Idrisi (+1165) was one of the greatest medieval Arabic geographers who... more Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad al-Idrisi (+1165) was one of the greatest medieval Arabic geographers whose famous work, the Kitab nuzhat al-mushtaq fi ikhtirak al-afaq includes interesting details about the medieval Kingdom of Hungary which has been translated earlier by István Elter. The work might be worthy of attention from the early Hungarian history point of view because al-Idrisi writes about the Bashkirs and gives some more informations on them than the earlier writers. His sources were the works of Ibn Khurradadhbih, al-Istakhri, Ibn Hawqal and Sallam the Interpreter. In addition, he should have used the Arabic version of Ptolemy's Geography, the lost text from al-Djayhani and the books of al-Khwarazmi and Ibn Suhrab. The article gives a short description about al-Idrisi's work and his sources and includes the translation of excerpts about the Bashkirs from the discussed works. The author is hoping that these texts can give additional insights on this matter as regards the Arabic sources.
The Hungarian Historical Review , 2018
The identification of the various peoples who lived on the medieval Eurasian Steppe has
always ... more The identification of the various peoples who lived on the medieval Eurasian Steppe has
always been an engaging problem among scholars of the early history of this territory.
The Arabs came into contact with Central Asian peoples from the beginning in the
seventh century, during the course of the Islamic conquest. Hence, one finds many
details about the peoples of the Steppe in the Arabic sources.
The Arabic geographer Ibn Rusta mentions the Hungarians among the Turkic peoples
in the beginning of the tenth century. However, according to the Arabic sources, there
were many Turkic tribes or peoples in different regions, such in Ferghana, Khorasan,
Transoxania, Samarqand, and near Armenia. Based on this fact, the term “Turk” can be
interpreted in different ways. My aim is to indicate some of the difficulties concerning
the translation and interpretation of the terms referring to peoples or tribes, such as
“jins” and “qawm,” and to give some examples of occurrences of the ethnonym “Turk”
in medieval Arabic texts.
I begin with a discussion of the relevant methodological questions and then argue that
the designation “Turk” should be used more cautiously as a group-identifying term in
the wider context of the early Medieval world of the Eurasian Steppe.
![Research paper thumbnail of Ismā'īl ibn Aḥmad 893. évi hadjárata és a magyar honfoglalás. [The 893 military campaign of Ismā'īl ibn Aḥmad and the Hungarian conquest] In: Dentumoger I. Tanulmányok a korai magyar történelemről. [Dentumoger I. Studies about the Early Hungarian History]. ed. by B. Sudár. 109-24. Budapest, 2017.](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/56086976/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Al-Tabarī’s account of Ismā'īl ibn Aḥmad’s raids against Taraz in 893 is mentioned in the histori... more Al-Tabarī’s account of Ismā'īl ibn Aḥmad’s raids against Taraz in 893 is mentioned in the historical sources on the Hungarian conquest because some of the Hungarian historians and archaeologists thought that this event caused the Pechenegs’ raid against the Hungarians, which may have prompted the Hungarians to migrate into the Carpathian Basin in 896. If one takes a closer look at the sources, however, one sees that al-Mas'ūdī’s work, where he wrote more about the raids and fights on these territories, unfortunately has been lost, and no sources have been found describing this raid as the starting point of an eastern-western migration of the Karlukhs towards to the Oghuz people who dwelled near the Aral Sea. Instead, according to the sources, part of the Karlukh people moved to Kasghar, and this city lies not to the west, but to the southeast of Taraz. Moreover, al-Mas'ūdī did not mention the Hungarian migration is his books at all. After having studied the related sources, I have come to the conclusion that we cannot consider this raid as the starting point of a greater migration, at least not in the case of the Hungarian conquest. Rather, it was in all probability an important event in a longer border fight between the pagan Turkic/Nomadic peoples and the Caliphate.
A Solti Aranykulcsos Füzetek a Helyi Tükör mellékleteként ingyenesen megjelenő időszaki helytörté... more A Solti Aranykulcsos Füzetek a Helyi Tükör mellékleteként ingyenesen megjelenő időszaki helytörténeti kiadvány. A második rész szerzői a Soltra vonatkozó írott történeti emlékeket – nem középiskolás fokon – gyűjtötték össze a helyi lakosság részére.
The role of horses in different cultures is quite various and can be discussed from many aspects.... more The role of horses in different cultures is quite various and can be discussed from many aspects. In this paper, I will shed some light on the training of mounts and I would like to argue that Turkic/ Nomadic peoples had a high level of knowledge about horsemanship. It does not mean that they trained all their horses in the same way and on the same level, but it is most likely that they have had trainings similar to what is called Academic Art of Riding today and their methods and results are very interesting – especially if we can find some more tiny details in our sources about that. The horses were important not only in everyday life of nomadic peoples, but in warfare as well, and if we consider this unique connection between soldiers and their animals, namely to be each others' companion in everyday life and battles, one can not wonder if the horse had an important role in the life and afterlife of Turkic warriors. If the Turk is a one-man team, than the horse will be the carrier of his life in most ways. As the companion of warriors, this animal and its training would deserve more attention in the medieval military history.
![Research paper thumbnail of A szíriai partvidék a keresztes háborúk után - A különböző felekezetek együttélése a mamlúk és oszmán korban. [The Syrian Coastal Region after the Crusades]. In Világtörténet (2017) 2: 267-295.](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/54549350/thumbnails/1.jpg)
The Syrian coastal region, which had always played an important role in the history as the “gate”... more The Syrian coastal region, which had always played an important role in the history as the “gate” between the East and the West since the Metal Age, flourished for the last time before the modern history in the age of the Crusades. In the course of the Mamluk conquest and during the period following it, from the point of the Syrian coastal region we can see many irreversible processes that further on had a very hard effect on the life of the region. This article points at the Mamluks’ and Ottomans’ politics relating to the Syrian territories that was essentially determined by their fear of the Crusaders’ return. At the same time, the author gives an overview about the most important events of these periods, and sketches the region’s governmental structure and its various religious communities’ history. On the basis of available evidence, it can be argued that the Mamluks failed to integrate the Syrian coastal region and its population completely into the Mamluk Sultanate. Moreover, this once densely populated, economically and commercially flourishing area began to fall into decay. This destruction continued further in the Ottoman era by the preliminary study of sources.
![Research paper thumbnail of Al-Idrisi a baskírokról - adalék a "baskír kérdés" arab forrásaihoz. [Al-Idrisi's account on the Bashkirs - addenda to the Arabic sources]. In: ..In nostra lingua Hringe nominant. Tanulmányok Szentpéteri József 60. születésnapja tiszteletére. Budapest-Kecskemét 2015, 231-242.](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/38249557/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad al-Idrisi (+1165) was one of the greatest medieval Arabic geographers who... more Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad al-Idrisi (+1165) was one of the greatest medieval Arabic geographers whose famous work, the Kitab nuzhat al-mushtaq fi ikhtirak al-afaq includes interesting details about the medieval Kingdom of Hungary which has been translated earlier by István Elter. The work might be worthy of attention from the early Hungarian history point of view because al-Idrisi writes about the Bashkirs and gives some more informations on them than the earlier writers. His sources were the works of Ibn Khurradadhbih, al-Istakhri, Ibn Hawqal and Sallam the Interpreter. In addition, he should have used the Arabic version of Ptolemy's Geography, the lost text from al-Djayhani and the books of al-Khwarazmi and Ibn Suhrab. The article gives a short description about al-Idrisi's work and his sources and includes the translation of excerpts about the Bashkirs from the discussed works. The author is hoping that these texts can give additional insights on this matter as regards the Arabic sources.
![Research paper thumbnail of Szemelvények al-Tabarí íjászatról szóló kézikönyvéből. Érdekesség a X. század keleti fegyver-és hadelméleti irodalmából [Excerpts from al-Tabari handbook on archery. A curiosity from the tenth century Eastern literature of weapons and warfare]. Hadtörténelmi Közlemények 2014 (127) 1. szám, 181–205.](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/33539263/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Archery was for a long time an important part of warfare, its written traces can be found already... more Archery was for a long time an important part of warfare, its written traces can be found already in the literature of ancient times, in the descriptions and the terminology of the works on strategics. The paper publishes excerpts from a later Arab manuscript from the second half of the tenth century, from Abú Muhammad ‘Abd al-Rahman Ahmad al-Tabarī’s Kitab al-wadih fi al-Ramī (The Book of Purity in Archery), in Hungarian translation. There is a short introduction before the translated excerpts where the translator writes down the most important things about the author and the manuscript, and while discussing the cultural background of the work she also gives a summary of the main characteristics of the mamlūk furūsiyya literature. The structure of Al-Tabarī’s manuscript is similar to the other works related to this subject: the first part of the work analyses the meaning of archery, and the author cites the traditions of archery as words coming from the Prophetʼs mouth; and then comes the main part. The book is divided into chapters: Al-Ṭabarī discusses the elements and techniques of archery first, followed by a treatise on the equipment, the bow and the arrows. Here he gives a detailed description of the different bow types and the names
of bow parts. The selected excerpts discuss the basics and the techniques of archery, how it can be instructed (holding and drawing the bow, aiming, holding the string, positioning the fingers, releasing the arrow), and also speaks about the possible injuries and the main parts of the bow.
Book Reviews by Zsuzsanna Zsidai
Vlad Andrei Lăzărescu’s (hereafter V.A.L.) book breaks with the local historiographical tradition... more Vlad Andrei Lăzărescu’s (hereafter V.A.L.) book breaks with the local historiographical tradition in at least two major points. Firstly, a macro-regional analysis of the 4
th century AD Transylvanian Basin from an ‘international’ perspective has hitherto not been undertaken. Secondly, its historical-archaeological assertions have far-reaching implications on the research history of the aforementioned region, as the study points out that it is impossible to speak of ethnical continuity in the Transylvanian Basin. It is important to underline the fact that identities are sociological and socio-historical phenomena (constructs) brought to life by political will. Furthermore, the notion of continuity itself is also multidimensional, and in a political sense its emergence can be traced back to the early phases of ‘nation-building’ in the 18 th–19th century.
Birtalan áGnes, Czentnár anDrás és iványi tamás közreműködésével BUDAPEST
Books by Zsuzsanna Zsidai
A Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Bölcsészettudományi Kutatóközpont keretén belül 2012. február 23-án ... more A Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Bölcsészettudományi Kutatóközpont keretén belül 2012. február 23-án jött létre a Magyar Őstörténeti Témacsoport. Az egyik legjelentősebb vállalkozásuk volt az a teljes magyarországi kutatói szféra (az MTA, a felsőoktatási és a múzeumi hálózat) munkatársait mozgósító kétnapos konferencia, amelyre az MTA Székházában került sor 2013. április 17–18-án Budapesten. A rendezvény szekciói magukban foglalták a régészeti, embertani, genetikai, nyelvtörténeti, művelődéstörténeti, történeti, tudománytörténeti, valamint a tudományos rekonstrukciók és a hazai hagyományőrzés legfontosabb kérdéseit. A magyar honfoglalásra emlékező millecentenáriumi konferenciasorozat (1992–1996) óta eltelt időszak tudományos eredményeivel egyfajta nemzedéki tükörkép nyújtására vállalkoztak mind a szakemberek, mind a múltunk minél alaposabb feltárása iránt érdeklődő nagyközönség számára. A 2014-ben megjelent kötet a konferencián elhangzott előadások szerkesztett változatait tartalmazza.
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Papers by Zsuzsanna Zsidai
always been an engaging problem among scholars of the early history of this territory.
The Arabs came into contact with Central Asian peoples from the beginning in the
seventh century, during the course of the Islamic conquest. Hence, one finds many
details about the peoples of the Steppe in the Arabic sources.
The Arabic geographer Ibn Rusta mentions the Hungarians among the Turkic peoples
in the beginning of the tenth century. However, according to the Arabic sources, there
were many Turkic tribes or peoples in different regions, such in Ferghana, Khorasan,
Transoxania, Samarqand, and near Armenia. Based on this fact, the term “Turk” can be
interpreted in different ways. My aim is to indicate some of the difficulties concerning
the translation and interpretation of the terms referring to peoples or tribes, such as
“jins” and “qawm,” and to give some examples of occurrences of the ethnonym “Turk”
in medieval Arabic texts.
I begin with a discussion of the relevant methodological questions and then argue that
the designation “Turk” should be used more cautiously as a group-identifying term in
the wider context of the early Medieval world of the Eurasian Steppe.
of bow parts. The selected excerpts discuss the basics and the techniques of archery, how it can be instructed (holding and drawing the bow, aiming, holding the string, positioning the fingers, releasing the arrow), and also speaks about the possible injuries and the main parts of the bow.
Book Reviews by Zsuzsanna Zsidai
th century AD Transylvanian Basin from an ‘international’ perspective has hitherto not been undertaken. Secondly, its historical-archaeological assertions have far-reaching implications on the research history of the aforementioned region, as the study points out that it is impossible to speak of ethnical continuity in the Transylvanian Basin. It is important to underline the fact that identities are sociological and socio-historical phenomena (constructs) brought to life by political will. Furthermore, the notion of continuity itself is also multidimensional, and in a political sense its emergence can be traced back to the early phases of ‘nation-building’ in the 18 th–19th century.
Books by Zsuzsanna Zsidai
always been an engaging problem among scholars of the early history of this territory.
The Arabs came into contact with Central Asian peoples from the beginning in the
seventh century, during the course of the Islamic conquest. Hence, one finds many
details about the peoples of the Steppe in the Arabic sources.
The Arabic geographer Ibn Rusta mentions the Hungarians among the Turkic peoples
in the beginning of the tenth century. However, according to the Arabic sources, there
were many Turkic tribes or peoples in different regions, such in Ferghana, Khorasan,
Transoxania, Samarqand, and near Armenia. Based on this fact, the term “Turk” can be
interpreted in different ways. My aim is to indicate some of the difficulties concerning
the translation and interpretation of the terms referring to peoples or tribes, such as
“jins” and “qawm,” and to give some examples of occurrences of the ethnonym “Turk”
in medieval Arabic texts.
I begin with a discussion of the relevant methodological questions and then argue that
the designation “Turk” should be used more cautiously as a group-identifying term in
the wider context of the early Medieval world of the Eurasian Steppe.
of bow parts. The selected excerpts discuss the basics and the techniques of archery, how it can be instructed (holding and drawing the bow, aiming, holding the string, positioning the fingers, releasing the arrow), and also speaks about the possible injuries and the main parts of the bow.
th century AD Transylvanian Basin from an ‘international’ perspective has hitherto not been undertaken. Secondly, its historical-archaeological assertions have far-reaching implications on the research history of the aforementioned region, as the study points out that it is impossible to speak of ethnical continuity in the Transylvanian Basin. It is important to underline the fact that identities are sociological and socio-historical phenomena (constructs) brought to life by political will. Furthermore, the notion of continuity itself is also multidimensional, and in a political sense its emergence can be traced back to the early phases of ‘nation-building’ in the 18 th–19th century.