lirazel | (no subject)

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Anybody got any book recs for either nonfiction or fiction set in Central Asia and/or Afghanistan prior to the 19th century? (Going back as far as you like.)

I just find this area of the world really interesting but find little information on it. I'm super interested in Samarkand, the Silk Roads, etc.

There are a number of travelogues that people have written, like, tracing the Silk Roads and things. And those are interesting! But I'm really looking for something that isn't filtered through a contemporary perspective.

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I would love this too and will be watching this space.

Fingers crossed that somebody comes through for us!

(Hi, I am just a lurking subscriber who follows you for your book reviews so I hope it's OK to respond to this!) But my absolute favorite nonfiction I've yet read is "Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire" by Jack Weatherford.

It's hard to find accessible sources in English and this book uses a lot of historical Mongolian, Persian and Chinese sources. It talks a lot about how the various daughters and grand-daughters (Altani, Mandukhai, Khutulun, are prominent ones) of Genghis Khan rose to prominence and importance as diplomats and military leaders, and helped cement control of the Silk Road and territories across the Mongol Empire. It also takes note of some historical same-sex/gender relationships that I had never seen cited before in English.

TL;DR wow... I really recommend it!

Edited (adding some things I forgot) 2025-07-14 20:17 (UTC)

I love that book too! It's actual more Mongolian than what I'm looking for (I'm going for the definition of Central Asia as found here), but I second your recommendation for that book and also for the one before it about how Genghis Khan invented the modern world. That's a dumb title, but the book is very good, so I just blame the publisher.

Oh, my bad! I have Mongolian friends who call themselves Central Asian, so I had no idea the country wasn't categorized that way regionally in more "official" (?) definitions.

No problem at all! I was not clear! And it makes sense to include it imo.

This is not quite what you've asked for, but it's so good that I'm going to mention it anyway. The Devil's Dance, by Hamid Ismailov, who writes in Uzbek and Russian. It is a parallel story, set in the first half of the C19, in 1938, and in the contemporary period, so it is very much looking at the past through a contemporary perspective, but one belonging to an Uzbek writer. Despite being an by an established novelist, it was first published on social media because Ismailov's work was banned in Uzbekistan (he lives in the UK). https://www.tiltedaxispress.com/the-devils-dance. Sorry if this isn't what you are after.

Ooooooh! That was not what I was asking for, but it sounds so fascinating that I am absolutely going to add it to my to-read list. Thank you!!!

I hope you like it!

Inspired by what, I wonder :D

I found The Mongols: A Very Short Introduction to be a weirdly good time. It's a VSI, but the prose by Morris Rossabi had some liveliness to it! And it is, as the title says, very short, but covers the whole shebang. I read it during a class on empires.

And if I may strongly anti-recommend The Years of Rice and Salt if anyone tries to recommend it to you. On the grounds of has this man ever spoken to a woman in his life.

Haha!

Honestly, I feel kind of guilty about how the mere sight of the word Samarkand can send me into raptures, but it is what it is!

The VSI sounds fun! I will definitely pick it up sometime!

I tried to read that Robinson book because obviously the premise appealed, but I found it pretty unreadable for whatever reason, so I didn't get far. Sounds like I dodged a bullet!

This is a very weird suggestion, but... https://archiveofourown.org/works/8756347

Haha, that is very weird but I am DELIGHTED!

While it doesn't meet your pre-19th century criteria, I still recommend The Bride's Story. The art is beautiful, the history is generally solid, and the stories are fun.

I appreciate the rec! I wish I could do graphic novels, but I can't!

Ok reading the other comments this might be father east than you wanted but I love love love The King’s Road: Diplomacy and the Remaking of the Silk Road by Xin Wen. Its super thoughtful and nuanced and had tons of material culture details

I definitely want to read that one!!!

'The Plate of the Eclipses' by Tam Cranver is very good - it's a long Old Guard Joe/Nicky fanfiction, so maybe not what you want. Set in Bukhara in 1120, lots of period detail of the art, science, culture of that time. The final chapter is an extensive bibliography of all the sources used in writing the story. https://archiveofourown.org/works/43137246

Edited 2025-07-16 10:39 (UTC)

That sounds cool! Thanks!

I keep meaning to write up Black Bird, Blue Road but in the meantime I recommend it to you -- Central Asian Jewish-Khazarian kids voyaging to 8th or 9th century Byzantium in an attempt to either find a cure for leprosy, or fight the Angel of Death.

That sounds AMAZING. Thank you so much!

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