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<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title>The Pearl in Its Midst: Herat and the Mapping of Khurasan (15th-19th Centuries) - Christine Noelle-Karimi - Google Books</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/books/css/_ff77d0f0508c7e0bad470e7d6b7f28fa/kl_about_this_book_kennedy_full_bundle.css" type="text/css" /><link rel="stylesheet"href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Product+Sans:wght@400"><script src="/books/javascript/atb_ff77d0f0508c7e0bad470e7d6b7f28fa__en.js"></script><link rel="canonical" href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Pearl_in_Its_Midst.html?id=Kdl9oAEACAAJ"/><meta property="og:url" content="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Pearl_in_Its_Midst.html?id=Kdl9oAEACAAJ"/><meta name="title" content="The Pearl in Its Midst"/><meta name="description" content="This study is devoted to the city of Herat and its changing fortune within the eastern Iranian province of Khurasan in early modern and modern times. Based on Persian primary sources, it gauges the role of political developments and cultural memory in the shaping of spatial concepts and regional structures. As the capital of the Timurid Empire, Herats pivotal position reflected the political and spiritual centrality of an urban space embedded in a florescent agricultural and economic setting. Suffering a gradual decline in the subsequent centuries, the city receded to the sidelines of the historical narrative, a fact mirrored by a shift in focus in the sources from the local setting to larger strategic and ecological considerations pertaining to the province as a whole. With the delineation of fixed borders and the division of the region between Iran, Afghanistan and Transcaspia in the late 19th century, elastic concepts of sovereignty were replaced with hierarchical and centralistic notions of the state. Offering a long-term analysis of changing perceptions of power and space, this book provides the groundwork for a new understanding of the history of the region and its transition to modernity."/><meta property="og:title" content="The Pearl in Its Midst"/><meta property="og:type" content="book"/><meta property="og:site_name" content="Google Books"/><meta property="og:image" content="https://books.google.com.sg/books/content?id=Kdl9oAEACAAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&imgtk=AFLRE72LQzaXd_RtjwP7bqlwzfUAH6cUfDIsmpfMoblTYFHfhYtRz2xT2j7KNaas_EjZG5JRF5p-tYWHvTFGxS_3Ly8vVfmbcTYZB2D03j1IQ_KIsCEbTSgRyHPOEbVyYugwLEKRqz_p"/><link rel="image_src" href="https://books.google.com.sg/books/content?id=Kdl9oAEACAAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&imgtk=AFLRE72LQzaXd_RtjwP7bqlwzfUAH6cUfDIsmpfMoblTYFHfhYtRz2xT2j7KNaas_EjZG5JRF5p-tYWHvTFGxS_3Ly8vVfmbcTYZB2D03j1IQ_KIsCEbTSgRyHPOEbVyYugwLEKRqz_p"/><script></script><style>#gbar,#guser{font-size:13px;padding-top:1px !important;}#gbar{height:22px}#guser{padding-bottom:7px !important;text-align:right}.gbh,.gbd{border-top:1px solid #c9d7f1;font-size:1px}.gbh{height:0;position:absolute;top:24px;width:100%}@media all{.gb1{height:22px;margin-right:.5em;vertical-align:top}#gbar{float:left}}a.gb1,a.gb4{text-decoration:underline !important}a.gb1,a.gb4{color:#00c !important}.gbi .gb4{color:#dd8e27 !important}.gbf .gb4{color:#900 !important} #gbar { padding:.3em .6em !important;}</style></head><body class=""><div id=gbar><nobr><a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://www.google.com.sg/search?tab=pw">Search</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://www.google.com.sg/imghp?hl=en&tab=pi">Images</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://maps.google.com.sg/maps?hl=en&tab=pl">Maps</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://play.google.com/?hl=en&tab=p8">Play</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://www.youtube.com/?tab=p1">YouTube</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://news.google.com/?tab=pn">News</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?tab=pm">Gmail</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 href="https://drive.google.com/?tab=po">Drive</a> <a target=_blank class=gb1 style="text-decoration:none" href="https://www.google.com.sg/intl/en/about/products?tab=ph"><u>More</u> »</a></nobr></div><div id=guser width=100%><nobr><span id=gbn class=gbi></span><span id=gbf class=gbf></span><span id=gbe></span><a target=_top id=gb_70 href="https://www.google.com/accounts/Login?service=print&continue=https://books.google.com.sg/books%3Fid%3DKdl9oAEACAAJ%26redir_esc%3Dy%26hl%3Den&hl=en&ec=GAZACg" class=gb4>Sign in</a></nobr></div><div class=gbh style=left:0></div><div class=gbh style=right:0></div><div role="alert" style="position: absolute; left: 0; right: 0;"><a href="https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=Kdl9oAEACAAJ&redir_esc=y&hl=en&output=html_text" title="Screen reader users: click this link for accessible mode. 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Based on Persian primary sources, it gauges the role of political developments and cultural memory in the shaping of spatial concepts and regional structures. As the capital of the Timurid Empire, Herats pivotal position reflected the political and spiritual centrality of an urban space embedded in a florescent agricultural and economic setting. Suffering a gradual decline in the subsequent centuries, the city receded to the sidelines of the historical narrative, a fact mirrored by a shift in focus in the sources from the local setting to larger strategic and ecological considerations pertaining to the province as a whole. With the delineation of fixed borders and the division of the region between Iran, Afghanistan and Transcaspia in the late 19th century, elastic concepts of sovereignty were replaced with hierarchical and centralistic notions of the state. Offering a long-term analysis of changing perceptions of power and space, this book provides the groundwork for a new understanding of the history of the region and its transition to modernity.</div></div></div><div class="search_box_wrapper"></div></td> </tr></table><div id="summary-second-column"></div></div></div></div></div><div class=vertical_module_list_row><h3 class="about_title">Bibliographic information</h3><div class="about_content" id="metadata_content" style="padding-bottom:.3em"><div class="metadata_sectionwrap"><table id="metadata_content_table"><tr class="metadata_row"><td class="metadata_label">Title</td><td class="metadata_value"><span dir=ltr>The Pearl in Its Midst: Herat and the Mapping of Khurasan (15th-19th Centuries)</span><br><a class="primary" href="https://www.google.com.sg/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=bibliogroup:%22Denkschriften+(%C3%96sterreichische+Akademie+der+Wissenschaften.+Philosophisch-Historische+Klasse)%22&source=gbs_metadata_r&cad=1"><i><span dir=ltr>Volume 463 of Denkschriften (脰sterreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-Historische Klasse)</span></i></a>, <a class="primary" href="https://www.google.com.sg/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22%C3%96sterreichische+Akademie+der+Wissenschaften+Philosophisch-Historische+Klasse%22&source=gbs_metadata_r&cad=1"><span dir=ltr>脰sterreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften Philosophisch-Historische Klasse</span></a><br><a class="primary" href="https://www.google.com.sg/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=bibliogroup:%22Denkschriften+/+%C3%96sterreichische+Akademie+der+Wissenschaften,+Philosophisch-Historische+Klasse%22&source=gbs_metadata_r&cad=1"><i><span dir=ltr>Volume 463 of Denkschriften / 脰sterreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse</span></i></a><br><a class="primary" href="https://www.google.com.sg/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=bibliogroup:%22Denkschriften+der+Philosophisch-Historischen+Klasse+Series%22&source=gbs_metadata_r&cad=1"><i><span dir=ltr>Denkschriften der Philosophisch-Historischen Klasse Series</span></i></a><br><a class="primary" href="https://www.google.com.sg/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=bibliogroup:%22Denkschriften+By+Philosophisch-Historische+Klasse+%C3%B6sterreichische+Akademie+der+Wissenschaften%22&source=gbs_metadata_r&cad=1"><i><span dir=ltr>Volume 463 of Denkschriften</span></i></a>, <a class="primary" href="https://www.google.com.sg/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Philosophisch-Historische+Klasse+%C3%B6sterreichische+Akademie+der+Wissenschaften%22&source=gbs_metadata_r&cad=1"><span dir=ltr>Philosophisch-Historische Klasse 枚sterreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften</span></a><br><a class="primary" href="https://www.google.com.sg/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=bibliogroup:%22Ver%C3%B6ffentlichungen+zur+Iranistik%22&source=gbs_metadata_r&cad=1"><i><span dir=ltr>Issue 74 of Ver枚ffentlichungen zur Iranistik</span></i></a>, <span dir=ltr>ISSN</span> <span dir=ltr>2071-9949</span></td></tr><tr class="metadata_row"><td class="metadata_label"><span dir=ltr>Author</span></td><td class="metadata_value"><a class="primary" href="https://www.google.com.sg/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Christine+Noelle-Karimi%22&source=gbs_metadata_r&cad=1"><span dir=ltr>Christine Noelle-Karimi</span></a></td></tr><tr class="metadata_row"><td class="metadata_label"><span dir=ltr>Publisher</span></td><td class="metadata_value"><span dir=ltr>Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2014</span></td></tr><tr class="metadata_row"><td class="metadata_label"><span dir=ltr>ISBN</span></td><td class="metadata_value"><span dir=ltr>3700172028, 9783700172024</span></td></tr><tr class="metadata_row"><td class="metadata_label"><span dir=ltr>Length</span></td><td class="metadata_value"><span dir=ltr>374 pages</span></td></tr><tr class="metadata_row"><td class="metadata_label"><span dir=ltr>Subjects</span></td><td class="metadata_value"><div style="display:inline" itemscope itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Breadcrumb"><a class="primary" href="https://www.google.com.sg/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=subject:%22History%22" itemprop="url" dir=ltr><span itemprop="title">History</span></a></div> › <div style="display:inline" itemscope itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Breadcrumb"><a class="primary" href="https://www.google.com.sg/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=subject:%22History+Middle+East%22" itemprop="url" dir=ltr><span itemprop="title">Middle East</span></a></div> › <div style="display:inline" itemscope itemtype="http://data-vocabulary.org/Breadcrumb"><a class="primary" href="https://www.google.com.sg/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=subject:%22History+Middle+East+General%22" itemprop="url" dir=ltr><span itemprop="title">General</span></a></div><br><br><a class="primary" href="https://www.google.com.sg/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=subject:%22History+/+Middle+East+/+General%22&source=gbs_metadata_r&cad=1"><span dir=ltr>History / Middle East / General</span></a></td></tr><tr class="metadata_row"><td>&nbsp</td><td>&nbsp</td></tr><tr class="metadata_row"><td class="metadata_label"><span dir=ltr>Export Citation</span></td><td 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