The Caucasus Under Soviet Rule

The Caucasus Under Soviet Rule PDF

Author: Alex Marshall

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2010-09-13

Total Pages: 855

ISBN-13: 1136938249

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The Caucasus is a strategically and economically important region in contemporary global affairs. Western interest in the Caucasus has grown rapidly since 1991, fuelled by the admixture of oil politics, great power rivalry, ethnic separatism and terrorism that characterizes the region. However, until now there has been little understanding of how these issues came to assume the importance they have today. This book argues that understanding the Soviet legacy in the region is critical to analysing both the new states of the Transcaucasus and the autonomous territories of the North Caucasus. It examines the impact of Soviet rule on the Caucasus, focusing in particular on the period from 1917 to 1955. Important questions covered include how the Soviet Union created ‘nations’ out of the diverse peoples of the North Caucasus; the true nature of the 1917 revolution; the role and effects of forced migration in the region; how over time the constituent nationalities of the region came to re-define themselves; and how Islamic radicalism came to assume the importance it continues to hold today. A cauldron of war, revolution, and foreign interventions - from the British and Ottoman Turks to the oil-hungry armies of Hitler’s Third Reich - the Caucasus and the policies and actors it produced (not least Stalin, Sergo Ordzhonikidze and Anastas Mikoyan) both shaped the Soviet experiment in the twentieth century and appear set to continue to shape the geopolitics of the twenty-first. Making unprecedented use of memoirs, archives and published sources, this book is an invaluable aid for scholars, political analysts and journalists alike to understanding one of the most important borderlands of the modern world.

Honored by the Glory of Islam

Honored by the Glory of Islam PDF

Author: Marc David Baer

Publisher: OUP USA

Published: 2011-09

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 0199797838

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Marc David Baer proposes a novel approach to the historical record of Islamic conversions during the Ottoman age and gathers fresh insights concerning the nature of religious conversion itself. Rather than explaining Ottoman Islamization in terms of the converts' motives, Baer concentrates on the proselytizing sultan Mehmet IV (1648-87).

Historical Traumas among Armenian, Kurdish, and Turkish People of Anatolia

Historical Traumas among Armenian, Kurdish, and Turkish People of Anatolia PDF

Author: Nermin Soyalp

Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Published: 2021-12-06

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 1782847057

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The deep wounds that exist from long-standing conflicts between Turks, Kurds, and Armenians have not yet been sufficiently addressed and healed. Nermin Soyalp explains the collective traumas and their significant psychosocial impacts in terms of the potential for reconciliation among these politically conflicted groups. Discussion centres on the transgenerational implications of the Balkan wars of 1912-1913, the Armenian genocide of 1915-1917, the Greco-Turco war of 1920-1922, the formation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the population exchange with the Balkans in 1924, the conflict between the Turkish government and Kurdish identity since the formation of the Republic, as well as the impacts of assimilation policies on minorities. Drawing on the complexities of history, psychology, and identity, this book elucidates how collectively and historically shared traumas become inherently more complex, and more difficult to address, generation by generation. Epistemologies of ignorance in Turkey have suppressed the transgenerational experiences of trauma and prevented healing modalities. The Turkish state and society have consciously and unconsciously denied historical realities such as the Armenian genocide and Kurds ethnopolitical rights. The result is a collective dehumanization that fuels further trauma and conflicts. The collective traumas of Anatolia have impacted its society at multiple levels -- psychological, physical, economic, cultural, political, and institutional. The author, a dialogue facilitator for the non-profit Healing the Wounds of History organisation, proposes systemic healing modalities that address the dynamics at play. The research that underpins this work is highly relevant to the healing of other historical and cultural traumas.

Revelation of Mystery

Revelation of Mystery PDF

Author: Ali B. Uthman Al- Hujwiri

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2007-09-01

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13: 9781507885581

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Cognitional gnosis is the foundation of all blessings in this world and in the next, for the most important thing for a man at all times and under all circumstances is knowledge of Allah, Blessed He in Whose hands is Dominion, and He hath power over all things. He Who created Death and Life that He may try mankind that who is the best in deeds. He is the Creator of Heavens and invites to ponder on His signs and see if they are able to find any flaw in His creation. Allah Almighty hath said, “I have only created Jinee and men, that they may serve Me,” and the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “If you knew Allah as He ought to be known, you would walk on the seas, and the mountains would move at your supplication.” Allah has promised rewards for the pious that follows His commands and punishment for the transgressors. His reward is everlasting and so His punishment. The reality of his reward really cannot be ascertained by the intellect. It is eternal life in the next world in His proximity where one won't find any anguish or grief. This life is a momentary, rather a testing and trial phase, as He said, who is in doubt concerning it: (Q 34:21), and do you think that you shall enter the Garden without such (trials) as came to those who passed away before you? (Q 2:154). In the prevailing era majority of the mankind has been led astray from the righteous path and have become captivated of their sensual desires. They have not only forgotten that for what purpose they were created but have lowered themselves worse than the level of beasts. This world is a heap of rubbish and a place of dogs and one who lingers there is worse than a dog, for a dog takes what he wants from it and goes, but the lover of the world never gets satisfied and neither he likes leaving it at any time. They always remain in the process of accumulating worldly gains and keep on sitting over them like a snake and remain dipped in its love. Their whole activities are more in resemblance to heedlessness and have forgotten their exalted highest state among the creation. Allah gave him the status of His Deputy on earth and commanded that they should worship Him only. Kashf al-Mahjub is in circulation for the last over ten centuries and its reading has caused millions of hearts to find their way to the Truth. It provides ample opportunity to the seeker of the Truth and guides him to his goal even without any inter mediatory. Its teaching is simple and heart throbbing. The original book is in Persian. Though no translation can match the original text, particularly when the use of technical terms encompass the meanings and feelings of the trade holder, it becomes more difficult to translate the expressions in their true sense. However, earnest efforts have been made to produce the work as near to the original as possible. The verses of Quran and sayings of the eminent Sufis has been added in Arabic and their closest possible vocabulary in English has been used in translation. Since in Islamic culture the Arabic vocabulary is much in use and understood by all the folks, therefore, such phrases and words which are in common use among Muslim community are made part of the translation along with their English translation. For the benefit of common readers I have tried the keep the language as simple as possible. It is hoped that all those hearts who are desirous of acquiring the knowledge of the Truth and eager of following the righteous path would overcome their thirst by studying this book and Allah willing would achieve their goal of attaining His proximity. As the author says that he has composed this book to polish the hearts of those who are subject to temporary veiling but in whom the substance of light of the Truth is existent, in order that the veil may be lifted from them by the blessing of reading it, and that they may find their way to spiritual reality. May Allah Almighty bless all of us with His Mercies and Bounties both in this world as well as Hereafter.

King of the Mountain

King of the Mountain PDF

Author: Arnold M. Ludwig

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2013-07-24

Total Pages: 496

ISBN-13: 0813143306

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People may choose to ignore their animal heritage by interpreting their behavior as divinely inspired, socially purposeful, or even self-serving, all of which they attribute to being human, but they masticate, fornicate, and procreate, much as chimps and apes do, so they should have little cause to get upset if they learn that they act like other primates when they politically agitate, debate, abdicate, placate, and administrate, too." -- from the book King of the Mountain presents the startling findings of Arnold M. Ludwig's eighteen-year investigation into why people want to rule. The answer may seem obvious -- power, privilege, and perks -- but any adequate answer also needs to explain why so many rulers cling to power even when they are miserable, trust nobody, feel besieged, and face almost certain death. Ludwig's results suggest that leaders of nations tend to act remarkably like monkeys and apes in the way they come to power, govern, and rule. Profiling every ruler of a recognized country in the twentieth century -- over 1,900 people in all­­, Ludwig establishes how rulers came to power, how they lost power, the dangers they faced, and the odds of their being assassinated, committing suicide, or dying a natural death. Then, concentrating on a smaller sub-set of 377 rulers for whom more extensive personal information was available, he compares six different kinds of leaders, examining their characteristics, their childhoods, and their mental stability or instability to identify the main predictors of later political success. Ludwig's penetrating observations, though presented in a lighthearted and entertaining way, offer important insight into why humans have engaged in war throughout recorded history as well as suggesting how they might live together in peace.

Islam and Healing

Islam and Healing PDF

Author: Seema Alavi

Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 9780239554383

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This book traces the Islamic healing tradition's interaction with Indian society and politics as they evolved in tandem from 1600 to 1900, and demonstrates how an in-house struggle for hegemony can be as potent as external power in defining medical, social and national modernity. This is a pioneering work on the social and medical history of Indian Islam.

The Chechens

The Chechens PDF

Author: Amjad M. Jaimoukha

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 9780415323284

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This volume provides a ready introduction and practical guide to the Chechen people, including chapters on history, religion, politics, economy, culture, literature and media.