Medieval Lives 4: Chen Cheng, his Travels, and his Troubles at Work

Detail from a 15th-century illustrated telling of a Nizami story, commissioned in Herat. (Met Museum)

A standalone episode on medieval diplomacy, on the travels, career, and narrative of a 14th and 15th century Ming Dynasty diplomat and administrator, and on the history around him. Chen Cheng would suffer professional setbacks outside of his control, as the the Jianwen Emperor would be replaced by the Yongle Emperor, and he would make the overland journey from China to see Shah Rukh, the son of Timur (Tamerlane), in Timurid Herat.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

Sources:

• Hecker, Felicia J. “A Fifteenth-Century Chinese Diplomat in Herat.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 3, no. 1 (1993): 85–98.

• Rossabi, Morris. “Two Ming Envoys to Inner Asia.” T’oung Pao 62, no. 1/3 (1976): 1–34.

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Ghiyath al-Din Naqqash 2: AM Feasting & Other Diplomatic Concerns

17th-century painting by anonymous artist - (Wikimedia)

A story of medieval travel and diplomacy, the 15th-century story of Ghiyath al-Din and the other Timurid envoys, and their visit to Yongle's Beijing on behalf of Timur's son Shah Rukh.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

Sources:

• "Report to Mirza Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court at Peking," in A Century of Princes: Sources on Timurid History and Art, selected and translated by W. M. Thackston. Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, 1989.

• Ford, Graeme. "The Uses of Persian in Imperial China: The Translation Practices of the Great Ming," in The Persianate World, edited by Nile Green. University of California Press, 2019.

• Hecker, Felicia J. “A Fifteenth-Century Chinese Diplomat in Herat,” in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 3, no. 1 (1993): 85–98.

• Lipman, Jonathan N. Familiar Strangers: A History of Muslims in Northwest China. University of Washington Press, 2011.

• Park, Hyunhee. Mapping the Chinese and Islamic Worlds: Cross-Cultural Exchange in Pre-Modern Asia. Cambridge University Press, 2012.

• Rossabi, Morris. A History of China. Wiley, 2013.

• Rossabi, Morris. "Two Ming Envoys to Inner Asia," in T’oung Pao 62, no. 1/3 (1976): 1–34.

• Tsai, Shih-shan Henry. Perpetual Happiness. University of Washington Press, 2011.

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Ghiyath al-Din Naqqash 1: A Timurid Painter in Ming China

The Yongle Emperor

In the early 15th century, Shah Rukh, the son of Timur, sent an embassy east to the target of his father's last military campaign, Ming China. Making that journey from Timurid Herat to the home of the Yongle Emperor (with stops along the way at Samarkand, Tashkent, Hami, Ganzhou, and finally Khanbaliq) was a chronicler and painter named Ghiyāth al-Dīn. His story is one of medieval diplomacy and travel.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

Sources:

• "Report to Mirza Baysunghur on the Timurid Legation to the Ming Court at Peking," in A Century of Princes: Sources on Timurid History and Art, selected and translated by W. M. Thackston. Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, 1989.

• Ford, Graeme. "The Uses of Persian in Imperial China: The Translation Practices of the Great Ming," in The Persianate World, edited by Nile Green. University of California Press, 2019.

• Lipman, Jonathan N. Familiar Strangers A History of Muslims in Northwest China. University of Washington Press, 2011.

• Park, Hyunhee. Mapping the Chinese and Islamic Worlds: Cross-Cultural Exchange in Pre-Modern Asia. Cambridge University Press, 2012.

• Rossabi, Morris. A History of China. Wiley, 2013.

• Rossabi, Morris. "Two Ming Envoys to Inner Asia," in T’oung Pao 62, no. 1/3 (1976): 1–34.

• Tsai, Shih-shan Henry. Perpetual Happiness. University of Washington Press, 2011.

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Abd-al-Razzaq Samarqandi 1: The Unwilling Envoy

Qāliqūṭ / Calicut as depicted in Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg’s atlas Civitates orbis terrarum, 1572

It's 1442, and Shah Rukh, the son of Timur, is sending an ambassador to Qaliqut / Kozhikode on the Indian coast. That ambassador, Abd-al-Razzāq, sails from Hormuz and experiences delays, sickness, death, and disappointment. Making matters worse, he never actually wanted to go.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here.

Sources:

• India in the Fifteenth Century: Being a Collection of Narratives of Voyages to India. Edited by Richard Henry Major. Hakluyt Society, 1857.

• Alam, Muzaffar and Subrahmanyam, Sanjay. Indo-Persian Travels in the Age of Discoveries, 1400–1800. Cambridge University Press, 2007.

• Prange, Sebastian R. Monsoon Islam: Trade and Faith on the Medieval Malabar Coast. Cambridge University Press, 2018.

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