The Royal Hunt in Eurasian History
Thomas T. Allsen
From antiquity to the nineteenth century, the royal hunt was a vital component of the political cultures of the Middle East, India, Central Asia, and China. Besides marking elite status, royal hunts functioned as inspection tours and imperial progresses, a means of asserting kingly authority over the countryside. The hunt was, in fact, the "court out-of-doors," an open-air theater for displays of majesty, the entertainment of guests, and the bestowal of favor on subjects.
In the conduct of interstate relations, great hunts were used to train armies, show the flag, and send diplomatic signals. Wars sometimes began as hunts and ended as celebratory chases. Often understood as a kind of covert military training, the royal hunt was subject to the same strict discipline as that applied in war and was also a source of innovation in military organization and tactics.
Just as human subjects were to recognize royal power, so was the natural kingdom brought within the power structure by means of the royal hunt. Hunting parks were centers of botanical exchange, military depots, early conservation reserves, and important links in local ecologies. The mastery of the king over nature served an important purpose in official renderings: as a manifestation of his possession of heavenly good fortune he could tame the natural world and keep his kingdom safe from marauding threats, human or animal. The exchanges of hunting partners--cheetahs, elephants, and even birds--became diplomatic tools as well as serving to create an elite hunting culture that transcended political allegiances and ecological frontiers.
This sweeping comparative work ranges from ancient Egypt to India under the Raj. With a magisterial command of contemporary sources, literature, material culture, and archaeology, Thomas T. Allsen chronicles the vast range of traditions surrounding this fabled royal occupation.
Thomas T. Allsen is Professor Emeritus, Department of History, College of New Jersey.
Encounters with Asia
2006 | 416 pages | 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 | 21 illus.
ISBN 978-0-8122-3926-3 | Cloth | $59.95s | £39.00
ISBN 978-0-8122-0107-9 | Ebook | $59.95s | £39.00
World Rights | History, Asian Studies
Short copy:
From antiquity to the nineteenth century, the royal hunt was a vital component of the political cultures of the Middle East, India, Central Asia, and China.

Preface
1. Hunting Histories
—World Histories and the World of Animals
—Pursuing Protein
—Pursuing Profit
—Pursuing Power
—This Hunting History
2. Field and Stream
—Who Hunted?
—Where Did They Hunt?
—How Often Did They Hunt?
—How Did They Hunt?
—On What Scale Did They Hunt?
3. Parks
—The Paradise and Its Antecedents
—Hunting Parks at the Core and on the Periphery
—Hunting Parks in East Asia
—The Purposes of Paradise
4. Partners
—Animals Assistants
—Dogs
—Birds
—Elephants
—Cats
5. Administration
—Hunting Establishments
—Success and Safety
—Careers
—Costs
6. Conservation
—Killing and Sparing
—Game Management
—Cultural Constraints
—Species Endangered
—Natural Attitudes
7. A Measure of Men
—Hunting and Hierarchy
—Princely Virtues
—Courting Danger
—Publicizing Prowess
8. Political Animals
—Power of Animals
—Power over Animals
9. Legitimation
—Animals and Ideology
—Threat
—Animal Control Officer
—State and Nature
10. Circulation
—On the Road
—Pursuing Pleasure
—Favors
—The Court Out-of-Doors
11. Intimidation
—Initiating Warriors
—Imitating War
—Intimating War
—Initiating War
12. Internationalization
—Traffic in Animals
—Dogs
—Birds
—Elephants
—Cats
—Traffic in Trainers
13. Conclusions
—History Wide
—History Deep
Notes
Abbreviations and Sources
Modern Scholarship
Index
Acknowledgments

Thomas T. Allsen (1940-2019) was Professor Emeritus of The College of New Jersey and author of several books, including Commodity and Exchange in the Mongol Empire: A Cultural History of Islamic Textiles and Culture and Conquest in Mongol Eurasia. His The Steppe and the Sea is also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.