Inner Asia refers to the northern and landlocked regions spanning North, Central, and East Asia. It includes parts of western and northeast China, as well as southern Siberia. The area overlaps with some definitions of "Central Asia", mostly the historical ones, but certain regions that are often included in Inner Asia, such as Iran, are not a part of Central Asia by any of its definitions. Inner Asia may be regarded as the western and northern "frontier" of China proper and as being bounded by East Asia proper, which consists of China proper, Japan and Korea.[1]
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The extent of Inner Asia has been understood differently in different periods. "Inner Asia" is sometimes contrasted to "China proper", that is, the territories originally unified under the Qin dynasty with majority identifying their ethnicity as Han populations. By the year 1800, Chinese Inner Asia consisted of the Tibetan Plateau, Xinjiang and Mongolian Plateau. They were governed through administrative structures different from those of the older Chinese provinces.[2] The frontier regions of China proper are also sometimes included as part of Inner Asia.[3][4]
Definition and usage
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"Inner Asia" today has a range of definitions and usages.[5] Denis Sinor, for example, used "Inner Asia" in contrast to agricultural civilizations, noting its changing borders, such as when a Roman province was taken by the Huns, areas of North China were occupied by barbarians, or Anatolia came under Turkish influence, eradicating Hellenistic culture.[6]
Some scholars or historians use the term "Inner Asia" to describe territories outside of Chinese speaking proper,[7] although previous empires like the Han dynasty, Tang dynasty and Ming dynasty also expanded their realms and influences into Inner Asia.
According to Morris Rossabi, Inner Asia is composed not only of the five Central Asian countries, which includes Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan, but also includes western and northern China, Iran, Mongolia, Afghanistan.[8]
The Committee on Inner Asian and Altaic Studies of Harvard University defines Inner Asia as a region consisting of West Turkestan, East Turkestan (i.e., Xinjiang), Eastern Iran, Northern Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and northwestern Yunnan.[3]
The Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit at the University of Cambridge defines Inner Asia as "an area centred on Mongolia and extending across the region of the great steppes to the Himalayas", including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, East Turkestan, Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Altai, Tuva, Buryatia and Chita.[4]
In other languages
editIn French, Asie centrale can mean either "Central Asia" or "Inner Asia", while Mongolia and Tibet are grouped as Haute Asie (lit.?'Upper Asia').[9]
The terms meaning "Inner Asia" in the languages of Inner Asia itself are all modern translations of terms in European languages, mostly Russian.[9]
Related terms
editCentral Asia
edit"Central Asia" normally denotes the western part of Inner Asia; that is, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, with Afghanistan sometimes also included as part of Central Asia. However, The Library of Congress subject classification system treats "Central Asia" and Inner Asia as synonymous.[9]
Central Eurasia
editAccording to Morris Rossabi, the term "Inner Asia" is the well-established term for the area in the literature. However, because of its deficiencies, including the implication of an "Outer Asia" that does not exist, Denis Sinor has proposed the neologism "Central Eurasia", which emphasizes the role of the area in intercontinental exchange.[10] According to Sinor:[11]
The definition that can be given of Central Eurasia in space is negative. It is that part of the continent of Eurasia that lies beyond the borders of the great sedentary civilizations.... Although the area of Central Eurasia is subject to fluctuations, the general trend is that of diminution. With the territorial growth of the sedentary civilizations, their borderline extends and offers a larger surface on which new layers of barbarians will be deposited.
Origin of Inner Asian studies
edit
Central Europe is the birthplace of Inner Asian studies in the West. Hungarian explorers and scholars of the early 19th century travelled to Inner Asia with an attempt to find their own national origins. Sándor K?r?si Csoma was the first among these explorers, who became the founder of Tibetology. The Hungarian count Béla Széchenyi led a scientific expedition to Inner Asia in 1877–1880 and subsequently founded the journal Turán in 1913. The term "Inner Asian studies" (Hungarian: bels?-ázsiai kutatások; German: innerasiatische Studien) first appeared in the masthead of Turán.[9]
Aurel Stein's discoveries of Inner Asian antiquities contributed significantly to the knowledge of the civilizations of this region. In 1928, he published his 4-volume work entitled Innermost Asia: Detailed Report of Explorations in Central Asia, Kan-su and Eastern Iran, Carried Out and Described under the Orders of H.M. Indian Government. In 1940, the first academic chair for Inner Asian studies was established by Lajos Ligeti at the University of Budapest.[9]
See also
edit- China proper
- Chinese Tartary
- Western Regions
- Nomadic empire
- Eurasianism
- Indo-Pacific Asia, the rest of Asia
- Pan-Mongolism
- Silk Road
- Turco-Mongols
- Turkification
- Turan
- Turanism
- Tartary
- Division of the Mongol Empire
Chinese dynastic history
edit- Han dynasty in Inner Asia
- Tang dynasty in Inner Asia
- Yuan dynasty in Inner Asia
- Ming dynasty in Inner Asia
- Qing dynasty in Inner Asia
Regional history
editReferences
editCitations
edit- ^ Bulag, Uradyn E. (October 2005). "Where is East Asia?: Central Asian and Inner Asian Perspectives on Regionalism". Japan Focus. Archived from the original on 2025-08-05. Retrieved 2025-08-05.
- ^ The Cambridge History of China: Volume 10, Part 1, by John K. Fairbank, p37
- ^ a b "The Committee on Inner Asian and Altaic Studies". harvard.edu. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- ^ a b "Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit: About us". miasu.socanth.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- ^ Book Abstract: "Inner Asia: Making a Long-Term U.S. Commitment." Archived 2025-08-05 at the Wayback Machine Authors: Carol D. Clair; Army War Coll Carlisle Barracks Pa. Retrieved: 22 August 2009.
- ^ The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, Volume 1 By Denis Sinor. Retrieved: 22 August 2009.
- ^ New Qing Imperial History: The Making of Inner Asian Empire at Qing Chengde, ed. Ruth W. Dunnell, Mark C. Elliott, Philippe Foret and James A. Millward
- ^ Rossabi, Morris. "Central Asia: A Historical Overview". Asia Society.
- ^ a b c d e "Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies (RIFIAS)". indiana.edu. Archived from the original on 12 March 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
- ^ Rossabi, Morris (1975). China and Inner Asia: from 1368 to the present day. Pica Press. p. 10.
- ^ Sinor, Denis (1997). Inner Asia: History, civilization, languages: a syllabus. p. 4.
Sources
edit- Di Cosmo, Nicola. 1999. "State Formation and Periodization in Inner Asian History". Journal of World History 10 (1). University of Hawai'i Press: 1–40. State Formation and Periodization in Inner Asian History.
- Rogers, J. Daniel. 2012. "Inner Asian States and Empires: Theories and Synthesis". Journal of Archaeological Research 20 (3). Springer: 205–56. Inner Asian States and Empires: Theories and Synthesis.