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.
