Before Tokugawa Bakufu collapsed in the 1868, the Dutch was the only European officially permitted by both Tokugawa Japan and Qing China to establish a trading post and settlement in their most...Show moreBefore Tokugawa Bakufu collapsed in the 1868, the Dutch was the only European officially permitted by both Tokugawa Japan and Qing China to establish a trading post and settlement in their most important maritime trading centre: Nagasaki and Canton. Under a series of restrictions implemented by the local authority over maritime trade with foreign countries and interactions between the Europeans and local inhabitants, merely a little amount of local civilians had the opportunity to interact with the Dutch. There were both officially permitted and secretly conducted interactions between the Dutch and local inhabitants in the two cities. The aim of this paper is to explore these seemingly minor and unimportant interactions between the two parties, with three groups of local inhabitants in Nagasaki and Canton, namely boatmen, interpreters, and women being the main focus. In doing so, we will see how both the Dutch and local inhabitants in these two East Asian cities managed to fulfil their needs and benefit from each other under restrictions of the authority and the state power.Show less
The Tarikh-i Alfi or “History of One Thousand Years- a Millennium” was commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the year 990/1582. The task was to compile a history of the world from the death...Show moreThe Tarikh-i Alfi or “History of One Thousand Years- a Millennium” was commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the year 990/1582. The task was to compile a history of the world from the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632 C.E down to Akbar’s reign and it was undertaken by a group of well-known scholars of his court. The book was to commemorate the completion of the first Islamic millennium, which occurred in 1592. It was designed to be superior in scope and contents over all other historical works that had been ever compiled. It was planned to include the history of all Muslim rulers from the day the Prophet passed away, to analyzing reasons of their rise and fall. Nonetheless, it was not limited to Muslim rulers, but also encompassed all other people, who came in contact with them. Hence, this makes the book more than simply a history of Mughals, Muslim rulers, or a certain region, but rather the history of the world for the one thousand years from 632 till 1592.Show less
This thesis at one level examines how and why were the European doctors as ‘outsiders’ able to make an impression on the aristocratic elites in the Mughal court? And at another level, it...Show moreThis thesis at one level examines how and why were the European doctors as ‘outsiders’ able to make an impression on the aristocratic elites in the Mughal court? And at another level, it investigates the direct relationship between cross-cultural medical favors and the advantages doctors gained by offering their services. Did such intercessions by doctors’ yield only the much-desired trade concessions like farmans to the trading companies in which these medical men were employed and represented as ambassadors in the courts or something more especially in terms of monetary gains such as money, an enviable position at the court or other benefits?Show less
Philosophers have long noted the striking similarities between the metaphysics in Hume's Treatise of Human Nature and certain aspects of Buddhist doctrine. More recently, Alison Gopnik (2009) has...Show morePhilosophers have long noted the striking similarities between the metaphysics in Hume's Treatise of Human Nature and certain aspects of Buddhist doctrine. More recently, Alison Gopnik (2009) has also claimed to have discovered a possible historical link between Hume and Buddhist thought. This study looks at both the philosophical parallels and the historical evidence, such as Gopnik's claims regarding Hume's interaction with the Jesuits of La Flèche, but also the influence of Pierre Bayle, as well as Hume's familiarity with Sextus Empiricus' Outlines of Pyrrhonism, a book from the 2nd century which may in turn have been influenced by early Buddhist ideas. Despite the significant philosophical parallels and the possibility of Buddhist influence on Hume, the study concludes that the evidence is too sparse, too weak, and too circumstantial to claim that Hume was influenced by Buddhism.Show less
