"Correspondence is equal to half a meeting": The Composition and Comprehension of Letters in Eighteenth-century Islamic Eurasia

Author: Sood, Gagan D.S.¹

Source: Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, Volume 50, Numbers 2-3, 2007 , pp. 172-211(40)

Publisher: BRILL

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Abstract:

This article details the social and cultural mechanisms by which correspondence in Arabic- and Latin-script languages was written, understood and preserved in mid-eighteenth-century Islamic Eurasia. Aside from two major differences in letter-writing culture, which were embodied in the choice of script, the resident communities of Islamic Eurasia approached correspondence in a similar fashion. Perhaps surprisingly, there is no correlation between these practices and the author's ethnicity or nationality. This is strong evidence for the autonomy and universality of custom in a region on the cusp of massive changes in its relationship to Europe.

Keywords: MIDDLE EAST; SOUTH ASIA; COMMUNICATION; CORRESPONDENCE; ETHNICITY; CUSTOM

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1163/156852007781787431

Affiliations: 1: Yale University

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