Books by Stefanos Kordosis
Crossing Central Asia; The Voyages of Nicolaos Spatharis, Vasilios Vatatzis, Panayotis Potagos and the "Great Game" in the East (17th - 19th c.), 2020
Crossing Central Asia; The Voyages of Nicolaos Spatharis, Vasilios Vatatzis, Panayotis Potagos an... more Crossing Central Asia; The Voyages of Nicolaos Spatharis, Vasilios Vatatzis, Panayotis Potagos and the "Great Game" in the East (17th - 19th c.)
From the 15th to the 19th century, the great explorations of our planet were
achievements of, mainly, western Europeans. Yet, despite Greeks being, for the
most part of this period, under Ottoman rule (until the foundation of the modern
Greek state from 1830 onwards) and cut off from the scientific developments
of the European West, there have been cases of Greeks, in those dark ages, who
roamed the world and contributed to the geographical knowledge of our planet.
Three such cases, who ventured deep into the volatile center of Eurasia,
either with the support of foreign rulers or on their own initiative, are examined
here. Nicolaos Spatharis, Vasilios Vatatzis and Panayotis Potagos disregarded
the dangers of such an endeavor and contributed to the increase of geographical
knowledge of their time, supporting their travel descriptions not only with topographical and geographical information but, also, with ethnographical, political,
diplomatic and military material. For the most part of their itineraries, these three
voyagers travelled along the ancient tracks of the Silk Routes, recording information
that complemented ancient and medieval authors, whom they mentioned
frequently in their texts and maps.
Papers by Stefanos Kordosis
The article revolves around the information on the Kalmyks and Oirats contained in Vasilis Vatatz... more The article revolves around the information on the Kalmyks and Oirats contained in Vasilis Vatatzēs's Periēgētikon (Voyages). Vatatzēs, a Greek-Ottoman merchant who travelled in Central Asia in the first half of the eighteenth century, supplemented his text with a map (engraved and published in 1732 in London) and produced a biography of Shah Nader of Persia, the founder of the short-lived Afsharid dynasty. Vatatzēs travelled along the caravan routes connecting the cities of southern Siberia with the Khanates of Central Asia, as demonstrated by a reconstruction of his itineraries, reaching as far as Bukhara. Focusing on the nations of Central Asia, Vatatzēs's accounts and map provide much information regarding western Mongolic nations, starting with the Kalmyks in the Volga region and reaching as far as the Oirats, to the NW of China.
ΘΗΣΑΥΡΙΣΜΑΤΑ, 47, 2017
This paper offers an explanation for the character Dru gu Gesar (=Turk Caesar), attested in the T... more This paper offers an explanation for the character Dru gu Gesar (=Turk Caesar), attested in the Tibetan Epic of Gesar of gLing, suggesting that it was the Khazars and their close relationship with Byzantium that helped in the dissemination of the legendary title of the Turk Caesar/Caesar of the Turks in Central Eurasia and the Far East. More particularly, the old Slavic legend of the “Khazar Caesar” (Повесть о царе козарине), is held as the first link in the chain that carried the legend of the “Turk Caesar” to Central and Eastern Eurasia via
the northern branch of the Silk Route.
Medieval Worlds, 2018
The geopolitics pertaining to the Silk Road network in the period from the 6th to the 7th century... more The geopolitics pertaining to the Silk Road network in the period from the 6th to the 7th century (the final, albeit important, period of Late Antiquity) was intertwined with highly strategic dimensions.1 The frequent arrival of hoards of nomadic peoples from inner Eurasia at the
borders of the existing sedentary empires and their encounters and interactions formed the complicated political ecology of the period. These empires attempted to take advantage of the newly shaped situation arising after such great movements strategically, each in their own interest. How did they achieve their goals and what problems were they confronted with? In this paper, I will focus on the relations the Western Türks had with Byzantium and use it as an example in order to resurvey these complicated geopolitics. In the first part, attention will
be given to the collection of Byzantine literature concerning the Western Türks. Then, on the basis of the sources, the four main exchanges of delegations between the Western Türks and Byzantium will be discussed, in which the important status of the 563 embassy – as it
was the first Türk delegation sent to Byzantium – will be emphasized. The possible motives behind the dispatch of the delegations and the repercussions they had will be presented. Finally, through reviewing the diplomatic communication between the Western Türks and Byzantium, attention will be turned to the general picture of geopolitics along the Silk Road, claiming that the great empire of the West – similar to today’s superpowers – by means of their resources (mainly diplomacy) manipulated the geopolitics on the Silk Road, especially the nomadic people pursuing their own survival and interests, who were only treated as pieces on a chessboard for keeping the balance with the rest of the superpowers.
Inscriptions in the Byzantine and Post-Byzantine History and History of Art (Ed. Christos Stavrakos), 2016, 2016
Η εικόνα του κόσμου των νομαδικών εθνών και των Τούρκων στους μουσουλμάνους συγγραφείς (7 ος -10 ... more Η εικόνα του κόσμου των νομαδικών εθνών και των Τούρκων στους μουσουλμάνους συγγραφείς (7 ος -10 ος αι.) και ο ριζοσπαστικός τουρκικός εθνικισμός.
Πρακτικά 31ου Πανελληνίου Ιστορικού Συνεδρίου, 2011
Conference Presentations by Stefanos Kordosis
International Conference Ecumenism (and Cosmopolitanism), 2022
The announcement offers an overview of the Greek translations of Nikolaos Spatharis-Milescu’s wor... more The announcement offers an overview of the Greek translations of Nikolaos Spatharis-Milescu’s works on the history, geography, and ethnology of Asia, commissioned by Dositheos II, Patriarch of Jerusalem at the end of the 17th century. Spatharis was a prominent member of Muscovy’s Posolsky Prikaz, a prominent member of the city’s literati and a person with advanced knowledge about Russia’s Siberian provinces, its inner Asian frontiers, its relations with China and, finally, China itself. His works, translated into Greek of the Phanariot idiom, provided the Greek intelligentsia of the time with historical, geographic, and ethnographic information on Inner Asia and are the earliest modern Greek texts on such topics.
International Conference: The Greek World and India: History, Culture and Trade from the Hellenistic period to Modern Times (4th c. BCE – 18th c. CE)., 2022
Nikolaos Spatharis-Milescu is well known for his mission to the court of emperor Kangxi of China ... more Nikolaos Spatharis-Milescu is well known for his mission to the court of emperor Kangxi of China in 1675 as the Tsar’s official envoy. His travel through Siberia and his description of China were translated (through a commission paid by the Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem, Dositheus ΙΙ) from Russian into Greek in 1693, together with a set of other texts, which provided information on various areas of Asia. Amongst these, a guide for merchants is found, hitherto unstudied, describing the route to India, India’s most important trade cities and the distances separating them. The announcement presents the text and its original source providing a framework with the most recent international scholarship on the subject.
Στα πλαίσια του συνεδρίου για το Αρχαιολογικό Έργο στη Βορειοδυτική Ελλάδα και τα Νησιά του Ιονίο... more Στα πλαίσια του συνεδρίου για το Αρχαιολογικό Έργο στη Βορειοδυτική Ελλάδα και τα Νησιά του Ιονίου παρουσιάστηκε το ερευνητικό έργο: «Η ιστορία στηρίζει την έρευνα και την οικονομική ανάπτυξη στις υποβαθμισμένες περιοχές: κτιτορικές, αφιερωματικές επιγραφές και κτιτορικές παραστάσεις στα θρησκευτικά μνημεία της ηπείρου (4ος-18ος αι.)», το οποίο εκπονήθηκε στο πλαίσιο του ανταγωνιστικού ευρωπαϊκού προγράμματος «αριστεία ΙΙ».
Η ερευνητική ομάδα πλαισιώθηκε από τους Χ. Σταυράκο, καθηγητή Βυζαντινής ιστορίας, Κ. Κοντοπανάγου, Ph.D. Βυζαντινής αρχαιολογίας και τέχνης, Στ. Κορδώση, Ph.D. πρώιμης όθωμανικής ιστορίας, Φ. Λυτάρη, PhD. Βυζαντινής αρχαιολογίας και τέχνης, Χ. Τσατσούλη, Υπ. Διδ. Βυζαντινής Ιστορίας, Η. Πινακούλια, Υπ. Διδ. Βυζαντινής Ιστορίας, καθώς και από τους Λ. Περέλλη, ειδικό επί των θεμάτων πληροφορικής, Δ. Έξαρχο, ειδικό επί θεμάτων εξειδικευμένης φωτογράφησης υποστρωμάτων και υλικών και τον M. Stork, ειδικό επί θεμάτων έκδοσης.
Ο τόμος των Πρακτικών του συνεδρίου είναι υπό έκδοση.
Events by Stefanos Kordosis
5th Meeting of the Mongol Empire Spring Series:
"By Land & By Sea: Cultural and Οther Networks of... more 5th Meeting of the Mongol Empire Spring Series:
"By Land & By Sea: Cultural and Οther Networks of Exchange in Mongol Eurasia and Beyond"
Thessaloniki, September 13th-14th 2021
The 5th meeting of the Mongol Empire Spring Series (M.E.S.S.) will be jointly organised by the University of Vienna and the International Hellenic University in Thessaloniki. The M.E.S.S. is an international event gathering experts of the Mongol Empire and of Medieval Eurasia on a yearly basis. This year’s meeting will be devoted to the topic of material culture and cultural exchanges enabled by the Medieval Mongols, and their legacy in Eurasia.
Drafts by Stefanos Kordosis
ΜΑ΄ Πανελλήνιο Ιστορικό Συνέδριο, 2022
Nikolai Spathari-Milescu is known through his descriptions of the mission he undertook, through S... more Nikolai Spathari-Milescu is known through his descriptions of the mission he undertook, through Siberia, to the court of the Manchu emperor Kangxi as Muscovy’s ambassador from 1675 to 1678. His descriptions were translated into modern Greek upon commission from Dositheus II of Jerusalem in 1693. Except for Greek, there are editions of Spathari’s works in Russian, English and Romanian (stemming from the Russian manuscripts), which also contain other geographic and ethnographic descriptions of Asia (Siberia, West Asia and East Asia) produced by Spatharis. In this paper an excerpt from a manuscript in Bibliothèque nationale de France is presented describing the itineraries and trading stations (marked with their respective distances in days). The origins of this text, save for a small segment dedicated to the ports of Caspia, are traced to a Muscovite dorožnik (travel guide), which was compiled around 1675 for the needs of the Chancellery of Private Affairs (prikaz Tajnyh del/Privy Council). Its translation into Greek (along with Spathari’s other works) points out to the effort made by the Greek intelligentsia of that time not only to keep track of the major geographic explorations and knowledge but also to understand the trade networks that were frequented by Greek (Romioi) merchants and that brought various regions of Eurasia closer.
Articles & Reviews by Stefanos Kordosis
First Khazars, then fish. The Khazars were the leading tribe of a multi-ethnic and, later, a mult... more First Khazars, then fish. The Khazars were the leading tribe of a multi-ethnic and, later, a multi-confessional empire located on the western edge of the Eurasian Steppes. Founded in the second half of the 7 th century, it was a kind of continuation of the Western Turkic Qağanate. At the last stages of the last great Sasano-Byzantine War (later sources name "Khazars" among Byzantine allies 1) and during the first Islamic decades, it is difficult to discern between the Western Turks and the Khazars, thus the name "First Arabo-Khazar War of c.642-652" is somehow misleading. The Western Turks/Khazars preceded the Arabs in Transcaucasia, as was demonstrated by Zuckerman. 2 The "Second Arabo-Khazar War of c. 722-737 (?)", however, began with a Khazar invasion into the heartlands of the Khalifate, with Khazars acting en entente with Byzantium. The war ended, according to our Arabic source, with Khazars having been defeated and their qağan pleading for peace and begging the Arabs' commander, the future Khalifah, to send him Imams so he might learn Islam. Converted to Islam for real or not, the qağan was not a Muslim ten years later, in any case. Sometime later, maybe more than a century later, 3 the Khazar elite chose, for a variety of reasons, Judaism as the religion of the charismatic clan. 4 The process of conversion to Judaism is
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Books by Stefanos Kordosis
From the 15th to the 19th century, the great explorations of our planet were
achievements of, mainly, western Europeans. Yet, despite Greeks being, for the
most part of this period, under Ottoman rule (until the foundation of the modern
Greek state from 1830 onwards) and cut off from the scientific developments
of the European West, there have been cases of Greeks, in those dark ages, who
roamed the world and contributed to the geographical knowledge of our planet.
Three such cases, who ventured deep into the volatile center of Eurasia,
either with the support of foreign rulers or on their own initiative, are examined
here. Nicolaos Spatharis, Vasilios Vatatzis and Panayotis Potagos disregarded
the dangers of such an endeavor and contributed to the increase of geographical
knowledge of their time, supporting their travel descriptions not only with topographical and geographical information but, also, with ethnographical, political,
diplomatic and military material. For the most part of their itineraries, these three
voyagers travelled along the ancient tracks of the Silk Routes, recording information
that complemented ancient and medieval authors, whom they mentioned
frequently in their texts and maps.
Papers by Stefanos Kordosis
the northern branch of the Silk Route.
borders of the existing sedentary empires and their encounters and interactions formed the complicated political ecology of the period. These empires attempted to take advantage of the newly shaped situation arising after such great movements strategically, each in their own interest. How did they achieve their goals and what problems were they confronted with? In this paper, I will focus on the relations the Western Türks had with Byzantium and use it as an example in order to resurvey these complicated geopolitics. In the first part, attention will
be given to the collection of Byzantine literature concerning the Western Türks. Then, on the basis of the sources, the four main exchanges of delegations between the Western Türks and Byzantium will be discussed, in which the important status of the 563 embassy – as it
was the first Türk delegation sent to Byzantium – will be emphasized. The possible motives behind the dispatch of the delegations and the repercussions they had will be presented. Finally, through reviewing the diplomatic communication between the Western Türks and Byzantium, attention will be turned to the general picture of geopolitics along the Silk Road, claiming that the great empire of the West – similar to today’s superpowers – by means of their resources (mainly diplomacy) manipulated the geopolitics on the Silk Road, especially the nomadic people pursuing their own survival and interests, who were only treated as pieces on a chessboard for keeping the balance with the rest of the superpowers.
Conference Presentations by Stefanos Kordosis
Η ερευνητική ομάδα πλαισιώθηκε από τους Χ. Σταυράκο, καθηγητή Βυζαντινής ιστορίας, Κ. Κοντοπανάγου, Ph.D. Βυζαντινής αρχαιολογίας και τέχνης, Στ. Κορδώση, Ph.D. πρώιμης όθωμανικής ιστορίας, Φ. Λυτάρη, PhD. Βυζαντινής αρχαιολογίας και τέχνης, Χ. Τσατσούλη, Υπ. Διδ. Βυζαντινής Ιστορίας, Η. Πινακούλια, Υπ. Διδ. Βυζαντινής Ιστορίας, καθώς και από τους Λ. Περέλλη, ειδικό επί των θεμάτων πληροφορικής, Δ. Έξαρχο, ειδικό επί θεμάτων εξειδικευμένης φωτογράφησης υποστρωμάτων και υλικών και τον M. Stork, ειδικό επί θεμάτων έκδοσης.
Ο τόμος των Πρακτικών του συνεδρίου είναι υπό έκδοση.
Events by Stefanos Kordosis
"By Land & By Sea: Cultural and Οther Networks of Exchange in Mongol Eurasia and Beyond"
Thessaloniki, September 13th-14th 2021
The 5th meeting of the Mongol Empire Spring Series (M.E.S.S.) will be jointly organised by the University of Vienna and the International Hellenic University in Thessaloniki. The M.E.S.S. is an international event gathering experts of the Mongol Empire and of Medieval Eurasia on a yearly basis. This year’s meeting will be devoted to the topic of material culture and cultural exchanges enabled by the Medieval Mongols, and their legacy in Eurasia.
Drafts by Stefanos Kordosis
Articles & Reviews by Stefanos Kordosis
From the 15th to the 19th century, the great explorations of our planet were
achievements of, mainly, western Europeans. Yet, despite Greeks being, for the
most part of this period, under Ottoman rule (until the foundation of the modern
Greek state from 1830 onwards) and cut off from the scientific developments
of the European West, there have been cases of Greeks, in those dark ages, who
roamed the world and contributed to the geographical knowledge of our planet.
Three such cases, who ventured deep into the volatile center of Eurasia,
either with the support of foreign rulers or on their own initiative, are examined
here. Nicolaos Spatharis, Vasilios Vatatzis and Panayotis Potagos disregarded
the dangers of such an endeavor and contributed to the increase of geographical
knowledge of their time, supporting their travel descriptions not only with topographical and geographical information but, also, with ethnographical, political,
diplomatic and military material. For the most part of their itineraries, these three
voyagers travelled along the ancient tracks of the Silk Routes, recording information
that complemented ancient and medieval authors, whom they mentioned
frequently in their texts and maps.
the northern branch of the Silk Route.
borders of the existing sedentary empires and their encounters and interactions formed the complicated political ecology of the period. These empires attempted to take advantage of the newly shaped situation arising after such great movements strategically, each in their own interest. How did they achieve their goals and what problems were they confronted with? In this paper, I will focus on the relations the Western Türks had with Byzantium and use it as an example in order to resurvey these complicated geopolitics. In the first part, attention will
be given to the collection of Byzantine literature concerning the Western Türks. Then, on the basis of the sources, the four main exchanges of delegations between the Western Türks and Byzantium will be discussed, in which the important status of the 563 embassy – as it
was the first Türk delegation sent to Byzantium – will be emphasized. The possible motives behind the dispatch of the delegations and the repercussions they had will be presented. Finally, through reviewing the diplomatic communication between the Western Türks and Byzantium, attention will be turned to the general picture of geopolitics along the Silk Road, claiming that the great empire of the West – similar to today’s superpowers – by means of their resources (mainly diplomacy) manipulated the geopolitics on the Silk Road, especially the nomadic people pursuing their own survival and interests, who were only treated as pieces on a chessboard for keeping the balance with the rest of the superpowers.
Η ερευνητική ομάδα πλαισιώθηκε από τους Χ. Σταυράκο, καθηγητή Βυζαντινής ιστορίας, Κ. Κοντοπανάγου, Ph.D. Βυζαντινής αρχαιολογίας και τέχνης, Στ. Κορδώση, Ph.D. πρώιμης όθωμανικής ιστορίας, Φ. Λυτάρη, PhD. Βυζαντινής αρχαιολογίας και τέχνης, Χ. Τσατσούλη, Υπ. Διδ. Βυζαντινής Ιστορίας, Η. Πινακούλια, Υπ. Διδ. Βυζαντινής Ιστορίας, καθώς και από τους Λ. Περέλλη, ειδικό επί των θεμάτων πληροφορικής, Δ. Έξαρχο, ειδικό επί θεμάτων εξειδικευμένης φωτογράφησης υποστρωμάτων και υλικών και τον M. Stork, ειδικό επί θεμάτων έκδοσης.
Ο τόμος των Πρακτικών του συνεδρίου είναι υπό έκδοση.
"By Land & By Sea: Cultural and Οther Networks of Exchange in Mongol Eurasia and Beyond"
Thessaloniki, September 13th-14th 2021
The 5th meeting of the Mongol Empire Spring Series (M.E.S.S.) will be jointly organised by the University of Vienna and the International Hellenic University in Thessaloniki. The M.E.S.S. is an international event gathering experts of the Mongol Empire and of Medieval Eurasia on a yearly basis. This year’s meeting will be devoted to the topic of material culture and cultural exchanges enabled by the Medieval Mongols, and their legacy in Eurasia.