Page 60 - Encyclopedia Of World History

410 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

Establishing Borders

The Treaty of Nipchu (Nerchinsk) of August 1689 point the [Russian] Ambassadors are [at present]
sought to establish and maintain peace on the border without explicit instructions from the Czar. Hereafter,
between China and Russia. when the Ambassadors on both sides shall have
returned [to their respective countries], the Czar and
Article I. The river Gorbitza, which joins the Schilka
the Emperor of China will decide the question on
from its left side near the river Tchernaya, is to form
terms of amity, either by sending Plenipotentiaries or
the boundary between the two Empires.The bound-
by written correspondence.
ary from the source of that river to the sea will run
along the top of the mountain chain [in which the Article II. Similarly, the river Argun, which flows
river rises].The jurisdiction of the two Empires will be into the Amur, will form the frontier along its whole
divided in such a way that [the valleys of] all the rivers length.All territory on the left bank is to be under the
or streams flowing from the southern slope of these rule of the Emperor of China; all on the right bank
mountains to join the Amur shall belong to the will be included in the Empire of the Czar. All habi-
Empire of China, while [the valleys of] all the rivers tations on the south side will be transferred to the
flowing down from the other [or northern] side of other.
these mountains shall be similarly under the rule of
Article III. The fortified town of Albazin, built by
His Majesty the Czar of the Russian Empire. As to
His Majesty the Czar, is to be completely demolished,
[the valleys of] the other rivers which lie between the
and the people residing there, with all military and
Russian river Oud and the aforesaid mountains—
other stores and equipment, are to be moved into
running near the Amur and extending to the sea—
Russian territory. Those moved can take all their
which are now under Chinese rule, the question of
property with them, and they are not allowed to suf-
the jurisdiction over them is to remain open. On this
fer loss [by detention of any of it].

determined whether peace or war existed along China’s eties recognized some form of boundaries and created
northern frontier” and has traced key institutions such as fortifications, but these were not necessarily linear or ter-
frontier markets, tribute, bestowals (acts of gift giving), ritorial borders in the modern sense.
and exchanges of brides between Chinese and nomadic The rise of Islam provides an interesting example of
rulers (Jagchid and Symons 1989, 1). boundary conceptualization. Islamic political theory does
The resources necessary for boundary maintenance not seem to have recognized the notion of political
were enormous, and infrastructures were expensive to boundaries.According to Ralph Brauer, boundaries were
maintain. Policies such as diplomacy or trade proved to noncanonical in Islamic law. Islamic jurists conceptual-
be cheaper and, in some cases, more effective. Even walls ized the world as divided into two irreconcilable realms:
could not stop cross-cultural interaction because popu- the Dar al Islam (land of Islam) and the Dar al Harb
lations that appeared to be distinct when viewed from the (land of war). In theory Islam was expected to be ever
perspective of the center were in fact often blurred when expanding until the Islamic community was coterminous
viewed at the margins. (having the same or coincident boundaries) with the
whole world. Sanction for jihad (holy war) against non-
Borders as a Global Islamic states makes the boundaries of Islam permanently
Framework in a state of flux. Although Islamic statecraft recognizes
Boundaries and border infrastructures have not neces- temporary peace agreements with non-Muslims and brief,
sarily been pervasive in global history. In fact we do not strategic concessions, in Islamic statecraft there was
know even how common boundaries were in certain apparently no such thing as a permanent boundary.This
parts of the world before the modern period. Many soci- unique approach might be explained by the fact that