Islamization and Buddhicization Conversion Narratives of Mongol Chinggisid Princes: Preliminary Comparative Research

Islamization and Buddhicization Conversion Narratives of Mongol Chinggisid Princes: Preliminary Comparative Research

This article attempts to conduct preliminary comparative research on the Islamization and Buddhicization conversion narratives of Chinggisid Mongol princes. In current historiography concerning the Mongol Empire, the Islamization process and narrative traditions have gained much attention, as opposed to the Buddhicization narratives that have barely been discussed. This research aims to emphasize the similarity and shared elements between the Islamization and Buddhicization conversion narratives in the western and eastern halves of Mongol realms. By doing so, this study reveals that the tradition and practice of producing, elaborating, and circulating conversion narratives were not necessarily a phenomenon of the Islamic side of the Mongol world. Instead, from the Mongol imperial era on, they were indeed Central Eurasian-wide religious and social practices that embraced both the Muslim and Buddhist sides of the Mongol imperial realms.