Presentations by Streams

The papers in this panel explore interlinked themes of trade, mobility and environment in late imperial Central Asia, from the late nineteenth century until 1920. Each focuses on a specific geography of the region: the Pamir mountains, Semirech’e, and the route of the Transcaspian railway. These areas, falling largely outside the settled region of Central Asia and/or being sparsely populated, are to some extent neglected in scholarship, particularly in comparative sense. The speakers take travel in some form as their foundation, using this as a lens through which to examine border-crossing, the mapping of landscapes, environmental and economic networks, and Anglophone ideas about Central Asia. Collectively, the papers ask important questions about how mobility in the region was experienced at various levels, from local communities to imperial officials, to foreign visitors; and the consequences of this in intellectual, social, economic and legal terms.