In vino veritas. Wine and its Context in the Uyghur Society: an Insight to the Economic Life of the Silk Roads

Abstract

This paper deals with viticulture, viniculture and their social context in the Turfan region from the West Uyghur period (9th–12th cc.) up to the end of the Mongol period (14th century). A comparative analysis of narrative sources alongside documents written in Old Uyghur (ca. 10th–14th cc.) and Middle Mongolian (13th–14th cc.) sheds new light on the interplay between wine production, commerce and state interest, demonstrating that wine was already one of the most important staple products of the Turfan region in the earlier period and a commodity of primary interest to the Mongol Empire. The article illuminates Old Uyghur sources’ depictions of ortok partners, stressing how their peculiarities differ from the better-known ortoq partnerships employed by the Mongol aristocracy, and highlights growing interest among the nobility in wine production and the institutionalization of vinicultural assets during the Mongol period. The author argues that these processes mirror changes in transportation and Eurasian interregional contacts under Mongol rule. Finally, despite the scattered and fragmentary nature of these sources on local economy and society, the author argues that they prompt a reevaluation of trade along the Silk Roads.