A pioneering study of historical developments that have shaped Asia concludes with this volume tracing the impact of ideas and cultures of people on the move across the continent, whether willingly or not. In the final volume of Asia Inside Out, a stellar interdisciplinary team of scholars considers the migration of people-and the ideas, practices, and things they brought with them-to show the ways in which itinerant groups have transformed their culture and surroundings. Going beyond time and place, which animated the first two books, this third one looks at human beings on the move. Human movement from place to place across time reinforces older connections while forging new ones. Erik Harms turns to Vietnam to show that the notion of a homeland as a marked geographic space can remain important even if that space is not fixed in people's lived experience. Angela Leung traces how much of East Asia was brought into a single medical sphere by traveling practitioners. Seema Alavi shows that the British preoccupation with the 1857 Indian Revolt allowed traders to turn the Omani capital into a thriving arms emporium. James Pickett exposes the darker side of mobility in a netherworld of refugees, political prisoners, and hostages circulating from the southern Russian Empire to the Indian subcontinent. Other authors trace the impact of movement on religious art, ethnic foods, and sports spectacles. By stepping outside familiar categories and standard narratives, this remarkable series challenges us to rethink our conception of Asia in complex and nuanced ways.

The qsar corresponds to a type of human settlement widely distributed in the Sahara desert, including many examples located today in southern Morocco, southern Algeria, southern Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania and Mali. This architectural model is characterised by its use over a wide-ranging time span - probably since the early first millennium BC according to ancient structures recorded by the archaeologist Mattingly in the Libyan Fazzan. This volume, through the systematic analysis and comparison of some qsur of southeastern Algeria (Rig, Mzab, Miya and al-Mani'a), reveals common architectural features that can be used to identify a common type of qsar in this region. The analysis of the construction material shows the primary use of limestone with a local mortar (timchent) and date palm trunks (phoenix dactylifera) for the structural elements (ceilings, doors, arcs, domes). Adobe bricks (tub) are used in the housing and the defence systems punctuated by towers and pierced doors. Despite a discontinuity within the historical narrative, the establishment of populations in this area of the Sahara appears to be much earlier than the medieval period and the qsar is certainly not a creation ex nihilo of the modern era. Because of their numerous modifications and extensions over several centuries, the qsur problematise the dating of such settlements. However, the comparison of its main components encourages the development of a typology to identify some common characteristics that would help position the qsar among the urban planning of the dar al-islam.

Between war, diplomatic relations and political changes, precious objects were transferred across borders, whether as gifts or war booty, and artists pursued careers from one workshop to another. With this interaction, an entirely new distinctive range of motifs emerged, referencing and building upon earlier Islamic tradition and foreign artistic influences. Through the high level of patronage and artistic craftsmanship, patrons and artists succeeded in shaping this cultural exchange. Text in English and Arabic.