ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses how economic historians of Middle Eurasia situated their histories in relation to world history, responding to changes in world historical contexts since the Second World War and to societal and political concerns in different areas of the region. Middle Eurasia addresses here correspond to what Marshal Hodgson called the 'Afro-Eurasian Oikoumene': the world extending from the Indian Ocean and northern India to Afghanistan and Central Asia; and to Iran and Ottoman territories in Caucasia. Fernand Braudel's history captured the Mediterranean world at its zenith in the sixteenth century, united by geography and economic activity across the majestic sea and its coastal regions. Fernand Braudel's world historical vision addressed the domain of economic activity, opening possibilities for comparative histories of different 'economies', beyond institutional aspects, while at the same time including the latter in a conception of total history. The world-systems perspective was embraced by historians based in Middle Eurasia, and initially by Ottoman historians.
