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Inner Asia refers to the northern andlandlocked regions spanningNorth,Central, andEast Asia. It includes parts ofwestern andnortheast China, as well as southernSiberia. The area overlaps with some definitions of "Central Asia", mostly the historical ones, but certain regions that are often included in Inner Asia, such asManchuria, are not a part of Central Asia by any of its definitions. Inner Asia may be regarded as the western and northern "frontier" ofChina proper and as being bounded by East Asia proper, which consists of China proper, Japan, and Korea.[1]
The extent of Inner Asia has been understood differently in different periods. "Inner Asia" is sometimes contrasted to "China proper", that is, the territories originally unified under theQin dynasty with majorityHan populations. By the year 1800, Chinese Inner Asia consisted of four main areas, namelyManchuria (modernNortheast China andOuter Manchuria), theMongolian Plateau (Inner Mongolia andOuter Mongolia),Xinjiang (Chinese Turkestan orEast Turkestan), andTibet. Many of these areas had been only recently conquered by theQing dynasty of China and, during most of the Qing period, they were governed through administrative structures different from those of the older Chinese provinces.[2] A Qing government agency, theLifan Yuan, supervisedthe empire's Inner Asian regions, also known asChinese Tartary. The frontier regions of China proper—Gansu,Qinghai,Sichuan, andYunnan—are also sometimes included as part of Inner Asia.[3][4]
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"Inner Asia" today has a range of definitions and usages.[5]Denis Sinor, for example, used "Inner Asia" in contrast toagricultural civilizations, noting its changing borders, such as when a Roman province was taken by the Huns, areas ofNorth China were occupied by theMongols, orAnatolia came underTurkish influence, eradicatingHellenistic culture.[6]
Scholars or historians of theQing dynasty, such as those who compiled theNew Qing History, often use the term "Inner Asia" when studying Qing interests or reigns outsideChina proper,[7] although previousChinese dynasties like theHan,Tang, andMing dynasties also expanded their realms and influences into Inner Asia.
According toMorris Rossabi, Inner Asia is composed not only of the fiveCentral Asian countries, which includesTurkmenistan,Uzbekistan,Tajikistan,Kyrgyzstan, andKazakhstan, but also includesAfghanistan,Xinjiang,Mongolia,Manchuria, and parts ofIran.[8]
The Committee on Inner Asian and Altaic Studies ofHarvard University defines Inner Asia as a region consisting ofRussian Turkestan,Xinjiang,Eastern Iran,Northern Pakistan, Afghanistan,Tibet,Qinghai,Sichuan,Gansu, and northwesternYunnan.[3]
The Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit at theUniversity of Cambridge defines Inner Asia as "an area centred on Mongolia and extending across the region ofthe great steppes to theHimalayas", including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan,Nepal,Sikkim,Bhutan,Inner Mongolia,Liaoning,Jilin,Heilongjiang,Altai,Tuva,Buryatia, andChita.[4]
InFrench,Asie centrale can mean either "Central Asia" or "Inner Asia", while Mongolia and Tibet are grouped asHaute Asie (lit. 'Upper Asia').[9]
The terms meaning "Inner Asia" in the languages of Inner Asia itself are all modern translations of terms in European languages, mostlyRussian.[9]
"Central Asia" normally denotes the western part of Inner Asia; that is,Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan,Turkmenistan, andUzbekistan, withAfghanistan sometimes also included as part of Central Asia. However, theLibrary of Congress' subject classification system treats "Central Asia" and Inner Asia as synonymous.[9]
HistorianMorris Rossabi posits that the "Inner Asia" is the established term for the area in relevant literature. HistorianDenis Sinor believed the term was deficient, particularly as it implies an "Outer Asia" that in fact has no agreed-upon meaning or common usage. As an alternative, Sinor proposed theneologism "CentralEurasia" to emphasize the region's history in transcontinental exchange, e.g., as territories of theSilk Road.[10] According to Sinor:[11]
The definition that can be given of Central Eurasia in space is negative. It is that part of the continent of Eurasia that lies beyond the borders of the great sedentary civilizations.... Although the area of Central Eurasia is subject to fluctuations, the general trend is that of diminution. With the territorial growth of the sedentary civilizations, their borderline extends and offers a larger surface on which new layers of barbarians will be deposited.
Central Europe is the birthplace of Inner Asian studies in theWest.Hungarian explorers and scholars of the early 19th century traveled to Inner Asia with an attempt to uncover their ownMagyar prehistory. The linguistSándor Kőrösi Csoma (1784 – 1842) was the first among these explorers; he later became a founder ofTibetology. CountBéla Széchenyi led a scientific expedition to Inner Asia in 1877–1880; he later founded theHungarian journalTurán in 1913. The term "Inner Asian studies" (Hungarian:belső-ázsiai kutatások; German:innerasiatische Studien) first appeared in the masthead ofTurán.[9] The periodical's name refers to thehistorical region in Central Asia known asTuran.
In the first two decades of the 20th century, Hungarian-British archaeologistAurel Stein made important discoveries over the course of his four expeditions to Inner Asia. In 1928, Stein publishedInnermost Asia: Detailed Report of Explorations in Central Asia, Kan-su and Eastern Iran, Carried Out and Described under the Orders of H.M. Indian Government in four volumes. In 1940, the first academic chair for Inner Asian studies was established by the HungarianOrientalist and linguistLajos Ligeti at theUniversity of Budapest.[9]
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