Nomad’s Last Stand

How the hunter-gatherers lead to the integration of a continent.

And then vanish

SO WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A NOMAD?Especially in Central Asia?

Moo? Neigh? Baaa?

• Herding animals is the option—sheep/goats and a hardy pony…

• No major rivers, so arid conditions• Use every part of the animal…• Limited pottery, leather working, iron

weapons and tools.

Turks come first

• Came into Persia, Anatolia and India• Lived on the borders of the Abbasid Empire for

a while, then began to move in, serving in the Abbasid army.

• Tughril Beg first to be crowned sultan; nominally in charge of the Abbasids.

• Turks then migrate into Anatolia and start kicking the Byzantines around.

Turks in India

• Mahmoud of Ghazi leads Turks out of Afghanistan and into India.

• Eventually forms the Sultanate of Dehli.• Military skill again makes the difference as the

Turks end up taking control of northern India.• IN ALL CASES, THE TURKS CONQUER, SETTLE,

AND LARGELY ACCLIMATE TO LOCAL CULTURAL NORMS. The exception is India, where they introduce Islam.

Then the Mongols

• Temujin unifies Mongol tribes and proclaimed “Genghis Khan” Universal Ruler.

• Forms his army; about 100,000, organized on a decimal system, highly disciplined, adaptive cavalry.

• Attacks Turkish people in Tibet, Persia, northern China and Central Asia and wins all the time.

The Mongol Empires

Leaves it to his family

• Chagatai gets Central Asia, Persia goes to Hulagu (the Ilkhanate), Batu forms the Golden Horde, and ultimately Kubilai takes the Khanate of the Great Khan: China and Mongolia…

• IN ALL CASES, MONGOLS CONQUER, SETTLE, AND ACCLIMATE TO LOCAL CULTURAL NORMS.

Pax Mongolica

• The Mongols create a period of peace and unity on the Eurasian continent.– Travel and communication encouraged– Trade flourishes; direct contact made– Some civil conflict (Mongol on Mongol violence) but

no major warfare– Diplomatic ties established– Missionary work– Resettlement of people, especially the literate,

educated and the skilled

Mongol rule ends

• Il-khanate goes broke, government devolves to local levels, gone by 1353

• Yuan Dynasty’s paper money doesn’t work, and imperial system collapses in 1368.

• Golden Horde hangs on in Russia until 1502• Epidemic diseases spread, especially bubonic

plague; origin unknown but speculation places it in Central Asia. Goes to China, then Southwest Asia then Europe.

Nomads last gasp, East Side

• Tamerlane in Persia (Timur the lame)• Is a Turk, steps into the power vacuum in 1370.• Expands into modern day Iran, Iraq, and central

Asia up to the Hindu Kush.• Was a conqueror, not a governor. Planned to

invade China, but died before he could start.• Sons and grandsons bicker and fight, but

maintain control until 1405. Descendants found the Mughal Dynasty of India.

Nomads last gasp, West side

• Osman, a Turkish leader, carves out a kingdom in Northern Anatolia.

• He operates at the expense of the Byzantine Empire, and is very successful.

• Followers are called Osmanlis or Ottomans.• Cross the Dardanelles to Gallipoli, and begin to

challenge the Byzantines in the Balkans• 1453 Sultan Mehmed II sacks Constantinople.• By 1480, Byzantine Empire is no more, and Ottoman

Empire is in its place.

AND NOMADS ARE DONE AND GONE FROM THE WORLD STAGE.

Exit stage left…