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Eurasian nomads form groups of nomad who have lived in various areas of the Eurasian Steppe. History largely knows them via frontier historical sources from Europe and Asia. - "steppe peoples left very little writing for historians to use, and Chinese, Middle Eastern, and European records tell only what happened within a restricted range across their respective steppe frontiers."
The steppe nomads had no permanent abode, but travelled from place to place to find fresh pasture for their livestock. The generic designation encompasses the varied ethnic groups who have at times inhabited steppe regions of present-day Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, East Turkestan, Mongolia, Russia, and Ukraine.
They domesticated the horse around 3500 BCE, vastly increasing the possibilities of nomadic lifestyle,Matossian Shaping World History p. 43 and subsequently their economies and cultures emphasised horse breeding, horse riding, and nomadic pastoralism; this usually involved trading with settled peoples around the edges of the steppe. They developed the chariot,
The very rapid rate at which innovations crossed the steppelands spread these innovations widely, making them available for copying by settled peoples living in areas bordering the steppes. During the Iron Age, Scythian cultures emerged among the Eurasian nomads, which were characterized by a distinct Scythian art.
The western Iranians, the Alans and Sarmatians, settled down and became the ruling elite of several eastern Slavic peoples tribes "Though the Alans were originally typical nomads, in time some of their clans settled down and, as they mixed with the native agricultural population, gradually came to dominate several of the east Slavic tribes, and some of these Iranians also assimilated into the Slavic cultures, "In the same way as the Sarmatian 'Croats', they dominated and then melted into Slav populations around them." while others retained their Iranian identity, and their languages are spoken today by the modern Ossetian people. " In terms of language, Ossetians are descended from a medieval people called the Alans,³ Various peoples also expanded and contracted later in history, including the Magyars in the Early Middle Ages, the Mongols and Seljuks in the High Middle Ages, the Kalmyks and the Kyrgyz people and later the Kazakhs up to modern times. The earliest example of an invasion by a horse people may have been by the Proto-Indo-Europeans themselves, following the domestication of the horse in the 4th millennium BCE (see Kurgan hypothesis). The Cimmerians were the earliest invading equestrian steppe nomads that are known in Eastern European sources. Their military strength was always based on cavalry, and they were among the first to have developed true cavalry. "Cimmerians were among the first mounted nomads to use real cavalry; the objects from their graves include personal ornaments, weapons, and horse harnesses: most importantly horse bits of North Caucasian types..."
Historically, areas to the north of China including Manchuria, Mongolia and Xinjiang were inhabited by nomadic tribes. Early periods in Chinese history involved conflict with the nomadic peoples to the west of the Wei River. Texts from the Zhou dynasty (c. 1050–256 BCE) compare the Xirong, Beidi and Qin dynasty to Gray wolf, describing them as cruel and greedy.Di Cosmo, Nicola. "Ancient Inner Asian Nomads: Their Economic Basis and Its Significance in Chinese History". The Journal of Asian Studie 53, no. 9 (1994): 1092–126. Iron and bronze were supplied from China. An early theory proposed by Owen Lattimore suggesting that the nomadic tribes could have been self-sufficient was criticized by later scholars, who questioned whether their raids may have been motivated by necessity rather than greed. Subsequent studies noted that nomadic demand for grain, and Ironmongery exceeded China's demand for Steppe goods. Anatoly Khazanov identified this imbalance in production as the cause of instability in the Steppe nomadic cultures. Later scholars argued that peace along China's northern border largely depended on whether the nomads could obtain the essential grains and textiles they needed through peaceful means such as trade or intermarriage. Several tribes organized to form the Xiongnu, a tribal confederation that gave the nomadic tribes the upper hand in their dealings with the settled agricultural Chinese people.
During the Tang dynasty, Turkic people would cross the Yellow River when it was frozen to raid China. Contemporary Tang sources noted the superiority of Turkic horses. Emperor Taizong wrote that the horses were "exceptionally superior to ordinary horses". The Yenisei Kyrgyz (Kyrgyz) were a Tributary state tribe who controlled an area abundant in resources like gold, tin and iron. The Turks used the iron tribute paid by the Kyrgyz to make weapons, armor and saddle parts. Turks were nomadic hunters and would sometimes conceal military activities under the pretense of hunting. Their raids into China were organized by a khagan and success in these campaigns had a significant influence on a tribal leader's prestige. In the 6th century the Göktürk Khaganate consolidated their dominance over the northern steppe region through a series of military victories against the Shiwei people, Khitan people, Rouran Khaganate, Tuyuhun, Karakhoja and Ephthalite. By the end of the 6th century, following the Göktürk civil war, the short-lived empire had split into the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates, before it was conquered by the Tang in 630 and 657, respectively.Wang, Zhenping and Joshua A. Fogel (Ed.). 2017. Dancing with the Horse Riders: The Tang, the Turks, and the Uighurs. In Tang China in Multi-Polar Asia, 11–54. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Retrieved 12 Feb 2018
Nomadism persists in the steppe lands, though it has generally been disapproved of by modern regimes, who have often discouraged it with varying degrees of coercion.
Alliances could also be established through intermarriage. Eurasian steppe nomads practiced exogamy, by marrying off women from their tribe to outside groups. It was also common for nomadic men to marry foreign princesses. These marriages were an important part of the empire-building process.
Eurasian steppe nomads shared common Earth-rooted cosmological beliefs based on the themes of sky worship. Ancient Turkic origin myths often reference caves or mines as a source of their ancestors, which reflects the importance of iron making among their ancestors.
Ageism was a feature of ancient Eurasian nomad culture. Steppe societies placed a premium on the value of young males, as shown by their harsh treatment of older people. The Alans held their elderly in low regard, and the Saka customarily executed people once they were too old to work. The Xiongnu often withheld food from older people during times of need or conflict. Hsu argues that these phenomena can best be explained by the war-like nature of steppe society.
Among the Scythians, a third gender existed, known as the Enaree. The Enaree were described by a Greek historian as males with feminine characteristics, who wore female clothing and adopted women's mannerisms. These transgender individuals belonged to the most highly esteemed elements of Scythian society, and were believed to have had excellent abilities. The transgender features of the Enaree may have arisen accidentally through excessive horseback riding, or they may have consumed fermented mare urine, which could have altered their hormonal profiles and facilitated the transition to a feminine gender. The Scythians may have adopted this gender tradition from other steppe or Siberian societies. Similar transgender phenomena have also been documented among Turkic peoples in Central Asia, as well as in other nomads from Siberia.
There is striking uniformity in the material cultures of Eurasian nomads.
Chronological division
Chronologically, there have been several "waves" of invasions of either Europe, the Near East, India and China from the steppe.
See also
By region
Bibliography
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