This article will serve as an "extended introduction" for the Central
Asia section of the site. I plan to have similar articles written for
all the sections in the future, in order to make the site more
complete.
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Introduction
Characteristics of Central Asian Civilization
The
steppes of Inner Asia are vast landscapes abundant in grassland. On
these lands, animal herding and domestication became the prevalent way
of life. Pastoralism contrasted with the concept of agricultural
civilization, such as those of the river valleys regions where
permanent, sedentary settlements developed. Instead, the steppes
fostered a nomadic lifestyle. Political boundaries were ever-changing
and migrations due to power shifts were a reoccurring event on the
steppes. However, the destinations of migrating nomadic tribes were not
limited to other regions of the steppes; many entered agricultural
lands and adopted the lifestyles of sedentary civilization. Thus, the
southern parts of Central Asia are noted for the presence of
sedentary kingdoms, many of which were founded by nomadic conquerors.
The invasions and migrations of nomads were an important force in
history that greatly affected all parts of Eurasia.
Nomadic
states on the steppes relied purely on the skill of their leaders, a
quality difficult to consistently maintain. Without strong leadership,
these states were usually unstable due to their loose infrastructures
and the scarcity of permanent cities. So dynamic were the steppes that
vast empires could rise and fall within a generation. However, in their
competition against sedentary empires, the lack of internal stability
was counterbalanced by ferocity in war. The harshness of life on the
steppes made nomads expert warriors and the nomadic lifestyle made them
unmatched horsemen. When a strong leader was indeed present, nomadic
groups were exceedingly powerful in war. Their prowess in warfare could
not be suppressed until the advent of firearms.
As
mentioned earlier, nomadic conquerors often forged kingdoms after
successful conquests into agricultural lands. The nomadic ruling class
of these kingdoms usually adopted the original culture of the conquered
region, especially its technologies and agricultural of life.
Influence and Legacy of Central Asian Civilization
The
military conquests and migrations of Nomadic peoples were a significant
force in history. In the Classical Era (500 BCE -500 CE), groups like
the Xiong Nu and the Huns
waged destructive wars against China and Rome. The movement of Huns
into Europe caused even more migrations of barbarian tribes against
Rome. The rise of the Xiong Nu forced the migration of Tocharians, who
moved westward and created the Kushan Empire. The Kushan Empire, along
with the Parthian Empire, was also an example of agricultural states of
nomadic origin. In the classical period, these two particular empires
were significant powers and important empires of the Silk Road between
China and Rome.
In the Post-Classical Era (500 CE 1500 CE), the trend of nomadic border warfare continued. The Turks
warred against China and Europe saw renewed invasion from the steppes.
However, migration and settlement in agricultural land became
increasingly more significant. Turkic groups later known as the Seljuks
migrated into the Middle East, where they played an important role in
Islamic civilization. The migration of the Turks into Asia Minor also
established the early foundations of the future Ottoman Empire. In the
13th century, the Mongols
conquered nearly all of Asia, becoming the ultimate example of nomadic
influence on agricultural civilization. Being the first to control
significant regions of both outer and inner Asia, the Mongols brought
Asia into economic integration by reviving the Silk Road. With nearly
all of Asia under Mongol rule, the political state of the continent
changed dramatically.
In the Modern Era
(1500 CE onward), nomadic civilization slowly faded from being a
driving force in history. As firearms developed, nomadic horsemen lost
the military prowess that brought them great power. The Mongol states
established in the 13th century had almost all disappeared.
But even though nomadic powers faded away, many powerful states such as
the Mughal, Qing, and Ottoman Empires, all had ruling families whose
origins trace back to the steppes.
Culturally,
nomadic left a strong impression on the records of their neighboring
civilization. The legendary horsemanship of the steppes became the
basis of mythological stories such as the centaurs. Likewise, the same
horsemanship also had a profound influence on cavalry warfare. Cavalry
in Chinese armies was heavily inspired by nomadic tribes to the north.
Even for a region as far away as Europe, the origin of heavy cavalry
warfare can be traced to nearby pastoralist peoples, namely the
Sarmatians.
Finally, the
steppes left us with some of the most noteworthy tales from history.
Ambitious leaders such as Modu, Attila, Bumin Kaghan, Genghis Khan,
Kublai Khan and Tamerlane have left their marks as some of the greatest
warriors, king, conquerors, and emperors in history.
Central Asia. Regions of temperate steppes are shaded. |
Overview of Central Asian history
The Ancient Steppes
Central
Asia has seen human activity since the earliest of time. Although very
few permanent agricultural societies grew on the steppes, the people of
the steppes mastered the pastoral lifestyle and the domestication of
animals. With their horses and herds of livestock, the nomads of
Central Asia roamed across the steppes.
In
the western steppes the most famous group of early nomads where the
nomads of "Scythia," a loosely defined region spanning from the Black
Sea to Eastern Mongolia. From the 8th century BCE onward, the Scythians
waged war with neighboring civilizations such as the Persians, Greeks,
and Mesopotamians. The Scythians were renowned for their superb
horsemanship, a characteristic common among all nomadic groups.
In the 6th
Century BCE, the Achaemenid Persian Empire and later, Alexanders
Empire, expanded into the edges of the western steppes. At the edges of
these two empires, the result was a mixing of nomadic and sedentary
cultures. Perhaps the greatest example of such multiculturalism is the
Kushan Empire of the 1st to 3rd century CE, an
empire built by migrating nomads who integrated Greek, Persian, and
Indian cultures that had become local of the area. Despite their
nomadic origin, the Kushans built an empire of walled cities and
agriculture, suitable for the region. West of the Kushan Empire was the
Parthian Empire, which conquered Persia from Alexanders successors.
Like the Kushan Empire, the Parthian Empire was a sedentary kingdom
whose rulers were of nomadic origin. Establishment of civilized
kingdoms by barbarian nomads would prove to be a reoccurring theme in
history. Further north from these kingdoms, pastoral nomads still
roamed the land.
Scythia and the Xiong Nu Empire |
The
eastern steppes saw no less activity than the western steppes. Like the
nomads of the western steppes, the nomads of the east were in frequent
contact with nearby civilizations, namely the Chinese. The famous Great
Wall of China was built as defense against these invaders from the
north. In the 200s BCE, the Xiong Nu
rose to prominence under their leader Mao Dun. The Xiong Nu conquered a
large region around Mongolia and grew into a powerful confederation.
Nearby nomads were incorporated into the empire or driven out. One
particular group who fled the Xiong Nu onslaught was the Yue Zhi, who
later founded the Kushan Empire far away from their original homeland.
As the most powerful nomadic empire the world had yet seen, the Xiong
Nu aggressively waged war against China, now under the rule of the Han
Dynasty. However, the fragile state of nomadic empires could not
maintain their conquests in China. Eventually, the Xiong Nu was
defeated. Later, punitive expeditions from the Han broke the Xiong Nu
Empire into fragmented states. The Xiong Nu fell into tributary status
and eventually continued to decline. By the second century AD, the
Xiong Nu was no longer a significant force.
At
this time in history (c. 100 AD), four great empires spanned Eurasia:
The Roman Empire, the Parthian Empire, the Kushan Empire and the Han
Empire. Of these four empires,the Parthian and Kushan Empires were both
of nomadic origins. Through these empires ran the famous Silk Road, the
major inter-continential trade route of its time. While nomads are
often known for war, at many times, they were peaceful. They were
present on trade routes, often acting as middlement for far-away
merchants.
In China, the collapse of the Xiong Nu created opportunities
for emerging powers in the steppes. When the Han Dynasty also fell,
northern China became an easy target for nomadic conquerors. A new
group, the Xianbei, had already risen to power. In 386 AD, a division
of the Xianbei established the Northern Wei Dynasty in Northern China,
another example of an agricultural empire of nomadic origin.
Interestingly, on the steppes, the Xianbei were replaced by another
power, the Ruruan. The Ruruan became the newest to hold the
ever-changing position of Empire of the Steppes, until they were
overthrown in the 6th century.
Other
Parts of the world faced similar incursions by nomadic groups. In 370,
the Huns arrived near the black sea, where they displaced the Goths and
other barbarians of the area. (The fact that the Huns appeared at a
time approximately after the Xiong Nu disappeared has encouraged the
notion that the Huns came from the Xiong Nu.) The expansion of the Huns
forced other barbarians into Roman realms. The result of was
devastating to the Roman Empire. The Hunnic Empire, a conglomerate of
barbarian tribes ruled by the Huns, reached their peak of power in the
450s under their king Attila. But after Attila died, the empire rapidly
disintegrated. Another invading group of this time was the Hepthalites,
who were driven out from Mongolia by the rising Ruruan power. Forced to
migrate, the Hepthalites moved west and destroyed the already
fragmented Kushan Empire. The Helphalites expanded further, attacking
the Sassanid Empire of Persia and expanding into India.
The
Episodes of the Scythians, Xiong Nu, Huns, and other nomads show a
trend of continual change. On the steppes, the scarcity of permanent
cities meant that empires were constantly built and destroyed, and that
groups migrate at the dynamics of these power shifts. Steppe peoples
such as the Xiong Nu waged wars with their neighboring agricultural
empires, but also served as traders. Furthermore, empires like the
Kushans show that nomads were also capable of building sedentary
empires of cities and agriculture. In the next period of history,
marked by the movement of Turks and Mongols, such trends become even
more dramatic.
Turkic Empires: the Early Post-Classical Era (500-1200 CE)
In 552 AD, the Ruruan Empire collapsed at the uprising of the Gokturks (Tu-Jue in Chinese). Under their Kaghan Bumin and his successors, the Gokturks
expanded rapidly to encompass all of greater Mongolia, the lands
westward to the Caspian Sea and the lands eastward to Korea. The
Gokturks built the most significant steppe empire so far in history,
holding large areas of both the eastern and western steppes. The
Gokturks destroyed the Hepthalite Empire and waged wars against China
and even against Sassanid Iran. However, the vast empire could not
maintatin its stability, and split into eastern and western divisions.
Both empires were weakened by internal instability and eventually
defeated in 630 by Tang China, which soon regained control of the Silk
Road. The eastern empire was revived under new leadership and lasted
until its collapse in 744 AD. Even though the Gokturk Kaghanate
disappeared, the term Turk was passed on to many subsequent
Turkic-speaking peoples of Eurasia, including the future Seljuk Turks.
The immediate successor to the Gokturk Empire in the east was the
Uyghurs. The Uyghurs, another Turkic-speaking people, were once
subjects to the Gokturks. As the second Gokturk Empire declined, the
Uyghurs seized power in the region. By the 760s, the Uyghur had renewed
most of the former power of the Gokturks while the Tang Dynasty faced
rebellion and began declining. However, the Uyghurs fell into disunity
by the 830s AD and collapsed. Following the collapse of the Uyghur Kaghanate, many smaller kingdoms appeared in the area, but no extensive empire would rule the Eastern Steppes until the Mongols of the 13th century.
The successors of the Gokturks in the west were the Bulgars and the Khazars. The Khazars foraged a strong khanate
in the region between the Black and Caspian Sea. The Khazarians kingdom
became dominant over the Bulgars and became the major power of the
region. The Khazars were also notably unique in their adoption of
Judaism as their religion. West of the Khazars, the Steppes near Europe
continued to see dynamic influences from the steppes in the form of
migrations. One remnant of the Bulgars migrated from the steppes and
formed a state near the Danube, north of the Byzantine Empire. The
Danube Bulgars would become a significant power in the 9th
century. Around that time, one century after the abrupt collapse of the
Hunnic Empire, the Avars invaded Europe from the steppes. The Avars
launched punitive campaigns into central Europe and until settling in
Pannonia in the late 500s AD. Avar power continued in Pannonia, where
it dwindled in influence until the Avar state was annexed by
Charlemagne. Incursions from the steppes resumed in 896, when the
Magyars entered the Hungarian plains, from where they launched
expeditions into other parts of Europe. After the raids, the Magyars
settled permanently in the Hungarian Plains. While nomadic conquests
were rather frequent in outer Asia and Eastern Europe, Western Europe
proved to be too far from the steppes for sustained nomadic incursions.
In the early 11th century, one branch of Turks, known as the Oghuz Turks, migrated into Southwest Asia where they later became known as the Seljuks.
The Seljuks would become significant to the history of both Europe and
the Middle East. At the beginning of the migrations, the Seljuks came
into contact (or actually, conflict) with the Ghaznavids, another
Turkic dynasty that had built an empire around modern-day Afghanistan.
After much warfare, the Ghaznavids were defeated. The Seljuks continued
into Iran, captured Baghdad, and expanded outward to encompass vast
territories from Central Asia, to Egypt and the Mediterranean. In 1071,
the Seljuks advanced into Asia Minor, where they defeated the army of
Byzantium at Manzikert. The battle of Manzikert resulted in the
initiation of the Crusades.
The Seljuk
Empire was the largest empire in outer Asia that had its origins from
inner Asia. However, the empire only lasted about a century. In 1156,
the empire collapsed under a series of revolts. Of the many kingdoms
that splintered out of the Seljuk Empire, one of the most notable was
the Sultanate of Rum in Anatolia, which laid the foundation for future
Turkish states of Turkey.
As noted earlier,
following the collapse of the Uyghur Kaghanate in the eastern steppes,
no large nomadic empire could dominate the entire region. New kingdoms
appeared in the region and surrounding areas. In the far eastern
regions of the Mongolia steppes, the Khitans rose to prominence with
their establishment of the Liao Dynasty in 907 in Eastern Mongolia and
parts of Northern China. The Khitans were a Tungusic nomadic group,
distinct from Turkic nomads and possibly related to the old Xianbei. In
1125, The Khitans were driven out into Central Asia by the Jurchen,
another Tungusic group, who proved to be a formidable war machine. The
Jurchen aggressively waged war with the Song Dynasty of China. Their
powerful cavalry gave them the upper hand against the Song. The Jurchen
captured a significant portion of Northern China, forcing the Song to
relocate their capital south. Like many nomadic conquerors, the Jurchen
established themselves into local customs, adopting the Chinese
Dynastic name of Jin. As lord of Northern China, the Jin saw the
steppes nations as their subjects. But the Jin would eventually be
overthrown by a new steppe empire.
The Mongol Conquests: Central Asia from 1200-1500
In 1206, an ambitious warlord named Temujin
united the Mongolian steppes under his command. He became Chinggis
(Genghis) Khan. Chinggis launched campaigns against the Jin Empire,
subjugated the Xixia west of the Jin and conquered the Khwarezmian
Empire, which ruled the western territory of the former Seljuk Empire.
His successor continued this line of spectacular conquests. The Jin
Empire finally fell in 1234 and the Mongols extended their empire
westward, incorporating the Sultanate of Rum, all of the western
steppes and most of Russia by the 1240s. Further conquests annexed
Southwest Asia, cumulating in the capture of Baghdad and the
destruction of the Abassid Caliphate. Chinggis grandson Kublai
completed the conquest of China with the establishment of the Yuan
Dynasty in 1271 and the final destruction of the Song Dynasty in 1279.
By 1280s, the Mongol Empires ruled nearly all of Asia, from the Pacific Ocean to Asia Minor.
Although
the Mongols had already begun to lose unity by 1260 when individual
Khanates gradually became increasingly dependent, the unprecedented
magnitude of the Mongol conquests has a whole had far reaching
consequences. While earlier nomadic powers had either built vast
empires on the steppes of Inner Asia or powerful empires in agriculture
lands of outer Asia, the Mongols were the first to hold both Inner and
Outer Asia. As a result, the boundary between the regions of Persia and
the Western Steppes, and the boundary between China and the Eastern
Steppes, as well as the regions of Asia Central all disappeared under
the overreaching dominion of the Mongols. Trade was able to flourish
between the east and the west, and for the first time since the fall of
the Tang Empire, the Silk Road was reopened. On the newly opened trade
route, ideas and even diseases were able to be exchanged from one side
of Eurasia to another. The massive political realignment also had
dramatic consequences on the civilizations Asia. The conquest of China
brought about a reunification of the region under a single dynasty,
although a foreign one. The establishment of Mongol power in Russia
drastically changed the political situation of the former disunited
states in the region. The establishment of rule in Persia and the
Middle East brought Islam rule in the region to brief halt.
The
extent of the Mongol conquest was limited by the Mongols growing
disunity due to the geographic overextension of the empire. As disunity
increases, the Mongols increasingly lost the resources for further
conquest. When Kublai died in 1294, no Great Khan was recognized as at
least the nominal overlord of the Mongol Dominions. The western
divisions of the Mongol Empire, the Il-Khanate and the Blue Horde,
fought for power only to dilute each others strength. The Il-Khanate
waged war with the Mameluks, who had grown into a powerful force, but
were not successful. Despite failures to further expand into the Middle
East, the Il-Khanate remained as a formidable state until its collapse
in 1335, after which the region fell into a state of Chaos. Power was
restored later by the Turkic conqueror Timur Lenk (Tamerlane). Timur
ruthlessly defeated all his adversaries. The Mongol Khans in Russia,
the Ottoman Turks, the Mameluks, the Delhi sultanate were all defeated.
With the Central Asian city of Samarkand as capital, Timurs empire is
sometimes considered to be the last great nomadic power of the
western steppes. However, the empire was short lived and disintegrated
a century after he died death in 1405. After the fall of Timurs
Empire, the Safavid dynasty rose in Iran. Native rule and Islam were
restored and never again would a power derived from the steppes hold
power in the region.
The 16th Century and Onwards
Shortly
after the collapse of the Il-Khanate, the Mongols also lost hold of
China when the Yuan Dynasty was overthrown in 1368 in favor of the Ming
Dynasty. The the Ruling line of the Yuan Dynasty retreated back to
Mongolia. Despite being expelled, the Mongols were still a formidable
power in war. In 1449, the Mongols were able to capture the Ming
Emperor in an exceedingly disastrous campaign for the Ming. Continuing
threats from the Mongols had already encouraged the rebuilding of the
Great Wall of China by the Ming, whose version of the wall is
well-known today. Nonetheless, the Mongols were no longer able to stage
any permanent conquests of China.
In
Russia, the Mongol Khans of the Blue Horde and the later Golden Horde
had established themselves as overlords as a result of their successful
conquests. The Russian principalities became tributary states to the
Mongol Khanates. However, by the 15th century, Mongol grip
on Russia had gradually weakened, while the Russian states became
increasingly more powerful. In 1380, the Russian defeated the Golden
Horde, which afterward, fragmented to a collection of states. By 1503,
the Russian principality of Muscovy under Ivan the Great had
definitively thrown off Mongol rule. Muscovy began its own campaigns of
expansion into Central Asia. One fragment of the Golden Horde, the
Khanate of Crimea, survived until 1789.
In the 17th
the semi-nomadic Manchus swept down from the steppes east of Mongolia
and conquered the Ming. Led by Nurrhacci and his successors, the Manchu
conquered Ming China. Manchu conquests represented the last major
conquest by a nomadic horseman. Like all foreign conquerors of China,
the Manchus became a Chinese Empire, taking the dynastic title of Qing.
The Manchus then launched aggressive campaigns against their neighbors.
In 1634, the last Mongol Great Khan surrendered to the Manchu.
Meanwhile, the Russians continued their impressive expansion into
Central Asia. On the eastern steppes, the lands not conquered by the
Qing were taken by the Russians. By the 19th century, the Russians had
annexed almost of the western steppes.
While
Central Asia was still Central Asia, the world has dramatically changed
as time moved into the Modern period. Though successful for thousands
years, nomadic cavalry warfare could no longer maintain its edge
against firearms. The rising global presence of agricultural states
became too difficult for nomadic armies to sweep and conquer. Power
became more of a matter of economical prowess rather than the skill of
individual warriors. Into the modern era, nomadic civilization ceased
to be a driving force in history.
SELECTED REFERENCES
Nicolle and Shpakovsky, Kalkha River 1223. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2001. Map of steppe climate zones.
Ihsan, various articles on www.allempires.com. For reference on Turkic History
Christian, A history of Russia, Central Asia, and Mongolia. Blackwell Publishers, 1999.
Edited by Imperator Invictus