Ch 18 Nomadic Empires & Eurasion Integration

Background  Increasing role/influence of nomadic cultures  Many Turkish and Mongolian campaigns

Turkish Expansion  Many Turkish groups, same language  Tribal/clan organization  Came to dominate central Asia

Nomadic Society  Pastorialists due to arid climate  Used grazing animals to supply nearly all needs  Brisk trade w/settled society  Caravan trade

Social Classes  Nobles and commoners  Nobles - acted as war leaders, not administrators  Fairly fluid society - nobility based more on personal actions and attributes than hereditary status

Religion  Animism/shamanism  Also tended to adopt religions of settled society  900’s - began to convert to Islam

Military Organization  Organized into confederations led by khans  Advantage based on cavalry/archers  900’s began to develop into imperial states

Saljuk Turks  became intertwined w/Abbasid Emperia  Turkish sultans became the real rulers b 1055  Increasing interest in Asia Minor  Gained control by 1071 (except city of Constantinople)

Ghaznavid Turks  Pushed into northern India - early 1000’s  Orginally looters, est more permanent interest and control over time  1200’s - Delhi sultanate controlled N. India  Constantly undermined by rajahs  Army allowed them to hold territory but not to build on it