1. Chapter 12: Pastoral Peoples on the Global Stage

2. Looking Back and Looking Around: The Long of Pastoral Nomads
First economies based solely on livestock production emerged around 4000 B. C.
Depended on a variety of animals for purposes including transportation, food, and shelter.
Features of Pastoral Nomads:
Less productive than agricultural societies
Large areas for grazing animals
Smaller population
Encampments of related kinfolk
Mobility
Pastoralists had a deep connection to agricultural neighbors because they lack the ability to be self sufficient.
Because of this interaction many adopted cultural aspects of agricultural life such as religions (Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Manichaeism)

3. The Xiongnu: An Early Nomadic Empire
the Xiongnu (in Mongolian steppes north of China ) formed an important early confederacy (from Manchuria to central Asia ) in third/second centuries b.c.e.
ruler Modun (r. 210–174 b.c.e.) revolutionized nomadic life
created a more centralized, hierarchical political system
divinely sanctioned ruler
distinction between “junior” and “senior” clans became more important
Xiongnu Empire was a model copied by Turkic and Mongol empires

4. The Arabs and the Turks
nomads made their greatest impact on world history between 500 and 1500 c.e.
Bedouin Arabs became effective fighters with development of a good camel saddle (sometime between 500 and 100 b.c.e.)
Turkic-speaking nomads (homeland in Mongolia and southern Siberia )
gradual southward/westward spread
series of short-lived nomadic empires 552–965 c.e.
spread of Turkic language and culture over much of Inner Asia and beyond

5. The Masai of East Africa
no large states or chiefdoms, pastoral or agricultural, developed in what is now Kenya and Tanzania
Masai were nomadic cattle-keepers
Were partially agrigarian before 18th-19th centuries
Masai interaction with settled peoples
depended on hunters and farmers
Masai would admit outsiders into theirsociety
farmers adopted elements of Masai culture and military

6. Breakout: The Mongol Empire
The Mongols formed the greatest land-based empire in history following their breakout from Mongolia in the thirteenth century.
extensive linkage of nomads of inner Eurasian steppes with agricultural civilizations
created far greater contact between Europe, China , and Islamic world than ever before
total Mongol population was only about 700,000
did not have a major cultural impact on the world

7. From Temujin to Chinggis Khan: The Rise of the Mongol Empire
Temujin (1162–1227) created the Mongol Empire
Before Mongol Empire were unstable collection of feuding tribes
Temujin’s Rise
Father was a chieftain but was killed when Temujin was young
He grew up and allied with a tribal leader
Got the reputation of a great leader
1206: Mongol tribal assembly recognized Temujin as Chinggis Khan (“universal ruler”)
major attack on China in 1209 started 50-year Mongol world war

8. Explaining the Mongol Moment
Mongol Empire grew without any grand scheme
by the time of his death, Chinggis Khan saw conquests as a mission to unite the whole world
Mongols were vastly outnumbered by their enemies
Mongol success was due to their well-led, organized, disciplined army
Mongol reputation for brutality and destructiveness
ability to mobilize resources

9. Encountering the Mongols: Comparing Three Cases
China and the Mongols
Mongol conquest of China was difficult, took from 1209 to 1279
began in northern China (ruled by dynasties of nomadic origin), was vastly destructive
conquest of southern China (ruled by Song dynasty) was far less violent
Mongols unified a divided China
Khubilai Khan (r. 1271–1294) had a set of ancestral tablets made
Mongol rule was harsh, exploitative, and foreign
by 1368, rebellions had forced the Mongols out of China

10. Persia and the Mongols
conquest of Persia : first invasion led by Chinggis Khan 1219–1221; second assault under his grandson Hulegu 1251–1258
Invasion of Persia
massive impact of invasion
very destructive
profound damage to Persian/Iraqi agriculture
extensive use of Persian bureaucracy
Mongols in Persia converted to Islam on a large scale
Mongol dynasty collapsed in 1330s

11. Russia and the Mongols Mongol devastation of Russia 1237–1240
Russia was integrated into Mongol Empire as the Kipchak Khanate (Russians called it the “Khanate of the Golden Horde”)
some Russian princes and the Russian Orthodox Church flourished
Mongol rulers of Russia were far less assimilated or influenced
Russian princes adopted Mongol weapons, diplomatic rituals, court practices, tax system, and military draft
Russians broke free of Mongol rule by the end of the fifteenth century

12. The Mongol Empire as a Eurasian Network
Mongols produced little for distant markets; were not active traders
but they promoted international commerce as source of tax revenue
made it relatively safe to travel across Central Asia
Mongol trading circuit was central to larger Afro-Eurasian commercial network

13. Cultural Exchange in the Mongol Realm
thousands of craftsmen and educated people were forcibly relocated by the Mongols
Mongol religious tolerance and support of merchants drew foreigners
the Mongol capital of Karakorum was a cosmopolitan center
lively exchange of ideas and techniques
westward flow of Chinese technology and art
Muslim astronomy spread to China
circulation of plants and crops

14. The Plague: A Eurasian Pandemic
the plague (a.k.a. the pestilence or the Black Death) spread across trade routes of the Mongol Empire in early fourteenth century
probably originated in Central Asia
the plague broke out in northeastern China in 1331
reached Western Europe by 1347
India and sub-Saharan Africa were much less affected
best information about the plague’s impact comes from Europe
the plague was a primary reason for the breakdown of the Mongol Empire in fourteenth–fifteenth centuries
disruption of land routes to the east encouraged Europeans to seek trade routes by sea

15. Reflections Nomads have often received “bad press” in history books.
only mentioned in regard to their destruction of established civilizations
educated sedentary peoples have feared and usually despised nomads
nomads were usually illiterate, so we don’t have their perspective
There have been recent efforts to present a more balanced view.
emphasize what nomads achieved as well as what they destroyed
the total wars and genocides of the twentieth century have made people less judgmental toward the Mongols
historians are shaped by their times