ENCOUNTERS
IN
CENTRAL
ASIA
MODERN CENTRAL ASIA
VEGETATION ZONES
TOPOGRAPHY
THE STEPPE
THE STEPPE AND HUT
THE DESERTS
THE MOUNTAINS
THE OASIS
TIMELINE






TO 1500 BCE: RISE OF PASTORAL NOMADS
1500 BCE-200 BCE: INDO-EUROPEAN AGE
200 BCE-1380 CE: SILK ROAD EXCHANGES
200 BCE-1250 CE: XIONG-NU TO TURKS
1250 CE-1470 CE: THE MONGOL AGE
1470 CE-1640 CE: THE LAST NOMADS
NOMADIC ANIMALS
NOMADIC WARRIOR
INDO-EUROPEANS
CHARIOT PEOPLES
INDO-EUROPEANS
INDO-IRANIANS
INDO-ARYANS
THE SHANG ?
CYCLE OF CIVILIZATION
1. Nomads invade, conquer sedentary civilization
4. Nomadic culture
weakens, loses
all elements of
old culture, falls
to new nomadic
threat.
2. Nomads
settled down,
adopt many
aspects of
conquered
civilization.
3. New syncretic culture thrives, reaches heights.
1000 - 200 B.C.E.
Later Indo-Europeans especially the
Sakas, Kushans, Bactrians, Parthians
& Sassanids migrated into South and
Southwest Asian; their movements
blended Hellenistic, Persian, and
Buddhist elements in a unique
culture. Persians became very active
in Central Asian settlement and trade
PARTHIANS,
KUSHANS
SASSANIDS
HAN DYNASTY
THE HAN, ZHANG QIAN’S
EMBASSIES, HORSES & SILK
THE SILK ROAD
There were many Silk Roads across Central Asia beginning in
China and ending on the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean.
THE SILK ROAD
Han China and the Xiong-Nu
battled for control of the Eastern
Steppe. In the process, China sought
allies & Central Asian horses, which
they exchanged for silk. The nomadic
peoples exchanged the silk with
civilizations in Southwest Asia
and the Silk Road was born.
RELIGIOUS EXCHANGES
SYNCRETISM
INTERCULTURAL
EXCHANGES
Trade
and/or Tribute?
INTERCULTURAL
EXCHANGES
Art and Architecture
THE XIONG-NU
XIONG-NU, HUNS,
BLACK & WHITE HUNS
Tribute Empire
Confederacy
Hostages
Political Marriages
Allies, Mercenaries
Destroyed Rome, India
Invaded Sassanid Persia
Threatened China, Germans
UIGHURS (TURKS)
The branches ruled in Mongolia,
Inner Mongolia, Sinkiang; parts
migrated into Kazakh steppes &
river valleys called Sogdiana.
•Manichaen and Buddhist
•Supported merchants
•Developed art, literature
•Allies, Enemies, Saviors of Tang
TURKS
IN
CENTRAL
ASIA
ISLAM IN CENTRAL ASIA
Arab Nomads
Muhammad
Sasanids Overrun:
Umayyads:
Abbassids:
Battle of Talas:
Religion & Technology
Paper Products!
600 CE
622 CE
637 CE
7th c.
8th c.
751 CE
TURKS IN SOUTH AND
SOUTHWEST ASIA
 Seljuk Turks:


9th c.
Seljuk Turks invade Southwest Asia and
defeat both the Abbassids and Byzantines.
Create sultanates and military states; rule
as mercenaries throughout region.
 Khwarazm Empire:
12th c.
THE MONGOLS
Chinggis Khan

Yuan Dynasty (China, Mongolia)
Golden Horde (Russia, Ukraine)
Ilkhanids (Persia, Iraq)
Chagatayids (Central Asia)
Pax Mongolica
EXTENT OF
MONGOL EMPIRE
EXCHANGES UNDER
THE MONGOLS
Technology, Diseases, Peoples, Tribute
TAMERLANE
Central Asia and Afghanistan devastating raids into India,
Persia, Iraq, Caucasus Mts.
and Turkey. Built mounds of skulls
following conquests and sieges.
RELATED TOPICS
•The Pandemic called the Black Death
•Travels of Polo, Ibn Battuta, Bar Sauma
•Exchanges of Technologies
•The Rise, Decline, Fall of Ming (China)
•The Mughal Dynasty (India)
•The Safavid and Qajar Dynasties (Persia)
•The Ottoman Empire
•The Rise of Moscovy (Russian Empire)
WHAT ENDED THE AGE
OF NOMADS?
Firearms
Standing Armies
High-yield agriculture
Strong, centralized bureaucracies
Pandemics devastated nomads
Acculturation
Established religions
Sea-borne trade
INTERNET LINKS
THE ART OF THE SILK ROAD
depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/
exhibit/index.shtml
SILK ROAD ENCOUNTERS
www.askasia.org/teachers/Instructional_
Resources/FEATURES/SilkRoad/
Intro.htm