Nomadic life
Nomadic Life
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1. Why migrate
2. Impact on life
1. why live a migrant life?
• not enough rain in the steppe
• following the pastureland (food for animals)
2. impact
• Grazing animals thrive, central Asians turn to
animal herding
• Shelter (yurts aka tents)
• Small-scale farming
• Millet, veggies
• rudimentary artisanry
• Pottery, leather
• Gender “equality”
Nomads in Turkmenistan
Nomadic Economy
• 1. Trade links between nomadic and settled
peoples
• 2. Nomads engage in long-distance travel
along caravan routes
Nomadic Social order
• 1. Governance basically clan-based
• 2. classes: nobility and commoners
• 3. Charismatic individuals become nobles,
occasionally assert authority
• 4. Unusually fluid status for nobility
• Hereditary, but could be lost through
incompetence
• Advancement for meritorious non-nobles
Nomadic religion
• 1. Shamans center of paganism
• 2. Appeal of Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity,
Islam, Manichaeism from 6th century CE- trade
Nomadic Religion
• 3. Turkish script developed, partially to record
religious teachings
• 4. Conversion to Islam in
10th century due to Abbasid
influence
Military Organization
• 1. Large confederations under a khan
• 2. 10th C begin expansion/empire building
• 3. Exceptionally strong cavalries
• Mobility
• Speed
• Archery skills
Saljuq Turks
• 1. 8-10th centuries Turkish peoples on border of
Abbasid empire (Service in Abbasid armies)
• 2. Eventually came to dominate Abbasid caliphs
(bullied)
• 3. 1055 Saljuq leader Tughril Beg recognized as
sultan
• 4. Tughril took Baghdad (started the trend to
expand)
• 5. Abbasid caliphs served as “figure heads” of
authority
Saljuq Turks
• 6. 1071 Saljuq Turks defeat Byzantine army at
Manzikert, take emperor captive
• 7. Large-scale invasion of Anatolia
• 8.Ottoman Turks conquer
Constantinople 1453
Ghaznavid Turks
• 1. Mahmud of Ghazni, Afghanistan,
invades northern India
• 2. 11thC for plunder, 13thC to rule
• 3. Persecution of Buddhists, Hindusspread of Islam
• Defensive Hindus in the south
stopped expansion
• 4. Ghazis were known for ability to
fight (warriors)
Synthesize:
• In the spaces provided, create an evolution
chart for the Turks
• Use drawings to show the evolution from
nomadic to imperial
• Include a caption
Mongolian Steppes
Mongol Warriors
Mongol Archer
Mongol Nobleman, Late 13
c.
Robe of a Mongol
Nobleman, Early 14 c
Chinggis Khan (1167-1227) and the
Making of the Mongol Empire
• Temüjin, b. 1167
• Father prominent warrior, poisoned c. 1177, forced
into poverty
• Mastered steppe diplomacy, elimination of
enemies
• Brought all Mongol tribes into one confederation
• 1206 proclaimed Chinggis Khan: “Universal Ruler”
Genghis Khan
1162 - 1227
Originally named Temujin, the
name Genghis Khan was taken
by himself, meaning universal
ruler.
The Reflex
Bow, the
primary
Mongol
weapon.
Mongol Political
Organization
• Broke up tribal organization
• Formed military units from men of different
tribes
• Promoted officials on basis of merit and loyalty
• Established distinctly non-nomadic capital at
Karakorum
Mongol Arms
• Mongol population only 1 million (less than 1%
of Chinese population)
• Army c. 100-125,000
• Strengths:
• Cavalry
• Short bows
• Rewarded enemies who surrender, cruel to
enemies who fight
The Mongols
 Genghis Khan’s Tax Laws:
• If you do not pay homage,
we will take your prosperity.
• If you do not have prosperity,
we will take your children.
• If you do not have children,
we will take your wife.
• If you do not have a wife,
we will take your head.
 Used cruelty as a weapon  some areas never
recovered from Mongol destruction!
Mongol Conquests
• Conquest of China by 1220
• Conquest of Afghanistan, Persia
• emissaries murdered, following year Chinggis
Khan destroys ruler
• Ravaged lands to prevent future rebellions
• Large-scale, long-term devastation
The Mongol Empires about 1300 CE
Khubilai Khan (r. 12641294)
• Grandson of Chinggis Khan
• Rule of China
• Ruthless warrior, but religiously tolerant
• Hosted Marco Polo
• Established Yuan dynasty (to 1368)
• Unsuccessful forays into Vietnam, Cambodia,
Burma, Java
• Two attempted invasions of Japan (1274, 1281)
turned back by typhoons (kamikaze: “divine
winds”)
Marco Polo
1254-1324
 A Venetian merchant
 Traveled through Yuan
China: 1271-1295
 Sent on many diplomatic
missions throughout
Kublai’s empire.
 Served as governor in China
for 3 years
 Wrote many novels
documenting his travels
Yuan Dynasty
1279-1368
• Pax Mongolica [“Mongol Peace”]
• Tolerated Chinese culture
but lived apart from them
• No Chinese in top govt. posts
• Believed foreigners were more
trustworthy.
• Encouraged foreign trade & foreign
merchants to live and work in
China.
Marco Polo’s Travels
Yuan Golden Bowl, 13 c
Yuan Porcelains &
Ceramics
The Golden Horde
• While fierce, often brutal warriors, they were
tolerant rulers.
• Absolute rule of the Mongols influenced later
Russian rulers.
• Mongol rule isolated Russia from
advancements in art & science of the
Renaissance.
The Golden Horde
• The grandson of Genghis Khan, Batu Khan, led Mongol
armies into Russia and other eastern European
territories between 1237 and 1241.
• Known as the Golden Horde, they ruled this region for
240 years.
• Conquest of Russia, 1237-1241
• Established tributary relationship to 15th century
• Rule over Crimea to late 18th century
• Raids into Poland, Hungary, Germany
The Ilkhanate of Persia
• Abbasid empire toppled
• Baghdad sacked, 1258
• 200,000 massacred
• Expansion into Syria checked by Egyptian
forces
Mongol Rule in Persia
• Nomadic conquerors had to learn to rule
sedentary societies
• Inexperienced, Lost control of most lands
within a century
• Persia: dependence on existing administration
to deliver tax revenues
• Left matters of governance to bureaucracy
• Eventually assimilated into Islamic lifestyle
Mongol Rule in China
• Strove to maintain strict separation from
Chinese
• Intermarriage forbidden
• Chinese forbidden to study Mongol language
• Imported administrators from other areas
(esp. Arabs, Persians)
• Yet tolerated religious freedoms
The Mongols and
Buddhism
• Shamanism remains popular
• Lamaist school of Buddhism (Tibet) gains
strength among Mongols
• Large element of magic, similar to shamanism
• Ingratiating attitude to Mongols: khans as
incarnations of Buddha
The Mongols and
Western Integration
• Experience with long-distance trade
• Protection of traveling merchants
• Volume of trade across central Asia increases
• Diplomatic missions protected
• Missionary activity increases
• Mongol resettlement policies
Decline of the Mongol Empire in
Persia
• Overspending, poor tax returns from
overburdened peasantry
• Ilkhan attempts to replace precious metal
currency with paper in 1290s
• Failure, forced to rescind
• Factional fighting
• Last Ilkhan dies without heir in 1335, Mongol
rule collapses
Decline of the Yuan
Dynasty in China
• Mongols spend bullion that supported paper
currency
• Public loses confidence in paper money, prices
rise
• From 1320s, major power struggles
• Bubonic plague spreads 1330-1340s
• 1368 Mongols flee peasant rebellion
Surviving Mongol
Khanates
• Khanate of Chaghatai in central Asia
• Continued threat to China
• Golden Horde in Caucasus and steppes to mid16th century
• Continued threat to Russia
Tamerlane the Conquerer
(c. 1336-1405)
• Turkish conqueror Timur
• Timur the Lame: Tamerlane
• United Turkish nomads in
Khanate of Chaghatai
• His descendants later
established the Mughal Empire
in India.
• Major military campaigns
• Built capital in Samarkand
Tamerlane’s Empire about 1405 CE
(Timurid Dynasty)
Tamerlane’s Heirs
• Poor organization of governing structure
• Power struggles divide empire into four
• Yet heavily influenced several empires:
• Mughal
• Safavid
• Ottoman
The Rise of the Ottoman Empire
• The Ottomans were a nomadic Turkish speaking
group that had migrated from central Asia into Asia
Minor in the 14th c.
• At the height of its power it spanned three
continents, controlling much of Southeastern
Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
• The empire was at the center of interactions
between the Eastern and Western worlds for six
centuries.
The Ottoman Empire
• Osman, charismatic leader who dominates
part of Anatolia
• Declares independence from Saljuq sultan,
1299
• Attacks Byzantine empire
• Followers known as Osmanlis (Ottomans)
Osman I (Othman): 1299-1326
Ottoman Conquests
• 1350s conquests in the Balkans
• Local support for Ottoman invasion
• Peasants unhappy with fragmented, ineffective
Byzantine rule
• Tamerlane defeats Ottoman forces in 1402, but
Ottomans recover by 1440s
The Capture of
Constantinople, 1453
• Sultan Mehmed II (“Mehmed the Conqueror”)
• Renamed city Istanbul, capital of Ottoman
empire
Turkish empires and their neighbors about 1210 CE
Mehmet II: 1444-1445; 1451-1481
(“The Conqueror”)
The Ottoman Capital -- Istanbul