Prehistory and antiquity

Early western peoples

The first human groups to emerge at the dawn of history that are identifiable by name rather than by their artifacts are the Cimmerians and the Scythians, both located in the western half of Central Asia as reported by the Greeks.

The Cimmerians, whose name appears in the Odyssey of Homer, occupied the southern Russian steppe from about 1200 bce. Their civilization, which belongs to the Late Bronze Age, is barely distinguishable from that of other peoples with whom they mingled. From the second half of the 8th century bce, the Cimmerians were replaced by the Scythians, who used iron implements. The Scythians created the first known typical Central Asian empire. The chief thrust of their expansion was directed against the south rather than the west, where no major power existed and which thus offered little chance for valuable booty. In the late 8th century bce, Cimmerian and Scythian troops fought against the Assyrian king Sargon II, and, at the end of the 6th century bce, conflict arose between the Scythians and the Achaemenian king Darius I.

Darius’s expedition (516?–513? bce) against the Scythians in southern Russia was described in great detail by the Greek historian Herodotus, who provided the first and perhaps the most penetrating description of a great nomad empire. In more than one respect, the Scythians appear as the historical prototype of the mounted warrior of the steppe. Yet, in their case, as in others, it would be mistaken to see in them aimlessly roaming tribes. The Scythians, like most nomad empires, had permanent settlements of various sizes, representing various degrees of civilization. The vast fortified settlement of Kamenka on the Dnieper River, settled since the end of the 5th century bce, became the centre of the Scythian kingdom ruled by Ateas, who lost his life in a battle against Philip II of Macedon in 339 bce.

The Scythians had a highly developed metallurgy, and in their social structure the agriculturalists (aroteres), who grew wheat for sale, constituted a class of their own. The quality of Scythian art, characterized by a highly sophisticated style depicting animals both real and mythical, remained unsurpassed in Central Asia. Although the Scythians had no script, it has been established, nevertheless, that they spoke an Iranian language.

The Scythians appear as Shakas in the Old Iranian rock inscriptions, where three distinct groups are identified, and it is by the latter name that they appear in the history of northwestern India, which they penetrated during the 1st century bce. On the steppes of Central Asia they were gradually subsumed into the Kushan empire (see below), while on the southern Russian steppes they were absorbed by the Sarmatians, another Iranian nomad people whose hegemony lasted until the 4th century ce.

Early eastern peoples

From its earliest history China had to contend with the pressures of invading nomads along its borders. The group of nomads called the Hu played a considerable role in early Chinese history, leading to the introduction of cavalry and the adoption of foreign clothing, more suitable than its traditional Chinese counterpart for new types of warfare. About 200 bce a new and powerful nomadic people emerged on China’s western borders, the Xiongnu. Little is known of Touman, founder of this empire, beyond the fact that he was killed by his son Maodun, under whose long reign (c. 209–174 bce) the Xiongnu became a major power and a serious menace to China. In many respects the Xiongnu are the eastern counterpart of the Scythians. The Chinese historian Sima Qian (c. 145–c. 87 bce) described the nomadic tactics and strategy used by the Xiongnu in terms almost identical with those applied by Herodotus to the Scythians: the Xiongnu

move about in search of water and pasture and have no walled cities or fixed dwellings, nor do they engage in any kind of agriculture.

The centre of the Xiongnu empire was Mongolia, but it is impossible even to approximate the western limits of the territory under its direct control. For more than two centuries the Xiongnu, more or less constantly warring with China, remained the major force in the eastern regions of Central Asia.

In 48 ce the Xiongnu empire, long plagued by internecine struggles, dissolved. Some of the tribes, known as the southern Xiongnu, recognized Chinese suzerainty and settled in the Ordos region. The other remaining tribes, the northern Xiongnu, maintained themselves in Mongolia until the middle of the 2nd century, when they finally succumbed to the Xianbei, their neighbours. Another group, led by Zhizhi, brother and rival of the northern Xiongnu ruler, moved westward. With the death of Zhizhi in 36 ce, this group disappears from the records, but according to one theory the Huns, who first appeared on the southern Russian steppes about 370 ce, were descendants of these fugitive tribes.

Meanwhile, in the second half of the 2nd century bce the Xiongnu, at the height of their power, had expelled from their homeland in western Gansu (China) a people probably of Iranian stock, known to the Chinese as the Yuezhi and called Tocharians in Greek sources. While a part of the Yuezhi confederacy, known as the Asi (Asiani), moved as far west as the Caucasus region, the remainder occupied the region between the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya before overrunning Bactria between 141 and 128 bce. After penetrating Sīstān and the Kābul River valley, they crossed the Indus and established the Kushan empire in northwestern India. In its heyday, under Kujula Kadphises (Qiu Juique) during the 1st century ce, this empire extended from the vicinity of the Aral Sea to Varanasi in the Gangetic Plain and southward as far as Nashik, near modern Mumbai. The Kushan were thus able to control the growing transcontinental caravan trade linking the Chinese empire with that of Rome.