Historical dynamics and succession of Inner Asian nomadic empires

The constant and variable elements of the formation of medieval nomadic empires are the focus of the study. The basic economic system of pastoral nomads including the species composition of the herd and routes of migrations remained  stable. There are several characteristics of the socialpolitical organisation of nomadic empires which played a decisive role: tribal and supratribal genealogical loyalties, principle of administrative division of the empire; military-hierarchical character nomadic organisation; postal service; specific system of power succession. These elements were also exposed to change. However, several dynamic elements such as technology of transport, weapon and military arts, urbanisation, writing system, and world religions were due to the contacts with the neighbouring agricultural world

Multiregional Emergence of Mobile Pastoralism and Nonuniform Institutional Complexity across Eurasia

In this article I present a new archaeological synthesis concerning the earliest formation of mobile pastoralist economies across central Eurasia. I argue that Eurasian steppe pastoralism developed along distinct local trajectories in the western, central, and (south)eastern steppe, sparking the development of regional networks of interaction in the late fourth and third millennia BC. The “Inner Asian Mountain Corridor” exemplifies the relationship between such incipient regional networks and the process of economic change in the eastern steppe territory. The diverse regional innovations, technologies, and ideologies evident across Eurasia in the mid-third millennium BC are cast as the building blocks of a unique political economy shaped by “nonuniform” institutional alignments among steppe populations throughout the second millennium BC. This theoretical model illustrates how regional channels of interaction between distinct societies positioned Eurasian mobile pastoralists as key players in wide-scale institutional developments among traditionally conceived “core” civilizations while also enabling them to remain strategically independent and small-scale in terms of their own sociopolitical organization. The development of nonuniform institutional complexity among Eurasian pastoralists demonstrates a unique political and economic structure applicable to societies whose variable political and territorial scales are inconsistent with commonly understood evolutionary or corporate sociopolitical typologies such as chiefdoms, states, or empires

Risultati preliminari delle indagini archeologiche ed etnografiche presso il sito di Togolok 1

Modern Turkmenistan is mainly constituted by a desert landscape, yet despite its harsh climate, cultures have been able to construct networks of water channels since the Bronze Age. This has resulted in a man-made landscape that integrates towns and villages. Extensive surveys and recent archaeological excavations have highlighted that between 2400 and 2100 BC (Namazga V period), the region of the Murghab alluvial fan was characterised by the development of complex urban societies. However, starting from the Late Bronze Age, a new group of mobile pastoralists appeared in the Murghab region and settled along the edges of the sedentary sites. Although their presence is well-attested both by survey and excavation data, their degree of interaction with the sedentary farmers is still debated. In modern Turkmenistan, semi-mobile shepherds continue to drive their cattle across the Murghab, using mobile camps for different months. This paper presents the preliminary results of the excavation of the sedentary site of Togolok 1, as well as the first ethnographic study of the mobile communities of the Murghab region

Historical Dynamics and Succession of Inner Asian Nomadic Empires

The constant and variable elements of the formation of medieval nomadic empires are the focus of the study. The basic economic system of pastoral nomads including the species composition of the herd and routes of migrations remained  stable. There are several characteristics of the socialpolitical organisation of nomadic empires which played a decisive role: tribal and supratribal genealogical loyalties, principle of administrative division of the empire; military-hierarchical character nomadic organisation; postal service; specific system of power succession. These elements were also exposed to change. However, several dynamic elements such as technology of transport, weapon and military arts, urbanisation, writing system, and world religions were due to the contacts with the neighbouring agricultural world

Book Review: Atlas “Great Bolgar”. Scient. Ed. A.G. Sitdikov. Kazan: GLAVDESIGN Ltd, 2015. 404 P..

The review gives a positive assessment to this collective effort of the authors who prepared the atlas “Great Bolgar” in the English language. The book was earlier published in the Russian language (2013), but this edition is revised and amended and contains several new chapters and new illustrations. The goal of this publication is to promote Bolgar architectural-archaeological complex – included in the UNESCO’s list of the World Cultural Heritage in 2014 – to the world archaeology. Structurally, the atlas is built on the systematic narration in the form of scientific essays grouped into five thematic chapters. The atlas elucidates the place of Bolgar in the medieval world; natural-geographic and landscape features of the site; the urban economy and its integration in commercial relationships of Eurasia; coinage and monetary circulation; architecture, fortification, urban utilities; spiritual culture, religious ideas, writing and arts. In conclusion, the authors list the researchers who made the most valuable contributions to the study and preservation of Bolgar

From Tribal Confederation to Empire: The Evolution of the Rouran Society

The formation of the Rouran khaganate was generated by the regional ternary structure in Inner Asia comprising the Song state (in southern China), the semi-nomadic buffer empire Toba Wei (in northern China) and the Rouran imperial confederation (in Outer Mongolia). The khaganate was characterised by an administrative-political system that was typical of the nomadic empires of Eurasia, specifically, a structure of core and periphery, distant exploitation of agrarian societies, two wings and a military hierarchy based on the decimal principle, title of khagan. The foreign policy of the Rouran khaganate was based on the traditional principles of the Inner Asian nomads. Out of several classical strategies concerning the neighbouring agricultural nations (plunder, distant exploitation, tribute, migration with subsequent assimilation), they chose the method of applying distant pressure on Chinese domains, alternating raids with periods of peaceful extortion of rich gifts

Nomadism, Evolution and World-Systems: Pastoral Societies in Theories of Historical Development

This article discusses the problem of categorizing the polities and social formations of steppe pastoral nomads in Central Asia in comparative and civilizational perspective and placing complex pastoral society within a general scheme of cultural evolution. It also discusses the role that these societies played in the emergence of a larger Eurasian world-system