By steppe, desert, and ocean: the birth of Eurasia 2014948240, 9780199689170, 0199689172

Table of contents :
Cover......Page 1
By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean: The Birth of Eurasia......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Dedication......Page 6
Preface......Page 8
Contents......Page 10
1: The Land and the People......Page 12
Prime Movers......Page 14
The Land of Eurasia......Page 15
The Mountain Skeleton......Page 19
The Steppe Corridor......Page 22
The Deserts......Page 28
The Ocean......Page 33
Regions of Precocious Development......Page 36
The South West Asian Homeland......Page 37
The East Asian Homeland......Page 40
Geography Matters......Page 43
2: The Domestication of Eurasia,10,000–5000 BC......Page 46
The Changing Environment of the Fertile Crescent......Page 48
New Strategies for Subsistence......Page 49
The Beginnings of Agriculture......Page 52
Relocation and a New Stability, 6900–5400 BC......Page 58
Out of South West Asia......Page 59
To the Nile Valley......Page 61
To Baluchistan and the Indus......Page 62
To the Fringes of the Deserts of Central Asia......Page 63
By Sea to the Islands and to Europe......Page 64
Across the European Peninsula......Page 67
Into the Steppe......Page 70
The East Asian Cradle......Page 72
The Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Yangtze Valley......Page 74
The Origins of Millet Cultivation in the Yellow River Region......Page 75
The Steppe Corridor: Some Possibilities......Page 78
Retrospect......Page 80
3: Horses and Copper: The Centrality of the Steppe, 5000–2500 BC......Page 82
Herders and Farmers on the Pontic-Caspian Steppe, 5200–4500 BC......Page 83
Whence Came Woolly Sheep?......Page 85
The Horse......Page 86
The Steppe Interface with Europe, 4300–3500 BC......Page 91
The Caucasian Barrier......Page 95
The Late Uruk Expansion......Page 100
Uruk and the Maikop Elite, 3700–3100 BC......Page 102
Back to the Steppe: The Yamnaya Complex, 3300–2800 BC......Page 106
Covered Wagons......Page 109
Across the Kazakh Steppe......Page 112
Into Transcaucasia, 3000–2500 BC......Page 113
Coloured Stones and Glittering Copper......Page 114
The Carpathian–Balkan Achievement......Page 116
The Adoption of Copper Technology throughout the Steppe......Page 118
Perspective......Page 119
4: The Opening of the Eurasian Steppe, 2500–1600 BC......Page 122
Mesopotamia, 2900–1600 BC......Page 124
Across the Iranian Plateau......Page 128
The Indus Valley......Page 131
The Desert Cities of Western Central Asia......Page 133
Chariot Warriors on the Steppe: The Sintashta Culture......Page 141
Across the Deserts of Central Asia......Page 149
The Western Steppe in the Early Second Millennium......Page 152
From the Altai to the Tarim Basin......Page 154
The Gansu Corridor......Page 159
5: Nomads and Empires: The First Confrontations, 1600–600 BC......Page 162
Band of Brothers: The Great Powers in the Near East, 1500–1200 BC......Page 163
The Collapse of the Regional Kingdoms, 1200–900 BC......Page 168
The Assyrian Empire: Its Rise and Fall, 900–612 BC......Page 171
Maritime Systems in the West, 1000–600 BC......Page 175
The Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, 1500–600 BC......Page 179
Medes and Persians on the Iranian Plateau, 1400–600 BC......Page 181
China and the Early States, 1700–481 BC......Page 183
Chinese Chariots......Page 190
The Steppe Corridor......Page 194
The Altai-Sayan region......Page 197
The Nomads of the Pontic-Caspian Steppe......Page 203
Who Were the Scythians?......Page 207
Steppe Culture and the Western Sedentary States, 800–600 BC......Page 209
Nomads and the Chinese States, 800–600 BC......Page 210
Nomads and Empires......Page 212
6: Learning from Each Other: Interaction along the Interface, 600–250 BC......Page 214
The Rise of the Persian Empire......Page 215
An Empire of Provinces......Page 220
The European Opposition and the Rise of Macedon......Page 224
Alexander: The Last King of Persia......Page 226
Hellenism in the East......Page 229
The Indian Interface and the Beginnings of Ocean Trade......Page 231
Scythians on the Pontic Steppe and in Europe, 600–300 BC......Page 233
Scythians in Europe......Page 241
Nomads of the Caspian and Kazakh Steppe and Beyond......Page 243
The Nomads of the Altai-Sayan......Page 247
The Tian Shan and the Taklamakan Desert......Page 254
The Chinese States and the Northern Nomads......Page 256
States and Nomads: Three Hundred and Fifty Years of Interaction......Page 261
7: The Continent Connected, 250 BC–AD 250......Page 264
The Hellenistic Legacy: Bactria and Gandhara......Page 265
The Parthian Empire and their Roman Neighbours......Page 267
The Roman Empire: A Consumer State......Page 273
China and her Northern Neighbours......Page 277
The Han Campaigns in the Western Zone......Page 283
Migrating Nomads......Page 286
The Kushan Empire......Page 288
Sarmatians: The Pontic Steppe and Beyond......Page 292
The Overland Connections......Page 296
The Ocean Networks......Page 300
Connectivity......Page 304
8: The Age of Perpetual War, AD 250–650......Page 306
China: The Age of Disunity, AD 220–618......Page 307
Persia and the Sasanians: An Outline......Page 310
Rome and Byzantium......Page 312
Interactions: Rome and the Sasanian Empire......Page 317
The Red Sea and the Arabs......Page 322
The Indus Corridor and the Spread of Buddhism......Page 324
Travelling around the Tarim Basin......Page 331
Sogdian Middlemen......Page 334
Enter the Hephthalites, the Avars, and the Turks......Page 338
The Alans......Page 345
The Huns......Page 346
The Avars Again......Page 348
The Arab Awakening......Page 349
9: The Beginning of a New World Order, AD 650–840......Page 352
The Arab Advance, AD 632–750......Page 354
The Tang Empire......Page 360
Byzantium: The Dark Age, ad 628–780......Page 365
The Abbasid Empire......Page 371
Muslim Ocean Trade......Page 376
The Rise of the Far West......Page 380
The Steppe Corridor......Page 384
Enter the Scandinavians......Page 388
Retrospect: A Changing World Order......Page 390
China: Collapse, Reunification, and Division......Page 392
The Fragmentation of the Muslim Empire......Page 399
Turks on the Move......Page 404
Enter the Seljuks......Page 405
The Resilient Byzantines......Page 407
A Migration from the West: The Crusades......Page 410
The Rus and the Scandinavian Entrepreneurs......Page 414
Between the Kievan Rus and the Byzantine Empire......Page 417
Connectivity in its Many Forms......Page 420
A More Distant Perspective......Page 422
11: The Steppe Triumphant, AD 1150–1300......Page 426
The Rise of the Mongols in Eastern Asia......Page 428
The Conquest of Central Asia......Page 432
After Chinggis......Page 436
The Conquest of China......Page 438
The Mongols in the Middle East......Page 442
The Thrust into Peninsular Europe......Page 443
The Mongols in Retrospect......Page 445
The Latin Advance and the Death Struggles of Byzantium......Page 446
The Holy Land: A Side-Show......Page 451
Travellers from the West......Page 453
The Ocean Passage......Page 458
12: Looking Back, Looking Forwards......Page 462
The Sedentary States and Empires......Page 463
The Nomads of the Steppe......Page 465
Between Steppe and Sown......Page 470
Crossing Thresholds......Page 472
Thereafter......Page 477
A Guide to Further Reading......Page 484
Chapter 1 The Land and the People......Page 485
Chapter 2 The Domestication of Eurasia, 10,000–5000 BC......Page 488
Chapter 3 Horses and Copper: The Centrality of the Steppe, 5000–3000 BC......Page 491
Chapter 4 The Opening of the Eurasian Steppe, 2500–1600 BC......Page 495
Chapter 5 Nomads and Empires: The First Confrontations, 1600–600 BC......Page 498
Chapter 6 Learning from Each Other: Interacting along the Interface, 600–250 BC ......Page 501
Chapter 7 The Continent Connected, 250 BC–AD 250......Page 504
Chapter 8 The Age of Perpetual War, AD 250–650......Page 507
Chapter 9 The Beginning of a New World Order, AD 640–840......Page 509
Chapter 10 The Disintegration of Empires, AD 840–1150......Page 512
Chapter 11 The Steppe Triumphant, AD 1150–1300......Page 514
Chapter 12 Looking Back, Looking Forwards......Page 517
Illustration Sources......Page 518
Index......Page 524