The aim of this article is to provide information about the origin of some of the major nomadic groups that held sway over parts of the vast steppe regions of Europe and Asia. Bear in mind that there still is a lot of controversy concerning the origins of these peoples. Much of this stems from the mixing of distinct ethnic groups and languages. There are three in the first category (Aryan, Mongolian and Chinese) and two in the second (Altaic and Uralic). Several modern countries share common ancestors, although they are separated by thousands of miles and do not always agree on a common origin.

The northern peoples of Manchuria, Mongolia, Siberia, and Central Asia proved to be among the most dangerous opponents of civilization be it Chinese, Indian, Persian, Greek or Latin. Central Asia is the region from Azerbaijan and Turkic/Muslim regions of southern Russia in the west, through northern Afghanistan and southern Siberia, to Tibet and Mongolia in the east. The Asiatic nomad armies were of Aryan, Mongol, Tungusic and Turkish ethnicity. These cover the Kimmerians, Skythians, Huns, Yueh-chih, Gok-Turks, Xianbei, Avar, Khitai, Ghuzz, and Mongolians.

Central Asia was an area of constant ferment from which emerged numerous migrations and invasions to the southeast (China), to the southwest (into Transoxiana, Iran, and India), and to the west (toward Europe). By the 8th Century BC, the western inhabitants were nomadic Indo-European speakers: Cimmerians, Skythians or their kin. Also scattered throughout the area were many other tribes that were primarily Mongol or Turkic in their ethnologic characteristics, and who were more prominent in the eastern regions. In the east, the majority were Turkish speaking Huns or Hsiung-nu.

Originally, they were semi-nomadic herders, who relied on various domestic animals for meat, clothing and bone tools. They lived along the northern and western fringe of the Chinese sphere of influence, and spread out into Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe. It is unclear when they adapted horses for riding, but this was the most significant event for these peoples as it allowed them to expand their grazing ranges and give them a strategic advantage in warfare. Once mounted, the nomads became very successful in raiding the cultivated lands of the early-civilised states.

Trying to establish the identity of the many ethnic groups or tribal confederacies is difficult because of the many names attached to them. A name may be derived from family or clan names, cultures and ethnic

identities. The name can be furthered altered by the most common historical or archaeological term, which have been changed for a number of reasons. The well-known names are used by modern peoples to identify their ancient ancestors; Mongols and Uygur Turks both claim that they are the descendants of the Huns. For example, the Xiong-Nu or Hsiung-nu (ferocious slaves in Chinese), also called Huns by the Turks (meaning peoples or tribes), were one of the first recorded neighbors of the Chinese. Their origins are not clear: possibly Turkic, Tataric, Mongol, or a combination. Whatever their origins were, they were not a small group of tribes, but a mixture of many tribes and peoples (hence their Turkish name), both of Turkic and Mongol origins. They had several alternate names as their influence fluctuated. These included the prefixes Eastern, Western, Northern and Southern Hsiung-nu mentioned in Chinese sources, and Huns and Bulgars as mentioned in European sources.

Now, the organization principle of steppe nomads is based on tribal alliances. When troubles happened on the borderless steppe, unlucky alliances broke up immediately; then clans entered new tribes and tribes formed new alliances. Above a "nation", a tribal alliance or such there was a ruler who ruled according to the mandate of the (Eternal) Blue Sky, Kök Tängri (now "Tangri" is "God" in Turkish and "tenger" is "sea" in Magyar, indeed blue and infinite for a Hungarian). The ruler could be replaced if it was decided that he no longer had the blessing of the celestial god(s). This occurred if he was overthrown in a coup, lost a conflict or was deemed to be unlucky. His downfall might trigger a major change in the ruling elite with his family, clan or tribe being replaced by another. Kagan Buda/Bleda of the Huns was replaced by his younger brother Attila in 445 AD, for reasons you may try to ask the Kök Tängri himself.

To better understand the myriad of names and groups, I have based the information below on one book, “The Empire of the Steppes” by Rene Grousset, and many different Internet sources including Russian and Chinese material. Each major group is discussed based on their period of domination in chronological order, and linguistic and ethnic origins.

The relationships between Chinese (and other civilizations) and nomads were very much intertwined over the many centuries of contact. The Chinese armies recruited regularly from the many non-Chinese states, particularly from the 1st Century AD onwards. Foreigners even achieved senior rank, and were able to exert military and even political power in their region. The intermezzo of the Three Kingdoms (220-280) had shown that ambitious generals and their troops endangered the central imperial rule. Some of the foreign and Chinese generals were able to establish their own independent states. From 300 to 440, different tribes of non-Chinese origin alternated in establishing short-lived kingdoms in the north. Chinese historians list them as the 16 kingdoms of the five barbarian tribes of different origin. This was the period known as “Five Nomad Groups Ravaging China”. Some were Tibetans, some Tanguts, and some Proto-Turks, Mongols or Tungus tribes.

Only the kingdom of Dai, founded by the Toba or Topa clan of the Xianbei people, was able to reunify Northern China in 440. The period of the Northern Dynasties left a great heritage to China. Only half of the population in the north was Chinese. The others either had died during the chaotic time of war or had migrated to the south. Non-Chinese or "barbarian" tribes ruled over a Chinese majority and adopted their language and customs, while at the same time, Chinese adopted foreign customs and intermarried with the former nomadic people.

Eurasian Nomads: Part 1

Background
Indo-European Period (4,000 BC-300 AD)
Hsiung-nu Period (250 BC-450 AD)
Turkic Kaganate (552-744)

Eurasian Nomads: Part 2

Magyars
Székely
Pechenegs
The Uighur Empire (744-840)
Xueyantuo
Kirghiz or Kyrgyz
Kipchaks
Kimeks
Tatars or Tartar
Steppe Kingdoms (840-1278)
Khitan or Kidan
Tanguts
Jurchen or Jurchid
Turks or Turkmen
Mongol World Empire (1206-1368)
Steppe Peoples' Political Decline (14th C. onward)
Descriptions of Non-Mongolian Physiques