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Pre-Islamic Central Asia

Pre-Islamic Central Asia

1. Central Asia in the Age of the Scythians 
2. Alexander the Great & the Bactrian States
3. Yüeh-chih/Tokharians/Kushans
4. The Hsiung-nu (Xiong-nu) or Asiatic Huns
5. Attila and the European Huns
6. The Sogdians
7. The Türk Empire
8. The Uyghurs

1. Central Asia in the Age of the Scythians
The SCYTHIANS, an Iranian-speaking people, occupied the Pontic Steppe (the steppe north of the Black Sea) from the Don River in the east to the Danube River in the west in the 7th-3rd centuries BCE. There were many groups or peoples with a variety of names who were considered Scythians.

The historian Herodotus (born 484 BCE) divided the Scythians into three groups, the Royal Scythians (who were nomads), the Nomadic Scythians, and the Scythian Plowmen (who were agriculturalists):

West of the seaport at the mouth of the Borysthenes [=Dnieper river] - which lies in the middle of the Scythian coastline - the first people are the Graeco-Scythian tribe called Callipidae, and their neighbors to the eastward are the Alizones. Both these peoples resemble the Scythians in their way of life, and also grow grain for food, as well as onions, leeks, lentiles, and millet. North of the Alizones are agricultural Scythian tribes, growing grain not for food but for export; beyond these are the Neuri, and north of the Neuri the country, so far as we know, in uninhabited. So much for the peoples along the Hypanis [=Bug], west of the Borysthenes east of the Borysthenes, starting from the sea one comes first to Hylaea - the Woodland - to the northward of which are the Scythians who get their living from the land and are know to the Greeks on the river Hypanis as the Borysthenites. The call themselves Olbiopolites. These Scythians extend eastward as far as a river named the Panticapes - the distance of a three days' journey - and northward as far up the Borysthenes as a boat can sail in eleven days. Further north is a great tract of uninhabited desert, beyond which live the Adrophagi - the Maneaters - who have no connexion with the Scythians but are a quite distinct race. Northward again, so far as we can tell, there is utter desert without trace of human life. Eastward of the Scythians who lived off the land, and on the other side of the Panticapes, are the nomadic Scythians, who know nothing of agriculture. All this region with the exception of Hylaea is treeless. The nomadic tribes are to be found over a stretch of country extending eastward fourteen days' journey as far as the river Gerrhus, on the further side of which lies what is called the country of the Kings, and the Royal Scythains, who are the most warlike and numerous section of their race, and look upon the others as their slaves. Their territory runs south as far as Taurica [=the southern part of the Crimea] and east to the trench which was dug by the sons of the blind slaves, and to Cremini, the trading post on the shore of the Sea of Azov. Part of it reaches as fas the river Tanais [=Don]. Herodotus, Book IV

[Herodotus The Histories, trans. Aubrey de Sélincourt (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1954), p. 277.]

Later, in the period 2nd century BCE-1st century CE, the Scythians were divided into two groups, one centered in the west around Dobruja (present-day Romania) and in the east around the Crimea.

Another people described by Herodotus was the Massagetae. The Massagetae live beyond Araxes river [=Volga river] and east of the Caspian (similar to the later Oghuz!). According to Herodotus:

In their dress and way of living the Massagetae are like the Scythians. Some ride, some do not - for they use both infantry and cavalry. They have archers and spearmen and are accustomed to carry the 'sagaris', or bill. The only metals they use are gold and bronze: bronze for spearheads, arrow-points, and bill, and gold for headgear, belts and girdles. Similarly they give their horses bronze breastplates, and use gold about the bridle, bit, and check-pieces. Silver and iron are unknown to them, none being found in the country, though it produces bronze and gold in unlimited quantity. As to their customs: every man has a wife, but all wives are used promiscuously. The Greeks believe this to be a Scythian custom; but it is not - it belongs to the Massagetae. If a man wants a woman, all he does is to hang up his quiver in front of her waggon and then enjoy her without misgiving. They have one way only of determining the appropriate time to die, namely this: when a man is very old, all of his relatives give a party and include him in a general sacrifice of cattle; then they boil the flesh and eat it. This they consider to be the best sort of death. Those who die of disease are not eaten but buried, and it is held a misfortune not to have lived long enough to be sacrificed. They have no agriculture, but live on meat and fish, of which there is an abundant supply in the Araxes. They are milk-drinkers. The only god they worship is the sun, to which they sacrifice horses: the idea behind this is to offer the swiftest animal to the swiftest of the gods. Herodotus, Book I

[Herodotus, The Histories, trans. Aubrey de Sélincourt (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1954), pp. 127-128.]

Herodotus also describes a few facts about the clothing of the the Saka, which will be similar to the clothing depicted on Sogdia wall paintings:

The Sacae (a Scythian people) wore trousers and tall pointed hats set upright on their heads, and were armed with the bows of their country, daggers, and the sagaris, or battle-axe. 'Sacae" is the name the Persians give to all Scythian tribes: these were the Amyrgian Scythians. Herodotus, Book VII

[Herodotus, The Histories, trans. Aubrey de Sélincourt (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1954), p. 467.

The SARMATIANS, another Iranian-speaking people related to the Scythians, occupied the lands east of the Scythians, according to one source 15 days north of the Lake Maeiotis (i.e., the Sea of Azov). Scholars note the special role of women, who were active in military and social life (also true of the later nomads living in this region).

In the 6th-5th centuries BCE the western border of the Sarmatians was the Don River (i.e., the eastern boundary of the Scythians). By the end of the 5th century BCE, some were along the Sea of Azov, so around the Don River.

The Sarmatians had peaceful relations with the Scythians in the 6th--4th centuries BCE. 
Sarmatians appear in the North Caucasus in the 3rd-1st centuries BCE. This is connected with the appearance of the Iranian-speaking Alans (known as Iranian nomads in this same region in the Mongol period as well) in the North Caucasus around 50-60 CE. (The Alans may have been in the northeastern Azov area earlier.)

In the 3rd century CE Goths arrive in the northern Black Sea area from the Baltic region.

In 375 CE the Huns destroy the Sarmatians, which may have led to the dispersal of many Iranian groups in the Caucasus in this period.

In conclusion, the Scythian period can be seen as one in which a people known as "Scythians" is located in a specific geographic area, but the same culture as that of the Scythians was widely distributed throughout the steppe zone, including the territory of present-day Kazakstan (note the so-called Scythian-period "gold man" found there).

At the same time, we see a division between the western and eastern steppe very similar to what we see in later periods, such as between the Kipchaks and the Kangli in the late 12th-mid 13th century (as described by Latin travelers in the early Mongol period).

It would be a mistake to reduce the Scythians only the the three groups mentioned by Herodotus, or to view them as isolated nomads. We must remember that cities such as Olbia closely linked to the Scythians were major exporters of grain to Athens, just as later this same area would serve as a major exporter of grain to northern Italy in the Mongol period. The Scythians and Sarmatians were no doubt also involved in the overland trade routes leading to Central Asia and China.

LINKS

2. On Alexander the Great see:

3. On the Yüeh-chih/Tokharians/Kushans see:

4. The Hsiung-nu (Xiong-nu) or Asiatic Huns

The Hsiung-nu were a weak confederation north of China when Mao-tun took over as leader in 209 BCE. Their rise and period of prominence is parallel to the rise of the Han dynasty (ca. 2nd century BCE - 2nd century CE). The Hsiung-nu state grew in strength and controlled the steppe for the first 250 years of its existence. The first conflict between the Hsiung-nu and the Han was in 201-200 BCE. As the Hsiung-nu grew in strength, they routed the Yüeh-chih, who fled to the west. During 115-60 BCE the Hsiung-nu and the Han struggled for control over the "Western regions". In 102 BCE the Han conquered the Ferghana region. The Han were interested in demonstrating their strength to the western region, but they were also interested in the "blood-sweating horses" of the Hsiung-nu.

For 500 years the leader of the Hsiung-nu was the shan-yü, an important figure in the history of the region. He held a position of supra-tribal leadership over 24 tribes. The tribes were ruled by Wise Kings of the Left and Right, and other leaders known as the Ku-tu marquises. The Wise King of the Left was the designated successor of the shan-yü. This level of leaders ran the government. Beneath them were the leaders of the 24 tribes who were called by the title "10,000 Horsemen" and are considered to have served as regional governors. There was also a system of decimal organization under the 10,000 Horsemen.

After 60 BCE the Hsiung-nu split into northern and southern branches. The Hsiung-nu collapsed as a power in 155 CE. After the 2nd century CE the Hsiung-nu were reduced in strength, and some were to be found in Outer Mongolia and the Ili river valley.

The connection of the Asiatic Huns with the European Huns has often been disputed by scholars, though recent research indicates that there was a strong cultural continuity between the two, suggesting that there was indeed a connection between the two.

LINKS

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/chinamum/

5. On Attila and the European Huns see:

6. On the Sogdians see:

> Zentralasien (Central Asia Pages) >The Sogdian Site of Pandzhikant

7. The Türk Empire [images]

8. The Uyghurs [images]

The Uyghurs converted to Manichaeism. Manichaeism was a religion founded in Persia by Mani (3rd century). Mani proclaimed himself the last prophet in a succession that included Zoroaster, Buddha, and Jesus, whose partial revelations were, he taught, contained and consummated in his own doctrines. Besides Zoroastrianism and Christianity, Manichaeism reflects the strong influence of Gnosticism.

The fundamental doctrine of Manichaeism is its dualistic division of the universe into contending realms of good and evil: the realm of Light (spirit), ruled by God, and the realm of Darkness (matter), ruled by Satan. Originally, the two realms were entirely separate, but in a primal catastrophe the realm of Darkness invaded the realm of Light, and the two became mixed and engaged in a perpetual struggle. The human race is a result and a microcosm of this struggle. The human body is material, therefore evil; the human soul is spiritual, a fragment of the divine Light, and must be redeemed from its imprisonment in the body and the world. The path of redemption is through knowledge of the realm of Light imparted by the succession of divine messengers that includes Buddha and Jesus and ends in Mani. With this knowledge the human soul can conquer the carnal desires that perpetuate its imprisonment and so ascend to the divine realm. [see Microsoft Encarta 99]

Many later peoples of Inner Asia, including some Turks and Mongols, were interested in Nestorian Christianity, founded by Nestorius. Nestorian Christians do not believe that Jesus Christ is one single divine person, and therefore reject that his mother, Mary, should be called "Mother of God." Nestorian doctrine insists on the distinctiveness of divinity and humanity in Jesus, which leads its critics to accuse Nestorians of believing that Christ was two distinct persons-the Son of God and the son of Mary. Nestorianim spread throughout the Byzantine Empire during the early 5th century and caused much argument. In 431 the Council of Ephesus declared the Nestorian beliefs to be a heresy, deposed Nestorius and drove him out of the empire, and persecuted his followers. Between the 7th and the 14th centuries Nestorian communities were established, through an extraordinary missionary effort, in Central Asia, Mongolia, and China. [see Microsoft Encarta 99]

LINKS