Curated category
Nomadic groups in Eurasia
- Romani peopleIn 1976, the International Roma Cultural Festival in Chandigarh, India received support from Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
- Afanasievo cultureRussian archaeologist Sergei Teploukhov began digging near a mountain called Gora Afanasieva in 1920. He continued his work there until 1929, uncovering the…
- ArkaimIn the summer of 1987, a team of archaeologists led by Gennady Zdanovich arrived in the southern Ural region. They examined the valley where two rivers met…
- Kurgan hypothesisOtto Schrader published a work in 1883 that first formulated the idea of steppe nomads as Proto-Indo-European speakers. German scholars Theodor Benfey and…
- Dzungar KhanateThe word Dzungar comes from the Mongolian term jegün, meaning left or east. The Oirat people originally lived in the Tuva region during the early 13th…
- HunsIn the 18th century, French scholar Joseph de Guignes became the first to propose a link between the Huns and the Xiongnu people.
- BashkirsIn the 10th century, Persian historian Abu Zayd al-Balkhi described a people divided into two groups. One group lived in the Southern Urals while the other…
- Kushan EmpireIn 176 BC, the Yuezhi king was beheaded by the Xiongnu, forcing his people to flee their grasslands in eastern Xinjiang and northwestern Gansu.
- CumansThe name Cuman appears in ancient Roman texts as the designation for a fortress or gate, not yet a people. Pliny the Elder described a place called Cumania…
- BedouinThe English word bedouin comes from the Arabic badawī, which means desert-dweller. This term traditionally contrasts with hādir, the designation for…
- Mongol EmpireIn the year 1162, a boy named Temüjin was born on the Mongolian Plateau near Lake Baikal. His father Yesugei had been poisoned by Tatars when the child was…
- MongolsIn 699 BCE, the Donghu confederation occupied eastern Mongolia and Manchuria, marking one of the earliest recorded homelands for proto-Mongolic peoples.
- KipchaksThe name Kipchak carries a meaning that shifts depending on which historical voice speaks it. Some traditions claim the word translates to hollow tree…
- Turkic peoplesIn the Altai-Sayan region, a compact area spanning northern and western Mongolia and Tuva, Proto-Turkic speakers first emerged as hunter-gatherers and…
- Golden HordeIn 1242, Batu Khan established his capital at Sarai on the lower Volga River. This location sat upon the site of the ancient Khazar capital known as Atil.
- Proto-Indo-EuropeansPhilologist Martin L. West once stated that if an Indo-European language existed, a people who spoke it must have followed.
- PechenegsMedieval Arabic texts from the 9th century referred to a people known as Bjnak, Bjanak, or Bajanak. Classical Tibetan documents recorded their name as…
- Pontic–Caspian steppeThe Pontic, Caspian Steppe stretches from the northern shores of the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea. It ends at the Ural-Caspian narrowing where it joins the…
- Anatoly KhazanovAnatoly Mikhailovich Khazanov was born on the 13th of December 1937 in Moscow. He entered Moscow State University to begin his higher education journey.