Steppes and Peoples 11-18: from the end of antiquity to the rise of Islam

SLIDES

Episode 11: Rome and the Huns. Turn to the Huns, who employed tactics similar to the Xiongnu and were viewed as both a major threat and militarily advantageous by the divided Roman Empire. Explore their conquests and the dual strategies eastern Rome used to manage the Hun threat - one of which faltered when Attila rose to power. (Unlike earlier steppe people encountered by the Romans, the Huns were organized into a powerful confederacy, developed from eastern steppe traditions.)

Episode 12: Attila the Hun, Scourge of God. Considered both a great leader and a merciless conqueror, Attila the Hun has captured the popular imagination for centuries. Conclude your examination of the Huns with the story of Attila, from his rise to power to his death, including the royal marriage proposal that ultimately led to the ravaging of western Europe. (a failed proposal led to Rome's fall?)




Episode 13: Sassanid Shahs and the Hephthalites. To understand the history of the Hephthalites or "White Huns" and the Gok Turks in context, look at the Sassanid Empire - the contemporary rival to the late Roman world - from the monarchy's aspirations to the way its Neo-Persian shahs came into conflict with Rome and these nomadic peoples. (When the Persian Shah invites in the Turks as allies against other nomadic foes, it ushers in a whole new Turkish era on the steppes.)

Episode 14: The Turks - Transformation of the Steppes. Progress into the early Middle Ages, a period defined by the Turks. Start your exploration of this group by focusing on three major khaganates or confederations - the Avar Khaghans, the Gok Turks, and the Uighurs - which developed between the 5th and 9th centuries A.D., and would have major implications for the Islamic world. (Turks as prelude to the Mongols -- better organized politically, better equipped militarily, associations with Islam will have significant impact in the middle period.)

Episode 15: Turkmen Khagans and Tang Emperors. Delve into the interaction of the Turks and Chinese, starting with a look at China since the Han dynasty's fragmentation; then investigate the nomads who settled in China. Conclude with a discussion of unification under the Sui and Tang emperors, including their relationship with the Gok Turks and Uighurs. (At the Battle of Talas in 751 -- Tang vs Abbasids -- Turks were the deciding factor and ultimate winners.)




Episode 16: Avars, Bulgars, and Constantinople. Think of the Middle Ages and you'll likely conjure images of western Europe. But at the time of the Avars, Gok Turks, and Uighurs, Constantinople represented the great urban, Christian civilization bordering the Eurasian steppes. Begin the first of three lectures on the relationship between Byzantine civilization and the peoples of the steppes. (Byzantines shrink and lose to nomadic pressure from all sides. The one semi-victory comes when the Bulgars convert to Orthodox Christianity.)

Episode 17: Khazar Khagans.  Why did the Khazars convert to Judaism rather than orthodox Christianity? Why did the Byzantines, despite dealings with the Khazars across centuries, fail to win them over to their commonwealth? Get answers as you delve into the important role the Khazars played in Byzantine foreign policy and the controversy created by their conversion. (a Jewish-Turkish kingdom wedged between the Byzantines and the Caliphates.)

Episode 18: Pechenegs, Magyars, and Viking Rus. The Byzantines failed with the Khazars - but did they successfully absorb or convert any other nomads to orthodox Christianity and Byzantine civilization? Find out in this final lecture on their relationship with the peoples of the Pontic-Caspian steppes by looking at the Magyars, Pechenegs, and Cumans, as well as the Viking Rus.