ABSTRACT
The Middle Ages began with the Eurasian world in turmoil – the Huns were on the move. In the fourth century CE there erupted one of those mass movements of nomadic horsemen from their pastoral homeland in the steppes of central Asia (Mongolia), in search of fresh pastures and booty from settled populations. In a world-wide confrontation with settled agriculturists and city-dwellers, these nomads made lightning strikes over vast distances and in all directions. Westwards from the Mongolian steppes, thousands of miles of continuous plains stretched to Hungary, the gateway to urban Europe. This vast terrain was ideal for rapid movement by skilled horsemen, and the horsemanship of the tribal cavalry of the steppes was unmatched anywhere in the world. The fourth-century invasions of the nomads were nothing new. Similar invasions had occurred in the previous millennium; and they would recur a millennium later with the thirteenth-century incursions of the terrifying Mongol horde led by Genghis Khan. For a long time the civilized world had no answer to the mobility, horsemanship and archery skills of the nomads. Only a failure to find pasture for their horses or family tribal discord in their homeland could force their withdrawal to the steppes. In the fourth and fifth centuries, these confederations of Turkic and Mongol nomads struck against the settled populations of China, India, Persia and Europe (see Figure 4.1 overleaf). The hordes attacking Europe were called the Huns, and their leader was Attila. The monumental consequence was the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West. Invasions from the steppes (adapted from <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="bibr4_r2">Barraclough, 1993</xref>, pp.94–5; © HarperCollins Publishers 1991) https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203984376/4f208d80-5c23-4999-9a8d-99bed47a9492/content/fig4_1_B.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
