ABSTRACT
The prime determinant of the whole history of central Eurasia was the need for nomadic shepherds to have grazing land for their animals—which in return supplied them with their requirements. The societies of High Asia based on nomadism and raiding were predatory. For them to become dangerous to their settled neighbors required that a leader emerge among them capable of uniting the various tribes of a group for some considerable period. While, throughout history, China had fascinated the nomads in the north and often suffered their attacks, the general movement of nomads took them westward. Population pressure found an outlet there and, in that respect, the Turkic-speakers played a key role. In Antiquity and the Middle Ages, China, which has always been highly adept at sinicizing Barbarian conquerors, Iran, and the Byzantine empire were the great centers civilizing the nomads of High Asia.
