Chapter 11: Pastoral Peoples on the Global Stage

The pastoral peoples are known for their accomplishments of domestication of animals and creation of innovations. Their societies were small, family-based, with a value for gender equality. Because of the changing climate, they were mobile people. Dependent on their agricultural neighbors, they strived to form states so exchange would be easier. With advanced skill in horse back riding, they had military advantages over larger societies. For example, The Turks, Arabs, and the Xiongnu made a large impact on human history because their creation of influential empires.

Still, "of all the pastoral peoples" the "largest land-based empire in all of human history" (466) were the Mongols. The rise of the Mongol empire was largely due to Temujin, whose "character" and decision to form an alliance "with a more powerful tribal leader" (468) unified Mongol tribes, lead to expansion, the development of a powerful army, and the construction of an empire. Military effectiveness was promoted by timing because China was divided, the powerful Mongolian army (the division of military units), conquering peoples (for wealth, enslavement, work, and military force) commerce, acceptance of religion, and a value of brutality, destruction, and loyalty. The Mongolians acquired China, and accommodated to their systems and practices, yet they didn't necessarily become Chinese. It ended and was characterized by a return to pastoral life. In Persia, Mongols were transformed because they made more extensive use of Persian systems, even abandoning nomadic ways for agriculture, a large conversion to Persian culture. Russia was slaughtered by Mongolian forces, but Mongols kept their identity, and it was here that Mongols had the most impact. The Mongol Empire brought Eurasia into a network through commerce, international relations, cultural exchange, and the Black Death that "spread acrosss the trade routes of the vast Mongol empire" (483) causing a population decline and "disarray" of the Mongol Empire.

When I read that "agricultural peoples were amazed at the centrality of the horse in pastoral life" (462-463), I connected it to some of my discoveries from a music appreciation course I took this summer at Laney College. The Tuvan people used to be under Mongolian rule, and today it is a Russian republic northwest of Mongolia. Horses are of high significance in Tuvan culture. Horse riding is introduced during the years of early childhood. The use of horses is necessary for travel and for the practice of herding. Tuvan music follows the tempo of horse activity. Furthermore, an igil, a Tuvan musical instrument, is constructed from the horse. It is a two-string instrument, composed of horse gut, horse skin, and horse hair. The bow used to play the instrument is made of horse hair. Affixed to the top of this fiddle is a horse’s head, made of wood. Additionally, the majority of the music played on the igil are songs about horses. The songs are very interactive, because they tell legends of horses, and the listener can journey with the story. They are performed solely with melody and without vocal accompaniment. At times the listener undergoes and emotional experience when horse songs are performed due to the sad nature of the stories. Horses have a fundamental place in the musical and cultural practice of Tuvan culture.

I like to listen to indie and alternative music. This chapter reminded me of a particular song I've been listening to and that I have always liked, but that I did not really understand until reading it. Miike Snow, an alternative artist, has a song called "Ghangis Khan." Because Genghis Khan united Mongol tribes and conquered, the singer compares himself to Genghis Khan in that he becomes violently jealous whenever he has the thought of his significant other being with another person. He sings, "I get a little bit Genghis Khan. Don't want you to get it on with nobody else but me, with no body else but me." He wants to be in control and strict over his lover just as Temujin was with Asia.