Nomadic Pathways in Social Evolution

Description

The book is written by anthropologists, historians, and archaeologists specializing in nomadic studies. All the chapters presented here discuss various aspects of one significant problem: how could small nomadic peoples at the outskirts of agricultural civilizations subjugate vast territories between the Mediterranean and the Pacific? What was the impetus that set in motion the overwhelming forces of the nomads which made tremble the royal courts of Europe and Asia? Was it an outcome of any predictable historical process or a result of a chain of random events? A wide sample of nomadic peoples is discussed, mainly on the basis of new data.

Sujets

• Anthropology

Informations

• Publié par: MeaBooks Inc
• Date de parution: 29 décembre 2003
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780994032577
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

meabooks.comRUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
CENTER FOR CIVILIZATIONAL AND
REGIONAL STUDIES
NOMADIC PATHWAYS
IN SOCIAL EVOLUTION
/DF%HDXSRUW 20 The “CIVILIZATIONAL DIMENSION” Series
Volume 5
Editorial Board of the Series:
IGOR V. SLEDZEVSKI (Editor-in-Chief)
DMITRI M. BONDARENKO, NATALIA A. KSENOFONTOVA,
ALEXEI M. VASSILIEV
Editors of the Volume:
NIKOLAY N. KRADIN
DMITRI M. BONDARENKO
THOMAS J. BARFIELD
The book is written by anthropologists, historians, and archaeologists
specializing in nomadic studies. All the chapters presented here discuss
various aspects of one significant problem: how could small nomadic peoples
at the outskirts of agricultural civilizations subjugate vast territories between
the Mediterranean and the Pacific? What was the impetus that set in motion
the overwhelming forces of the nomads which made tremble the royal courts
of Europe and Asia? Was it an outcome of any predictable historical process
or a result of a chain of random events? A wide sample of nomadic peoples is
discussed, mainly on the basis of new data.
© Center for Civilizational and Regional
Studies of the Russian Academy of
Sciences, 2003
© Institute for African Studies of the
Russian Academy of Sciences, 2003 ©
The authors, 2003
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ISBN: 978-0-9940325-6-0 5(35,17
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www.meabooks.comThe “Civilizational Dimension” Series
Vol. 1. D.M. Bondarenko, A.V. Korotayev (eds.). Civilizational Models of
Politogenesis (in English, 2000; in Russian, 2002).
Vol. 2. D.M. Bondarenko. Pre-imperial Benin: Formation and Evolution of
the Socio-political Institutions System (in Russian, 2001).
Vol. 3. A.A. Kazankov. Aggression in Archaic Societies (in Russian, 2001).
Vol. 4. D.D. Beliaev, D.M. Bondarenko, S.A. Frantsouzoff (eds.). Second
International Conference “Hierarchy and Power in the History of
Civilizations”. Book of Abstracts (in English, 2002).
Vol. 5. N.N. Kradin, D.M. Bondarenko (eds.). Nomadic Pathways in Social
Evolution (in Russian, 2002; in English, see this volume).
Vol. 6. L.A. Andreeva. “Vicarius Christi” on the Throne: The Christian
Model of Power Sacralization in Russian History (in Russian, 2002).
Vol. 7. A.V. Korotayev. The Origin of Islam: The Politico-anthropological
and Socio-ecological Contexts (in Russian, 2003).
Vol. 8. D.D. Beliaev Ancient Maya: A Civilizational Model of Politogenesis
(in Russian, 2003). FOR NOTES CONTENTS
Preface iv
1 Introduction: Social Evolution, Alternatives, and
Nomadism. Dmitri M. Bondarenko, Andrey V. Korotayev 1
and Nikolay N. Kradin
2 Nomads of the Eurasian Steppes in Historical
Retrospective. Anatoly Khazanov 25
3Typology of Pre-States and Statehood Systems of
Nomads. Sergey A. Vasjutin 50
4 Cultural Capital, Livestock Raiding, and the Military
Advantage of Traditional Pastoralists. William Irons 63
5 Nomadic Empires: Origins, Rise, Decline.
Nikolay N. Kradin 73
6 Peculiarities of Social Development of the
SarmatoAlans and Their Image in the Evidence of Other
Cultures. Sergey A. Yatsenko 88
7 The Development of Hierarchical Structures in the
Bronze and Early Iron Age Societies of the South of
Eastern Europe. Allexander P. Medvedev 100
8 Penetration of Nomads to the Arabian South and
Formation of Tribal Oranization Among the North-East
Yemen Agricultural Population. Andrey V. Korotayev 114
9 Modes of Politogenesis among the Tswana of South
Africa. Alexander A. Kazankov 123
10 Power among Mongol Nomads of Chinggis Khan’s
Epoch. Tatyana D. Skrynnikova 135
11 Political Culture of the Turkic-Mongolian Nomads in
Historical and Ethnological Perspective.
Sergey V. Dmitriev 148
12 The Chinggisids and Their Status in Central Asia and
East Europe. Dmitri Yu. Arapov 158
13 Government of the Turkistan Region Native Population
in the Russian Empire. Dmitri V. Vassiliev 165
14 Conclusion. Thomas J. Barfield 172
List of Contributors 180
iiiPREFACE
In the year 2000 an important international conference "Hierarchy and
Power in the History of Civilizations" was held in Moscow. The Conference
1brought together many scholars from different countries . A great variety of
problems ranging from sociobiological preconditions for the relations of
dominance to power mechanisms in the post-Soviet states was discussed.
Among the Conference panels there was one titled "Hierarchy and Power in
Nomadic Societies" (convened by Prof. Nikolay Kradin). Over twenty
scholars from France, Russia, Ukraine, and the USA participated in its work.
It is well known that the majority of the nomadology theoretical issues
including those of the nomadic sociopolitical organization, have not got final
solutions up to now. At present there are many theories which interpret
characteristic features of nomadic pastoralists differently. Could nomads
overcome the threshold of statehood independently and if yes, how such
societies should be defined? Why the economic basis of nomadism has
changed so slightly in millennia while the political organization is changing
constantly from acephalous tribes and chiefdoms to "nomadic empires"?
What do nomadic sociopolitical institutions have and do not have in common
with such notions typical for sedentary agricultural societies as the state,
class, property, feudalism?
All these questions were raised once and again during the Conference.
The approaches demonstrated in the papers and subsequent discussions
turned out so interesting and important that it was decided to publish the
panel’s Proceedings as a separate volume in two languages, Russian and
English. It was also decided to broaden the list of contributors by inviting
several top specialists in the subject. Unfortunately, not all of them were able
to accept the invitation. Besides, there are some differences between the
Russian and English versions of the volume.
The contributors were requested to concentrate on the following topics:
(1) Theories of historical process and nomadism; (2) The typology of
Eurasian complex nomadic societies (tribal unions, chiefdoms, empires, etc.);
(3) The structure of power and authority in nomadic societies; (4) Types and
models of leadership in nomadic societies; (5) Egalitarism and inequality in
nomadic societies; (6) Relations between nomads and agriculturalists. Let the
reader judge what has resulted of all this.
1 See the Conference report in Anthropology Today 2000, Vol. 16, No 6, p.23-24.
ivWe hope that this work will find a reflection in colleagues’ publications.
We also believe that it will promote further discussions of significant
problems of nomadology, a study of the nomadism’s place in the world
historical process and of evolutionary processes in different social and
natural environment milieu. Just this is the theoretical context of our volume.
Thomas Barfield
Dmitri Bondarenko
Nikolay Kradin
v