What causes conflict along the nomadsedentary frontier - Essay Example

From ancient times the contrast between nomadic and sedentary ways life has been a recurring theme. It is said in the earliest pages of Bible, farmers those who work in the soil and of "those who live in tents and rise livestock". The most familiar nomads are the pastoral nomads of Middle Eastern countries those who moved and even today move with their camels, cattle, sheep, and goats, seeking pasture for them at each season of the year. Nomads often live and move in arid areas of the world where water and soil condition are not in good condition. But they are also to be found in well watered places, where they could have more political power while compared to sedentary agriculturalists. There is a large population of nomadic pastoralists in North Africa, in arid areas of West Africa, and particularly in such East African countries as the Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania. From the Middle Eastern countries through Iran, Pakistan and North India, through to China and Mongolia, Pastoral nomadic remains important as a mode of livelihood. Pastoral nomad is usually distinguished from transhumance - who Travel with their herds. They are widely found in the Alps and in other mountains areas in Europe and was fixed dwelling in both winter and summer areas. Pastoral nomads contribute greatly to the economic activity of the country, like they sell or exchange pastoral products for grain, cloth, weapons, and other trade goods. Pastoral nomads are able to define themselves according to their priorities as long as they remain nomads like they proved themselves long access to milk, to sustain long- term relationship with members of their own communities, and to build the power and prestige in accordance with their own values and culture. Nomadism for Pastoralists is apolitical as well as an economic strategy. Nomads use their nomadic movements to maintain household autonomy, to evade domination by other members of their own communities as well as by outsiders, including state authorities. Typically Pastoral nomads rely on their own organization, military skills, and weapons to defend their herds and pastures against raiders and to add to their own herds and pastures by raiding others. The military skills that are an advantage for Pastoral nomadians can be used for other purposes and throughout history pastoralists have repeatedly conquered sedentary populations and established dynasties and ruling elites over them. Mongol conquerors in china, central Asia and Russia provide one of the best known examples. The Mongol conquest was the most world- changing event of this era. Barfield says, "The exceptional nature of the Mongol Empire has been largely misunderstood because, as the most powerful nomadic state that ever exited , it was presumed to be the culmination of political evolution on the steppe rather than the exception that it was," (Barfield 1991,48). The Chinnggis rose to power with marginal support even as his own relatives opposed him. His conquest led to Yuan dynasty. He did not rely on kinship to organize his supporters but rather on loyalty and autocratic control. His main supporters were friends and retainers and his political organization rejected the imperial confederacy model whereas the Mongol state was based on the principles of centralized administration and tribal leadership were abolished. A rigid discipline came which unknown among nomads were followed .But after the fall of Mongol Empire the traditional nomads system with imperialism came into existence. After Chinggis's rule it was only with Khubilai that the Mongols took up the responsibility of ruling northern china rather than despoiling it. The Mongol Empire for the first time united most of Eurasia into a single empire whereas western Europe remained outside the Mongol Empire. The Mongol success can be said in the following ways: First the states they attacked in western Asia were weak and vulnerable to conquest. Their ecological adaptations were much more fragile than was the case in china. The Mongols attacked China's towns, in southwest Asia destroyed the irrigation system where rebuilding was incapable to the people, Secondly, continual warfare made a client relationship with the Mongols an attractive "Bargain". Polities that accepted Mongol terms (in Manchuria, Korea, Ulghar, Oases) were not destroyed and often kept their own leaders. Polities that continued to resist the Mongols or repudiated treaties (China, Western Turkistan, and the Tangut Kingdom) were punished and often destroyed. Chinnggis was particularly intolerant of disloyalty. Punitive wars "were so devastating that they led to the overthrow of the ruling dynasties and, by default, their direct into Mongol Empire" (Barfield 1989, 200) which was different from all previous central Asian nomad conquests. In the west they destroyed some states and were forced to incorporate and administer others. In the east they own Vigor into founding a new dynasty in china. The third factor in Mongol success was the continued presence of pastoral nomads who maintained a flexible kin-ordered social structure that allowed them to recruit other nomads and even sedentary groups into a larger machine for conquest. By choosing loyalty leaders with good performance Chinnggis built a strong command structure among the tribal. Fourthly, they had several leaders who were shrewd and able to acquire things with the needs of administration. In short, internally they perfected the outer- frontier strategy of "milking" sedentary states, even as externally they overplayed it. A fifth factor in Mongol success was superior logistic ability in military communication transportation, and movement. This superiority was rooted in the pastoral way of life, ready availabity of horses, intimate knowledge of geography, and ability to move their entire means of production (families and herds) with them. The advantages of Mongols were inherently instable, and hence temporary. It was seen in their political and technological problems; they could not institutionalize political success and remain Mongols. Mongol superiority in communication and mobility of warriors, were available to all pastoral groups and leaders, they could not monopolize, dissenters easily left with their herds by folding their tents. Mongols' unity, which lasted a little more than a century, brought major changes. It opened a third, northern, connection between China and Europe, directly over the steppes, by passing connections through what is now southern Iran and Iraq or through the Indian Ocean. The steady traffic across the steppes opened other circuits of trade: "Gradually a north and south exchange of slaves and furs for the goods of civilization supplemented the east- west flow of goods that initially sustained the caravans."(Bentley 1993, 56) The most important consequences of Mongol unification was the Black Death. In the Black Death China lost its immense population in 1331, and Europe in1348, nearly killing one third to one half of the population and it thus changed the relations between lords and peasants. It took Europe over a century to recover. The spread epidemic to china in 1331 had reduced the strength of Yuan dynasty, which fell in 1368. Finally, this would explain why, after the fall of the Mongol Empire, net migration was onto the steppe by sedentary peoples, rather than movement from the steppe by nomads. The pathological consequences of the Mongol conquest were clearly as dramatic as the political economic consequences. Han- Xiongnu Xinjiang is the Chinese name for the Tarium and Dzungaria regions of what is now northwest china. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty (206 BC- 220 AD ) the entire region was the Xiongnu, a powerful nomadic people based in modern Mongolia. In the 2nd century BC, Han China sent Zhang Qian, a Chinese explorer and imperial envoy, to the states in the region. Zhang Qian's visit began several decades of conflict between the Xiongnu and Han China over the dominance of the region, which eventually commenced in Chinese success. In 60 BC, Han china established the protectorate of the western Regions at Wulei to oversee the entire region. The dependent state of the protectorate later rebelled during the usurpation of Wang Mang a Han Dynasty official who seized the throne from the Lui family and founded the Xin Dynasty, and the region fell under Xiongnu rule again. Over the next century, Han china sent several expeditions into the region and re- established the protectorate. After the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220 Ad, the protectorate was maintained by the Wei Dynasty until 265 AD, and by the Western JIN Dynasty from 265AD onwards. . Wudi (156-87 BC), Chinese emperor (140-87BC) of the Han dynasty, who by his aggressive foreign policy greatly expanded the empire. In 133BC, he initiated a campaign against the nomadic Xiongnu, whose power had long threatened the Han Empire. They were fought and won; he incurred heavy loss and led to new taxes and state monopolies on wine, iron, and salt. His dynasty weakened over a period of time due to poor policies. Huns, was known in western china as the Xiongnu, during early Han dynasty (202 BC -AD9) Tang- Turk Au. Lushan (703-757) Chinese general of Turkic - Persian origin, who led a revolt against the Tang emperor Xuanzong (Hsuan Tsung); the revolt marked the beginning of the Tang dynasty's decline. Kashi was part of the Chinese empire during the reign of the Han (206BC-AD220) and again under the Tang dynasty. After about 750, when the Tang withdrew, it was ruled for long periods by Turkic. The earliest surviving examples of Chinese embroidery are Tang dynasty (618-9060 garments from Eastern (or Chinese) Turkistan. Ming -Mongols Ming dynasty, Chinese imperial dynasty founded in 1368 by Zhu Yuan Hang (chug Yuan- Chang), a former Buddhist monk, captured Beijing from the Mongol Yuan dynasty in 1371, it remained the imperial capital until 1421. Gradually the Ming extended control over lands to the north, west, and south west, through allowing leaders of minorities to continue in office as their representatives. The Ming dynasty, which threw Mongol rule in 1368, re-established Chinese control of Dongbei. But as the Ming weakened, the Juchen tribes unified and kept a new name, the Manchu; these tribes became an aggressive power, invaded China in 1644 and established the Manchu, or Qing dynasty, which ruled China until 1912. During Ming dynasty repeated peasant uprising, military conflicts with the Mongols, and other nomad groups to the north and Japan's military attack all of which forced them to increase the taxes. Mongols had made provision for to have international trade and they even encouraged Marco Polo to serve in the Mongol court in China .Enamel (art) was exceptionally fine quality during Ming and early Chining dynasties.(14th- 18th century). Mongol rule in china was brought to an end after civil war among Mongol princes and an increasing conversion to the sedentary Chinese way of life that robbed the Mongol military machine of much of its effectiveness. Repeated natural disasters were followed by the massive peasant rebellion that the alien rulers could not stop. Zhu Yuanzhang, a peasant leader who became eminent during the rebellions and he established the Ming Dynasty in 1368. The Ming reached their Zenith of power during the first quarter of the fifteenth century. However, at the height of their power, they controlled the Mongols in the north, captured western regions. The Ming period seems to have been one of china's most prosperous. Pressure from the Neo- confusion bureaucrats led to an agrarian centered based society. The incredible advances in the science and arts that were achieved under Ming rule led them to believe that they had created the most perfect civilization on earth. New crops such as maize, cotton, and sweet potato were widely cultivated and industries such as those producing porcelain and textiles flourished. Ming successfully constructed the Great Wall. It is also noted for the sea exploration and it is known for its strong central government. But its government fell from power as it was not able to adapt to changes in society. The reasons were, the long wars with the Mongols, repeated attacks on Korea by the Japanese, and even Japanese attacks on Chinese coastal cities greatly hurt the economy of the Ming. The Ming Dynasty lasted for 276 years with 16 emperors occupying the throne. After it was collapsed the Qing Dynasty (1644- 1911), another ethnic group regime, began its region in china In recent times, increased forced sedentarization in many parts of the world, although often explained by governments in terms of provision of health, education, and other services, it is mainly done to bring pastoral nomads under greater government control. So that there would not be any political danger and they can also be taxed. Thus we can conclude that one society always been powerful over another due to its superiority in good economic condition, military, trade, culture, art, and architecture. According to one dynasties power they were able to rule more region till other subordinate society show their reluctance to them. Nomads due to their inherent qualities were able conquer many regions as long as the sedentary people showed their power over them. Work Cites Chase-Dunn and T. Hall "Rise and Demise: Comparing world-systems" (West view Press, 1997, Part III "Investigation: Cases and Comparisons", pp. 149-199) Nomadic and sedentary people in past and present. International Symposium Lutherstadt, Wittenberg, Germany. (Lecture Abstracts, November 27-29, 2003). Microsoft Encarta, Encyclopedia. 1993-2001, Microsoft Corporation. All rights Reserved Encyclopedia Britannica. Read More