History Of The Eastern Steppe

This article summarizes the History of the eastern steppe, the eastern third of the Eurasian Steppe, that is, the grasslands of Mongolia and northern China. It is a companion to History of the central steppe and History of the western steppe. Most of its recorded history deals with conflicts between the Chinese and the steppe nomads. Most of the sources are Chinese.

Geography

The area is bounded on the north by the forests of Siberia, on the east by mountains along the Pacific coast, on the southeast by a small area of agricultural China, on the south by the Tibetan plateau and on the west by the mountains along the former Sino-Soviet border. Between these mountains and Siberia the so-called Dzungarian Gate opens out onto the vast Kazakh steppe to the west.

The area has three parts: Manchuria, Mongolia and Dzungaria. The core of the area is Mongolia, not only the Outer Mongolia that we see on maps but also Inner Mongolia and much of Gansu which are now part of China. The Gobi Desert or semi-desert separates Outer and Inner Mongolia. The best grazing lands are in the north around such places as the Orkhon River and Onon Rivers. To the east the steppe extends into "Manchuria" but does not reach the coast because of mountains and moisture from the Pacific. The Manchurian steppe merges northward to a deciduous forest-steppe and then the coniferous forest of Siberia. To the south it merges into agricultural China. In the west Dzungaria or northern Xinjiang is a westward extension of Mongolia. To the west of that the Dzungarian Gate leads to the extensive steppes of Kazakhstan, particularly the region of Jetysu.


In the southeast is the agricultural area of the North China Plain, roughly around Beijing and southward. West of that are the mountains of Shanxi (the name means "western mountains"). West of the mountains is the Ordos Loop of the Yellow River. On the southern side of the Ordos country is the Wei River valley which was long a center of Chinese civilization. The northern Ordos region is semi-desert and part of Inner Mongolia. The area was often disputed between agricultural China and the steppe nomads. West of that is the long and narrow Gansu Corridor. It is bounded on the south by the high and desolate Tibetan plateau and on the north by the grasslands of Mongolia. Along it is a chain of oases which form a natural caravan route from China westward. At the west end of the Gansu corridor is the oval Tarim Basin with its central desert and ring of oases around the edges. The Tarim is desert rather than steppe but interacted with the steppe in various ways. At the west end of the Tarim Basin passes lead over the mountains south to India and west to central Asia, Persia and Europe. The Gansu-Tarim route was the main axis of the Silk Road that connected China with the rest of the world. When Chinese dynasties were strong they would often extend a finger of power along the Gansu corridor into the Tarim Basin. When the nomads were strong they would try to control, tax or loot the Gansu-Tarim region.

On the northern edge we might note the forest-steppe of north Manchuria and west of that the thinly-populated mountains of Transbaikalia. Around Lake Baikal the forest and steppe peoples have tended to blend, producing the modern Buryats. West of that is the Altai-Sayan region noted for its metalwork, especially the Minusinsk Basin.

Historical outline

''A note on ethnonyms:'' Most of steppe history consists of statements like "in a certain year people A replaced people B." These "peoples" are usually some dynasty, clan or tribe that gained control over its neighbors and became militarily or politically significant. Borders were ill-defined and fluctuated, as did the ruler's power. Daily life went on without much regard to whomever was in power. "Replacement" usually means a mere change of ruling group, but sometimes involved a genuine folk migration or change in language or religion. Since historical records depend on scattered reports from neighboring literate societies, there is substantial uncertainty especially in the early period.

Early period

Civilization emerged in north China in the second millennium BC. At this time the Tarim Basin was inhabited by people of European appearance who probably spoke an Indo-European language ( Tocharian). They may have introduced the chariot and bronze-working into China. The later Yuezhi in the Gansu corridor may have also been Tocharian. The origin of steppe pastoral nomadism is not well understood. Mounted archery began in the west and reached east Asia some time before 307 BC. The steppes were inhabited by various disunited tribes that the Chinese called Rong (west), Beidi (north), Donghu (east) and other names.

Han and Xiongnu (206 BC-220 AD)

In 221 BC, China proper was unified by the Qin dynasty and after a brief civil war, more permanently by the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). About 209 BC the steppe tribes were united by the Xiongnu. The two unifications were connected in that the nomads had to unite to protect themselves from the powerful Han dynasty and the Xiongnu ruler could strengthen himself with Han tribute. In the east, the Xiongnu conquered the Donghu in Manchuria and in the west they drove the Wusun