Thundering hordes
I have been fascinated my whole life by the Germanic migrations of the 5th Century, which dismembered then took over the Roman Empire in the West. I finally think I have a picture of the whole period in my mind, though one could never know every tribe and its doings with confidence. The cause of so many peoples up sticks and moving into the empire, however, is another thing. No doubt there were many causes, economic ones among them. But certainly one of the main movers of events was the push of other peoples from the Eurasian steppe, principally the Huns.
And looking at the Huns, one gets a sense of an oft-repeated story. For the Huns' eruption into Europe was followed by the Turks, then the Mongols. The Turks and the Mongols are related peoples, both descended from a people group called the Xiong-nu. The Huns may well have been an early offshoot of the Xiong-nu, mixed with other ethno-linguistic groups of Iranian and Germanic origin.
And the Xiong-nu, with their persistent westward pressure (also southern pressure, toward China) first pushed against a people called the Yuezhi, who seem to be Indo-European. The Yuezhi were probably descended from the Andronovo culture people, who were an eastward-migrating group closely related to the Yamnaya of the Central Steppe, who also spread westward into Europe and planted the Indo-European languages there. So in the Bronze Age, we see a persistent expansion eastward into Asia; in later times, we see a persistent expansion westward from Asia.
In any case, the history of the various steppe herder peoples is hard to discover, since they appear only peripherally in the works of the literate cultures they bordered, such as those of China, India, and Persia. The Greeks were conversant with the far boundaries of Persia (conquered by Alexander), though they didn't border the steppe themselves. Such documentation as we have is supplemented by archaeological research, both of material culture and genetics.
It is a commonplace to complain that our study of History is too focused on the West (meaning, "Europe"), and neglects the significant achievements of, say, China and India. But Chinese and Indian histories, fascinating as they are, neglect also the peoples who were frequently dismissed as just another barbarian horde or other. But so often those hordes were drivers of history, and connect the happenings in far-flung places such as Rome and China.
And looking at the Huns, one gets a sense of an oft-repeated story. For the Huns' eruption into Europe was followed by the Turks, then the Mongols. The Turks and the Mongols are related peoples, both descended from a people group called the Xiong-nu. The Huns may well have been an early offshoot of the Xiong-nu, mixed with other ethno-linguistic groups of Iranian and Germanic origin.
And the Xiong-nu, with their persistent westward pressure (also southern pressure, toward China) first pushed against a people called the Yuezhi, who seem to be Indo-European. The Yuezhi were probably descended from the Andronovo culture people, who were an eastward-migrating group closely related to the Yamnaya of the Central Steppe, who also spread westward into Europe and planted the Indo-European languages there. So in the Bronze Age, we see a persistent expansion eastward into Asia; in later times, we see a persistent expansion westward from Asia.
In any case, the history of the various steppe herder peoples is hard to discover, since they appear only peripherally in the works of the literate cultures they bordered, such as those of China, India, and Persia. The Greeks were conversant with the far boundaries of Persia (conquered by Alexander), though they didn't border the steppe themselves. Such documentation as we have is supplemented by archaeological research, both of material culture and genetics.
It is a commonplace to complain that our study of History is too focused on the West (meaning, "Europe"), and neglects the significant achievements of, say, China and India. But Chinese and Indian histories, fascinating as they are, neglect also the peoples who were frequently dismissed as just another barbarian horde or other. But so often those hordes were drivers of history, and connect the happenings in far-flung places such as Rome and China.