What aspects of nomadic life gave the nomads of Central Asia military advantages over nearby settled civilizations?
Gold Belt PlaquesLike earlier nomads, the Mongols favored art with animal designs, such as these two gold belt plaques, which depict deer under trees or flowers. Belts and horses were often exchanged to seal or commemorate an alliance. (Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, © Nour Foundation. Courtesy of the Khalili Family Trust)
OONE EXPERIENCE ROME, PERSIA, INDIA, AND CHINA ALL SHARED was conflict with nomads who came from the very broad region referred to as Central Asia. This region was dominated by the steppe, arid grasslands that stretched from modern Hungary to Mongolia and parts of present northeast China. Initially small in number, the nomadic peoples of this region used their military superiority to conquer first other nomads, then the nearby settled societies. In the process they created settled empires of their own that drew on the cultures they absorbed.