Кочевники Средневековья

Thus, the first period of the second stage of nomadism was characterised by kuren roaming, while the second period — by ail roaming. Military democracy gave way to early class society marked by extreme patriarchality unknown to settled peoples. The patriarchal system enabled the rich (the clan nobility) to mask their tendencies to absolute power. The more influential and rich aristocrats were «elected», according to an ancient custom, leaders (khans) of large conglomerations and simultaneously became supreme priests. A basically new form of conglomeration of a number of independent ails arose on the former kuren territory. Such conglomerations came to be known as «horde». Their essence was everywhere the same — they were agglomerations of non-consanguineal families and even included alien elements. Kurens and hordes were always ready to start military actions (the character of which had changed markedly) provided there were enough warriors, for at the second stage of nomadism wars were waged by warriors, and not by the entire population as at the first stage. Women, children, old men, the horseless poor and domestic slaves comprising a large part of the ail population were not directly involved. Wars were now fought not for more pasturage, but for booty, slaves and the rich ransom imposed on a defeated enemy.

The nomads were confined to limited territory and gradually settled in their winter camps, where they frequently stored their considerable treasures. They thus became easy prey for their neighbours. Raids, known in the steppe as baranta, organised by neighbouring ails and hordes against each other, undermined their economy and impoverished the bulk of the cattle-breeders.

This situation of constant danger and uncertainty and the emergence of economically stronger and politically more powerful ails and hordes, created the vital necessity for large unifying organisations capable of regulating, albeit to a minimum degree, the external and internal policies of the steppe peoples. Such organisations took the form of horde unions, the prototype of the state or of state-type conglomeration, ruled by khans elected by the nobility from among the richest and most active elements. Their main functions were settlement of foreing policy problems (alliances with more developed states, organisation of large-scale raids) and prevention of internal strife and internecine wars. All this united ails and hordes around the khans.

On the whole, these conglomerations were more like tribal unions of the first stage of nomadism rather than states, for there was neither a regular army (the army was formed of volunteers), nor an administrative apparatus (judiciary, police, tax collectors), nor a tax system. Nevertheless, these were often far-flung and powerful conglomerations, usually referred to as empires in written sources. They owe their origins, first, to favourable historical conditions and, second, to the personality of the khan, his wisdom and energy, military skill, political shrewdness, diplomatic dexterity and ruthlessness towards his enemies. But the empire rested on the will of one man, the khan. His death would set off centrifugal tendencies, discord and internecine wars. The empire gradually disintegrated until it vanished from the chonicles and later from the face of the earth. In spite of this, the second-stage conglomerations became the cradle of a unified common culture, a unified world outlook and a common language.

Large amorphous first-stage communities were sociopolitical conglomerations. At the second stage they gradually acquired common ethnic features, the dominant among ones being language and culture. They thus contributed to the emergence of ethnic communities — the prototypes of peoples.

Archaeological monuments of this period differ considerably form earlier ones. Permanent seasonal camps on the territory of an ail or a horde where traces of human activity were discovered (broken artifacts, pottery, bones) and permanent burial grounds nearby, where the dead were buried in graves with small stone or earthern mounds provide valid archaeological material. Besides, the steppe people began building ancestor cult sanctuaries during the patriarchal-clan period, and of the military leader cult in the period of the disintegration of tribal-clan relations.

The second stage of nomadism is the most typical of cattle-breeding economy.

Primary forms of the settled way of life emerged as a result of limited pasture areas, which necessitated permanent seasonal camps. The population left behind in the winter camps during wars turned to agriculture, planting melons, cereals, even starting orchards. They acquired agricultural implements from their settled neighbours, at first by simply taking them away during raids, then changing them for products of their labour. Finally they started making similar implements themselves, evidence of an advanced stage of social and economic development.