Category Lost Civilizations

               The first emperor of the famous Han dynasty was a peasant. Lui Chi led the peasant revolt that overthrew the Qin dynasty in the second century. He was given the name of Kao-tsu, after his death. The Han emperors annexed Korea in the North, and Vietnam in the South. They had to keep at bay the Hsiung-nu, the wandering horsemen of Central Asia. They established a stable empire.

               The stable rule of the Han paved way for trade, along the famous Silk Road. Paper was invented in the Han period. The first suspension bridge was built, and Chinese medicine was developed. Over 17 million words were added to the law. The Han nobles led a life of luxury. The largest ethnic group in present day China is named after the Han.

               Japan is a group of islands. Man has lived on these islands, since about 100,000 BC. Since the New Stone Age, Japan has been colonized by several groups of people from Korea. The bearded Ainu, the Karafuto and the Kurils are the more important groups. Islands are difficult to reach. Therefore, Japanese culture developed without outside influence.

               The Jomon period is the period between 10,000 and 300 BC. It is named after its ceramics. The Yayoi period extended from 300 BC to 300 AD. This period was known for its high quality ceramics. Larger communities were the norm. Bronze and iron working, as well as wet field rice cultivation took off. The first trading states emerged. The Kofun period, extended from 300 to 710 AD, and was named for its graves. Close contacts existed with Korea and China. They tried to invade Japan, but they succeeded only in bringing house building techniques, medical knowledge, and Buddhist literature to Japan. 

               Around AD 1205, a tribal leader emerged in Mongolia. His name was Temujin. He united the many different tribes and established written laws, known as the yasa that guided the actions of Mongolians throughout their entire empire. Temujin also established a powerful army. As a result of his military successes, people began to refer him as ‘Khan’ or king- and in time, he became known as Genghis Khan.

               Through cunning diplomacy, spiritual mission, and brute force, Genghis Khan unified the Mongols, and then set out east and west to swiftly conquer vast parts of Asia. By 1280, Mongol rule stretched from China’s Yellow Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, a total of 12 million square miles. Incredibly, in a span of just 25 years, Genghis Khan’s horse-men conquered a greater population than the Romans did in four centuries.

               After his death, the kingdom was divided among his four sons. Later, Khan’s grandson successfully led the Mongol army.

               The Mongols were a group of nomads, who came from North Central Asia. Their name comes from their homeland, Mongolia. In Mongolia, they lived in tents, which allowed them to migrate from place to place in search of the best hunting grounds, and the most fertile soil.

               The Mongols were traders and herdsmen. They perfected the methods of warfare that enabled them to conquer more and more territories. Their army was arranged by clans, and operated in flexible units that allowed the Mongols to chase their enemies for days before wiping them out completely.

               By the late AD 1200’s, the Mongols had conquered more territory than any other nation in history. Their Empire stretched almost from sea to sea on Asia. Because almost all of Asia was being ruled by a single government, there was great peace in the land. However, the Mongol Empire was short lived. Local leaders became more powerful and by 1300, the empire had divided into smaller independent states.

            The Khazar people were an unusual phenomenon for medieval times. Surrounded by savage and nomadic tribes, they had a structured government, vast and prosperous trading, and a permanent army. At a time, when great fanaticism and deep ignorance ruled over Western Europe, the Khazar state was famous for its justice and tolerance.

            The Khazars were originally from Central Asia. From about 550 to 630, the Khazars were part of the Western Turkish Empire. When the Western Turkish Empire was broken up as a result of civil wars in the middle of the 7th century, the Khazars successfully asserted their independence. At its maximum extent, the independent country of Khazaria included the geographic regions of Southern Russia, Northern Caucasus, Eastern Ukraine, Crimea, Western Kazakhstan, and North-western Uzbekistan. Khazaria acted as a buffer state between the Islamic world and the Christian world.

              The history of Khazaria presents us with a fascinating example of how Jewish life flourished in the Middle Ages. At a time when Jews were persecuted throughout Christian Europe, the kingdom of Khazaria was a beacon of hope. Jews were able to flourish in Khazaria because of the tolerance of the Khazar rulers, who invited Byzantine and Persian Jewish refugees to settle in their country. Due to the influence of these refugees, the Khazars found the Jewish religion to be appealing, and adopted Judaism in large numbers. 

               The beginnings of the Hsiung-nu go back to times immemorial. It is reported that the Hsiung-nu had been known under a number of different names in Ancient China since antiquity. They were a people of vaguely Turkic stock, and were nomadic pastoralists living North of China. They often raided China of the Han dynasty, providing a major security threat for centuries. In fact, the Chinese began constructing the Great Wall because of the presence of the Hsiung-nu.

               Mao-Tun was a ruthless Hsiung-nu ruler who killed his own father, eliminated all his rivals, and perfected the art of horseback archery. Mao-Tun soon attracted a band of loyal followers whom he trained to obey his every command without question. The Hsiung-nu, under Mao-Tun, achieved their biggest successes at this time. However, during the subsequent wars that lasted for a couple of decades, a highly organized China showed itself to be superior. Slowly, the Hsiung-nu lost their position at the southern edge of the Gobi desert, and China secured control over the commercial routes to the west known as the famous ‘Silk Road’. Later on in history, they became the Huns, who transferred their attentions towards Europe, and unleashed the first migration of nations. 

               The Huns were an aggressive, dangerous, conquering tribe who probably came from Western China. The Chinese successfully defended themselves against the Huns in the 3rd century. The Huns then divided into two groups. The smaller group went towards India. But, the main group went north-west to Siberia. By 350 AD, the Huns were already crossing the steps toward Europe. In Europe, the Huns defeated many groups, and finally settled in the Hungarian area. They attacked the Eastern Roman Empire in 430 AD.

               The Huns were divided into the Hephthalites or White Huns, who invaded the Sassanid empire of Persia, and the Black Huns, who invaded Europe. The Hephthalites have fairer complexions than the Black Huns. Whether black or white, the Huns terrorized much of Asia and Europe from the 3rd through 5th centuries.

               The Avars were a Mongolian people. In the fourth century, they were one of many tribes to trouble the northern borders of the Chinese Empire. Little is known about the Avars in the period of their greatest power. Their base was situated somewhere near present-day Belgrade. By the end of the sixth century, their empire stretched from the River Volga to the Baltic Sea, and evidence suggests that they remained powerful well into the eighth century. They fought against the Byzantine Empire, and they reached as far as Constantinople, but could not take the city. Between 791 and 803, their kingdom was destroyed by the Franks and the Bulgarians, and the Avars merged with the Slavs.

               The Bulgars or proto Bulgarians, were a herding people who fought their way westward from Asia, raiding for plunder in Constantinople’s empire in the Balkans during the rule of Justinian I, and then retreating. During the rule of the Byzantine emperor Constantine V, the Arab danger had abated, and Constantine felt free to attack the Bulgarians. However, by then, the Bulgarians had become powerful, and were able to withstand his attacks. Around 917 AD, Bulgaria became the centre of the Christian Slavic world. However, in 1018, the Byzantines attacked again, and destroyed the first Great Bulgarian Empire. 

               The Scythians were a large group of loosely connected people who lived in Russia, and also further south around the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. By 600 BC, they took over some of the land to their south in modern Turkey for a while. They were remarkable for their fighting ability and civilization. They developed a class of wealthy aristocrats, who left elaborate graves filled with richly worked articles of gold and other precious materials. The Scythians worked in a wide variety of materials, including wood, leather, bone, appliqué felts, bronze, iron, silver, gold, and electrum.

              The Scythians were feared and admired for their prowess in war and, in particular, for their horsemanship. They were among the earliest people to master the art of riding, and their mobility astonished their neighbours.

               The Cimmerians were a nomadic tribe, living in Asia Minor in the seventh century BC. A few of them moved into the Crimea where they lingered on long enough to give that Black Sea peninsula its name. Most of them however moved south to the Middle East. The Cimmerians are credited with being the people who first domesticated the horse as symbols of wealth and status. However, they used it as a draft animal for about 500 years before they learned to ride it, going into battle on war chariots drawn by horses. 

               The Slavs first moved to Europe from West Asia around 2000 BC. They settled in the north -probably in modern Poland. About 100 or 200 AD, the Slavs crossed the Carpathian Mountains into present Slovakia and Romania. They crossed Danube, in the 500 AD, and settled in Greece.

               The Slavs were later attacked and defeated by Charlemagne. Charlemagne captured so many Slavs, and brought them back to France as slaves that their name has become the French – and English – word for slave. Most Slavs continued to live in Eastern Europe, where they gradually divided into three groups-the Polish Slavs, the Balkan Slavs, and the Russian Slavs. All three groups converted to Christianity before 1300 AD.