Nomads Introduction

1. NomadsIntroduction • Hugh Kennedy: “The nomad paradox” • Traditionally, who were the most powerful people? • Those with:

2. NomadsIntroduction • Hugh Kennedy: “The nomad paradox” • Traditionally, who were the most powerful people? • Those with: • Lots of money

3. NomadsIntroduction • Hugh Kennedy: “The nomad paradox” • Traditionally, who were the most powerful people? • Those with: • Lots of money • Organized administrations

4. NomadsIntroduction • Hugh Kennedy: “The nomad paradox” • Traditionally, who were the most powerful people? • Those with: • Lots of money • Organized administrations • Plenty of resources

5. NomadsIntroduction • Hugh Kennedy: “The nomad paradox” • Traditionally, who were the most powerful people? • Those with: • Lots of money • Organized administrations • Plenty of resources • Established borders

6. Nomads were: • Dirt poor • Uncivilized • Nomadic!

7. What were some advantages?

8. What were some advantages? • Highly mobile

9. What were some advantages? • Highly mobile • Very tough

10. What were some advantages? • Highly mobile • Very tough • Superior fighting skills

11. What were some advantages? • Highly mobile • Very tough • Superior fighting skills • All fighters

12. What were some advantages? • Highly mobile • Very tough • Superior fighting skills • All fighters • Meritocracy • No supply lines • No dependency

13. What bound them together?

14. The Huns: A One-Sided History • What do we know about them? • No written records • Edward Gibbon

15. Origins: Myth vs. Reality

16. Common themes: • Speed • Viciousness • Greed • Sheer ugliness • Horses • Just like the people who rode them • Advantage with logistics

17. Why would they stay in small, isolated groups?

18. Problems with mercenary armies • Siege engines and battering rams

19. “After a war the Scythians live at ease, each enjoying his own possessions and troubling others or being troubled not at all or very little. But among the Romans, since on account of their tyrants not all men carry weapons, they place responsibility for their safety in others and they are thus easily destroyed in war. Moreover, those who do use arms are endangered still more by the cowardice of their generals, who are unable to sustain a war.” – A Greek-speaking Hun to Priscus

20. Two Phases: Before and During Attila • Before: lacking a common purpose • Working for Aetius and Litorius

21. During: Real organization • The Romans just needed to please the Huns • Gold • Enemies • Markets

22. Attila’s wrath • Balkan cities and Greece

23. Priscus’s journeys • After the Greek disaster, a journey north to secure peace • The voyage to Attila’s headquarters • Competition from the West • Women • Very casual • ‘Permanent nomads’ • Everyone knew where authority lay

24. Attentions westward • Attacks on Gaul and setbacks • Aquileia and the Italian cities • What stopped them?

25. The death of Atilla • What happened afterwards? • Lack of leadership

26. The Coming of the Arabs and Islam • What did the Huns leave behind? • What about the Arabs (and Islam)?

27. The Coming of the Arabs and Islam • What did the Huns leave behind? • What about the Arabs (and Islam)? • Language

28. The Coming of the Arabs and Islam • What did the Huns leave behind? • What about the Arabs (and Islam)? • Language • Administration

29. The Coming of the Arabs and Islam • What did the Huns leave behind? • What about the Arabs (and Islam)? • Language • Administration • Permanently conquered lands

30. What linked all these people pre-Islam?

31. What linked all these people pre-Islam? • Language

32. What linked all these people pre-Islam? • Language • Written and oral

33. What linked all these people pre-Islam? • Language • Written and oral • Kin

34. Remember how the Huns earned respect and command? • Sharif (Shaykh – Sheikh)

35. Arab society • Militarized • Violent • Disparate • Who/What would lead them?

36. Muhammad • Was not a Bedouin • Had a permanent home in a major city • BUT he became the prophet when he left to another city • So his authority was based on what? • After his death …

37. Abu Bakr and ‘Umar

38. Historical record? • Similar problem as the Huns • We have the general outline • Attacks on Syria • Consolidation of power

39. What would help the Muslim invaders in their invasions of the Byzantine and Persian empires?

40. What would help the Muslim invaders in their invasions of the Byzantine and Persian empires? • Earthquakes

41. What would help the Muslim invaders in their invasions of the Byzantine and Persian empires? • Earthquakes • Plague

42. What would help the Muslim invaders in their invasions of the Byzantine and Persian empires? • Earthquakes • Plague • A brutal war between the Persians and the Byzantines

43. Iraq fell • Why would this help the Arabs? • So did Syria • Proof of the Arabs’ ability to survive in the desert

44. After Yarmuk the plan was set …

45. “The first stage of fighting is the shooting of arrows, then the pointing of spears, then the thrusting of them to the left and right, and finally the drawing of swords. That’s all there is to it.”

46. Syria  Palestine • Persia • Egypt  Northern Africa  Spain • Afghanistan  Sind even as far as China

47. Some misperceptions … • Migrants or army? • Army or tribes?

48. Compared to Huns and Western European knights … • Cavalry or infantry? • Khandaq • Seige warfare • The takeover of cities (Greeks from Syria and Palestine)

49. Risk vs. reward … • What would the Arabs gain in victory?

50. The Spread of Islam • Islam’s vs. Christianity’s spread … • Byzantine, Persia, North Africa & Spain, France, Italy • What choice did the victims have?