Page 135 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol IV

1436 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

resist their incorporation by European colonial powers. Political Structures
During this period some southern African pastoral soci- The complexity of political structures among pastoral
eties such as the Zulus rapidly transformed themselves nomadic societies is strongly correlated with the degree
into powerful kingdoms that could more effectively deal of centralization found among their sedentary neighbors.
with European expansion. The most complex and centralized political organiza-
tions emerged among nomads who faced powerful cen-
High-Latitude Asia: Reindeer tralized states such as China. By contrast, pastoralists in
In high-latitude sub-Arctic areas pastoral nomadism is eastern Africa who faced only other stateless rivals relied
the most sophisticated variation in a continuum of rein- on decentralized political organizations. Four basic types
deer exploitation. This continuum ranges from the sim- existed:
ple hunting of wild animals, herding semiwild animals
1. Political organization based on age sets among the
for meat harvest alone, to true pastoral nomadism in
Masai or acephalous (lacking a governing head or
which domesticated reindeer are milked and used for
chief) segmentary lineages among the Nuer was char-
traction among the Lapps of Scandinavia. Because rein-
acteristic of sub-Saharan Africa, where pastoral no-
deer feed on lichens rather than the grass or bush species
madic societies encountered few state societies until
grazed by other domesticated herbivores, societies who
the colonial era.
raise reindeer are isolated from other pastoralists. As a
2. Political organization based on lineages that had per-
result these far northern reindeer herders have had the
manent leaders but no overarching or centralized or-
least-direct impact on world history.Although one might
ganization typified north African and Arabian Bedouin
suspect that reindeer herding represents the oldest form
societies who encountered only regionally powerful
of pastoralism because societies who depended on hunt-
states.
ing them date back to the foraging (Paleolithic) era, many
3. Supratribal confederations with powerful hereditary
scholars now believe that the use of domesticated rein-
leaders emerged throughout the Iranian and Anato-
deer is historically recent and has emerged only during
lian Plateaus as parts of regional political networks
the past five hundred years.
that lay within large empires.
4. Centralized nomadic states ruling over vast areas
High-Altitude Asia: Yaks
and vast numbers of people periodically developed
The high-altitude plateau of Tibet is a harsh environment
on the steppes of Mongolia, usually in response to
above 3,000 meters in elevation where the yak makes
the unification of China under the rule of a single
pastoralism viable. Herds also include yak-cattle hybrids,
dynasty.
high-altitude varieties of sheep, cashmere goats, and a
few horses. Tibetan pastoralists trade wool, skins, salt, The centralized nomadic states that formed along
and milk products to valley villagers for barley, which is China’s frontier had the greatest impact on world his-
a mainstay of their diet. In the past they also supplied the tory. Their combination of horse riding with archery,
overland caravan trade with yak, the only animal capable which created a formidable horse cavalry, made these
of carrying heavy loads in that high mountain region. nomads powerful.Through policies that combined raid-
Nomads there move relatively short distances and live in ing or extorting their sedentary neighbors with control-
black tents made of yak hair. Many of the pastoral ling international trade networks, these nomads became
nomadic communities were incorporated into large wealthy and politically influential in spite of their rela-
estates run by Buddhist monasteries until China took tively small populations. Such wealth and influence
direct control of Tibet in 1959. allowed for creation of large, long-lived nomad empires