How the Neonomads will save the world. Alter-globalism edition

Nomadic production

The Eurasian Nomads developed their own way of production and industries. Some were advanced and happened for the first time in the Great Eurasian Steppe. For example, the metallurgy. The EN were the first to discover large deposits of metal ore in Altai, Central and Northern Kazakhstan. Most of them are still being extracted today on an industrial level.

The EN were equipped with bronze weapons and tools, when in some pockets of the world people still used Stone Age technologies. When the Altai nomads invented steel production from iron ore and started making steel tools and weapons, it gave them advantage over the Bronze Age adversaries. It helped them to forge mighty empires in the Early Iron Age, and also led to a spread of iron technology all over the Afro-EuroAsia, contributing to a transition to the Iron Age.

These mining and steel productions were stationary, tied to locations where the natural ore were found. Apart from that, the EN learned to provide themselves with all necessities on the move. The ever-roaming lifestyle prevented them from building large manufactures and craftsmen guilds, as it was common in the SC nations. Instead the nomads adjusted their needs and production mode to whatever technologies were possible within the nomadic economy.

The women and youth in nomadic families were skillful craftspersons, capable of producing high-quality felt and animal skins; they weaved wool goods, sew clothes, made yurt’s soft elements, bedding items, and etc. Men were always busy tanning the animal leathers and making leather goods: saddles, leather armor, belts, pouches, boots, horse and camel harnesses, and etc.; woodworking: building the yurt parts, furniture, wooden dishes, making bows and arrows; ironworks: making tools, weapons, equipment parts; and pottery. All of these works were produced either right in the yurts or simply outdoors, without city walls, factories, and shops.

The nomadic families were able to produce goods to cover 100% of their everyday needs. Of course, they never skipped the opportunity to buy or exchange goods with their neighboring SC nations. In fact, many nomadic tribes were heavily involved in trade, either directly or by providing security for passing trade caravans, especially during the Silk Road era. But overall they could get along on their own with complete self-sufficiency.

Therefore, we know that the nomadic production was highly versatile, adaptable, mobile, resourceful, ecological, minimalist, and waste-free. This is an important quality, as I will show how this approach can become crucial in the future of humanity.

Nomadic Dwelling

 
Mobile dwellings
 

The Eurasian Nomads also developed an entire new approach to living accommodations and comfort. Most of the EN mobile dwellings represent variations of a tent. There are a few types of these, incorrectly referred to as yurts. I describe this more in detail below in the Appendixes. Here it is sufficient to say that the Kazakhs call a yurt ui and the Mongols call it ger, while the term yurt («jurt» in Kazakh language) refers to a place where our EN ancestors used to put the uis and gers. But for the sake of convenience, I will continue calling it «yurt».

There are a few theories on how the modern-day Turkic (Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkmen, Bashkir, and Karakalpak) and Mongol yurts originated. One theory is that they represent a further evolution of a more primitive tepee-like conical tents that still exist in Siberia (chum, yaranga). The simple and narrow conical tents gradually became spacious dome-shaped tents with separate walls and roof. Through a series of improvements they arrived to their modern design. Other theory suggests that they repeat the design of Bronze Age’s stationary wigwam-style houses of the Eurasian agrarian societies. In this theory the early nomads were trying to adjust the old design to new conditions.

Whatever the origin of the yurt is, we know that by the Modern Era the yurts have evolved insomuch that even today we are still discovering their secrets and admire their design and engineering. Today there are modern-day yurts made with traditional materials and technologies, as well as high-tech yurts made with contemporary materials and technologies.

The yurt is mobile, collapsible, portable yet durable, comfortable and universal dwelling. Over the millennia the EN learned to make them climate-proof, wind-proof, and weather-proof; as well as pleasant to spent time in. They allow for a cozy, convenient lifestyle all year round, while living on the move. These are not your typical tourist tents, or even the military tents that are designed to provide for temporary shelter. The yurts are actual permanent houses, richly decorated and well-furnished, warm in winter and cool in summer; the only difference is that they are made to be fully portable.

The yurts were well-equipped with all necessary furniture and household items for a comfortable life, but without unnecessary extra stuff that clutters the houses of the SC peoples. The ground and walls were covered with woven and felt rugs, providing insulation and weatherproofing. The yurt dwellers had small portable tables, compact cabinets, kitchenware and dishware, many bedding items, and sufficient amount of clothes for all four seasons. The nomads rarely used chairs, because they were just an extra weight during the seasonal movements; instead they preferred to seat cross-legged on the rugged floor. The usually slept on soft matrasses that they put right on the floor, only using portable collapsible beds to sleep their kids or elders.

Overall, the yurt is an ingenious invention of the EN, ideally suited for nomadic lifestyle, and perfectly balancing comfort with practicality.

Nomadic Transportation

Chariots and wagons

The Eurasian Nomads also made a revolution in transportation. Not many people today realize that the wheel was an EN invention. As we know from archaeological evidence, such as the Botai Culture in Central Kazakhstan and others, the early cattle-breeders didn’t ride horses. Horses were herded mostly for food or ritual purposes, because they were much smaller than modern-day horses and weren’t able to carry a rider. Therefore, to use them as transportation, the nomads had to invent pulled carts on wheels, which later led to a development of chariots and wagons. Chariots, in turn, evolved into feared war chariots, a trademark tech in most of the Ancient world.

Wheeled transports of the Eurasian Nomads: a wagon (left) and petroglyphs showing chariots (right)

This technological evolutions got spread all over the Afro-Euro Asian world of the Bronze Age by the early EN conquerors, such as Cimmerians and others. Horses and chariots were widely adopted by the settled nations of the Middle East, Egypt, Greeks and Romans, Persians, Indians, and Chinese. Having more resources and production power, these settled civilizations learned to mass-produce the chariots and created large armies reinforced with chariot units.

Wheeled wagons formed military wagon-trains that took loads from shoulders of SC foot-soldiers, and allowed for more provisions to be taken in campaigns. This made army marches to go much faster and cover longer distances. This explains the raise of the SC conquerors and formation of early SC empires of Antiquity.

Ascent of Centaurs

But the EN once again showed their ingenuity and persistence: they gradually bred larger horses and learned to mount them, resulting in a brand new phenomenon – a horseback rider. At last, the true Eurasian nomad was born. Now a person could ride for longer distances and be more swift and maneuverable, and pass through terrains not suitable for wheeled chariots and wagons.

Soon enough the military use of horsemen followed, and warriors on horses outperformed the charioteers. Both horseback archers and heavily-armored shock cavalry were more deadly and efficient than chariot archers and warriors. Also, a soft leather saddle and harness of early design cost a few orders of gratitude less than very expensive chariots. Gradually the wheeled combat vehicles went extinct in the Steppe, giving place to mighty Centaurs: people so comfortable riding horses that they seemed to be one creature.

An ancient depiction of the Scythian horseback archer

Of course the SC followed the suit and developed their own cavalry. This was a true arms race: everything the EN developed to win in wars against the overwhelming nations of the SC Rim, the later adopted after a while and started using against the nomads and each other. At this, the SC nations always enjoyed larger resource bases and virtually limitless amounts of recruits, whilst the nomads always had scarce numbers and resources and had to rely on their wits and skills.

So the Eurasian Nomads stroke again by developing a system where each horseback warrior took a few extra horses with him or her. This allowed the horsemen to change horses without stopping to rest them, so now they could cover long distances with great speed and hit enemies where they didn’t expect. Another words, the nomads used the advantage of having more horses that any SC nation in history: each nomadic family, even the poorest, possessed at least a half dozen horses, where the rich families had them in thousands. Therefore the EN could easily gather large and completely mounted armies in short time, a capacity that no settled nation could ever match, which gave them a long-lasting advantage.

Further evolution of wheeled transport

Arms races aside, the nomads also invented many interesting types of transportation for civilian usage. The wagons were one of them. The first wheeled carts were simply flat platforms on wheels pulled by horses or oxen. Then the nomads figured out that if they add some sort of roofing on top of a platform, it provides an additional protection from nature elements, as well as predators. The wagon is much more versatile and useful than the simple open cart.

Another absolutely amazing and ingenious invention of the EN was the yurt-cart: an actual fully furnished yurt being placed on top of a large, heavy, wheeled frame. The yurt-carts were of various shapes and sizes, ranging from early small livable wagons of the Bronze Age, to small and medium sized yurts on carts, and to large and luxurious Khan’s yurts on wheels during the so-called Mongol Empire that required dozens of oxen to pull them.

Clay models of Bronze Age’s livable wagons of Eurasia

Medieval yurt-cart of the so-called Mongols

Having a permanent home mounted on top of a moving cart was a big advantage for nomadic lifestyle. It saved time for putting/taking down yurts, and the nomads really valued their free time. Plus, it allowed for more comfortable moving conditions. Imagine entire cities of yurt-carts, many of which were beautifully decorated, moving slowly on the endless plains of the Great Steppe! That must have been quite a sight!

The concept of Kósh

Seasonal movements

The pastoral nomadism required well thought-out order and systemic approach. There typically were four seasonal movements, called qystau (winter camp), kókteu (spring camp), jailau (summer camp), and kuzeu (fall/autumn camp).

The overall traditional patterns of seasonal nomadic movements in Kazakhstan were as follows: the winter camps were located in the south, near the hills and mountains where the winters were relatively softer; the summer camps, on the opposite, were at the far north plains up to 1,500—2,000km (1,000—1,300 miles) away from the winter camps; where the summer heat wasn’t so scorching and grass still remained fresh for the cattle to feed on. The spring and fall camps were located intermediately in between.

The winter camps usually had some permanent structures, such as cattleyards, sheds, storages, outdoor kitchens, and sometimes even permanent houses, or at least heavy winter yurts that weren’t moved to the summer camps. This is where the nomads were seating and surviving the harsh Eurasian Steppe winters. The only outdoor activity at this time of year was hunting, as the travelling between the camps of different families and tribes were limited. This time was used mostly to make or fix equipment for the next season: sew new clothes or patch the old ones, weave wool goods, make leather goods, and etc.

The new year in the Great Steppe usually started on around March 20^th each year during the spring equinox, when the duration of day and night were equal. The kickoff event was the Nauryz celebration, when the nomads came to see each other to make sure everybody survived the winter and the cattle made it too. The last remaining winter stores of food were consumed in a big communal feast in which everybody got to participate.

This is when the EN started leaving their winter encampments and moving towards their spring camping sites. The spring camps were typically located at hilltops or other shadeless places free of thawing waters and open to fresh air and sunlight. The pastures were full with new growing grass, and the cattle was gaining weight fast and also lambing and foaling was taking place. The cattle was sheared and this spring wool was called «dead wool» and stored for future use.

The next big seasonal move happened when the cattle ate all of the grasses around the spring camp and the heat and sunlight scorched the ground. Running away from deadly dry seasons, the nomads undertook a long migration towards their summer camping grounds in the north. This is where the sun is less ferocious and there are more small woods with protecting shade, and the rivers don’t run dry all year long. The summer nomadic camps always settled around riverbanks with access to water and cool air.

In the fall there is a third seasonal movement, now back towards the south. The fall camping could be at the same place as the spring one, or some other suitable place. This was the best time of the year for the nomads. The cattle is fat and plentiful, the people are healthy and full of energy. This is where many of the nomadic production works happen, such as mass cattle shearing (fall shearing), making felt for yurts, woodworking, and etc.

Also this is where the most delicious event in the nomadic life too place: the massive fall slaughter of cattle called «soghym». The carefully selected animals were slaughtered in large numbers, and their meat was salted and dried to be stored over long winter. This is the only time of year when there is plenty of meat for everybody to eat. And because of that, this is when most of celebrations take place, such as marriage brokerage and weddings.

After the end of fall season, nomadic families traveled to their winter facilities. Here they put their cattle in fenced yards and stored hay for winter. Once the snow fell the nomads were seating out for a few cold month: eating on their food stores, feeding the cattle with hay, making and fixing their equipment, and hoping that the spring will come on time. And the cycle repeats again, year after year, millennium after millennium.

Such was the typical seasonal migration cycle of the Eurasian Nomads. In Kazakhstan the winter camping grounds were located in modern-day Southern Kazakhstan bordering with Central Asian states (Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan), while the summer camps were located around the northern border with today’s Russia.

Over the thousands of years the nomadic seasonal migrations were perfected to a solid system. Each tribe had its own route (a corridor) and camping grounds, with designated watering holes and pastures. Only tribe members knew the best locations and paths, and could deliver their caravans to the destinations safely and efficiently. Other tribes, in times of peace, never violated these unwritten rules. In times of war or famine, however, these routes and grazing grounds were often becoming battlegrounds between rival tribes.

In Kazakhstan the process of moving from one seasonal camp to another is called «Kósh» as noun and «Kóshu» as verb, and the proper name for the word «nomadic» as adjective is «kóshpeli» or «kóshpendi».

Nomadic leisure

Culture, poetry, and music

Contrary to the erroneous commonly established opinion, the Eurasian Nomads were probably the most cultural people that ever existed on Earth, in the nomadic meaning of «cultural» that is.

The reason for that was that the nomadic lifestyle didn’t require working long hours from sunrise to sunset every day, like in was for farmers or craftsmen in SC nation. Instead, the life of nomad consisted of massive, labor-intensive, but short efforts, such as four seasonal Kóshes, collective cattle shearing, felt-making, soghym, or swift war raids and military campaigns; alternated with long periods of relative calmness and leisure time.

And that leisure time was used mostly for cultural activities, arts, sports, and other pleasures. In fact, despite the harsh lifestyle, the nomads most of all valued quality time and used any occasion to throw a party. Whenever any guest, even a complete stranger, came to any yurt, he or she was admitted as a dear guest with the most respect and consideration. This was a universal law of the nomadic hospitality in peaceful times. First feed the guests, water their horses, and then ask questions. This law never changed for thousands of years.

Then came long conversations that could last for days and nights for as long as the guests were willing to stay. And if the guests possessed some valuable skills, knowledge or talents, this could easily turn into a big holiday event for the whole nomadic extended family called Aul, or even an entire tribe.

If a guest could tell good stories, old fairy tales or legends, if he was well-travelled or educated, or if she knew how to play musical instruments and perform songs and poetry, this was the happiest occasion and honor for the hosting family. Such a guest was like a pure gold, and the hosts didn’t spare any expenses or efforts to please him or her and their neighbors. The sheep was slaughtered for meat, and the horse milk qymyz and camel milk shubat was consumed in mad amounts.

The oral literature tradition of nomads was simply enormous. Unfortunately, very little of it survived to date, because the nomads rarely used writing and the poetry was passed on orally and thus was forever lost, forgotten in the folds of centuries. The roots of European traditional poetry, such as minstrels, bards, saga-tellers, and singers, lies in the EN oral tradition. At this, the later was not limited to the nobility, and was vastly greater and encompassed all layers of nomadic society. Every nomadic Aul and tribe had one or dozens of poets, musicians, and singers, and they were distinguished and nurtured by their families and neighbors.

There were a few types of poets in the Great Steppe. Some were only performing old legends and sagas, others specialized in moral and philosophical poetry, and others used their poetical talents for politics and social criticism. Often the EN staged poetic battles between the specially-trained fast-rhyming poets, similar to modern-day rap battles. There were even the shamanic poets, who used poetry to cure the ill, strengthen the weak, restore the fertility, stabilize the mentally-ill, and etc. There were also poet-warriors, actual combat participants, who used their poetry to raise the moral of their tribesmen and humiliate the enemy.

The Eurasian Nomads loved music even more than poetry. One could be simply blown away by the amount of musical instrument types that the nomads invented on their own or adopted from their neighbors. There is the Museum of Kazakh Musical Instruments in my city of Almaty, and it has a great variety of items on display, but this is only a tiny survived fracture of what the nomads used to have. There is a big array of string instruments, string and bow instruments, wind instruments, percussion instruments, jaw harps, string harps, bells, whistles, and etc. There is even an instrument made of horse hooves. Looks like the nomads were obsessed with making sounds of music out of everything they could get their hands on.

Just as there were many types of musical instruments, there were also many types of musical forms. Some are sad and long, others are short and furious or funny, merry, and spirit-lifting. There was a big cluster of love poetry, of course. There was war music, and drums with tambourines were used as signal tools in the armies. Some musicians were able to imitate dozens, if not hundreds of nature sounds, such as hooves rattle, birds singing (different species), wind blowing, water flawing, and etc.

Of course there were singers too, who were able to play instruments and sing. Those were the skills that pretty much every single nomadic girl or a boy were expected to master at least to some degree in their free time, unlike that of the SC nations, where mostly the privileged class could afford a luxury to study and perform music.