01-04-2016, 04:50 PM
Just for starters some think that the Alans were formed as a confederation sometime between 22-55 AD with a Sarmatian nucleus, going by Chinese sources Hou Han Shu and the Weilue at least according to Alemany in his book Sources on the Alans. However the fact that the Roxolani were known to western sources much earlier than that as they allied themselves with Mithradates VI weakens this theory somewhat.
One feature of steppe peoples is that confederations are formed in a time of crisis, either as a form of defence against aggression from neighbours or due to serious natural disasters like droughts or destruction of herds meaning aggressive wars under a war chief or leader chosen by a council of elders Rudenko in his book The Frozen Tombs of Siberia wrote "One of the causes of fighting between pastoral tribes was either drought or the so-called ‘jut’ (murrain) among the cattle, produced by exceptionally heavy snow or spring freezing after thaw that prevented the animals from getting their food. In these circumstances Kazakhs or Kirgiz in the nineteenth century, for example, would abandon their pastures and go into their neighbour’s territory and keep on going until they reached a point where the cattle could feed. If they were lucky and the weather changed they returned to their normal sites with their remaining stock; if their cattle died they had no other recourse but to attack rich neighbours and carry off part of their herds. Such an operation depended for its success on an organization commanded by a clan or tribal chief. Driving off cattle was not regarded as a felony and rustling was considered to be a special kind of profession."
So maybe we have to look back to what happened in the east in this time frame (22-55 AD) to cause different groups to unite. Yancai or Yen-ts'ai which means vast steppe in Chinese seems to be mentioned a lot but it appears that this probably refers to the Aorsi who became vassals of the Kanju referring to people who resided in Sogdiana. There also does seem to have been some instability in the Tarim basin which caused problems in Sogdiana around 49 AD of maybe both caused a mass movement west.
One feature of steppe peoples is that confederations are formed in a time of crisis, either as a form of defence against aggression from neighbours or due to serious natural disasters like droughts or destruction of herds meaning aggressive wars under a war chief or leader chosen by a council of elders Rudenko in his book The Frozen Tombs of Siberia wrote "One of the causes of fighting between pastoral tribes was either drought or the so-called ‘jut’ (murrain) among the cattle, produced by exceptionally heavy snow or spring freezing after thaw that prevented the animals from getting their food. In these circumstances Kazakhs or Kirgiz in the nineteenth century, for example, would abandon their pastures and go into their neighbour’s territory and keep on going until they reached a point where the cattle could feed. If they were lucky and the weather changed they returned to their normal sites with their remaining stock; if their cattle died they had no other recourse but to attack rich neighbours and carry off part of their herds. Such an operation depended for its success on an organization commanded by a clan or tribal chief. Driving off cattle was not regarded as a felony and rustling was considered to be a special kind of profession."
So maybe we have to look back to what happened in the east in this time frame (22-55 AD) to cause different groups to unite. Yancai or Yen-ts'ai which means vast steppe in Chinese seems to be mentioned a lot but it appears that this probably refers to the Aorsi who became vassals of the Kanju referring to people who resided in Sogdiana. There also does seem to have been some instability in the Tarim basin which caused problems in Sogdiana around 49 AD of maybe both caused a mass movement west.
Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
