Only nomads can live on the steppes north of Asia's mountain ranges, moving with their flocks of animals to survive together on the meagre crop of grass. It is a tough life, and the steppes have bred tough people - pioneers in warfare on horseback.
From the Indo-European tribes of ancient times to the Mongols and Turks of more recent history, the people of the steppes descend frequently and with devastating suddeness upon their more civilized neighbours. There are many tempting victims. Beneath the mountain ridges Asia offers ideal locations for civilized life.
The regions bordering the Asian shores of the Mediterranean are where mankind appears first to have settled in villages and towns - a development requiring at least the beginnings of agriculture. Two of the earliest settlements to deserve the name of towns are Jericho in Palestine and Catal Huyuk in Anatolia.
For the emergence of a more developed society, justifying the name of civilization, history suggests that there is one incomparable advantage, indeed almost a necessity - the proximity of a large river, flowing through an open plain. In several places Asia provides this.
On a map showing the fertile plains of Asia, between the mountains and the sea, three such areas stand out: Mesopotamia, watered by the Tigris and the Euphrates; the valley of the Indus; and the plains of north China, from the Hwang Ho (or Yellow River) down to the Yangtze.
Other waterways, such as the Ganges or the Mekong, are in areas too heavily forested to make agriculture easy. But in Mesopotamia, western India and northern China, great rivers flow through open plains, providing ample flood water for the nurturing of crops. These regions of Asia become the sites of three of the early civilizations.
Tribes speaking Indo-European languages, and living as nomadic herdsmen, are well established by about 2000 BC in the steppes which stretch from the Ukraine eastwards, to the regions north of the Black Sea and the Caspian.
Over the coming centuries they steadily infiltrate the more appealing regions to the south and west - occasionally in something akin to open warfare, and invariably no doubt with violence. But the process is much more gradual than our modern notions of an invading force.
In Asia the first significant movement of this kind is by the Hittites, who establish themselves in Anatolia.
Subsequently the Medes and the Persians become the dominant tribes on the Iranian plateau. These Indo-Iranians are related in language and culture to the Aryans who move down into India, profoundly influencing the subcontinent. Their tribal religion contributes largely to Zoroastrianism in Persia and Hinduism in India (see the gods of the Aryans).
At a much later date, one of the Indo-European tribal groups in India makes a further move south. They are the Sinhalese. They settle in Sri Lanka, probably in the 6th century BC.
In doing so, they isolate themselves from the Indo-Europeans of north India, for they move to the south of a different linguistic group - the Dravidians, whose origin is unknown but whose language has no links with Indo-European. After another lengthy gap, in about the 11th century AD, members of the largest Dravidian community, the Tamils, move into Sri Lanka from southern India and settle in the north of the island.
The great civlizations of south and east Asia - India and China - are relatively isolated by the accidents of geography. But western Asia, and in particular the Mediterranean coast, is vulnerable to invaders from all sides.
By about 1000 BC the Hebrews are established in Palestine. The Phoenicians are their neighbours to the north. These desirable territories will be a continuous battleground, first in a triangular rivalry between Mesopotamia, Egypt and Anatolia; and later, when strong rulers control the Iranian plateau, in a prolonged struggle between the Persian empire to the east and Greece and Rome to the west.
Cultural influence in southeast Asia comes at first either from India or China. In the 1st century BC Indian traders penetrate Burma. Further east, in Vietnam, Bronze Age culture infiltrates gradually from China at some time before the 3rd century BC.
With these exceptions, the region is still occupied at this time by neolithic communities.
The development of more advanced cultures in the region derives largely from the spread of India's two great religions, Hinduism and Buddhism.
Both travel east by sea in the early centuries of the Christian era. The Indians at this time are adventurous seafarers. Merchants gradually spread the two religions and their related architectural traditions along coastal regions on the way towards the South China Sea. This religious and cultural imperialism from India, combined with political and military pressure from China (particularly in Vietnam) gives southeast Asia its lasting chararacter.
At a slightly later date Buddhism spreads also from China, which it has reached along the Silk Road from India. After becoming well established in Korea, Buddhist monks bring the faith during the 6th century to Japan.
Buddhism reaches Tibet in the 8th century from two directions - from China and from Nepal, the original birthplace of the religion in India.
At the start of the Christian era western Asia is part of the Roman empire which confronts, to the east, a Persian empire of varying size and complexion. The region will remain an uneasy border between these two blocks until the 4th century, when the adoption of Christianity begins to transform the western antagonist from the Roman into the Byzantine empire.
The balance nevertheless remains much the same until it is violently and rapidly upset by the emergence of Islam in the 7th century. For the last centuries of the period western Asia, with the exception of Anatolia, is Muslim.
India and China, the two ancient civilizations of east Asia, are large enough to follow their own course at this stage without much influence from outside. It is instead their influence which spreads outwards, profoundly affecting the development of Sri Lanka, Korea and Japan - all of which develop their own local and lasting characteristics during this period.
North of the mountain ranges the nomads exert pressure southwards from time to time. For the most part they are easily contained. Early in the next millennium their turn will come, first with minor groups gaining territory in northern China and then with the violent eruption of the Mongols.
Only nomads can live on the steppes north of Asia's mountain ranges, moving with their flocks of animals to survive together on the meagre crop of grass. It is a tough life, and the steppes have bred tough people - pioneers in warfare on horseback.
From the Indo-European tribes of ancient times to the Mongols and Turks of more recent history, the people of the steppes descend frequently and with devastating suddeness upon their more civilized neighbours. There are many tempting victims. Beneath the mountain ridges Asia offers ideal locations for civilized life.
The regions bordering the Asian shores of the Mediterranean are where mankind appears first to have settled in villages and towns - a development requiring at least the beginnings of agriculture. Two of the earliest settlements to deserve the name of towns are Jericho in Palestine and Catal Huyuk in Anatolia.
For the emergence of a more developed society, justifying the name of civilization, history suggests that there is one incomparable advantage, indeed almost a necessity - the proximity of a large river, flowing through an open plain. In several places Asia provides this.
On a map showing the fertile plains of Asia, between the mountains and the sea, three such areas stand out: Mesopotamia, watered by the Tigris and the Euphrates; the valley of the Indus; and the plains of north China, from the Hwang Ho (or Yellow River) down to the Yangtze.
Other waterways, such as the Ganges or the Mekong, are in areas too heavily forested to make agriculture easy. But in Mesopotamia, western India and northern China, great rivers flow through open plains, providing ample flood water for the nurturing of crops. These regions of Asia become the sites of three of the early civilizations.
Tribes speaking Indo-European languages, and living as nomadic herdsmen, are well established by about 2000 BC in the steppes which stretch from the Ukraine eastwards, to the regions north of the Black Sea and the Caspian.
Over the coming centuries they steadily infiltrate the more appealing regions to the south and west - occasionally in something akin to open warfare, and invariably no doubt with violence. But the process is much more gradual than our modern notions of an invading force.
In Asia the first significant movement of this kind is by the Hittites, who establish themselves in Anatolia.
Subsequently the Medes and the Persians become the dominant tribes on the Iranian plateau. These Indo-Iranians are related in language and culture to the Aryans who move down into India, profoundly influencing the subcontinent. Their tribal religion contributes largely to Zoroastrianism in Persia and Hinduism in India (see the gods of the Aryans).
At a much later date, one of the Indo-European tribal groups in India makes a further move south. They are the Sinhalese. They settle in Sri Lanka, probably in the 6th century BC.
In doing so, they isolate themselves from the Indo-Europeans of north India, for they move to the south of a different linguistic group - the Dravidians, whose origin is unknown but whose language has no links with Indo-European. After another lengthy gap, in about the 11th century AD, members of the largest Dravidian community, the Tamils, move into Sri Lanka from southern India and settle in the north of the island.
The great civlizations of south and east Asia - India and China - are relatively isolated by the accidents of geography. But western Asia, and in particular the Mediterranean coast, is vulnerable to invaders from all sides.
By about 1000 BC the Hebrews are established in Palestine. The Phoenicians are their neighbours to the north. These desirable territories will be a continuous battleground, first in a triangular rivalry between Mesopotamia, Egypt and Anatolia; and later, when strong rulers control the Iranian plateau, in a prolonged struggle between the Persian empire to the east and Greece and Rome to the west.
Cultural influence in southeast Asia comes at first either from India or China. In the 1st century BC Indian traders penetrate Burma. Further east, in Vietnam, Bronze Age culture infiltrates gradually from China at some time before the 3rd century BC.
With these exceptions, the region is still occupied at this time by neolithic communities.
The development of more advanced cultures in the region derives largely from the spread of India's two great religions, Hinduism and Buddhism.
Both travel east by sea in the early centuries of the Christian era. The Indians at this time are adventurous seafarers. Merchants gradually spread the two religions and their related architectural traditions along coastal regions on the way towards the South China Sea. This religious and cultural imperialism from India, combined with political and military pressure from China (particularly in Vietnam) gives southeast Asia its lasting chararacter.
At a slightly later date Buddhism spreads also from China, which it has reached along the Silk Road from India. After becoming well established in Korea, Buddhist monks bring the faith during the 6th century to Japan.
Buddhism reaches Tibet in the 8th century from two directions - from China and from Nepal, the original birthplace of the religion in India.
At the start of the Christian era western Asia is part of the Roman empire which confronts, to the east, a Persian empire of varying size and complexion. The region will remain an uneasy border between these two blocks until the 4th century, when the adoption of Christianity begins to transform the western antagonist from the Roman into the Byzantine empire.
The balance nevertheless remains much the same until it is violently and rapidly upset by the emergence of Islam in the 7th century. For the last centuries of the period western Asia, with the exception of Anatolia, is Muslim.
India and China, the two ancient civilizations of east Asia, are large enough to follow their own course at this stage without much influence from outside. It is instead their influence which spreads outwards, profoundly affecting the development of Sri Lanka, Korea and Japan - all of which develop their own local and lasting characteristics during this period.
North of the mountain ranges the nomads exert pressure southwards from time to time. For the most part they are easily contained. Early in the next millennium their turn will come, first with minor groups gaining territory in northern China and then with the violent eruption of the Mongols.
The unsettling and the settled: from 8000 BC
Only nomads can live on the steppes north of Asia's mountain ranges, moving with their flocks of animals to survive together on the meagre crop of grass. It is a tough life, and the steppes have bred tough people - pioneers in warfare on horseback.
From the Indo-European tribes of ancient times to the Mongols and Turks of more recent history, the people of the steppes descend frequently and with devastating suddeness upon their more civilized neighbours. There are many tempting victims. Beneath the mountain ridges Asia offers ideal locations for civilized life.
The regions bordering the Asian shores of the Mediterranean are where mankind appears first to have settled in villages and towns - a development requiring at least the beginnings of agriculture. Two of the earliest settlements to deserve the name of towns are Jericho in Palestine and Catal Huyuk in Anatolia.
For the emergence of a more developed society, justifying the name of civilization, history suggests that there is one incomparable advantage, indeed almost a necessity - the proximity of a large river, flowing through an open plain. In several places Asia provides this.
On a map showing the fertile plains of Asia, between the mountains and the sea, three such areas stand out: Mesopotamia, watered by the Tigris and the Euphrates; the valley of the Indus; and the plains of north China, from the Hwang Ho (or Yellow River) down to the Yangtze.
Other waterways, such as the Ganges or the Mekong, are in areas too heavily forested to make agriculture easy. But in Mesopotamia, western India and northern China, great rivers flow through open plains, providing ample flood water for the nurturing of crops. These regions of Asia become the sites of three of the early civilizations.
Tribes speaking Indo-European languages, and living as nomadic herdsmen, are well established by about 2000 BC in the steppes which stretch from the Ukraine eastwards, to the regions north of the Black Sea and the Caspian.
Over the coming centuries they steadily infiltrate the more appealing regions to the south and west - occasionally in something akin to open warfare, and invariably no doubt with violence. But the process is much more gradual than our modern notions of an invading force.
In Asia the first significant movement of this kind is by the Hittites, who establish themselves in Anatolia.
Subsequently the Medes and the Persians become the dominant tribes on the Iranian plateau. These Indo-Iranians are related in language and culture to the Aryans who move down into India, profoundly influencing the subcontinent. Their tribal religion contributes largely to Zoroastrianism in Persia and Hinduism in India (see the gods of the Aryans).
At a much later date, one of the Indo-European tribal groups in India makes a further move south. They are the Sinhalese. They settle in Sri Lanka, probably in the 6th century BC.
In doing so, they isolate themselves from the Indo-Europeans of north India, for they move to the south of a different linguistic group - the Dravidians, whose origin is unknown but whose language has no links with Indo-European. After another lengthy gap, in about the 11th century AD, members of the largest Dravidian community, the Tamils, move into Sri Lanka from southern India and settle in the north of the island.
The great civlizations of south and east Asia - India and China - are relatively isolated by the accidents of geography. But western Asia, and in particular the Mediterranean coast, is vulnerable to invaders from all sides.
By about 1000 BC the Hebrews are established in Palestine. The Phoenicians are their neighbours to the north. These desirable territories will be a continuous battleground, first in a triangular rivalry between Mesopotamia, Egypt and Anatolia; and later, when strong rulers control the Iranian plateau, in a prolonged struggle between the Persian empire to the east and Greece and Rome to the west.
Cultural influence in southeast Asia comes at first either from India or China. In the 1st century BC Indian traders penetrate Burma. Further east, in Vietnam, Bronze Age culture infiltrates gradually from China at some time before the 3rd century BC.
With these exceptions, the region is still occupied at this time by neolithic communities.
The development of more advanced cultures in the region derives largely from the spread of India's two great religions, Hinduism and Buddhism.
Both travel east by sea in the early centuries of the Christian era. The Indians at this time are adventurous seafarers. Merchants gradually spread the two religions and their related architectural traditions along coastal regions on the way towards the South China Sea. This religious and cultural imperialism from India, combined with political and military pressure from China (particularly in Vietnam) gives southeast Asia its lasting chararacter.
At a slightly later date Buddhism spreads also from China, which it has reached along the Silk Road from India. After becoming well established in Korea, Buddhist monks bring the faith during the 6th century to Japan.
Buddhism reaches Tibet in the 8th century from two directions - from China and from Nepal, the original birthplace of the religion in India.
At the start of the Christian era western Asia is part of the Roman empire which confronts, to the east, a Persian empire of varying size and complexion. The region will remain an uneasy border between these two blocks until the 4th century, when the adoption of Christianity begins to transform the western antagonist from the Roman into the Byzantine empire.
The balance nevertheless remains much the same until it is violently and rapidly upset by the emergence of Islam in the 7th century. For the last centuries of the period western Asia, with the exception of Anatolia, is Muslim.
India and China, the two ancient civilizations of east Asia, are large enough to follow their own course at this stage without much influence from outside. It is instead their influence which spreads outwards, profoundly affecting the development of Sri Lanka, Korea and Japan - all of which develop their own local and lasting characteristics during this period.
North of the mountain ranges the nomads exert pressure southwards from time to time. For the most part they are easily contained. Early in the next millennium their turn will come, first with minor groups gaining territory in northern China and then with the violent eruption of the Mongols.
