Selim Ferruh Adalı - Böcker

This book explores the origins of complex political organisation in Inner Asia, which enabled mighty empires, proto-state entities and confederacies such as the Cimmerians, Scythians and the Xiongnu Huns to emerge and dominate large swathes of the Eurasian continent during antiquity.The volume provides readers with an in-depth understanding of the origins and development of the quasi-feudal system of political organisation, which prevailed in Inner Asia during antiquity, how this supported the formation of imperial polities in the steppe zone, and the impact the expansion of these polities had on the politics, history and culture of both ancient Inner Asia and also China, the Middle East and Europe. It examines the historical and archaeological evidence for the Cimmerians and Scythians and their geopolitical impact on western Eurasia, exploring whether the complex political organisation in Inner Asia – which we see later among the Xiongnu and the Huns – originated with them or had even earlier antecedents.The Origins of Complex Political Organisation in Ancient Inner Asia is suitable for students and scholars of Near Eastern history and archaeology, the history and archaeology of Central and Inner Asia, and classical antiquity.

The great empires of the vast Eurasian continent have captured the imagination of many. Awe-inspiring names such as ancient Rome, Han and Tang China, Persia, Assyria, the Huns, the Kushans and the Franks have been the subject of countless scholarly books and works of literature. However, very rarely, if at all, have these vast pre-industrial empires been studied holistically from a comparative, interdisciplinary and above all Eurasian perspective. This collection of studies examines the history, literature and archaeology of these empires and others thus far treated separately as a single inter-connected subject of inquiry. It highlights in particular the critical role of Inner Asian empires and peoples in facilitating contacts and exchange across the Eurasian continent in antiquity and the early Middle Ages.