Кочевники средневековья (поиски исторических закономерностей) - [56]

There is no doubt that this stage was common to all the nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppe. Unfortunately, historical sources concerning the nomads at this initial stage are of a scanty, fragmentary and, very often, distorted character: an avalanch of nomads destroying everything on its way gave rise to hatred and horror, rather than ethnographic interest.

The seizure of new lands was followed by adjustment of relations with the conquered tribes and neighbouring states and peoples. This ushered in the next period, a «pe-riod of finding a new homeland", and this entailed economic development of the seized territory. Pasture lands were allotted to each tribe and clan, according to their sizes, and permanent seasonal camps were established. At first, the alloted territories were large, accomodating a large, usually consanguineal collective. It was called kuren by B. Ya. Vla-dimirtsov and the corresponding economic type — kuren economy. The rise of the kurens marked the beginning of the decay of the clan-tribal society. This process started within the framework of the military democracy and further developed in the early class society.

Consolidation of class relations, the impoverishment of common nomads and the concentration of wealth in the hands of individual families, led to the division of the kuren communities into smaller economic units. The first to leave the kurens were the rich families with their kinsmen and large herds. These smaller economic units are termed ails. Very often the ails were also fairly large as rich families were joined by poorer ones. Having not enough cattle to roam by themselves, poor people pastured the caltle of the rich, receiving payment in kind or, which was an important development, changed over to agriculture.

Thus, the first period of the second stage of nomadism was characterised by kuren roaming, while the second period — by ail roaming. Military democracy gave way to early class society marked by extreme patriarchality unknown to settled peoples. The patriarchal system enabled the rich (the clan nobility) to mask their tendencies to absolute power. The more influential and rich aristocrats were «elected», according to an ancient custom, leaders (khans) of large conglomerations and simultaneously became supreme priests. A basically new form of conglomeration of a number of independent ails arose on the former kuren territory. Such conglomerations came to be known as «horde». Their essence was everywhere the same — they were agglomerations of non-consanguineal families and even included alien elements. Kurens and hordes were always ready to start military actions (the character of which had changed markedly) provided there were enough warriors, for at the second stage of nomadism wars were waged by warriors, and not by the entire population as at the first stage. Women, children, old men, the horseless poor and domestic slaves comprising a large part of the ail population were not directly involved. Wars were now fought not for more pasturage, but for booty, slaves and the rich ransom imposed on a defeated enemy.

The nomads were confined to limited territory and gradually settled in their winter camps, where they frequently stored their considerable treasures. They thus became easy prey for their neighbours. Raids, known in the steppe as baranta, organised by neighbouring ails and hordes against each other, undermined their economy and impoverished the bulk of the cattle-breeders.

This situation of constant danger and uncertainty and the emergence of economically stronger and politically more powerful ails and hordes, created the vital necessity for large unifying organisations capable of regulating, albeit to a minimum degree, the external and internal policies of the steppe peoples. Such organisations took the form of horde unions, the prototype of the state or of state-type conglomeration, ruled by khans elected by the nobility from among the richest and most active elements. Their main functions were settlement of foreing policy problems (alliances with more developed states, organisation of large-scale raids) and prevention of internal strife and internecine wars. All this united ails and hordes around the khans.

On the whole, these conglomerations were more like tribal unions of the first stage of nomadism rather than states, for there was neither a regular army (the army was formed of volunteers), nor an administrative apparatus (judiciary, police, tax collectors), nor a tax system. Nevertheless, these were often far-flung and powerful conglomerations, usually referred to as empires in written sources. They owe their origins, first, to favourable historical conditions and, second, to the personality of the khan, his wisdom and energy, military skill, political shrewdness, diplomatic dexterity and ruthlessness towards his enemies. But the empire rested on the will of one man, the khan. His death would set off centrifugal tendencies, discord and internecine wars. The empire gradually disintegrated until it vanished from the chonicles and later from the face of the earth. In spite of this, the second-stage conglomerations became the cradle of a unified common culture, a unified world outlook and a common language.