I have recently finished a course on the history of the “Steppes”
or that part of the world known as Central Asia, a geographical region that is
very unfamiliar to Americans as is its history and the affect that history had
on the rest of the world.
Recently there have been many reports of turmoil with fatal
consequences in the Chinese region known as XINJANG UYGHUR AUTONOMOUS REGION
roughly in northwest China.
That area known throughout history as the TARIN BASIN was
where the SILK ROAD started and meandered all the way to Europe and brought the
two parts of the world closer together through trade and communication.
The people living in the area and causing all the uproar are
TURKIC UIGHUR MUSLIMS (wee-gurs) who want independence from China who they
accuse of mistreating them.
The history of the region includes Genghis Khan, Attila the
Hun and even Marco Polo. The peoples that populated the Steppes came out of
Mongolia and were fierce warriors that conquered Central Asia and all the way
to even include parts of Europe and the Middle East; and that is why their
history is so important to understanding the peoples that now occupy those
lands (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, etc.).
Note: Ukrainian and now Russian Crimea was populated by
Tartars (decedents of the Steppe people) who live there to this day and are now
under Russian domination.
We are living in some very interesting times…
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