Pastoral people

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As a pastoral people each is ethnic group called, whose primary livelihood, the livestock is. Shepherd peoples are usually not settled , so they have a nomadic ( pastoral nomadism ) or semi-nomadic ( Yaylak pastoralism ) way of life. They are widespread where permanent arable farming is not worthwhile due to climate or weather conditions (cold or arid steppe, water shortage) or due to the lack of nutrients in the soil, but where an open grassy landscape naturally predominates (see pastoralism ) .

They let their herds of cattle, consisting of large mammals (primarily horses, cattle, sheep and goats or even reindeer) graze on the grass or the leaves and shoots of the woody plants. Grass is a robust and frugal plant and also grows in places where the cultivation of useful plants is hardly possible. The shepherds stay in one place until the forage has been grazed and then, if necessary, seek out new grazing grounds every season.

Grasslands with very limited possibilities for agriculture are savannah , steppe and tundra . The geoclimatic steppe belt of Eurasia stretches south of the deciduous forest belt, only interrupted by mountains ( Alps , Carpathians , Urals ) or seas ( Caspian and Black Seas ), from Burgenland in Austria to eastern Mongolia . In North America the great plains take their place, in South America the pampas take their place. But mountains and high plateaus also offer such. B. in the Middle East and in the European high mountains like the Alps, pastoral peoples a livelihood. Shepherd peoples also exist in the savanna belt of Africa, e.g. B. the Maasai .

The area of ​​the grass and moss-covered tundra north of the two forest belts of deciduous forest and coniferous forest ( taiga ) is a suitable habitat for reindeer-breeding herdsmen such as Komi or Sami and their herds. There are no pastoral peoples in America and Australia because there were no "domesticated" large mammals there before the continents were discovered by the Europeans.

history

The first shepherds developed from hunters and gatherers in the Levant at the end of the Ice Age more than 13,000 years ago, presumably earlier than the arable farmers (who have been recorded around 11,000 BC) . The agriculture that followed quickly displaced these shepherds (through water and field control). Since then there has been a conflict between agriculture and cattle breeding (Cain and Abel motif).

The keeping of horses and the invention of riding in the steppes of Eurasia was of historical importance . This made the shepherds more agile. After the domestication of the horse , the Eurasian pastoral peoples of the steppe became mounted shepherds, who developed into equestrian nomads from the Iron Age onwards. When pastoral peoples invaded regions where agriculture was practiced, they often took control, but then adopted this way of life themselves (see Moors ). In the times of state formation (which is rare among pastoralists) this had particularly military advantages. The Gutaeans , who presumably come from the Zagros Mountains and were founded around 2190 BC. BC that appeared in Akkad could have been a shepherd people who were not ridden. Among the first shepherds to conquer an arable country with the help of horses are the Hyksos , who lived around 1650 BC. Chr. In Egypt come. Then, concerning Europe, the Huns in the 5th century and the Mongols in the 13th century carried out great campaigns of conquest.

The basis of the social structure used to be the kinship of group members who organized themselves into clans or tribes . The complex coordination of livestock farming and frequent armed conflicts with settled neighbors made it possible for many ethnic groups to develop powerful leaders (example from history: Genghis Khan ).

List of pastoral peoples

Eurasia

Africa

Historical peoples

literature

Web links

Wiktionary: Shepherd people  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations