The Eurasian steppe is the largest expanse of grazing land in the world. It is a contiguous series of grasslands stretching west to east nearly five thousand miles from Hungary in Eastern Europe, north of the Black and Caspian Seas, across Central Asia, over the Mongolian Plateau and into Manchuria, northeast China.
From south to north, the steppe stretches several hundred miles reaching generally from the north rim of the Tibetan Plateau, the Taklamaken and Gobi deserts, up to the forest belt of southern Siberia that skirts the great Inland Sea, Lake Baikal in the north.
The Eurasian steppe comprises the primary overland travel route between Europe and Asia in use from prehistoric to modern times, evolving into the vast trade network known as the Silk Roads.
The steppe is where the semi-nomadic Mongol and Chinese peoples grazed their animals in a seasonal migration of hundreds of thousands of sheep and cattle to new pasture. It was the land of Genghis Khan and the Mongolian Empire, of the Jinn, the Song and the Han dynasties; of warrior horse-archers; of Nestorian Christianity.
What appears on the illustration as one solid ecoregion is actually a chain of temperate climate grasslands that link together to form a vast grazing land used by the Mongols in their westward push for world dominance.
The Eurasian Steppe comprises several major divisions, which together form the whole. The northern boundaries are the various forest belts of Europe, Russia, and to Southern Siberia. The southern boundary is less well defined but increasing dryness leads into the Gobi and Taklamaken deserts at its southern edge.
The major divisions:
Pannonian Steppe is found completely in Eastern Europe, bounded on the east by the Carpathian Mountains. It is principally located in Austria, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia.
Pontic-Caspian Steppe (Western Steppe) The Pontic-Caspian Steppe extends from far Eastern Europe through Central Asia. It encompasses the Crimean Peninsula and the area north of the Black Sea and then continues north of the Caspian Sea to the Ural-Caspian Narrowing. This area of the Eurasian Steppe was home to such ancient peoples as Cemmeria, Scythia and Sarmatia. This region is thought to be where the horse was first domesticated.
The Pontic–Caspian steppe in Henichesk, Ukraine. by By YegorGeologist - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49099996
Ural-Caspian Narrowing The steppe narrows at the southern end of the Ural Mountains before joining with the Kazakh Steppe.
Kazakh Steppe (Central Steppe) This is the largest steppe belt, ranging from the Ural Mountains to northwest China. The southern reaches of this steppe belt are crossed by the Amur Darya (Oxus) and Syr Darya (Jaxartes) rivers. The great oasis cities of the Silk Roads - Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara - lie along this belt, which also encompasses the Fergana Valley. The northern portion of this steppe belt was relatively isolated from much of human history.
Dzungarian Narrowing Dzungaria comprises sparse grasslands puncuated by desert, nevertheless connecting the Eastern Steppe with the Kazakh Central Steppe. Much of this area is unsuited for nomadic sheepherders, however its connection between Mongolia and the Central Asian steppe made it the clear choice for a trade route linking East with West.
Uvs Lake Basin by By Александр Лещёнок - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40612868 Mongolian-Manchurian Steppe (Eastern Steppe) The Mongolian-Manchurian Steppe comprises the easternmost part of the Eurasian Steppe. This portion of the steppe abuts the Gobi Desert in places. The southern edge of the Mongolian Steppe is bordered by the Tibetan Plateau. This northern edge of the plateau comprises the Hexi Corridor, the main route of the Silk Road. The Silk Road led east into Manchuria, northeast China, the Liao Xi steppe where it ends in the forests before reaching the Pacific Ocean.
by By Антон Петров - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40613889
For thousands of years, nomads have made their home on the Mongolian Plateau which comprises most of the Eastern Asian steppe. The grasslands provide fodder for the sheep, which number in the hundreds of thousands, along with goats and yaks and also horses. Accompanying them are the tribes of herdsmen, numbering perhaps a few thousand at any given time.
Horses provide transportation for the people, transport of goods, and are the primary beast of warfare. Mares are preferred since their milk provides nourishment to the people, as well as a fermented, alcoholic beverage called ayrag, or kumiss.
To avoid overgrazing, the herds change pasture in a seasonal rotation, necessitating a mobile populace. This seasonal migration of people was accomplished by a portable means of shelter - the Ger, or yurt.
Migration of herds to new pasture took place in spring and fall.
Hunting took place in winter, as animal pelts - rabbit, fox, wolf, mink, sable and other mammals - were at their most luxuriant.
Also, travel was easier in winter as the frozen waterways were used for overland travel. This was especially true in times of greatest conquest - the mighty armies moved most often in winter for this reason.
The Mongolian Plateau experiences the greatest range of temperatures anywhere on earth. Hot springs are common. Summer can bring freezing temperatures and snowstorms.
When Temujin and his loyal men escaped Wang Khan's ambush and rode to Lake Baljuna, they encountered a summer blizzard.
It stands to reason that such a vast area would be given to many different climate zones. The World Wide Fund for Nature divides the Eurasian Steppe into fifteen distinct ecoregions. These are differentiated by elevation and rainfall, plus various native grasses and shrubs. Animal life is also diverse and dependent upon the particular climatic conditions.
The primary classes of animals that make the steppe their homes consist of the Przewalski Horse - the hardy Mongolian war pony - antelope, gazelle, wolf, fox, gerbil and marmot. The Eurasian Steppe is home to the two-humped Bactrian camel - more suited to the cold, high altitudes of the steppe as opposed to the single-humped dromedary prevalent in the hot and dry Arab nations.
Domesticated animals are the aforementioned horse, sheep, goats and a few yaks.
The Pontic-Caspian steppe or the Kazakh steppe of Central Asia is where the horse is thought to have been first domesticated more than five thousand years ago.
Human migration over this expanse is very old. The steppe has been used at least since the Paleolithic Era as a trade and travel route between Europe and Asia. It is the precursor to the Silk Road, which later included passages skirting the north rim of the Himalayan Plateau, and then the southern reaches of the Taklamaken and Gobi deserts.
It is this belt of grasslands thought to have eased the passage from East to West of the horse, the wheel, roses and citrus, and even, perhaps, the deadly plague bacteria.
“The steppe swallowed her,” she said. “You see across it, you see over it, you see a hare from a half-day’s ride away. But people get lost, go mad from the isolation. Or the swamps find them.”
