Since the 550s, following the collapse of the Rouran Empire (in Chinese characters 柔然, pronounced róu rán), the Türks (in Chinese characters突厥, pronounced tūjué), a nomadic people, came to prominence (552 AD) to the north of China, then further, after defeating the Hephthalite Empire (in Chinese characters 嚈哒, pronounced yàndā), fast becoming a highly influential military power in the middle section of the Silk Road network. Continue reading “Eastern Roman (‘Byzantine’) Empire and the Western Türks during the 6th century A.D. – Silk Road geopolitics”
Eastern Roman (‘Byzantine’) and Sasanian commercial relations with N-E Russia
The history of the steppes of southern Russia has been viewed as a series of invasions of nomads from the east who displaced their predecessors, either annihilating them, absorbing them, or forcing them to move westward. Continue reading “Eastern Roman (‘Byzantine’) and Sasanian commercial relations with N-E Russia”
Ethnography in Eastern Roman (‘Byzantine’) Asia Minor on the eve of the Turkish conquest
Perhaps the most interesting, and certainly the most perplexing problems facing the historian of Byzantine Anatolia are those that have to do with the languages, religions, and ethnic groups of the peninsula at various times. Continue reading “Ethnography in Eastern Roman (‘Byzantine’) Asia Minor on the eve of the Turkish conquest”
Turkic immigrants in the Eastern Roman State during the first half of the 14th cen.
Turkic allies and mercenaries from Anatolia were employed in the 1320s–40s by the Byzantines mostly in internecine clashes and only episodically to repel external threats posed by the Bulgarians, the Serbs, and such. Continue reading “Turkic immigrants in the Eastern Roman State during the first half of the 14th cen.”
Influx of Anatolian Turks in the Balkans and Eastern Roman territories until the beginning of the 14th century
Byzantines distinguished among Turkic nations two largest taxa: “Scythians” (Dunabian and northern Black Sea Turks and the Mongols) and “Persians” (Anatolian and Iranian Turks). Continue reading “Influx of Anatolian Turks in the Balkans and Eastern Roman territories until the beginning of the 14th century”
The Ecclesiastical organization in Eastern Roman (‘Byzantine’) Asia Minor on the Eve of the Turkish Conquest
Anatolia had an elaborate ecclesiastical organization of metropolitanates, archbishoprics, and bishoprics subordinated to the patriarch of Constantinople. Continue reading “The Ecclesiastical organization in Eastern Roman (‘Byzantine’) Asia Minor on the Eve of the Turkish Conquest”