page_title: Black Sea–Caspian Steppe
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Black Sea–Caspian Steppe / History
caption_attribution_description: English: A map of the places that Mongol peoples live. The orange line shows the extent of the Mongol Empire in the late 13th century. The red areas are the places dominated by ethnic Mongols.
context_page_description: The Black Sea–Caspian Steppe is an informal name for that part of the Eurasian Steppe that extends south between the Black and Caspian Seas. It is usually treated as part of the Pontic–Caspian steppe which includes the area north of the Black and Caspian Seas, but there is some reason to treat it as a distinct place. Its natural boundaries are the Sea of Azov and Black Sea on the west, the Caucasus Mountains on the south and the Caspian Sea on the east. Its northern boundary may be taken as the triangle formed by the lower Don River and Volga River which are about 60 km apart to the west of Volgograd.
context_section_description: From about 700 BC the dominant peoples on the western steppe were the Scythians, Sarmatians and then Alans. Turkic-speakers arrived about 600 AD and gradually replaced the original Iranian languages.  The Mongols took over about 1240 and their western lands became the Golden Horde which about 1500 broke up and became the Nogai Horde.  In the nineteenth century the Nogai nomads were pushed southeast and the area populated by Russian agriculturists.
  Horse-based Pastoral nomadism appeared in this area some time between 4000 and 1000 BC. There is not enough data to be more specific. It is thought that the Northwest Caucasian languages are related to the ancient Hattite language and the Northeast Caucasian languages are related to Hurrian and Urartian.  This implies that the mountaineers of the Caucasus have been in their present location for a very long time. According to the most common theory  the Indo-European languages originated on the steppes north of the Caucasus and Black Sea.  Some time before 3000 BC the Maikop culture appeared in Circassia and Kabardia.  It is noted for its excellent gold and silver work. North on the steppe was the Yamnaya culture which was probably Indo-European. Around 1000 BC there was a bronze-age Koban culture in the Kabardian area which may have been proto-Chechen. Iron appeared in the eighth century BC.
  The small western area around the Taman peninsula had a distinct history since it was in contact with the literate civilizations of the Mediterranean basin. From the eighth century Greeks founded colonies around the Black Sea and we begin to have written reports. Maeotians was the Greek name for the peoples around the Sea of Azov. The Hellenized Sindi people appeared with a possible capital or seaport at Anapa. Both were perhaps ancestors of the Circassians. The Greek colonies exported grain and slaves to Byzantium and beyond – a system that continued until the Russian conquest. They formed a state called the Bosporian Kingdom which lasted in various forms until Roman times. The Byzantines spread Christianity into the mountains. Around 1000 AD the Rus’ held Tmutarakan on the Taman peninsula.  At this time we hear of Kassogs who were probably ancestral Circassians.  As Byzantium declined the ports were taken over by the Genoese who held them until they were captured by the Turks around 1480. The Turks spread Islam producing a mountain religion that was basically Islamic but with many Christian and pagan survivals.  In the east Persian power held mountain Dagestan but did not reach the steppes.
  Steppe: Since the Don and Volga are not significant barriers the history of most of this area is part of the general history of the Pontic-Caspian steppe. Since this area is far from the centers of literate civilization it is hard to know the details of what happened.  Variations in dates below represent early ancestors, late survivals and other irregularities.
  The pre-Scythian inhabitants of the steppe may have been Cimmerians who may have been a Thracians-Iranian mix with an Iranian elite. From around the ninth century BC the nomads of the western steppe are described as Scythians (800 BC – 100 BC).  They spoke an Iranian language and may have been the first to develop horse nomadism. Herodotus said that Scythians drove the Cimmerians from north of the Caucasus into Anatolia (about 700 BC), but this has been questioned. From around the second century BC the Sarmatians (c. 500 BC – 400 AD?)  replaced the closely related Scythians, either as an ethnonym or ruling group.  The Siraces (300 BC – 200 AD) were a group of Hellenized Sarmatians who lived along the Kuban. To their east and north were the Aorsi (100 BC – 100 AD), also a Sarmatian group.  In the first and second centuries AD the Alans (100 AD – 1239) came from the east and took over from the Sarmatians.  Since the Sythians, Sarmatians and Alans spoke similar languages the names may represent different dominant groups ruling similar people.  From about 370 AD the Huns (376-469) overthrew the Alans, but many Alans continued to live in the area and
caption: The boundary of 13th century Mongol Empire and location of today's Mongols in modern Mongolia, Russia and China.
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