The empire of the steppes : a history of Central Asia / René Grousset ; trans. Naomi Walford.

French original published in 1939.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

I. The high plateaus of Asia until the thirteenth century: 1. Early history of the Steppes : Scythians and Huns: The antiquity of Steppe civilization. The Scythians. Scythian art. The Sarmatians and Western Siberia. Pre-Turkic cultures of the Altai. Origins of the Hsiung-nu. Hunnic art. The first thrust of the Hsiung-nu and the migration of the Yüeh-chih. The repercussions of the first victories of the Hunds : collapse of Greek domination in Afghanistan. Conflicts between the Hsiung-nu and the early Han : split with the western Hsiung-nu. Conflicts between China and the Hsiung-nu during the period of the Later Han Dynasty : split with the southern Hsiung-nu. The Silk Road. Pan Chʻao's conquest of the Tarim Basin. Civilization of the Tarim oases at the end of antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. Supplanting the northern Hsiung-nu by the Hsien-pi in the Empire of Mongolia. The great invasions of the fourth century : North China conquered by the Hsiung-nu and the Hsien-pi. The kingdom of the Tabgatch Turks, or Toba, and the Mongol khanate of the Juan-juan. The last Minusinsk culture. The Ephthalite Huns. The Huns in Europe : Atyila ; 2. The Early Middle Ages : Tʻu-chüeh, Uigur, and Khitan: The empire of the Tʻu-chüeh. Partition of the Tʻu-chüeh Empire. The destruction of the khanate of the eastern Tʻu-chüeh by Emperor Tʻai-tsung. Dissolution of the khanate of the western Tʻu-chüeh. The Indo-European oases of the Tarim at the accession of the Tʻang Dynasty. The establishment of the Tʻang Protectorate in the Tarim Basin. Tʻang China, lord of Central Asia. The last balze of Tʻu-chüeh power : Mo-chʻo Khagan. Kul-tegin and Mo-ki-lien. Destruction of the empire of the eastern Tʻu-chüeh : rise of the Uigur Empire. The peak of Tʻang power : the subjection of western Turkestan. Chinese and Arab rivalry west of the Pamirs. The Chinese in the Pamirs, 747-750. The collapse of Tʻang domination in Central Asia. The Uigur Turkic empire. The Sha-tʻo Turks. The Khitan. The Jurchid ; 3. The Turks and Islam to the thirteenth century: The Iranian barrier against the Turkic world in the tenth century : the Samanids. The Turkicizing of Kashgaria and Transoxiana : the Karakhanids. Role of the Seljuks in Turkish history. Sultan Sanjar and the Watch on the Oxus. The Kara-Khitai Empire. The Khwarizmian Empire ; 4. The Russian Steppe from the sixth to the thirteenth centuries: The Avars. Bulgars and Magyars. The Khazars. Petchenegs and Kipchaks -- II. The Jenghiz-khanite Mongols: 5. Jenghiz Khan: Mongolia in the twelfth century. First attempts at unity among the Mongols. The youth of Jenghiz Khan. Jenghiz Khan, vassal of the Kerayit. Breach with the Wang-khan : conquest of the Kerayit country. Conquest of the Naiman country : unification of Mongolia. jenghiz Khan : Emperor. The new Mongol Empire : state and army. Conquest of northern China. Mongol conquest of the old Kara-Khitai Empire. Destruction of the Khwarizmian Empire. Raid by Jebe and Sübötäi into Persia and Russia. The last years of Jenghiz Khan. Jenghiz Khan : his character and achievements ; 6. The three immediate successors to Jenghiz Khan: Distribution of appanages among Jenghiz Khan's sons. The reign of Ogödäi (1229-41). Destruction of the Kin Realm by the Mongols. Conquest of western Persia by the Mongols. Batu's and Sübötäi's campaigns in Europe. Törägänä's regency (1242-46). Güyük's reign (1246-48). Regency of Oghul Qaimish. Mongka's reign (1251-59). Rubruck's journey. Monka's war against the Sung Empire. 7. Kublai and the Mongol Dynasty of China: Rivalry between Kublai and Ariq-bögä. Conquest of the Sung Empire. Wars in Japan, Indochina, and Java. Struggle with Qaidu. Kublai's government : Mongol and Chinese policy. Religious policy of Kublai and his successors : Buddhism. Religious policy of Kublai and his successors : Nestorianism. Marco Polo's journey. Economic prosperity in China under Mongol rule. Catholicism in China under the Mongol Dynasty. The last of the Kublai line and the expulsion of the Mongols from China ; 8. Turkestan under the House of Jagatai: The Jagatai Khanate : origins and general characteristics. Alghu;s reign : Jagataite attempt at independence. The Khanate of Jagatai under Qaidu's suzerainty. The Khanate of Jagatai at its zenith : Duwa, Esen-buqa, and Kebek. Schism in the Khanate of Jagatai : Transoxiana and Mogholistan. Transoxiana under the rule of Emir Qazghan. Tughluq Timur : reintegration of Jagatai ; 9. Mongol Persia and the House of Hulägu: The Mongol regime in Persia until the coming of Hulägu : Chomaghan, Baiju, and Eljigidäi. The Mongol regime in Persia to the arrival of Hulägu : Körgüz and Arghun Agha. Hulägu's reign : destruction of the Assassins, conquest of Baghdad, and annihilation of the Caliphate. Hulägu sympathy with Christianity. Expedition of Hulägu to Syria. Hulägu's last years. Abaqa's reign. Arghun's reign. Rabban Sauma's embassy to the West. The reigns of Gaikhatu and Baidu. Ghazan's reign. Oljaitu's reign. Abu Saʼid's reign. Dissolution of the Mongol Khanate of Persia ; 10. The Khanate of Kipchak: Jöchi and his sons : the Golden Horde, the White Horde, and the Ulus of Shayban. Batu and Berke. Nogai and Toqtai. Özbeg and Janibeg. Mamai and Toqtamish ; 11. Tamerlane: The Kingdom of Transoxiana delivered from the Mongols by Tamerlane. Duel of Tamerlane and Mir Husain. Ruler of Transoxiana and the Timurid Empire. Conquest of Khwarizim. Expeditions to Mogholistan and Uiguria. Conquest of eastern Iran. Conquest of western Iran. Tamerlane and Kipchak. Expedition to India. Tamerlane and the mamelukes. Tamerlane and the Ottoman Empire. The conquest of China. The Tamerlane succession : Shah Eukh's reign. Abu Saʼid. The last Timurids -- III. The last Mongols: 12. The Mongols of Russia: The end of the Golden Horde. The khanates of the Crimea, Astrakhan, and Kazan ; 13. The Shaybanids: From Shayban to Abuʼl Khair. Muhammad Shaybani and the Shaybanid Khanate of Transoxiana. The Khanate of Bukhara under the Astrakhanids and Mangits, The Khanate of Khiva. The Khanate of Kokand. The Shaybanids of Siberia ; 14. The last Jagataites: Resurgence of Mogholistan after Tamerlane : Vais-khan and Esen-bugha. Yunus and the Jagataite revenge upon the House of Tamerlane. The Jagataites thrown back east of the Tʼein Shan Range : influence of the Timurid Renaissance in Kashgaria : the historian Haidar-Mirza. The last Jagataites. The Khojas of Kashgaria ; 15. The last empires of Mongolia from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century: Anarchy in Mongolia after 1370. The first Oirat Empire : Toghan and Esen-taiji. The last Jenghiz-khanite restoration : Dayan-khan and Altan-khan. Partition of the Dayanid Empire : the Ordos and Khalka khanates. Conversion of the eastern Mongols to Lamaism. Conquest of China by the Manchus. The western Mongols in the seventeenth century. Movements of peoples among the western Mongols : the Kalmuck migration. The Khoshot Khanate of Tsaidam and the Koko Nor, Protector of the Tibetan Church. The Dzungar kingdom under the Choros Dynasty : Baʼatur-khongtaiji's reign. Galdan's reign (1676-97) : foundation of the Dzungar Empire. The Dzungar Empire under Tsewang Rabdan (1697-1727). Galdan Tsereng's reign (1727-45). Dawaji and Amursana : annexation of Dzungaria by the Manchu Empire. The unfulfilled destiny of the western Mongols. Annexation of Kashgaria by the Manchu Empire.