From: george knysh
Message: 53296
Date: 2008-02-15
>****GK: The Golden Horde was originally led by a
> > Eurasian peoples living to the east and toward the
> center of the
> > continent inhabited sparse, dry landscapes that
> promoted nomadic
> > animal herding and clan-based societies, she
> notes.
> > Clans were dispersed clusters of people belonging
> to kinship groups
> > presided over by a hierarchy of male rulers. Clan
> members were not
> > necessarily biologically related, but they claimed
> a link to an
> > ancient, often mythical ancestor.
> > Clans on the eastern edge of the spread zone had a
> military or
> > economic edge on their neighbors, who spoke
> different languages, and
> > these eastern clans fomented the major linguistic
> diffusions,
> > Nichols argues.
> > Historical accounts, such as those describing the
> shift from Turkic
> > to Mongol, indicate that these clan rulers often
> arranged alliances
> > with their counterparts to the west.
> agreements included a____________________________________________________________________________________
> > voluntary embrace by western rulers of the
> spreading language, she
> > contends.