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Last updated on January 16, 2026

Empires of the Steppe: Eurasia from the Mongols to the Soviet Union

Spring 2025 Syllabus Version 10.0

Course Information

Logistics

Content Overview

Course Objective

Over the last several centuries, Eurasia’s millennia-long domination by successive nomadic steppe empires (stretching from Europe to China) was displaced by new imperial challengers from the periphery (notably Russia, China, and Britain). This course examines the nature of that transition by charting the history of Eurasian empires from the Mongols (thirteenth century) to the present day. From Genghis Khan to Tamerlane to Stalin; between Russian spies, Viking berserkers, and the Taliban; across silk roads, great games, and more.

Organization of Course Content

The empires of the steppe were truly vast in scale, integrating territories usually studied in isolation from one another – and so this course provides important context for separate courses on Russian, Eastern European, Chinese, and Middle Eastern history. The chronological scope of this course is similarly epic, spanning over seven centuries, which will allow us to focus on recurring themes related to empires in world history. Our primary focus will be on geopolitical strategies for imperial rule, but we will also examine entangled cultural, religious, and economic themes along the way. The course will emphasize three lenses of historical analysis: institutions, ideology, and the broader geopolitical environment.

Learning Outcomes

The principle learning outcomes of this course are twofold:

  1. Ability to deploy original analysis through the engagement of primary sources
  2. The articulation of that analysis through evidence-based writing

Both of these skills are developed in view of applying them beyond the academic field of history.

Course Requirements

Required Texts and Readings

Required Textbook: Scott Levi and Ron Sela (eds.), Islamic Central Asia: An Anthology of Historical Sources, available as an e-book through the library online catalog.

Important Reference: Yuri Bregel’s An Historical Atlas of Central Asia (geography is included in the study guides), also available as an e-book through the library online catalog.

All readings (other than the Levi & Sela volume) are available electronically in the shared folder.

Workload Expectations

It is the student’s responsibility to have all of these platforms up and running within the first week of class. It is also the student’s responsibility to log into TopHat (which is used for in-class exercises) before the start of class. For technical support, consult https://teaching.pitt.edu/educational-software-consulting/.

Assignments & Grading

Study Guides (15% of final grade)

What they are:

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In-Class Participation (20% of final grade)

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Midterm Essay (35% of final grade)

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Final Paper (30% of final grade)

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Extra Credit Opportunities

Numerous opportunities available throughout the semester (counted in Participation category). Generally involves attending a university lecture and writing a short reflection (no more than one page) relating the content to course themes. Suggest extra credit assignments at least three days in advance so colleagues can also attend.

Grading Scale & Policies

Letter Grade Distribution: Standard Canvas cutoffs apply, with one exception: only the two highest overall grades receive an “A+”; other grades in the standard A+ range are collapsed into “A.”

Absences and Makeup Work: Course policies build in substantial flexibility. If you miss an assignment or class, existing systems accommodate you without separate communication needed. For extreme circumstances requiring additional accommodations beyond these policies, a note from your advisor is required.

Online Grading: All grading administered through Canvas, where you can check your status in real time. TopHat tracks point totals, but only Canvas grades count officially.

Artificial Intelligence: This course follows a “broad use” AI policy: you’re encouraged to use LLMs for tasks like formatting, grammar checking, brainstorming, and summarizing readings. You must cite AI-generated material when it fundamentally shapes your conceptual understanding or creative output—but routine assistance with writing mechanics doesn’t require acknowledgment. (Note that the midterm and final essays are handwritten in class, so AI assistance is naturally limited for major assignments.

Communication: Promptly responding to emails sent to your official Pitt account is a course requirement.

General Education Requirements

This course fulfills:

Content Advisory

Sections of this course will variously deal with subjects such as violence, enslavement, and misogyny. Some primary source readings were written by historical actors harboring intense prejudices of various kinds; discussions will tackle some of these issues head-on.

Course Schedule

Part I: Prehistory of the Steppe-Sedentary Dynamic and the Silk Road

Core Questions

Where is Central Asia, exactly, and what is the difference between all the different terms associated with it (e.g. Eurasia, Inner Asia, Transoxania, etc.)? How can we conceptualize steppe-sedentary relations? How did pastoral-nomadism originate? Was there one Silk Road, or multiple silk roads? Was Central Eurasia oriented more toward China, the Middle East, India, or Russia during the pre-Islamic period?

Session 1 (Jan. 13): Course Overview

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Session 2 (Jan. 15): Core Concepts in Eurasian History

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Session 3 (Jan. 20): Pre-History of the Steppe-Sedentary Symbiosis

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Session 4 (Jan. 22): Silk Road(s)?

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Part II: The Mongol World Empire

Core Questions

Were the imperial innovations of Genghis Khan “revolutionary”? How do you assess continuity and change with the Turkic empires that came before (e.g. the Türk, Uyghur empires)? Where did the Mongol advance falter and why? What was the role of empire in facilitating the exchange of ideas, material culture, and personnel across an entire continent?

Session 5 (Jan. 27): Mongol Origins

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Session 6 (Jan. 29): Mongol Onslaught

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Session 7 (Feb. 3): Succession

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Session 8 (Feb. 5): Empire of Exchange

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Part III: Post-Mongol Successor States

Core Questions

Was there a Mongol “ideology”? If so, why did Mongol rulers convert to foreign religions, rather than convert local populations to their own? Is the Yuan dynasty better viewed as “Chinese” or nomadic? How do you assess the respective influences of Persian, Islamic, and Mongolian culture on the Ilkhanids? In what ways was Muscovy a successor state to the Mongol Empire? In what ways was it a successor state to the Kievan Rus (and to what extent can we speak of a “Kievan Rus”)? Was Tamerlane’s (Timur) empire the Mongol Empire reincarnated?

Session 9 (Feb. 10): China as a Mongol Successor State

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Session 10 (Feb. 12): The Mongol Impact on Middle Eastern History

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Session 11 (Feb. 17): Northwestern Eurasia

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Session 12 (Feb. 19): Golden Horde

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February 26: In-Class Midterm Essay

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Session 13 (March 3): Tamerlane

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Session 14 (March 5): Long Shadow of Chaghatay

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Part IV: Gunpowder Empires into an Age of Colonialism

Core Questions

What were the core features of Islam, and Perso-Islamic high culture, during the early modern period? After millennia of serving as an underdeveloped tributary of nomadic empires, suddenly northwest Eurasia is conquering its former masters. How do you explain this momentous historical change? Was Nadir Shah’s state the last of the so-called gunpowder empires, or the first example of modern imperialism? Was there really a “Great Game,” and what was so great about it? How did Russian and Chinese imperial administrators make sense of the new nationalities they encountered? Why did China turn its imperial ambitions inland rather than toward the oceans?

Session 15 (March 17): Islam before Colonialism

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Other: Deadline to revise and resubmit midterm essay

Session 16 (March 19): Persian Cosmopolis

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Session 17 (March 24): Gunpowder Empires

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Session 18 (March 26): Colonial Dawn

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Session 19 (March 31): The Last Empire of the Steppe (?)

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Session 20 (April 2): Chinese Rule Returns to Central Asia

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Part V: Eurasia’s Socialist Century

Core Questions

Were there “nations” before the twentieth century? If so, how did they differ from our understanding today? If not, how do we understand pre-modern ethnicity? What is Islamic “reformism” or “modernism”? As a successor state to the Russian Empire, where did the Bolsheviks lose territory, and where did they hold it? Did they pick up any new territories? How do you explain the new boundaries of this polity? Would you consider the Soviet Union to be an “empire”? In the absence of communism, what positive programs and ideologies replaced it in China and the post-Soviet states? How do you explain the preoccupation with Islam in contemporary discourse about Central Eurasia?

Session 21 (April 7): Islamic Modernism

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Session 22 (April 9): The Creation of Ethnicity

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Session 23 (April 14): Revolution

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Session 24 (April 16): Red Flag Over Turkestan

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Session 25 (April 21): From the Rubble of Empire

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Choose one of these three articles:

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Session 26 (April 23): From the Rubble of Empire (Optional)

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I reserve the right to amend and update this syllabus throughout the semester.