Comparing and Contrasting Oceanian and Central Asian Migrations
For many thousands of years, humans have been on the move, and they have by now spread throughout most of the world. People migrate for a variety of reasons, including warfare, overpopulation, lack of resources, social problems, and/or curiosity of the unknown. Some places in the world have had more migrations in history than others. Oceania and Central Asia are the two world regions which have the best examples of histories impacted by migrations. These migrations have influenced the cultures of the people in these regions and global processes inside and outside these regions. Migrations in both Central Asia from 300 BCE to 1500 CE and Oceania from 1200 BCE to 1200 CE were similar in that the migrations happened in multiple waves, in that sociopolitical pressure caused people to migrate, and in that lasting cultural diffusion occurred as a result of the migrations. However, they were different in that the Central Asian migrations were driven by nomads while the Oceanian migrations were driven by agricultural seafarers, and in that the Central Asians focussed on war in migration while the Oceanians focussed on curious exploration in migration.
Waves of migration which occurred in both Central Asia and Oceania affected the course of history inside and even outside of these regions. The first stage of migrations in both places was people first coming into the regions. In the long time between the first human settlement and the time that empires formed, animals were domesticated and the pastoral life was adopted in Central Asia.1 The ancestors of Polynesians, the group of Oceanians who did the most exploring, first left their homeland of Southeast Asia 10,000 years ago to migrate to what is now Papua New Guinea.2 The second stage of migration in the two regions involved the temporary adoption of settled life and the adoption of agriculture, which was temporary for Central Asians and was permanent for Oceanians. The first great empires of Central Asia were built by nomads who after conquest adopted the lifestyle of the conquered peoples. Invictus writes: “the Kushan Empire of the 1st to 3rd century CE, an empire built by migrating nomads who integrated Greek, Persian, and Indian cultures that had become local of the area. Despite their nomadic origin, the Kushans built an empire of walled cities and agriculture, suitable for the region. West of the Kushan Empire was the Parthian Empire, which conquered Persia from Alexander’s successors. Like the Kushan Empire, the Parthian Empire was a sedentary kingdom whose rulers were of nomadic origin.”3 The Kushan and Parthian Empires also facilitated trade on the the Silk Road after they had finished their conquests. The ability of the Kushans and Parthians to adopt ways of life of conquered peoples and to trade shortly after military conquest foreshadows similar abilities of Central Asians later on in history. The Kushans and Parthians were in many ways similar to the ancestors of the Polynesians, called the Lapita people. They both quickly moved into a large area, adopted farming, and did not travel outside of the area for hundreds of years. This is stated about the early Oceanians: “The Lapita were the first people to penetrate Remote Oceania. Between 1200 and 1000 BC they spread rapidly from Melanesia to Fiji and West Polynesia, including Tonga and Samoa...As they travelled from island to island they transported plants for cultivation...The Lapita moved into West Polynesia. It was a long time before people migrated to the smaller islands further east.”4 The Lapita started to form a unique culture and language that would become that of the Polynesians as they reached islands far away from their homeland in Southeast Asia. In the second stage of migration in Central Asia and Oceania, processes occurred that formed the identity of the migratory peoples.
In the third wave of migrations, the Central Asians and Oceanians accomplished their first huge feats, as Central Asian Turks formed an impressive empire and the Polynesians reached very remote Pacific islands. Under the khagan (military leader) Bumin,5 Turkic warriors from what is now Mongolia travelled across much of Asia and created an empire that stretched from Korea to the Caspian Sea.6 A passage from The Orhon Inscriptions, stone tablets in Mongolia that describe much of the history of the Turkic Empire, states: “Above the sons of men stood our ancestors, the khagans Bumin and Ishtemi. Having become masters of the Turkic people they established and ruled its empire and fixed the law of country. Many were their enemies in the four corners of the world, but, leading campaigns against them, they subjugated and pacified many nations.”7 The military success of the Turks because of migration of armies can be compared to the navigational success of the Polynesians in migration across the Pacific Ocean. Using just observations of the ocean and sky8 and seasonal changes in wind and ocean current patterns,9 settlers from West Polynesia were able disperse themselves deliberately throughout East Polynesia by 700 CE. Eastern Polynesian islands are further apart from each other than Western Polynesian islands, so it took much skill for explorers to find and settle most of them.10 The successes of the Turkic Empire's military and the settlement of East Polynesia only foreshadowed even more impressive feats in migration of Central Asian and Oceanian peoples.
The Mongolian Empire founded by Genghis Khan and the founding of settlements on Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand were the crowning achievements of the migratory peoples of Central Asia and Oceania, respectively. These achievements both occurred in the fourth stage of migration, in which the full military potential of Central Asians and the full navigational potential of Polynesians were realized. The conquests of Mongol warlords from the steppes truly dwarfed the size of any previous Central Asian empire. Invictus writes: “By the 1280's, the Mongol Empires ruled nearly all of Asia, from the Pacific Ocean to Asia Minor.”11 The Mongols had skill in riding horses that they cared for as part of their migratory culture and in fighting with homemade bows and arrows.1213 By conquering such large areas through the migrations of military men, the Mongols were able to facilitate the Silk Road to an even larger degree than the Kushan and Parthian Empires did. As a result, ideas such as Buddhism and diseases such as the Black Death were able to spread across very large areas of Asia.14 Oceanian explorers completed the remarkable task of reaching the most remote islands in the Pacific, and even South America, from East Polynesia. Reaching New Zealand was an especially large challenge for the explorers to overcome because of its location far away from East Polynesia. However, it was reached by them with the help of easterly tail winds and northerly winds as well as islands to use as rest stops.15 The facts that sweet potatoes are present in Oceania and are native to South America show that there must have been some prehistoric contact between Polynesians and Southern Amerindians,16 most likely before 1000 CE.17 The exploration of Polynesians affected world history by making Europeans have to face challenges when trying to colonize the Pacific and by spreading the cultivation of the sweet potato across the Pacific Ocean (as it reached New Zealand). The fourth stage of migration allowed Central Asians and Polynesians to become overlords of large regions of the world and had them affecting large global processes
.
Each wave of migration in Oceania or Central Asia was launched because of internal social and/or political troubles that caused
certain people to find new places to live. Warfare caused the armies of Central Asia to migrate thousands of miles when they were victorious, as in the case of the Turkic and Mongol Empires. Also in Central Asia, many ethnic groups were forced to migrate because of political pressure within their homelands. Often, these groups formed their own empires in the regions they migrated to. For example, one Central Asian ethnic group called the Hephthalites that rose to power in the early centuries of the common era: “were driven out from Mongolia by the rising Ruruan power. Forced to migrate, the Hephthalites moved west and destroyed the already fragmented Kushan Empire. The Hephthalites expanded further, attacking the Sassanid Empire of Persia and expanding into India.”18 A common theme in Central Asian history is groups forcing other groups to migrate and therefore causing the expelled groups to unsettle other regions with warfare. A variety of social and political factors caused Polynesians to migrate. The few resources on the islands that Polynesians lived on made them suitable to only small populations: “On an isolated island with limited resources, it is not difficult to imagine that overpopulation would occasionally occur and encourage portions of the society to migrate.”19 Lack of food on the islands due to changes in climate may have led to social strain and then migration. The political structures of Polynesians also may have lead to migration. One theory that Gramolini writes about is that: “It could be speculated that disagreements between factions could have created tension, encouraging one or more families to settle elsewhere, and that one 'noble' family’s 'subjects' would follow.”20 The navigational skills of Polynesians most likely led them to often settle disputes by migrating to different islands. Migration was a way for both Central Asians and Oceanians to escape social and political problems and to find new opportunities.
Languages and goods were important cultural aspects diffused through both Central Asian and Oceanian migrations. Today, Turkic-speaking peoples live in an area that stretches from Siberia to Turkey. Over fifteen Eurasian nations currently have at least sizable minorities of people who speak Turkic languages.21 The spread of these languages from their origin in western Mongolia was first fostered by the rise of the Turkic Empire and was later fostered by the risings of the Seljuk and Ottoman Empires.22 Austronesian languages are as commonly used in Oceania today due to seafaring migrations of speakers in the past as Turkic languages are used in Central Asia today due to migrations caused by political pressure of speakers in the past. This fact is a major reason for support of west to east colonization of Oceania.23 Bhanoo writes: “Linguists believe that Polynesian languages belong to the Austronesian language family, which originated in Taiwan.”24 Families of languages spread to areas thousands of miles apart as a result of both Central Asian and Oceanian migrations.
Migratory peoples in both Central Asia and Oceania helped diffuse goods across largely uninhabited steppes and vast stretches of ocean, respectively. Although Central Asian peoples built large empires repeatedly through warfare, once these empires were stable they were havens for traders. Lawton writes about the affects the Turkic Empire had on Silk Road trade: “The Turks were the first steppe people to realize the importance of trade. They offered security to caravans and concluded treaties with the Sassanids and Byzantines, protecting commerce along the Silk Roads—the network of caravan trails which linked East and West across Central Asia.”25 When the even larger Mongol Empire came to power, they also supported and protected trade along the Silk Road. In periods in which Central Asia was not united by migratory warriors, trade along the Silk Road faltered. Oceanians brought goods, especially plants and animals, across the Pacific Ocean into places that the goods had never been before. Irwin writes, referring to the Lapita: “they transported plants for cultivation, including taro, yam, breadfruit, banana and coconut. They also took domesticated pigs, dogs and fowls.”26 By bringing familiar foods with them, Oceanian seafarers were able to assure that they would have safe agricultural staples on the islands that they travelled to. These crops and livestock also changed the environments of the islands substantially. Although Central Asian migrants assisted in creating networks to trade goods while Oceanian migrants brought goods to new places for their own livelihood, migrations played a role in diffusing goods in both regions.
The migratory nomadic lifestyle of Central Asians allowed them to become militarily strong. Because of their strength in war, they were able to build multiple large empires that each covered much of Eurasia. The facts that the nomadic Central Asian social units were clans, that the clans each migrated a lot to feed their animals, and that the lives of Central Asians were very tough all signaled to the fact that warfare would be common among Central Asians. William of Rubruck writes of the Mongols: “Each captain, according to whether he has more or fewer men under him, knows the limits of his pasturage and where to feed his flocks.”27 This quote shows that the clan structures of Central Asians resembled armies themselves. When actual armies formed, effective military leaders such as Bumin or Genghis Khan were needed to overcome the troubles in governing that often led to their quick downfall. Invictus states: “The harshness of life on the steppes made nomads expert warriors and the nomadic lifestyle made them unmatched horsemen. When a strong leader was indeed present, nomadic groups were exceedingly powerful in war. Their prowess in warfare could not be suppressed until the advent of firearms.”28 Central Asian empires expanded rapidly, but they experienced speedy collapses due to internal struggles in economic and political management29 and in infrastructure.30 Therefore, Central Asian empires affected the long-term demographic and cultural makeup of surrounding regions because of migrations they caused more than they did the short-term political scene. However, their empires did conjure up a fear of them in and occasionally resulted in the conquest of the surrounding regions, especially Russia and China. Fear and bitterness as a result of conquest led to early nationalism in these surrounding regions.
Warfare was a common reason for the expansion of ethnic groups across the steppes, as these groups either caused it or escaped from it. The Huns, the Turks, the Mongols, and the Timurids were in chronological order examples of militarily strong ethnic groups that amassed some of the largest Central Asian empires. All four of these groups successfully invaded non-nomadic societies surrounding the steppes. The Huns ravaged Europe and triggered the fleeing of European ethnic groups. These ethnic groups in turn ravaged the Roman Empire.31 The Turks conquered parts of northern China32 and Mongol conquests ended the Chinese Song Dynasty. The Timurids defeated: “The Mongol Khans in Russia, the Ottoman Turks, the Mameluks, the Delhi Sultanate.”33 As stated earlier in this paper, Central Asian ethnic groups who escaped warfare in one area, such as the Hephthalites, often caused it in other areas they migrated to. The history of an ethnic group called the Xiong Nu, which held power in the second and first centuries BCE in Mongolia, also shows this pattern. They kicked out another ethnic group called the Yue Zhi, who eventually created the Kushan Empire thousands of miles from their homeland. It is also speculated that the Huns originated from Xiong Nu people who escaped the break-up and decline of the Xiong Nu Empire that was caused by the Han Chinese.34 The migrations of the militaries and peoples of Central Asia were influenced by the nomadic culture of the region and affected and were affected by the political scene in surrounding regions.
In contrast to Central Asian people, who were violent in migration because of their nomadic lifestyle, the people of Oceania had an agricultural lifestyle that did not affect the fact that they were largely peaceful in migration. However, in the fact that the Lapita brought many food staples with them and in the fact that the main thing Polynesians brought back from South America was the sweet potato, Oceanians showed the importance of a variety of reliable food sources in their culture and migrations. During the period of migration in discovery, conflict was not common between Oceanian islanders. Irwin explains: “Stories of voyages of exile, overpopulation and warfare all belong to the end of Polynesian prehistory, long after the islands were settled.”35 In fact, people from islands that were thousands of miles apart would continue to interact peacefully for generations after settlement. It is expressed that: “The Polynesians, descendants of the Lapita, developed the ability to survive on more remote islands, and to reduce their isolation by voyaging between colonies.”36 There is even evidence of canoes traveling back to East Polynesia from New Zealand.37 Oceanian voyages most likely were done in two stages, with the first stage being exploration journeys for scouting out new islands and the second stage being permanent migratory journeys.38 The ability to return home and the promise of a known destination made the migratory stage of Oceanian voyages safer and more appealing. The warfare and forced fleeing that drove Central Asian migrations lie in stark contrast to the peace, relative safety, and choice in curious exploring that drove Oceanian migrations.
Instead of being driven to migrate by war, Oceanians reached unknown islands throughout the Pacific Ocean because of their navigational excellence in seafaring and their spirit to explore. The Polynesians had no advanced navigational instruments and went across vast expanses of ocean in just canoes. Their biggest aide in exploration, besides their knowledge of the sky, wind patterns, and ocean currents, was their perseverance in trying to find new islands in every possible place.39 The success of Oceanian voyagers was so unbelievable that their “means of finding a way to the new lands and back was also new, and so different from the instrument-based navigation of later European explorers that scholars at first dismissed the possibility that it had been done at all.”40 Nevertheless, the evidence for west to east Oceanian migration is conclusive and comes from both research of modern Oceanian people and from artifacts that ancient Oceanians left behind.41 Besides sociopolitical pressure, which mainly caused migration after all habitable island in the Pacific were settled, curiosity was the main reason why Oceanians migrated. There is a almost no evidence for the notion that voyages across the Pacific were accidental, and the notion that Oceanians migrated for more food resources contradicts with their agricultural lifestyle.42 Irwin sums up their motives for migration well: “It may be that Pacific migration was driven by...impulses, which are both universal and personal – discovery...a sense of adventure, wanderlust, curiosity.43" The human will for trying to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks and for going to places that no man has gone to before is clearly evident in Oceanian migration. The scope of exploration of Oceanian seafarers would only be surpassed by Europeans in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Although Central Asian migrations from 300 BCE to 1500 CE and Oceanian migrations from 1200 BCE to 1200 CE were similar in that they both happened in four stages in which each was more impressive than the previous one, they both were influenced by sociopolitical factors, and they both spread the cultural aspects of language and goods. In spite of these truths, the migrations in the two regions contrasted in that Central Asian migrations were driven by a nomadic lifestyle and warfare while Oceanian migrations were driven by an agricultural, seafaring lifestyle and adventurous exploration. Conclusively, it is shocking how similar migrations in Central Asia and Oceania were in spite of the large distance between and cultural differences of the two regions. The rise of Central Asia's empires that were built on migration and Oceania's navigational brilliance in migration occurred in four distinct and parallel waves. Pressure to migrate in both regions was brought about by sociopolitical factors, with main reasons being warfare in Central Asia and overpopulation, lack of resources, and civil disputes in Oceania. Turkic languages were spread by Central Asian soldiers and ethnic groups migrating and Austronesian languages were spread by Oceanian seafarers migrating. Central Asian empires founded by migration facilitated the trade of goods on the Silk Road, while Oceanians brought goods, especially staple foods, along with them on their journeys across the Pacific. However, the differences in the ways of life of the two migratory peoples and the differences in the main reasons why migrations occurred in the two regions will most likely shape the legacy of the two groups of migrations. The Central Asian migrations will be remembered by the warfare that caused them, which in turn stemmed from the harsh nomadic lifestyle of the Central Asian people. Oceanian migrations, in stark contrast, will be remembered by the spirit of curiosity of Oceanian seafarers, the astounding navigational feats that this spirit caused, and the plants and animals the seafarers introduced to new areas due to their agricultural lifestyle. Hopefully future human migrations, possibly including migrations into space, will be carried out with the Oceanian peaceful drive for adventure.
Annotated Bibliography
Bhanoo, Sindya N. "DNA Sheds New Light On Polynesian Migration." New York Times, 8 February 2011. World History in Context. Web. (Accessed March 13, 2016).
Pages N/A. The article indicates there may have been a drawing on another version but there are no pictures of any type on the version of the article looked at. Contains no bibliography or index. The author is a science columnist for the New York Times. The article is a secondary source that is about how Polynesians may have originated in mainland Southeast Asia and not Taiwan as previously thought. This conclusion has been reached from DNA evidence.
Gramolini, Allison. 2011. "Polynesian Migration." SEA Semester. (Accessed March 13, 2016). http://www.sea.edu/spice_atlas/rangiroa_atlas/polynesian_migration.
Pages N/A. Contains no pictures, illustrations, or maps. Contains a long bibliography of 15 resources. At the time of the writing of the article, the author was a student at Colgate University. The article is a secondary source that is about the motives, origins, and patterns of Polynesian migrations and the languages, weather, artifacts, animals, and genetics that relate to the migrations.
Gregory, Angela. 2006. "Following the stars into the unknown." New Zealand Herald [Auckland, New Zealand], December 2. World History in Context. Web. (Accessed March 13, 2016).
Pages N/A. Contains no pictures, illustrations, or maps. Contains no bibliography or index. At the time of writing the article, Angela Gregory was a writer at the New Zealand Herald. The article is a secondary source that is about an exhibit at the Aukland Museum about Polynesian Migrations and provides information about the migrations themselves.
Invictus, Imperator. "History of Central Asia - an Overview." January 2006. All Empires. (Accessed March 13, 2016). http://www.allempires.com/article/index.php?q=history_central_asia.
Pages N/A. Contains no other pictures but does show maps of Central Asia relating to the political situation in Central Asia in the time periods described. Contains three cited resources in a short bibliography. There is no information about the author besides that he was an administrator and webmaster of All Empires who authored eight articles. The article is a secondary source that includes parts about the characteristics and legacy of Central Asia and also gives an overview of Central Asian history.
Irwin, Geoff. ''Pacific migrations.'' 7 September 2015. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. (Accessed March 13, 2016). http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/pacific-migrations.
Pages 1-9. Contains many photographs, illustrations, and maps relating to Polynesian migrations. Contains an index of suggested websites/readings and sources. Geoff Irwin is a professor of archeology at the University of Aukland who has written a book called The Prehistoric Exploration and Colonization of the Pacific. The article is a secondary source that is about settlement patterns in Oceania over much of human history and is about motives and reasons for the settlement there.
Lawton, John. "The Cradle of the Turks." March/April 1994. Saudi Armco World. (Accessed March 13, 2016). http://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/199402/the.cradle.of.the.turks.htm.
Pages 2-11. Contains no pictures, illustrations, or maps, but contains a link to photos. Contains no bibliography or index. John Lawton wrote the article in the context of a visit to Mongolia, and he has a wife who is a Turk. The article is a secondary source that includes information about the origin of the Turks and their history and culture from 500-1100 CE. However, it contains four quotes from the Orhon Inscriptions, a primary source from the empire of the Turks which lasted from the mid 500's to the mid 700's.
Rubruck, William of. 1253-55. “Journey to the Land of the Tartars.” In The Human Record: Sources of Global History, Vol I, edited by Alfred J. Andrea and James H. Overfield, 433-436. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005.
Pages 433-436. Contains no pictures, illustrations, or maps. Contains footnotes that explain terms but otherwise contains no bibliography or index. William of Rubruck was a Franciscan ambassador who went to Mongolia to try and convert the Great Khan to Christianity. The article is a primary source that contains Rubruck's observations of the the lifestyle, homes, foods, and gender roles of Mongolians.