The World's Largest Empires- Nomads World Building

Watch the part 1 on Nomadic Societies here!
• How Nomadic Clans Work...
And join the Stoneworks World Building discord- we got maps memes and lotsa resources and nice people.
/ discord
This is the climax of the video on Nomadic groups. Watch as our characters battle for love, honor, and glory. Last we left off, some dudes somewhere are eating grass? Nomads? Judaism? What? Something like that. Here's the culmination of all that.

[@Stoneworks]

MOM where the FLIP did you put the chapstick

[@kevinleroi6136]

You forgot it, didn't you? Big oof. A part of me feels like this is a drawn out way for you to indirectly yell at the GoT creators. D&D, not GRRM.

[@Stoneworks]

@@kevinleroi6136 I never watched the show

[@konrad186]

You're going to get shit for that example with northern Macedonia.

[@Stoneworks]

@@konrad186 bring it on Turks

[@yogsothoth7594]

One thing I think that you didn't mention that was a common feature of Eurasian steppe empires at least is the importance of their ability to produce tributary empires and their unique form of cultural assimilation.

[@wouldyouliketomeetkenbamba9495]

Being a history enthusiast, a meme connossieur, and a world-building daydreaming boi, i must say that this video brought me to tears

[@Stoneworks]

Would you like to Restore The Papal States? good. I shall make you cry some more.

[@wouldyouliketomeetkenbamba9495]

@@Stoneworks Yes daddy

[@lordbeetrot]

@@wouldyouliketomeetkenbamba9495!?

[@Kathkere]

Whilst making up background history for a project of mine, I found the Magyars to be an intriguing source for inspiration since they didn't just blob and explode but actually settled down and eventually adopted the religion of the area. Linguistically they stick out like a sore thumb, trolling the slavs, latin and germanic people. And they're still there today!

[@lockretvids]

The Mongols are the exception and the Hungarians are the ones who defy your expectations :P

[@georgethompson913]

@@lockretvids Hah! who ever herd of a nomadic group permanently settling and becoming part of a region rather than just disintigrating after expanding too much?

[@asz1029]

I haven't been watching this channel for long, but I have a suspicion that he is Hungarian as well (tell me if this is refuted in some video I didn't watch). The previous video on this topic included a picture of the seven Hungairan tribe chiefs "signing" a blood contract - which despite technically being about nomadic tribes, doesn't really belong there I think. Also the map in this video at 6:57 seems to be labeled in Hungarian.

[@temaku8971]

@@georgethompson913 bulgarians

[@Ratchet4647]

You'll be interested in the Bulgarians although they've mostly become Slavs speaking a Slavic language. There's also a couple Turkic groups in Bulgaria, Romania and/or Moldova.

[@tyronechillifoot5573]

The Bedouin honor system was basically agreeing were to meet up and do battle they would also do one on one duels this was actually used as a demoralizing tactic by the Early Caliphate to break enemy morale.

[@GanGreenSkittle]

Also fun fact about the Bedouin people, eventhough most of their land or the land that they inhabit is in Kuwait. However due to their illiteracy in Arabic, they did not show up in 1948 to sign up for Kuwaiti citizenship. Therefore almost none of the Bedouin people are Kuwaiti citizens they are in fact not citizens of any country.

[@Mike_of_the_Sonora]

However these honor codes would lead to devastating blood feuds between tribes and families also they would often fight major long lasting conflicts over dumb things for example a 40 year war over a disagreement over a camel

[@ramseykeilani9569]

In addition, the Bedouin would agree not to make war during the months of Muharram, Rajab, Dhu Al-Qadah, and Dhu Al-Hijjah. Pretty much every part of the Bedouin system of making war was bounded by tradition of what was and was not allowed (for example, poisoning the wells of a rival tribe was a major taboo, as was the slaughtering of your enemies camels, since both would cause them to starve to death of die of thirst). There were also a whole massive set of rules about when it was appropriate for you to surrender, when it was appropriate for an enemy to surrender, when you should or should not accept an enemy's surrender, and how things like ransoming would work once you did accept their surrender.

[@ramseykeilani9569]

@@Mike_of_the_Sonora To say "The feud would be over a camel" generally would not be correct. These feuds are never over the camel, or whatever the original dispute is about. Rather, feuds are started because insult is in some way offered. It doesn't matter how small or big the original cause of dispute is: even disputes over very serious matters can be resolved peacefully within the Bedouin framework. But, if the laws governing respectful conduct between tribes are breached, then the only result is warfare. From the perspective of an outsider looking in, it can look weird when the original cause of a dispute is something trivial, or when the initial cause is forgotten, but within the culture its important to understand that its not "I am waging war because of the injury", its "I am waging war because insult has been offered to my family", since insult is far more serious than injury in Bedouin society. Within Bedouin culture, your dignity, and by extension that of your family, outweighs any and every other concern.

[@ramseykeilani9569]

@@GanGreenSkittle The statement "most of the land they inhabit is in Kuwait" is very much incorrect: the Bedouin are found in parts of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Kuwait, and Iraq (there are also Arab nomadic communities in Egypt and Sudan which may or may not be properly Bedouin depending on how you wish to define the term). Kuwait does have Bedouin, of course, like almost all nations in Al-Mashriq, but it does not house most of the Bedouins, that distinction probably would go to Saudi Arabia. In addition, it wasn't just because many clans are illiterate: there are legitimate political reasons why the Bedouin often refuse citizenship of the nations they live in: accepting citizenship of a country means they are basically trapped within that country, and now can't leave it. If you cross borders regularly, that can be a serious problem. In the case of Kuwait: Kuwait is tiny, so a Bedouin tribe is better off accepting citizenship of a nation that's large enough for them to travel across, like Saudi. Bedouins doing country-shopping actually happened quite a bit in the immediate post-independence period, its governed by sensible political and economic concerns, not just "lol, they're too backwards to show up". Also, some nations have agreements that allow certain Bedouin communities to remain stateless, but still cross international borders (I know that the Jordanian-Saudi border is an example), so that could be another reason why a community living in Kuwait might refuse citizenship, if there are agreements in place allowing stateless nomads to cross certain borders regularly.

[@deeznoots6241]

>exactly ten minutes long Going for that KZbin optimisation

[@Stoneworks]

it's hard to get even 30k without playing the game

[@tyronechillifoot5573]

Kingdom of Kanem was a example of nomads who settled down after conquering the Sao peoples then regressed back nomadic life after loosing their first capital

[@Stoneworks]

I need to do a thing on African history so I can learn more of it myself. It's so awesome.

[@tyronechillifoot5573]

@Somali Kid could be because they view them as carriers of luggage rather than steeds theres old black and photos of warriors riding camels of somali origin

[@1lobster]

this is very useful, on account of the centaurs in my fantasy world being nomadic.

[@tonigym3061]

Says Alexander and North Macedonia are related. Greeks: reeeeeeee

[@pyrrhocorax]

As a Greek, my first reaction was to scream REEEEEEE!

[@theuthras5716]

I was rewatching the video and was like: SOME NEIGHBOR HAS TO HAVE SCREEMED REEEE IN THE COMMENTS!

[@dimitrisanastopoulos8957]

North Macedonia are slavs im sorry🇬🇷🇬🇷

[@tv9mpeti]

3:18 Age of War OMG that flash game is my childhood. I gotta go play it right now! By the way I happened to study Mongolian studies, and yeah, you did a great job.

[@MikaelDryden]

Mountain peoples next?

[@Ezekiel_Allium]

Mountain Nomads?

[@darthguilder1923]

A video on groups like the Scottish, Swiss, Inca, and Tibetans would be cool

[@j0nhurry459]

Must fight mountain Kurd.

[@nauaito]

THEY ARE THE EXCEPTION!!

[@Stoneworks]

YES AMAD! YES!!

[@neimadize]

Can you make a video about city states or trading empires or something like that?

[@minutemansam1214]

I think the unrealistic part of the Dothrakis are there lack of armor and seeming disinterest in it. Actual nomadic pastoralists with strong warrior cultures wore armor because they weren't stupid.

[@Stoneworks]

Yknow that’s facts. I didn’t even talk about armor

[@KaiHung-wv3ul]

Also, the only battle we know the details of just have them charge mindlessly towards a row of spearmen in front of the walls of Qohor. Pretty underwhelming, I'd say.

[@KingTurok]

Genghis Khan: "we need some good party music to celebrate our great empire! That one mongol: 2:14

[@toastmcporridge8069]

batorzig vaanchig!

[@vinfacts11]

There's also a trend of nomads being hired as merceneries by a powerful empire, and then the nomads eventually gain power and establish their own kingdoms: - the Barbarians (Germanic peoples) who were hired by Romans as merceneries, but eventually became powerful, that they raided and established their own kingdoms in Europe (Visigoths, Vandals, Franks, Ostrogoths, Gepids, etc). This led to the collapse of the Roman Empire and Europe became divided into different states. - the Turkic peoples were also hired by Islamic Caliphate (most notably the Abbasids) as merceneries, but they eventually also became powerful and took over parts of the Islamic world and established their own states, The Ghaznavids, Seljuks, Sultante of Rum, Ottomans, Delhi Sultanate. This also led to the collapse of the Islamic Caliphate.

[@Cirkux]

The Sami were defo not all reindeer herders. In Sweden at least a lot of Sami lived in permanent settlements until the Swedish government enforced nomadic reindeer herding in order to tax them and grab the mineral wealth of their lands.

[@viorp5267]

9:30 Don't worry, they respawn the next episode.

[@viorp5267]

But what about dragons?

[@theapexsurvivor9538]

If only Benioff and Weiss had asked that question.

[@Kozkayn]

I love the fact that I as a Turk can understand some of this and honestly find it hilarious. "A law system called the yasa" = "A law system called the law"

[@petersmythe6462]

Video mostly about the mongols manages to anger the Greeks...

[@ondrejlukas1121]

I love your work, and I hoped your views continue to rise

[@georgethompson913]

Thing everyone forgets about the mongols was they used mercenaries a LOT it's part of how they adapted so well, that and china was disintegrating again during...

[@JosephJoboLicayan]

Better. Much better than the previous part.

[@aresgood1]

"the mongol empire connected the different parts of his territory " huh. that is true of any empire. or country. or city.

[@Stoneworks]

yeah but this is like continent sized

[@aresgood1]

@@Stoneworks so is australia

[@Stoneworks]

@@aresgood1 so is greenland

[@aresgood1]

@@Stoneworks no. greenland is island sized

[@Stoneworks]

@@aresgood1 lmao how're you defining continent then

[@tyronechillifoot5573]

Ilkhanate got its name from the frequency of Plague outbreaks

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

time to rename the US

[@davidcoquelle3081]

You are underrating the impact of the chagathai khanate. out of itsdescendantsMughals.

[@ashenen2278]

But the Tatars were a tribe of Mongolian and they weren't the same Turkic nation as the Wolga or Crimean Tatars. Actually, it was another Mongolian tribe, like Mongolian in a wider sense

[@SCR_ProductionsYT]

This video was an adventure

[@papapok13]

Wait for it- What, what did you expect? The mongols?

[@natashaestes154]

Well, I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition 😅

[@legendarybroliz4578]

I like nomads, for obvious reasons.

[@dimitrisanastopoulos8957]

I think you mean Greece retaking the lands of Macedonian Empire. North Macedonia are slavs with no culture (im not saying that they are bad or anything they are just people trying to find an identity)

[@davidking6242]

9:27 that wasnt the dothrakis fault, that was just bad writing

[@Ratchet4647]

YAY! I asked for your thoughts on the Dothraki and I got them!

[@t.b.cont.]

You said it would be a little bit shorter, BUT ITS ONE SECOND LONGER

[@Stoneworks]

Ara Era oh believe me it was going to be 4 minutes shorter, it originally wasn’t this in depth

[@t.b.cont.]

Stoneworks World Building I’m not complaining man, keep up the good work

[@blonded0532]

If it were “north Macedonia” basically western Serbia then it wouldn’t be a retaking just a taking. Macedonia and by extension Alexander could not be more Greek. Why else do you think Greek language and culture survived as far as modern Afghanistan for hundreds of years.

[@joey-gs1jn]

I bought ur book. I'm so hyped to read it. Actually I'm from Germany so it's also kind of an English learning thing

[@gunjfur8633]

Id like to see you make a video on pre-historic cultures (like the previosly mentioned Proto-Indo-Europeans)

[@rheiagreenland4714]

"So do the ends justify the means?... Well, what ends?"

[@kolbasdragonborn2457]

It's a bit impossible because the current residents of North Macedonia are slavs, not Greeks. :)

[@nathanielsillingle3556]

Hey can you do a video about having both swords and guns relevant in the same World. I have often struggled on figuring out how to make it work even though I really want it to

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

just look at irl. Ghurkas fought with short swords and shields into the 1900s. Even modern wars can devolve into hand-to-hand combat. Logistics, rifle length, tradition, weapon reliability, need for stealth/silence, all factors that could contribute. Maybe rifles jam all the time because of poor quality powder eroding the barrel, or bullets are too expensive, or the noise from gunshots can trigger avalanches, or people think that fighting with a gun in dishonorable, etc.

[@niclas8777]

Also depends on what you mean by gun because technically cannons is also guns

[@tabberluck47]

Either really crap guns or really ridiculously good swords. That was my big issue with Harry Potter. "Avada-ka-" BLAM! BLAM BLAM!.

[@PATRICKFOSTER01]

屁股 is what he says, it means butt haha

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

nice barracuda

[@mulethedonkey2579]

bro idk what you spoiled and since it could happen twice I still won't know for sure unless it only happens once like final episode or something, but *GOT spoilers!* I wanna read the story first probably*

[@georgethompson913]

Everyone forgets how limited the size of nomadic tribes really is in comparison to stationary civilisations

[@dragoninthewest1]

Everything changed when the Mongols attacked

[@calebgoodfellowcg]

Big chungus Khan 😂😂😂

[@sethhutten8602]

I found the link at the end, but I am very confused with what it is...

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

it's a barracuda but I still don't know what it means

[@TheLordUrban]

Do you have any plans on covering non human societies and civilizations?

[@Stoneworks]

that’s a hard one but I’ll add it to the list of video topics

[@FeatheredPheonix]

8:28 loads Bret Devereaux's history blog with corrective intent

[@grobanlover292]

I dont know anyone who didnt enjoy that Crash Course reference! (Except for the mongols. The mongols are always the exception)

[@pandabear4565]

It makes me sad that not more people know of this channel

[@livingangrycheese2668]

I dunno if anyone will see this but I'm looking for help on where nomads would live. I know deserts and steppes will usually be home to nomadic people, but what other biomes would you find nomads in? Additionally, in said biomes might you find other types of civilisation too?

[@Stoneworks]

mountains and plateaus for nomads too, and... I guess hunter gatherers in forests and agricultural ppl everywhere else. I don't know you gotta get creative w lifestyles to make different kinds of civilizations

[@benp3616]

Nice barracuda ;)

[@SheTheNameless]

I can not read what that link at the end says so I can't go to it

[@benlaliberte7519]

You get posters free or something where you work?

[@Stoneworks]

nope

[@psychopomp4135]

Would you be willing to make a video on tundra/arctic areas next?

[@SuperSupper2]

I saw several picture of traditional mongol script, but it should be said that even that script is fairly new and also obsoleted. With nomads, written language is *H A R D*. Mongolians in specific have gone through quite a few completely different styles of writing and even used the Phoenician alphabet for a while before switching to Cyrillic script. Because of how they constantly move, disperse, and join there are many deviations on syllables used and even the meaning of basic words, so naturally agreeing on a writing style is very difficult. I recommend looking into the history of their writing, even if just to look at pictures of the Square script. Edit: gramamar

[@Jackb290]

2:11 Don't think I didn't see that.

[@bonnetshorestv2118]

Very nice video

[@goldenfiberwheat238]

Wait there are nomads in got? I thought it was supposed to be an allegory to the war of the roses?

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

it's INSPIRED by the war of the roses, there's dragons ffs

[@goldenfiberwheat238]

GearandaltheFirst I didn’t think that comment through

[@savage7882]

I love you bro but North Macedonia retaking the quest of alexander *Really?*

[@WolfGr33d]

That was a cool history and i really appreciate the effort in this video.. But are there any set-in-stone rules for worldbuilding nomads? Like for my fantasy world, I'm imagining a desert/mountain nomadic group (possibly rising empire) that rides giant warthogs but also has chains of ironforges and metalworks under it's command. Is there any blatant reason why that couldn't happen in a nomadic society?

[@Stoneworks]

WolfGr33d that all makes sense to me- as long as they’ve got food in the desert for warthogs and would see a reason to forge stuff on there own, I don’t know if you watched the other video on nomads but that covers some of that

[@WolfGr33d]

@@Stoneworks Stoneworks World Building Sweet, thanks for the feedback! I guess the biggest thing troubling me was the notion of a nomadic group (constantly moving) having a permanent metalworks settlement. I have seen the other videos, but it's been a while and I couldn't recall if there was anything so specific as metalworks or permanent settlements despite being constantly on the move.

[@Stoneworks]

WolfGr33d metalworks make sense, and the settlements could work like Vaes Dothrak does. Basic metalworking stuff can easily be set up at different camps, but having large communally owned stations of tools and stuff makes sense. Cool idea

[@5h0rgunn45]

WolfGr33d Sometimes, groups of nomads would settle down in a specific area and transition into agriculture. During the days of Scythian and Sarmation dominance of the Ukrainian steppes, it was very common for there to be sedentary farming communities along the many rivers of that region that were ruled over/paid tribute to the nomads. Such towns were often inhabited by former nomads and their descendants who had virtually the same language and culture as the nomads (until they eventually drifted away from each other). In Tibet (made up mostly of mountains and deserts), there was a similar dynamic. Nomads and settled people lived side-by-side, speaking dialects of the same language and having similar cultural practices.

[@jas2890]

The mongols arent the biggest enpire the british was with russian third

[@Buford-kz7ky]

Why is there a link to a toothy fish I am confused

[@5h0rgunn45]

The map of modern nomads doesn't show the Tibetans. That's disappointing. Fun fact: the Ngoloks are a sub-group of Tibetans who live in an area in the Chinese province of Qinghai (part of the Tibetan Plateau). The area they live in is so isolated and the Ngoloks such fearsome fighters that they were never properly ruled over by any outside power until the Communists took over.

[@_DarkEmperor]

On KZbin channel 'Military History Visualized', there is video "Why were the Mongols so effective?". Check it out.

[@earmite100]

Great Video! (I know this doesn't contribute much, but I know YT likes comments...)

[@princekrazie]

There is a lot of history in this video, which was fun, but not a lot of worldbuilding... Lots of real stuff but enough fantasy. It's still good history.

[@franticranter]

D'you think the mongols have post-colonial guilt

[@sauromatae9728]

not really. they did not destroy and replace cultures.

[@franticranter]

@@sauromatae9728 true, but they did rape alot

[@poisonsquid37]

@@sauromatae9728 It was mostly France, Britain, Spain, and Netherlands that did that. Yet all of Europe gets blamed for it.

[@sauromatae9728]

@@poisonsquid37 portugal and german to slavs.

[@poisonsquid37]

@@sauromatae9728 Germany had a few AFrican colonies. I don't understand the rest of your comment.

[@marcusanark2541]

Khal Drogo!

[@historycenter4011]

But Mulan defeated the Mongols...

[@LethargicGM]

No, those were Huns.

[@historycenter4011]

_IgnoreMeI'mAnAutisticNeet_ r/woooosh

[@liamjm9278]

@@historycenter4011 Yes, of course.

[@TheDcraft]

The Europeans thought they were a lost Christian kingdom at one point.

[@miguelpadeiro762]

Wasn't that the Ethiopians and the whole kingdom of Prester John

[@TheDcraft]

@@miguelpadeiro762 it was the Mongols.

[@TheDcraft]

"During the 13th century, however, the legend of Prester John gained popularity once again. In 1221, the Fifth Crusade, which aimed to recapture Jerusalem and the Holy Land by seizing Cairo, the Ayyubid capital , ended in failure. When the Bishop of Acre, Jacques de Vitry, returned to Europe several years later, he brought with him a piece of good news - a King David of India, apparently the son or grandson of Prester John, had subdued the Muslim Khwarazmian Empire, which ruled over Persia at that time. "Moreover, this King David was rumored to be marching against the other Muslims powers. Thus, the Christians of Europe were hopeful that they would be able to defeat the Muslims with the aid of this Christian monarch from the East. "The rumors of this King David were not entirely false, nor were they entirely true. While King David was a king from the East, he was not a Christian. In fact, the Europeans soon learned that HE WAS GENGHIS KHAN, the founder of the Mongol Empire. Link to the rest of the article: www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/prester-john-0014099

[@miguelpadeiro762]

@@TheDcraft That's very interesting, thanks for sharing!

[@whyismyricewet1986]

I LIKE YAM

[@dejavucmail8176]

It is huge, but not the largest Empire the world had ever seen, British Empire is far more larger than Mongolian Empire.(Brits control 35,000,000 km2 of land and seven oceans versus 24,000,000 km2 of land control by Mogols at its peak)

[@Stoneworks]

I think I said largest land empire... but you're right

[@sophiejones7727]

"great" is kind of subjective now isn't it. No, not really. "great" is not a synonym for good. It means "effective, efficient, works well". Darth Vader is a great leader. That is, he is effective at leading people. He is also evil. Great leaders can be genuinely good people, or they can be evil assholes. Of course, it is also true that the more power a single person has the more likely they are to be an evil asshole.

[@vinfacts11]

Are Saiyans nomadic?

[@10.koyunpalyacosu56]

There is a few mistakes. Not important but Golden Horde is Turkish Empire and Timur is half Turkic half Mongol. We just want peoples knows our history right :)

[@dimitrisanastopoulos8957]

A mistake is also north Macedonia being macedonia

[@minutemansam1214]

The Golden Horde are Mongol. They Turkified due to being populated by Turks, but it was founded by Mongols.

[@inspectorjavert8443]

Goddam Mongorians!

[@117ochiron9]

From mngolian mongol creator

[@werymash]

That link was so bs i am thoroughly discontented

[@enlightenedterrestrial]

I beg to differ. I think Dothraki are quite unoriginal and poorly made and far from realistic and this is coming from a huge fan of ASOIAF, GoT and GrrMartin's writings.

[@actually_a_circle]

Bruh I thinks its Tar-tar-s

[@pn4960]

Boy these spoilers tho

[@mollof7893]

So empires are like humans If they become to fat they die! :D (chill I’m fat myself)

[@nunyabisness7055]

We're the exception!

[@lilypond5158]

3:35 lol 屁股，seriously ?

[@Stoneworks]

Lily Pond lol butt

[@giorgoskatsarakis9652]

Alexander the great was greek. N.Macedonia are slavs you say you are good at worldbuilding but get that wrong like wtf. The slavs werent even in the vacinity of europe when he was alive

[@phoenix_am3400]

owo

[@arghunqon3774]

Turkic > Mongol

[@thedeadcannotdie]

I'd say the death caused by the Mongols was totally worth it. And hey, Rome did it too And its ur fault for resisting despite being defeated ;)