nomadic
World History
(adjective)
Leading a wandering life with no fixed abode; peripatetic, itinerant.
Art History
(adjective)
Mobile; moving from one place to another, never settling in one location for too long.
Examples of nomadic in the following topics:
-
The Nomadic Tribes of Arabia
- The nomadic pastoralist Bedouin tribes inhabited the Arabian Peninsula before the rise of Islam around 700 CE.
- One of the major cultures that dominated the Arabian Peninsula just before the rise of Islam was that of the nomadic Bedouin people.
- The Bedouin tribes in pre-Islamic Arabia were nomadic-pastoralists.
- Because of the harsh climate and the seasonal migrations required to obtain resources, the Bedouin nomadic tribes generally raised sheep, goats, and camels.
- The nomads also hunted, served as bodyguards, escorted caravans, and worked as mercenaries.
-
The Indo-Aryan Migration and the Vedic Period
- Other origin hypotheses include an Indo-Aryan Migration in the period 1800–1500 BCE (Before Common Era) and a fusion of the nomadic people known as Kurgans.
- Wheeler, who was Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India from 1944 to 1948, suggested that a nomadic, Indo-European tribe called the Aryans suddenly overwhelmed and conquered the Indus River Valley.
- According to this theory, these nomadic pastoralists expanded throughout the Pontic-Caspian steppe and into Eastern Europe by early 3000 BCE.
- The Indo-Aryans in the Early Vedic Period, approximately 1750–1000 BCE, relied heavily on a pastoral, semi-nomadic economy with limited agriculture.
- After the 12th century BCE, Vedic society transitioned from semi-nomadic to settled agriculture.
-
Culture and Religion in Pre-Islamic Arabia
- The nomadic tribes of pre-Islamic Arabia primarily practiced polytheism, although some tribes converted to Judaism and Christianity.
- A thriving community of Jewish tribes existed in pre-Islamic Arabia and included both sedentary and nomadic communities.
- Poetry was also a form of entertainment, as many poets constructed prose about the nature and beauty surrounding their nomadic lives.
-
The Origins of Culture
- Anthropologists rejected the idea that culture was unique to Western society and adopted a new definition of culture that applied to all societies, literate and non-literate, settled and nomadic.
-
The Silk Road
- Emperor Wu repelled the invading barbarians (the Xiongnu, or Huns, a nomadic-pastoralist warrior people from the Eurasian steppe) and roughly doubled the size of the empire, claiming lands including Korea, Manchuria, and even part of Turkistan.
- By this century the Chinese had become very active in the silk trade, though until the Hans provided sufficient protection, the Silk Road had not functioned well because of nomad pirates.
-
Migration to North America
- Civilization in America began during the last Ice Age when nomadic Paleo-Indians migrated across Beringia.
- The beginning of civilization in America occurred during the last Ice Age when the nomadic, ancestral peoples of the Americas—the Paleo-Indians—migrated into the current-day continental United States and Canada.
-
The Four Social Revolutions
- The majority of hunter-gatherer societies are nomadic.
- Given that hunter-gatherers tend to be nomadic, they generally cannot store surplus food.
- Like hunter-gatherers, pastoralists are often nomadic, moving seasonally in search of fresh pastures and water for their animals.
-
Conclusion: Pre-Colonial Development of North America
- Many separate indigenous cultures developed and prospered in North America after the first waves of nomadic Paleo-Indians migrated to the continent across Beringia near the end of the Last Glacial Maximum.
- Civilization in America began during the last Ice Age when nomadic Paleo-Indians migrated across Beringia.
- While the increasing use of agriculture meant the nomadic nature of many groups was supplanted by permanent villages, intensive agriculture did not become the norm for most cultures until the succeeding Mississippian period.
- As Southwestern cultural traditions evolved, tribes transitioned from a hunting-gathering, nomadic experience to more permanent agricultural settlements.
-
Namibia
- The San were hunters and gatherers with a nomadic lifestyle.
- During the 17th century, the Herero, a pastoral, nomadic people keeping cattle, moved into Namibia.
- During the 17th century the Herero, a pastoral, nomadic people keeping cattle, moved into Namibia.
-
Genghis Khan
- He was born around 1162 in modern-day northern Mongolia into a nomadic tribe with noble ties and powerful alliances.
- During this era, and possibly spurred by the capture of his wife, Temujin united the nomadic, previously ever-rivaling Mongol tribes under his rule through political manipulation and military might, and also reclaimed his bride from the rebellious tribe.
- This map illustrates the many tribes inhabiting the nomadic Mongolian region before the rise of Genghis Khan.