Economies focused on livestock production emerged around 4000 b.c.e. Livestock include on horses, camels, goats, sheep, cattle, yaks, reindeer. Pastoral societies developed in: grasslands of Eurasia and sub-Saharan Africa, Arabian and Saharan deserts, subarctic regions, and Tibetan plateau. But, pastoral societies did not develop in Americas because Americas did not have large animals for domesticating. Pastoral societies shared common features: they were generally less productive than agricultural societies, they lived in scattered areas because they needed large grazing areas, they lived in encampments of related kinfolk, and their women had higher status than women in sedentary societies. Further, the formation of nomadic states was difficult, but charismatic leaders like Chinggis Khan could make a series of tribal alliances that became powerful states and when formed, almost the whole male population (and some women) became warriors.
Nomads made their greatest impact on world history between 500 and 1500 c.e. Arabs, Berbers, Turks, and Mongols created the largest empires of that millennium. Formerly nomadic people controlled all Byzantium, Persia, India, and China at least for a time.
Nomads have often received “bad press” in history books. They only mentioned in regard to their destruction of established civilizations, educated sedentary peoples have feared and usually despised nomads, nomads were usually illiterate, so we don’t have their perspective, and agricultural societies eventually won out.
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