The purpose of this article was to integrate the multidisciplinary studies of the nomad-dominated empires of Eurasia in the field of historical sociology. The large polities of militarized pastoralists ruled over most of Inner Eurasia for about two millennia (c. 500 BC–c. 1500 AD). By examining five such polities (the Scythians, the Huns, the Xiongnu, the Turks, and the Mongols), this study addresses four research questions: Why did such states emerge? How did it happen? How did the nomadic rulers obtain resources to uphold their power? Why did the nomad-dominated empires have a limited life span? In conclusion, I discuss the long-term effects of the rise and fall of the steppe empires on state formation in the whole Eurasia.

中文翻译：

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欧亚大陆游牧帝国的兴衰

本文的目的是将欧亚大陆游牧民族帝国的多学科研究整合到历史社会学领域中。军事化的牧民的庞大政体统治了欧亚大陆大部分地区大约两千年（公元前 500 年至公元 1500 年）。通过考察五个这样的政体（斯基泰人、匈奴人、匈奴人、突厥人和蒙古人），本研究解决了四个研究问题：为什么会出现这样的国家？这是怎么发生的？游牧统治者如何获得资源来维持他们的权力？为什么游牧民族统治的帝国寿命有限？最后，我将讨论草原帝国的兴衰对整个欧亚大陆国家形成的长期影响。