Mongol Warriors

Mongol Warriors — page 7
12 The first mention of peoples who can be identified with Mongolia can be found in Chinese accounts from around 2000 BCE However the first inhab itants of whom there is certainty are the Xiongnu who were recorded to have lived there by about the fifth or fourth century BCE The Xiongnu are thought by mod ern Mongols to be their remote ancestors A NOMADIC PEOPLE The Mongols were pastoralists who were superb horse men and traveled with flocks of sheep goats cattle and horses over the immense grasslands of Central Asia The nomadic Mongols moved seasonally bring ing livestock and entire camps from one pasture to another They lived in portable dwellings called gers or yurts which were erected on wooden poles and covered with skin felt or hand-woven textiles in bright colors The ger was carried from place to place on horseback or by wagon CHAPTER 1 MYSTERIOUS MENACING MONGOLS