The interaction between Eurasian pastoral nomads and the surrounding sedentary societies is a major theme in world history. This volume explores the mulitfarious nature of nomadic society and its relations with China, Russia and the Middle East from antiquity into the contemporary world with emphasis on the Mongol and Turkish peoples.

Reuven Amitai, Ph.D. (1990) in Middle Eastern Studies, Hebrew University, is Associate Professor of Middle Eastern History at the Institute of Asian and African Studies at the Hebrew University. He has published extensively on the history of the late medieval Muslim world, particularly on the Mamluk Sultanate and the Mongol Ilkhanate.
Michal Biran, Ph.D. (2000) in Middle Eastern Studies, Hebrew University, is a Lecturer at the Institute of Asian and African Studies at the Hebrew University. She has published on Inner Asian history in the Mongol and pre-Mongol period including Qaidu and the Rise of the Independent Mongol State in Central Asia (Curzon, 1997).