34. Genghis Khan Was Preceded by Other Terrifying Steppe Warlords
Genghis Khan and his Mongols were not the first Steppe tribesmen to terrify the civilized world. In the 7th century BC, the Scythians – Iranian speaking nomads who inhabited the Steppe between China and the Carpathians – began raiding into the settled lands of the Middle East. In 612 BC, the Scythians played a key role in destroying the Assyrian Empire, forever extinguishing a nation that had existed for over a millennium, and that had dominated the Middle East for centuries.