Why did powerful nomadic peoples throughout history flee from the east to the west more than once, but never from the west to the eastern battlefield?
Is it due to geographical location?
Battle of the Altai Mountains - Wikipedia
In 91 AD, the Han Dynasty completely destroyed the Xiongnu. The Northern Xiongnu were forced to flee westward and disappeared from Chinese historical records. The Southern Xiongnu, however, had already submitted to China in previous wars, and their descendants even lived alongside the Chinese.
Initially, historians debated the relationship between the Xiongnu and the nomadic peoples, but modern DNA testing shows that many huns nobles trace their ancestry back to the Xiongnu from the eastern battlefields.
In short, the nomadic peoples were formed by the Xiongnu who fled to the west, conquered the local inhabitants, and assimilated.
Even today, in several Chinese dialects, the pronunciations of "hun" and "xiongnu" are still similar.
Tang dynasty in Inner Asia - Wikipedia
The same applies to the Turks. In the 7th century AD, both the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganates were conquered by the Tang Dynasty. The Western Turkic Khaganate refused Chinese rule, and some migrated westward. Both Seljuk and Osman I were descendants of the Western Turkic Khaganate. The remaining Turks submitted to China and, after several generations, became highly Sinicized and integrated into Chinese society.
The mighty Mongol Empire also faced immense difficulties in conquering China. It took them 75 years to conquer China that had been fragmented for 2-3 centuries. Conquering northern China took 23 years, and conquering southern China nearly half a century. Even the Khan died in the wars of conquest.
Mongol conquest of China - Wikipedia
It's hard to imagine any European country at that time being able to resist the Mongols alone for so long.
Posted May 1, 2026, 3:46 AM UTC