What is a nomadic lifestyle? A nomad is a member of a community of people with no fixed abode who regularly move to the same areas and also travel the world. As of 1995, there were about 30–40 million nomads on the planet. Now they are supposed to be much smaller.
Life support
Nomadic hunting and gathering, taking into account the seasonally available wild plants and game, is by far the oldest method of human life support. These activities are directly related to the nomadic lifestyle. Nomadic herders raise herds, take them along or move along with them (riding on them), following routes that usually include pastures and oases.
A nomadic lifestyle involves adaptation to barren regions such as the steppe, tundra, desert, where mobility is the most effective strategy for exploiting limited resources. For example, many groups in the tundra are reindeer herders and semi-nomads precisely because of the need for seasonal feeding of their animals.
Other features
Sometimes “nomadic” are also called various moving groups of people who travel in densely populated areas and do not provide for themselves at the expense of natural resources, but offer various services (this can be craft or trade) to the permanent population. These groups are known as peripathetic nomads.
A nomad is a person who does not have a permanent home; he moves from place to place to get food, find pasture for livestock, or make a living in another way. The European word nomad, which means nomads, comes from the Greek, which literally means "one who roams the pasture." Most nomadic groups follow a fixed annual or seasonal pattern of movement and settlement. Nomadic peoples traditionally travel by animal, canoe or on foot. Today, some travel by car. Most of them live in tents or other shelters. Nomad housing, however, is not particularly diverse.
Reasons for this lifestyle
These people continue to move around the world for various reasons. What did the nomads do and what continues to be done in our time? They move in search of game, edible plants and water. For example, Australian Aborigines, savages of Southeast Asia, Africa traditionally move from camp to camp to hunt and collect wild plants.
Some tribes of America also followed a nomadic lifestyle. Pastoral nomads make their living by raising animals such as camels, cattle, goats, horses, sheep or yaks. The Gaddy tribe in Himachal Pradesh in India is one such. These nomads travel to find more camels, goats and sheep, making a tremendous journey through the deserts of Arabia and northern Africa. Fulani and their cattle travel through the meadows of Niger in West Africa. Some nomadic peoples, especially pastoralists, may also raid settled communities. Nomadic artisans and merchants travel to find and serve customers. These include blacksmiths from Lohar in India, gypsy merchants and Irish travelers.
Long way to find a home
In the case of Mongolian nomads, the family moves twice a year. This usually occurs in summer and winter. The winter location is located near the mountains in the valley, and most families already have fixed and favorite wintering spots. Such locations are equipped with animal shelters and are not used by other families in their absence. In summer, they move to a more open area where livestock can graze. Most nomads usually travel in the same region and rarely go beyond it.
Communities, Communities, Tribes
Since they usually circle over a large area, they become members of communities of people with similar lifestyles, and all families usually know where others are. Often they do not have the resources to move from one province to another if they do not leave the area forever. A family can move on its own or with others, and if it sets off on its own, its members are usually no more than a couple of kilometers from the nearest nomadic community. There are currently no tribes, so decisions are made among family members, although elders consult with each other on issues common to the community. The geographical proximity of families usually leads to mutual support and solidarity.
Pastoral nomadic societies usually cannot boast of a large population. One such society, the Mongols, gave rise to the largest land empire in history. Initially, the Mongols consisted of poorly organized nomadic tribes living in Mongolia, Manchuria and Siberia. At the end of the 12th century, Genghis Khan united them and other nomadic tribes to establish the Mongol Empire, which ultimately extended to all of Asia.
Gypsies are the most famous nomadic people
Gypsies are an Indo-Aryan, traditionally wandering ethnic group living mainly in Europe and America and originating from the North Indian subcontinent - from the regions of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab. Gypsy camps are widely known - special communities characteristic of this particular people.
Houses
Homes are a subethnos of gypsies, often considered a separate people, living throughout the Middle East, North Africa, the Caucasus, Central Asia and part of the Indian subcontinent. The traditional language of the houses is domari - the endangered Indo-Aryan language, which makes this people an Indo-Aryan ethnic group. They were associated with another traditionally wandering ethnic group of Indo-Aryans, also called the Roma or Romani people (also known in the Russian language as gypsies). It is believed that these two groups separated from each other or, at least partially, have a common history. In particular, their ancestors left the North Indian subcontinent somewhere between the VI and I centuries. The houses also live in the likeness of a gypsy camp.
Yeruki
Yeruki are nomads who live in Turkey. Nevertheless, some groups, such as Sarıkeçililer, continue to lead a nomadic lifestyle, traveling between the coastal cities of the Mediterranean Sea and the Taurus Mountains.
Mongols
The Mongols are an ethnic group of East Central Asian descent native to Mongolia and the Chinese province of Menjiang. They are listed as minorities in other regions of China (for example, in Xinjiang), as well as in Russia. Mongolian peoples belonging to the Buryat and Kalmyk subgroups live mainly in the subjects of the Russian Federation - Buryatia and Kalmykia.
The Mongols are connected by a common heritage and ethnic identity. Their root dialects are collectively known as the Mongolian language. The ancestors of modern Mongols are referred to as protomongols.
At different times, Mongolian peoples were equated with Scythians, Magogs, and Tungus. Based on Chinese historical texts, the origin of the Mongolian peoples can be traced back to the Donghu, a nomadic confederation that occupied eastern Mongolia and Manchuria. The features of the nomadic lifestyle of the Mongols were already evident at that time.