Social and Political Background · Part 3

the history of the nomadic population but their impact on China and the adjoining regions varied. Hsiung-nu ( BCE ) (Turks) Juan-juan ( CE ) (Mongols) Epthalite Huns ( CE ) (Mongols) T’u-chueh ( CE ) (Turks) Uighurs ( CE ) (Turks) Khitan ( CE ) (Mongols) N OMADIC E MPIRES T HEMES IN W ORLD H ISTORY marginal losses. Throughout its history, China suffered extensively from nomad intrusion and different regimes – even as early as the eighth century BCE – built fortifications to protect their subjects. Starting from the third century BCE , these fortifications started to be integrated into a common defensive outwork known today as the ‘Great Wall of China’ a dramatic visual testament to the disturbance and fear perpetrated by nomadic raids on the agrarian societies of north China.