About the author:
Pita Kelekna holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of New Mexico. She has undertaken fieldwork in indigenous societies of the Americas and later conducted research cross the Middle East, Central and East Asia. She is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences and the American Anthropological Association.

Excerpt from the book (PDF)

Contents

Acknowledgments

1       Introduction to Equestrian Man and to Equus
Six Thousand Years of Human–Equine Relations
Wild Equids – c 60 Million Years Ago to the Present
Equid Paleontology
Extant Equus in the Wild
Equus ferus in the Old World

2       Equus caballus: Horse Domestication and Agro-Pastoralism across the Eurasian Steppes
The Transition from Food Procurement to Plant and Animal Domestication
The Concomitant Development of Metallurgy
Emergence of the Centralized Alluvial State
Peripheral Farming and Eneolithic Exploitation of the Horse on the Eurasian Steppes
Why the Domestication of the Horse?
Criticisms – and Near Eastern Comparisons
Yamnaya Horizon – Steppe Expansion West and East (3500–2400 bc)
Andronovo Horizon – Steppe Expansion East and South (2000–900 bc)
Equestrian Penetration of the Eastern Deserts
Indo-European Diaspora
Summary

3       Nomadic Horse Culture of the Steppes
Mobile Dwellings of the Steppes<
Steppe Technology and Weaponry
The Horse – Sacred Symbol of Rebirth
Steppe Kurgans and Ritual Burial
Regalia of the Pazyryk Kurgans
Scythian Rituals of Sacrifice, Dismemberment, and Regeneration
The Nomad Ritual of Buzkashi

4       Expansion from the Steppes to Southwestern and Southern Asia
Early Indo-European Invasion across the Near East
The Hittite State in Anatolia
The Chariot in Warfare
Training of the Chariot Horse
War Chariots of Kadesh and Troy
The Appearance of the Military Steed in Battle
Aryan Expansion from the Steppes through Central Asia
Aryan Migrations South
The Rgveda
The Vedic Asvamedha Horse Sacrifice
Aryan Equestrian Migrations West
Ancient Iranians
The Achaemenid Equestrian Empire
Europe's Defiance of Achaemenid Equestrian Might

5       China and the Steppes beyond Its Borders
Equestrian China
Arrival of the Horse in China
The Qin Equestrian Conquest of China
Xiongnu Nomads
Chinese Equestrian Expansion
Equestrian Cultures of Cosmopolitan Central Asia
From Vedic Roots, Buddhism Travels North to China
On Horseback West Meets East – the Silk Road
Via Nomadic Central Asia, China's Early Impact on the West

6       Equestrian Europe – Solar Edifices, Hippodromes, and Arthurian Chivalry
Early Indo-Europeans in Europe
Prehistoric Solar Edifices
Celtic Migrations across Europe
The Horse in Greek War and Myth
Cavalry Wars between Rome and Carthage
Resistance to Rome and the Boudican Revolt
Roman Equestrian Might
Solar Edifices of Rome
Equestrian Invasions from the Steppes
The Arthurian Epic – Chivalry in the West
Byzantium – Equestrian Bastion of Christianity in the East

7       Arabian Conquest from the South
Turn of the Era to Mid-First Millennium ad
Crossroads of Continents
Byzantine and Sasanian Imperial Policies toward Arabia
The Prophet Muhammad
Military Expansion of the Islamic State out of Arabia
Horses of the Deserts
Equestrian Expansion of Islam Eastward
The Umayyad Caliphate and the Shia Schism
The Twelve and Seven Imams
The Epic Drama of Taziyeh – Opera on Horseback
Abbasid Caliphate and Turkic Incursion
Equestrian Expansion of Islam Westward
Islamic Advance across the Iberian Peninsula and Defeat at Poitiers
The Song of Roland
The Heavy-Armored European Knight
Al-Andalus
Arabic Efflorescence
Berber Cavalry Rebellion from Africa

8       Turkic-Invader Converts to Islam and Crusader Opponents
The Shahnameh
Equestrian Invaders from the East
Equestrian Invaders from the West
The Enduring Legacy of the Equestrian Warrior Orders

9       From the Steppes, the Altaic Nomad Conquest of Eurasia
The Mongol Equestrian Expansion across Eurasia
The Epic of the Horsehair Spirit Banner
Emergence of Mongol Power
Equestrian Conquests in the West
Death of Genghis Khan
Successors of Genghis Khan
Mongol Trade across Asia and Multicultural Efflorescence
Khubilai Khan and Yuan China
The Cosmopolitan Ilkhanate – Arts and Sciences across Equestrian Asia
The Mongol Impact across Asia to Europe
Successor States to Nomadic Equestrian Militarism
Warrior Horsemen East of the Asian Mainland
Equestrian Conquests in West Asia and West of Asia
Steppe Nomad Legacy across Eurasia

10      From Europe, Equus Returns to Its Continent of Origin
Europe toward the End of the Middle Ages
The Palio of Siena
Late Medieval Warfare
The Spanish Reconquista
Equus Extinct in the Western Hemisphere and Equus Returns
Mesoamerica and the Spanish Conquest of Tenochtitlan
The Andes and the Spanish Conquest of Tawantinsuyu
Post-Conquista Europe
Horses of Rebellion in the Americas

11      Horses Are Us
Hemispheres with and without Horses
The Impact of Equestrianism around the World
Homo equestriens
References
Index