The civilizations of China and Persia, though conquered, would in the long run vanquish their conquerors, intoxicating them with the pleasures of settled life, lulling them to sleep, and assimilating them culturally. But there was another, opposing law which brought about the slow absorption of the invaders by the ancient civilized lands. These periodic invasions by the nomads of the steppe, whose khans ascended the thrones of Changan, Luoyang, Kaifeng, or Beijing, of Isfahan or Tabriz*, Delhi or Constantinople, became one of the geographic laws of history. "Throughout its history, Central Asia has provided the ancient civilized empires on its borders with new Shahs, Sultans, or Sons of Heaven.
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