Nomadic and migrating peoples and contributed to the diffusion of technologies, ideas, agricultural techniques, and diseases between 600 C.E. and 1450 C.E. For instance, as Polynesians migrated between the scattered islands of Oceania, they introduced new foods and domesticated animals to the various islands. The nomadic Vikings, Turks, and Mongols also brought social, cultural, and economic changes to the regions that they encountered and perhaps conquered.
The Vikings were a nomadic group which settled in present-day Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden). In order to supplement their farm production, they conducted seasonal raids into Europe and ransacked towns. Using small and maneuverable boats, the Vikings raided and terrorized coastal communities in France, Scotland, Ireland, and England. The Vikings eventually evolved from plunderers into traders, and they established communities in Scotland, northern France, and Eastern Europe.
These outstanding seafarers also traded actively throughout the North Sea and Baltic Sea. In the 800s C.E., they colonized Iceland and Greenland, and around 1000 C.E., they established a short-lived colony in Newfoundland (modern-day Canada). The transplanted Viking settlements in France became known as Normandy.
In 1066 C.E., a Norman lord named William from northern France invaded England with his army. He defeated the Saxons and established Norman power in what became modern-day Britain. Over time, the Normans and Vikings were Christianized and absorbed into the larger European feudal order.
The Turks, a pastoral nomadic group from the central Asian steppes, began to gradually migrate out of the steppes at the end of the first millennium. They were often hired by Muslim leaders as mercenaries. The Seljuk Turks, who had converted to Islam, invaded Abbasid territory and captured Baghdad in 1055 C.E. The caliph was left as the spiritual authority of the empire, but the Seljuk Sultan became the secular monarch. By 1071 C.E., the Seljuk Turks had defeated the Byzantine Empire and conquered most of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey).
Following the collapse of the Seljuk dynasty, a new Turkic body arose at the turn of the fourteenth century C.E., when a tribal leader named Osman founded the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans would conquer Constantinople in 1453 C.E., bringing a final end to the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.
The Afghan Turks were nomads from Afghanistan. They began a series of raids into India in the tenth century C.E. They looted cities for gold and jewels and destroyed Hindu temples. It wasn’t until the twelfth century C.E. that they started to govern after invading. This created the Delhi Sultanate, which ruled northern India from 1206 C.E. to 1526 C.E. The Afghan Turks introduced a strong Muslim presence in India.