The central role of horses in the history of civilisation

13 May 2025

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Asian history scholar David Chaffetz talks with journalist Geert Linnebank about his book Raiders, Rulers, and Traders, considered one of the best books of 2024 by "The Economist" magazine. In a captivating account, Chaffetz demonstrates how no other animal shaped the course of human history like the horse. In prehistory, it was a fragile and shy animal, hunted for food. Over time, horses reached the centre of power in Iran, Afghanistan, China, India and Russia. Chaffetz tells how horse breeding was indispensable for conquest and politics: from ancient Assyria and Persia, and the Mongols of the 17th century to colonialism in the early 20th century. The author based his work on recent research in diverse fields, such as genetics and forensic archaeology, to support an innovative explanation of the turbulent history of the Silk Road and point out how horses allowed new forms of warfare, encouraged the creation of long-distance trade corridors and ended up acquiring deep cultural and religious significance.

 

David Chaffetz is an independent scholar of Middle Eastern and Central Asian history. He studied Persian, Arabic and Turkish during his undergraduate studies at Harvard and, over the following 40 years, travelled through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Russia. Raiders, Rulers, And Traders (W.W. Norton & Co, 2024) is his third book. He previously wrote A Journey through Afghanistan (Regnery, 1980) and Three Asian Divas (Abbreviated Press, 2019). He is a member of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs. He has written for the "South China Morning Post" and the "Nikkei Asian Review". Currently, he contributes regularly to the "Asian Review of Books".

Geert Linnebank is the representative of Reuters News & Media Limited on the Board of Independent Television News (ITN). He began his career as a reporter in Brussels at Agence Europe and AP-Dow Jones before joining Reuters in 1983, where he worked as a reporter, editor-in-chief and global head of content. Born in the Netherlands, Linnebank grew up in Belgium and currently lives in Lisbon.

 

Information

The central role of horses in the history of civilisation
13 May, at 7 pm
Rua de Santa Catarina, 9 - 3rd floor
Session in English
Subject to capacity