The research on nomadic peoples of Central Asia in the Middle Ages attracts domestic and foreign researchers’ attention for more than one and a half century. The reconstruction of nomads’ philosophical ideas takes not the least place among the considered problems in nomadic studies. This subject has been widely studied by domestic scientists in the 1960-1980s, and it was due to several factors. Firstly, during this period the accumulation of a large number of archaeological sources which had to be interpreted have been taking place. Secondly, in connection with certain weakening of ideological pressure new methodological approaches in philosophical reconstructions have spread, and first of all, the structural-semiotic approach. The most significant results were obtained in reconstruction of the outlook of the Scythian-Saks nomads, while the religious ideas and rituals of the Hun-Syanbi nomads remained poorly investigated.

Key words: historiography, nomads, Central Asia, world outlook, reconstruction, methodology, ideology.