Central Asia
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Khutulun – The Wrestling Princess
The family of Genghis Khan was fearsome. His sons and grandsons ruled large swaths of Asia, but his fearsome genes didn’t stop with just the men. Enter Khutulun. Her name meant “shining moon” or “moonlight”, but she was not all sweetness and light. Born about 1260 to Kaidu Khan, who ruled the Chagatai Khaganate, which stretched from western Mongolia to the Amu Dayra river in the west and from central Siberia in the north to India in the south. Kaidu preferred the old ways of a nomadic life along the Steppes, so Khutulun could ride and shoot with the best of them. She was given a traditional Mongol education alongside…
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Jalal al-Din Rumi
The latest news is that Beyoncé named one of her new babies after a Persian poet. Everyone is abuzz with discussions of who this man was and what exactly this means. Although the poetry was written in the 13th century, it has gathered popularity in the west beginning in the early 21st century. So who was Jalal al-Din Rumi? Jalal al-Din Rumi was born September 30, 1207 in the city of Balkh, which is is in present day Afghanistan. He lived with his family on this far eastern edge of the Persian Empire, and was raised in the tradition of his family as an Islamic jurist. His father Baha ud-Din…
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Tamar of Georgia- Queen of Kings
Despite the name, I am not talking about the state in the Southern United States. There is a whole other country coincidentally called Georgia located on the Black Sea near Turkey. The name “Georgia” is probably a corruption of the Persian name for the people there, gurğān. There is also a theory put out there that the people loved the legend of St. George and the Dragon. In any case, they were devoutly Orthodox Christian country with a reputation for being fierce warriors. Their rulers also claimed to be descended from King David, the second king of Israel. Yes, that David. Tamar was born in 1166 CE to King Georgi…
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The Battle of Karansebes
They say that ultimately someone can be their own worst enemy. This is definitely the case for the Austrians in this battle. It was 1788 and Austria was at war with the Ottoman Empire. At stake was control of the Danube River. At the same time, the Ottoman Empire was fighting the Russians the same time. All these people that hated the Ottoman Empire got together and became allies. Great, right? Well, no. It was kind of Tower of Babel situation as the allied army had Austrians, Czechs, Germans, French, Serbs, Croats and Polish soldiers and commanders. It was a communications nightmare and a disaster waiting to happen. This even…
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Timurlane
After the death of Genghis Khan, the Mongol Empire had fragmented into separate khanates as his descendants squabbled amongst themselves. The empire he built was too big for any of them to rule, so it was split into pieces and divided between them. The northwestern portion was called Golden Horde, and by 1336 the majority of it was ruled by Sultan Mohammed Oz Beg. His domain ran from Moscow to the Aral Sea and his capital was Sarai. Also in 1336, a son was born to a Turco-Mongol tribal leader of the Barlas in Transoxiana. Transoxiana is located at the edge of the mountains just south of the beautiful city…
