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 […]
Category: Central Asia
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 […]
The Battle of Karansebes
Austria, Central Asia, ER, Northern Europe, Rest of the World
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 […]
Timurlane
Central Asia, ER, Fertile Crescent, Rest of the World, Russia
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 […]
Genghis Khan in Khwarizm- The Flail of God
By 1218, Genghis Khan had united the Mongols and together they had conquered northern China. The had expanded westward as well by conquering Kara-Khitai and were collecting tribute from Korea. They first encountered the Empire of Khorezm, which extended from the Aral Sea to the Persian Gulf in one direction and from Iraq to India […]