Why the “Queen of Alay” Did Not Save Her Son, Even Though She Could Have Raised an Army
Screex She stood in the crowd as they prepared the noose for her son in the square in Osh. Nearby, her allies whispered, “Just say the word. One word—and we’ll rally…
Munkhe – the last khan of the unified empire
A distinctive feature of Mengu’s military and political activities is that his reign marked the final period of unity for the empire founded by Genghis Khan, after which it gradually…
Umai-ene
We are all part of nature, and therefore closely interconnected. Essentially, we feel the energy of the Sun, the Sky, the Earth, Water, the Mountains, etc. Through prayer, we establish…
O Turkic beys and people, listen to this!
The divine will, manifested in the khagan’s authority; the loyalty of the beys and the people to the khagan; and the people’s submission to the beys—these are the central themes…
The Beautiful Mongolian Wife of Georgian King David VII, Esukan: Why She Was Blamed for Her Husband’s Death
Esukan was the fourth and final wife of Georgian King David VII Ulu. She was considered a beauty, but her husband did not love her; he treated her harshly and…
They forced China to build a wall and wear pants: who the fierce Xiongnu really were
When, in 209 BCE, a young chieftain named Modu killed his own father and seized power over the scattered nomadic tribes of the Mongolian Plateau, no one could have imagined…
Jebe is a nayeon. Where did Genghis Khan’s hound dog go?
The history of the Mongol Empire knows many names of great generals, but the figure of Jebe-nayon stands apart. His biography is a journey from Temujin's mortal enemy to his…
How a Polovtsian Khan with 300 horsemen routed a massive Hungarian army and saved the Russian princes
In 1099, the Polovtsian army stood shoulder to shoulder with the Russian druzhina against a common enemy. And this enemy had come from Central Europe. Hungarian King Coloman I the…
Tamerlane’s Campaign Against the Golden Horde
In 1395–1396, Timur launched his second invasion of the Horde’s territories. This time, he did not march on the eastern uluses, which had been ravaged by his previous invasion, but…
Why the Mongol horse proved more fearsome than any weapon
For centuries, historians have debated the same question: how did nomads from the steppes—without cities, universities, or a standing army—sweep through Rus’ as easily as a knife through butter? The…