When we picture a Mongol horseman, the image is always the same: a horse galloping across the grass, the archer turning back at full speed and showering the enemy with…
The greatest joy for a man is to defeat his enemies, drive them before him, take their possessions, see their loved ones weep, ride their horses, and hold their daughters…
If you ask today who the Tatars are, you will rightly be told: they are a beautiful and distinctive Turkic people living in the Volga region, Siberia, Crimea, and other…
They placed a wooden shackle on him—a mark of a slave and a criminal. The boy from a noble family, the son of a chieftain, stood helpless before his enemies.…
“I will take Jijek—the widow of Khan Berke. Let her be the senior member of my harem,” declared Mengu-Timur. Such was the custom: concubines were for pleasure; wives were for…
Among the peoples of the Eurasian steppes of Turkic-Mongol origin, power was never passed down according to the simple formula of “father–son–grandson” familiar to Europeans. Their political culture operated on…
To put it briefly, an analogy with the Western and Eastern Slavs may help. Both groups belong to the same broader ethnic group, but their history, culture, customs, and sense…
1909, Istanbul. Abdul Hamid II packs his belongings, surrounded by 47 wives and concubines. For thirty-three years, he ruled the empire founded by his ancestor Osman I in 1299. Now…
Only the harems of the rulers of the Ottoman and Chinese empires, as well as the Achaemenid Empire—that is, large and powerful states—resembled something large, structured, and performing state functions.…
In the Ottoman Empire, the burial process was steeped in symbolism and religious traditions. The deceased, whether a sultan or a commoner, was laid to rest after the imam recited…
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