What did Genghis Khan do to the mother of the Khwarezmian ruler?
Screex 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…
The Ancient Tatars: Genghis Khan’s sworn enemies, who gave their name to half of Eurasia. Turks or Mongols?
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…
Why Genghis Khan Chose Warriors Based on Bravery, Not Lineage
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.…
The Shadow Behind the Khan
“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…
The Khan Who Split Genghis Khan’s Empire: How Berke Declared War on His Own Mongols
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…
How do the Kalmyks differ from the Mongols?
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…
How an Empire Collapsed in Four Years in 623: From Sultan to Exile
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…
What happened to the harem after its master’s death?
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.…
Cemeteries Without Coffins: How Burials Were Conducted in the Ottoman Empire
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…
Why were the sultans of the Ottoman Empire afraid to sleep with concubines
In the popular TV series "The Magnificent Century," Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent literally demonstrates one of the mysteries of the Ottoman court: after Halvet, most concubines were immediately sent to…