Why were the sultans of the Ottoman Empire afraid to sleep with concubines
Screex In the popular TV series «The Magnificent Century,» Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent literally demonstrates one...
Why Genghis Khan’s Descendants Became the Elite of the Polish Army
Florentine monks who arrived in the 15th century on a diplomatic mission to the Grand...
Why were the Ottomans terrified of blue-eyed people and why did they paint over the eyes of saints in frescoes?
The life of every Ottoman—from the poorest porter to the most noble pasha—was literally steeped...
“The Predator” on the Throne of the Ottoman Empire [Mahmud I]
Young Mahmud realized just how brutal the struggle for power could be when he was...
The Kyrgyz: Impostors or Descendants of the Ancient Turks?
The unification of China and the nomadic peoples occurred at the same time, and these...
The Alans: Nomads of Antiquity
There were many glorious peoples who managed to make their mark on history: the Romans,...
Who are the Kazakhs, and what is their ethnic background?
The tribal structure of the Turkic nomads, which remains a prominent feature among the Kazakhs...
How did the Turks conquer Iran?
Iran and Turan—that is, the settled civilization and the nomads of the Great Steppe—had been...
Turhan Hatice: A Russian Girl for the Sultan
Nadia was born in 1627 in the Russian territories bordering the Crimean Khanate. In 1640,...
A Drunken Sultan or a Skilled Politician? The Life and Fate of Selim II
After the death of Sultan Suleiman I, Selim—the padishah’s only surviving son—inherited the Ottoman throne....