Posted on 08/20/2018 10:43:08 AM PDT by Jagermonster
Mukhorshibirsky District, Russia - In the south of Buryatia, near the present-day border with Mongolia, there is a mountain-sized rock outcropping known locally as the Merkit Fortress, which looks out over the arid, rolling steppe that gradually fades into the Gobi Desert a few hundred miles away.
According to legend, this formidable natural fortification was stormed more than 800 years ago by the forces of a young Mongol warlord who claimed his bride had been stolen by the Merkit tribe, which had made its home base here. He seized the rock, and went on to unite most of the nomadic Mongol tribes of northeast Asia, including the ancestors of today’s Buryats. Taking the name Genghis Khan, which means “universal ruler,” he flung his vast army of highly disciplined, horse-mounted shock troops to the south and west, conquering China, most of Central Asia and the Middle East, present-day Russia, and parts of Eastern Europe.
At its peak the Mongol Empire was the largest contiguous land empire in history, and it left its imprint everywhere. For the West its impact was mainly positive, because the Mongol-secured land passage to China – the fabled Silk Road – enabled travelers like Marco Polo to bring home Eastern wonders such as spices, silk, gunpowder, the compass, and the printing press.
But Russian historians have traditionally treated it as an unmitigated catastrophe. The first wave of Mongol invaders smashed the European-like Kievan Rus state in present-day Ukraine, sending the survivors fleeing into the northern forests, where they congregated around small statelets like Moscow. It took the Russians 200 years of hard struggle to unite themselves and throw off what they still refer to as the “Mongol yoke.” To this day Russian schoolchildren learn that the Mongol occupiers, known as the “Golden Horde,” brought nothing but pain...
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
A remarkable proportion of the old Russian aristocracy was descended from Mongol/Tatar ancestors. There is a very interesting bit on this, analysis of names and ancestries, in Orlando Figes, “Natashas Dance”.
As for the Mongols being the reason that Russia is screwed up, this is a very old argument. It goes back into the 17th century at least, in Russia.
Orlando Figes discusses this at length.
Another proponent of the theory was the late Richard Pipes, “Russia Under the old Regime”.
I guess the “new” idea is that Russia was not screwed up by the Mongols and they were a good thing. This is also an old idea. Also argued forever.
Best Genghis Khan ever!
And his brother Don?
This is an interesting premise, but an overly narrow view of history that fails to capture the true history of the region. Putin and other Russian autocrats from the Romanovs on down have seen themselves as the heirs to Byzantium (Eastern Roman Empire). Even Mehmet the great crowned himself Caesar after the fall of Constantinople. Autocracy in the region flows from this history. The Kaiser in Germany and the Tsars in Russia were absolute monarchs long before the Golden Hoard and long after. The real angst in Russia is that Byzantium USED the Golden Hoard to pummel Russia when they challenged the Emperor and Patriach.
Years ago I read a book on Russian history that was written in the 70’s. The part about the Mongol occupation was Zip, Zilch, Nada, Nyet.
***The*** worst John Wayne movie of all time. and also the one that eventually killed him and a significant portion of the movie crew.
Or the biggest mismatch of actor to character ever, if you leave out John Wayne’s German sea captain in “The Sea Chase”:
“Well, auf wiedersehn, Fatherland; guess I won’t be seein’ ya anymore.”
American soldier or cowboy, yes, his best roles. Genghis Khan was a soldier but the Duke’s portrayal of foreign accents....as the Mongol warlord he sounded the same as he did in “True Grit”.
Still the greatest. Right, pilgrim?
;^)
It came about because the warm period brought increased rain to the steppes, which created vast areas of grassland, allowing a large increase in the Mongol population, and allowing them to traverse vast distances, living off their animals, which lived off the grasslands.
But the climate alarmists claim the the Medieval warm period was a purely local phenomena. It does not fit their narrative of only recent warming.
"Da wench has a fahry spirit." Oh heck yes...
Peter the Great’s mother was of Tatar origin and Lenin”s father was a Buryat Mongol.
“Tsar/Czar” and “Kaiser” are variants of the Latin “Caesar.” That supports your thesis over the Mongolian origin.
The Golden Horde:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Horde
Predates the first Tsar of Rus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsardom_of_Russia
By 300 years.
I had heard that many Russians are said to have “Mongol eyes” or “Tatar eyes” that are almond shaped even though blue.
This could explain it. Of course, thanks to John Wayne we now know that Genghis Khan had blue eyes.
;^)
Khan was a true alpha male and I’m glad there is a recent historic drive to rehabilitate his image,
He was an alpha who loved his people and lead with courage and wisdom
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