Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Putting the Wolf to Work. Reform in the Mongolian Economy
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| The average Mongolian to become U.S. dollar millionaire by 2014 |
Such new found massive wealth is not without its drawbacks. As I have discussed in my previous articles, “Governance Key to Unlocking Mongolia’s Wealth” and “What if the Wolf Snarls? Mongolia’s Macro-Economic Risks,” the potential pitfalls in Mongolia are also very real.
However, reform is happening at a frantic pace, and this is already having a major impact on the wealth of the Mongolians and the opportunities now presenting themselves in terms of selling to this market. Getting the wealth from the nation’s mineral reserves is not going to be an easy task. At least 50 percent of Mongolians are nomads, essentially involved in agriculture through the raising of herds of goats, sheep and other animals. Byproducts such as cashmere and other meat and dairy produce are still a major industry in Mongolia, albeit one that is largely fragmented. Within a territory the size of Western Europe, some 1.3 million Mongolians retain their nomadic culture and use the land to raise livestock. Uniting them is no easy task.
The other 50 percent live in Ulaan Baatar, the capital city, and are slowly adapting to the developing service economy the city provides. Yet making sure all share in the national wealth is not going to be easy. As was pointed out by the head of Barclays Capital at the recent Mongolian Economic Forum: “Mongolia’s wealth belongs to all of the Mongolian people and it is important that this is used for the benefit of future generations.”
This then requires an enormous restructuring of the national finance system. As I pointed out last week, Mongolia’s Stock Exchange is being restructured with the assistance of the London Stock Exchange, and new dynamics are coming into play. The creation of the Mongolian Investment Bank and a sovereign wealth fund are also taking place. The government also wants to radically restructure many of its state-owned enterprises, and especially those in its energy sector. Many of Mongolia’s SOEs are ineffectively run, and getting private enterprise into them is paramount.
The government indicated that it intends, once the Mongolian Stock Exchange is reformed and the Investment Bank readied, to sell off over 100 SOEs, mainly through IPOs. The link with the London Stock Exchange provides access to finance both from Europe and North America, and some operations may also be listed not just in Mongolia, but also in Hong Kong, London and on New York’s Nasdaq. A timeline of three years was given for this sell-off to commence.
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| Brand new BMW 7 series on sale in the State Department Store in Ulaan Baatar |
In this regard, the country is already studying the models of nations such as Qatar and the UAE, and some 16 global banks are now advising the government on this repositioning of national wealth.
Concerning the regulatory aspects of mining, much of the nation’s reserves will be operational for between 50 to 100 years, meaning that getting political and economic stability into managing the nation is key. However, the government also wishes to develop industries away from the core mining sector. To this end, at present most foreign direct investment incentives are targeted at the mining sector. The government then needs to address the discriminatory aspects of investment incentives in other industries and encourage secondary markets to flourish.
In my speech to the government, I stressed the importance of getting added value into Mongolia’s natural resources and not to rely purely on the sale of raw materials. I quoted the example of Manzhouli, a Chinese city situated near Mongolia’s eastern border which is additionally close to Russia. Although the land there is predominantly steppe with very few trees, the city possesses a huge lumber processing industry. The reason being that while the Russians are content to just sell their raw materials, the Chinese are adding value and have invested in the processing industry the lumber requires. I wrote about this is the article China’s New City of the Steppes.
The development of secondary industries is therefore key in Mongolia. Not only to add value to their own raw materials, but also to do the same to those from Russia. While Russia’s policy focus remains that of exporting raw materials, Mongolia can position itself to be a major regional hub for minerals and related processing.
This is also likely to impact upon the development of new and high-tech industries in Mongolia. For example, a concrete enterprise has been developed in the country in conjunction between a Mongolian SOE and BASF that permits the concrete to be delivered, fast, several kilometers underground. It is then able to set quickly and with great strength at certain temperatures only, meaning it can be efficiently managed and placed into position under extreme conditions. The development of such high-tech products and new industries is not new. When Chile’s mining industry began, the country had very little technical expertise. Now the country exports technologies to Australia – a fact that would have been unheard of 20 years ago. Mongolia’s vast array of minerals and the sometimes difficult conditions under which they have to be extracted will also spur-on new innovations.
In short, Mongolia is about to become very wealthy, very fast. With its capital city just a one hour and thirty minute flight north from Beijing, the opportunities for foreign investors as concerns the creation of this new wealth are well worth exploring.
Chris Devonshire-Ellis is the principal of Dezan Shira & Associates, Asia’s largest independent foreign direct consultancy practice with 17 offices throughout Asia. The firm specializes in foreign direct investment due diligence, investment law, tax and related matters. He is also the vice chairman of the business advisory council for the Greater Tumen Initiative, a UNDP body responsible for North China, Mongolia, Eastern Russia, North Korea, and South Korea with Japan as an observer nation. Chris may be contacted at chris@dezshira.com for advice about investing in Mongolia and the region.
Chris will be hosting a Mongolia Investment Forum in Beijing on Wednesday, March 22, 2011. This will detail investment opportunities and the legal/tax regulatory environment in Mongolia. For further information please contact Jessica Tou at jessica.tou@asiabriefingmedia.com.
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| Sukhbaatar, the man who brought democracy to the nation, points the way forward to a modern future for Mongolia |
Mongolia’s Wolf Economy Comes in from the Cold
Governance Key in Unlocking Mongolia’s Mineral Wealth
Ten Things We’ve Learned About Mongolian Democracy (and China)
China Woos Mongolia as Australia of North Asia
Monday, February 21, 2011
Subudai Ba'adur (c1176-1248)
Text copied from: "Genghis Khan & the Mongol Concuests 1190-1400" from Stephen Turnbull by Osprey Publishing
In most accounts of the Mongol conquests Genghis Khan's subordinates come over as two-dimensional characters, mounted automatons moving as stereotypically as the myth of Mongol supremacy would always have us believe. Yet in the service of Genghis Khan were many leaders of great military talent who were personalities in their own right. One of them was Subadai Ba'adur, whose name variously appears as Subedei, Sabatai, or Subodei. He was born in about 1176 the son of a blacksmith of the Uriangqadai clan and joined Temuchin's band when he was still a youth in about 1190. Along with his brother, ]elemei, Subadai rose quickly in Mongol service and commanded cavalry at the age of 25. Subadai appears to have been a heavyweight in more ways than one, and had to travel to battles in some form of carriage to spare the backs of the slight Mongol ponies!
Subadai is the exemplar of that remarkable and commendable loyalty shown by subordinate generals of the Mongols towards their ruling Khan. ' As felt protects from the wind,' he promised to Genghis Khan, 'so I will ward off your enemies.' His first independent command was in 1205-06 when he successfully pursued and killed Kutu and Chila'un, sons of the defeated Merki leader, Tokhto'a. Subadai commanded a tumen (10,000 men) in the wars against the Xixia, and we read of him being given joint command of the 3,000 Mongols sent in pursuit of the Shah of Khwarazm after the Samarkand operation. When the Shah died in 1221, Subadai was one of the commanders entrusted with the reconnaissance mission 'to the Western lands' that took the Mongols into Russia for the first time.
This operation was a remarkable feat that brings great credit upon Subadai. Having destroyed several towns in Azerbaijan, the Mongols were bribed to spare Tabriz, and he and his men wintered in eastern Armenia. In 1221 the two generals defeated King Giorgi the Brilliant of Georgia near Tbilisi. From there they returned to Azerbaijan and were on the point of marching against Baghdad to destroy the Abbasid Caliphate, but instead returned to Georgia, defeating another Georgian army using the tactic of false retreat. They then swung north and advanced into southern Russia and captured Astrakhan. Pushing on across the river Don they penetrated the Crimean peninsula and were in the Ukraine to winter the snows of 1222-23. In 1223 they began to return home, only to be intercepted by an allied enemy force. These were the soldiers Subadai and his colleagues led to their deaths at the battle of the Kalka river.
Their earlier conquest of the territory of the Shah of Khwarazm had taken the Mongols as far as the borders of Azerbaijan, at which point Subadai and Jebe asked permission to proceed north and reconnoitre the 'Western lands'. This led to the conquest of Azerbaijan and Georgia, after which they came upon the nomadic Polovtsians, referred to in the chronicles as Kipchaks or Cumans (Kumans). By 1223 the Mongols had completed these operations and regrouped in the southern Russian steppes.
At that time what we now know as Russia and the Ukraine were ruled by a number of princes who jealously defended their own territories. These Russian princes would appear to have had no intelligence about the campaigns and conquests of Genghis Khan, and the first information that a new enemy had appeared in the southern steppes was brought to Mstislav Mstislavitch in Galich his Polovtsian father-in-law, Khan Kotyan, whose nomadic territory lay close to the eastern most bend of the Dnieper. The Chronicle of. Novgorod tells us:
He brought them numerous presents: horses, came/s, buffaloes and girls. And he presented these gifts to them, and said the following, 'Today the Tartars took away our land and tomorrow they will come and take away yours.'
The name Tartars or Tatars is the expression often used in Russian source materials for the Mongol hordes. The original Tartars were a rival tribe wiped out by Genghis Khan, but the expression may also derive from Tartarus meaning 'Hell', the supposed origin of these strange warriors who had appeared from nowhere.
Mstislav of Galich immediately summoned a council of war in Kiev. The two other southern regional princes attended it: Mstislav Romanovich of Kiev and Mstislav Svyatoslavich of Chernigov. They made the decision that the Russians and Polovtsians should move east to seek out and destroy the Mongols wherever they might be found. When the expeditionary force was on its way the Mongol envoys met the main body at Pereyaslavl and tried to persuade them from fighting. But when a second attempt at parley failed the army crossed the Dnieper and marched eastwards across the steppes for nine days, little knowing that they had been misled by a Mongol false retreat conducted on a grand scale. Here they encountered a Mongol army at the Kalka river and were heavily defeated:
Subadai may have served in Genghis Khan's last campaign against the Xixia, but the next action for which he is renowned was the successful siege of the ]in's southern capital of Kaifeng in 1232, where Subadai had to contend with thunder crash bombs thrown by catapult. That was the last Subadai was to see of campaigning in China, although in 1257 his son, Uriyangkhadai, led an army into the country now known as Vietnam, and his grandson, Bayan, was to accomplish the destruction of the Southern Song in 1276.
Subadai's last and greatest campaign was the invasion of Russia and eastern Europe, described in detail above. Batu, son of Jochi, was the overall leader, but Subadai was the actual commander in the field, and as such was present in both the northern and southern campaigns against Russia and the Ukraine. He commanded the central column that moved against Hungary. While Kaidu's northern force won the battle of Leignitz and Kadan's army triumphed in Transylvania, Subadai was waiting for them on the Hungarian plain. The newly reunited army then withdrew to the Sajo river where they inflicted the tremendous defeat on King Bela IV at the battle of Mohi. Subadai masterminded the operation, and it was to prove one of his greatest victories.
The king had summoned a council of war at Gran, an important settlement on the south of the Danube bend upstream from Buda and Pest. As Batu was advancing on Hungary from the north-east it was decided to concentrate at Pest and then head north- east to confront the Mongol army. When news of the Hungarians' apparent intentions reached the Mongol commanders they slowly withdrew, drawing their enemies on. The Mongols took a stand near Eger to the east of the river Sajo, on a flat plain bounded to the north by the famous wine-growing area of Tokay. It was a strong position. Woodland prevented their ranks from being reconnoitred, while across the river on the plain of Mohi, the Hungarian army appeared to be very exposed.
Subadai launched the battle of Mohi during the night of 10-11 Apri11241, only one day after his compatriots had won the great battle of Leignitz. One division crossed the river in secret to advance on the Hungarian camp from the south-east. The main body began to cross the Sajo by the bridge at Mohi. This met with some resistance, so catapults were used to clear the opposite bank. When the crossing was completed the other contingent attacked at the same time. The result was panic, and to ensure that the Hungarians did not fight desperately to the last man the Mongols left an obvious gap in their encirclement. As they had planned, the fleeing Hungarians poured through this opened trap which led to a swampy area. When the Hungarian knights split up, the light Mongol archers picked them off at will and it was later noted that corpses littered the countryside for the space of a two days' journey. Two archbishops and three bishops were killed at the Sajo. By late 1241 Subadai was discussing plans to invade Austria, Italy and Germany, when the news came of the death of Ogodei Khan, and the Mongols withdrew.
With his return to Mongolia Subadai's name disappears from history. Perhaps he retired from active service, because we know he was dead by 1248. He remains one of Genghis Khan's most celebrated generals, and there is a statue of him in Ulan Bator, honouring a fine soldier and a loyal and honourable follower of the Mongol Khans.
In most accounts of the Mongol conquests Genghis Khan's subordinates come over as two-dimensional characters, mounted automatons moving as stereotypically as the myth of Mongol supremacy would always have us believe. Yet in the service of Genghis Khan were many leaders of great military talent who were personalities in their own right. One of them was Subadai Ba'adur, whose name variously appears as Subedei, Sabatai, or Subodei. He was born in about 1176 the son of a blacksmith of the Uriangqadai clan and joined Temuchin's band when he was still a youth in about 1190. Along with his brother, ]elemei, Subadai rose quickly in Mongol service and commanded cavalry at the age of 25. Subadai appears to have been a heavyweight in more ways than one, and had to travel to battles in some form of carriage to spare the backs of the slight Mongol ponies!
Subadai is the exemplar of that remarkable and commendable loyalty shown by subordinate generals of the Mongols towards their ruling Khan. ' As felt protects from the wind,' he promised to Genghis Khan, 'so I will ward off your enemies.' His first independent command was in 1205-06 when he successfully pursued and killed Kutu and Chila'un, sons of the defeated Merki leader, Tokhto'a. Subadai commanded a tumen (10,000 men) in the wars against the Xixia, and we read of him being given joint command of the 3,000 Mongols sent in pursuit of the Shah of Khwarazm after the Samarkand operation. When the Shah died in 1221, Subadai was one of the commanders entrusted with the reconnaissance mission 'to the Western lands' that took the Mongols into Russia for the first time.
This operation was a remarkable feat that brings great credit upon Subadai. Having destroyed several towns in Azerbaijan, the Mongols were bribed to spare Tabriz, and he and his men wintered in eastern Armenia. In 1221 the two generals defeated King Giorgi the Brilliant of Georgia near Tbilisi. From there they returned to Azerbaijan and were on the point of marching against Baghdad to destroy the Abbasid Caliphate, but instead returned to Georgia, defeating another Georgian army using the tactic of false retreat. They then swung north and advanced into southern Russia and captured Astrakhan. Pushing on across the river Don they penetrated the Crimean peninsula and were in the Ukraine to winter the snows of 1222-23. In 1223 they began to return home, only to be intercepted by an allied enemy force. These were the soldiers Subadai and his colleagues led to their deaths at the battle of the Kalka river.
Their earlier conquest of the territory of the Shah of Khwarazm had taken the Mongols as far as the borders of Azerbaijan, at which point Subadai and Jebe asked permission to proceed north and reconnoitre the 'Western lands'. This led to the conquest of Azerbaijan and Georgia, after which they came upon the nomadic Polovtsians, referred to in the chronicles as Kipchaks or Cumans (Kumans). By 1223 the Mongols had completed these operations and regrouped in the southern Russian steppes.
At that time what we now know as Russia and the Ukraine were ruled by a number of princes who jealously defended their own territories. These Russian princes would appear to have had no intelligence about the campaigns and conquests of Genghis Khan, and the first information that a new enemy had appeared in the southern steppes was brought to Mstislav Mstislavitch in Galich his Polovtsian father-in-law, Khan Kotyan, whose nomadic territory lay close to the eastern most bend of the Dnieper. The Chronicle of. Novgorod tells us:
He brought them numerous presents: horses, came/s, buffaloes and girls. And he presented these gifts to them, and said the following, 'Today the Tartars took away our land and tomorrow they will come and take away yours.'
The name Tartars or Tatars is the expression often used in Russian source materials for the Mongol hordes. The original Tartars were a rival tribe wiped out by Genghis Khan, but the expression may also derive from Tartarus meaning 'Hell', the supposed origin of these strange warriors who had appeared from nowhere.
Mstislav of Galich immediately summoned a council of war in Kiev. The two other southern regional princes attended it: Mstislav Romanovich of Kiev and Mstislav Svyatoslavich of Chernigov. They made the decision that the Russians and Polovtsians should move east to seek out and destroy the Mongols wherever they might be found. When the expeditionary force was on its way the Mongol envoys met the main body at Pereyaslavl and tried to persuade them from fighting. But when a second attempt at parley failed the army crossed the Dnieper and marched eastwards across the steppes for nine days, little knowing that they had been misled by a Mongol false retreat conducted on a grand scale. Here they encountered a Mongol army at the Kalka river and were heavily defeated:
...his Kuman warriors failed, and retreated in such haste that they galloped over the Russian camp and trampled it underfoot. And there was not time for the Russian forces to form ranks. And so it came to complete confusion, and a terrible slaughter resulted.Mstislav of Kiev defended himself inside a hastily erected stockade until he was persuaded to give himself up by Ploskyn, a Cossack leader fighting for the Mongols who swore 'on the holy cross' that Prince Mstislav would be released for ransom, but:
...this accursed Ploskyn lied, and he bound the princes hand and feet and turned them over to the Tartars. The princes were taken by the Tartars and crushed beneath platfoms placed over their bodies on top of which the Tartars celebrated their victory banquet.Following the death of ]ebe on the return journey, Subadai successfully led the Mongol army home having covered around 6,500 km (4,000 miles) in less than three years.
Subadai may have served in Genghis Khan's last campaign against the Xixia, but the next action for which he is renowned was the successful siege of the ]in's southern capital of Kaifeng in 1232, where Subadai had to contend with thunder crash bombs thrown by catapult. That was the last Subadai was to see of campaigning in China, although in 1257 his son, Uriyangkhadai, led an army into the country now known as Vietnam, and his grandson, Bayan, was to accomplish the destruction of the Southern Song in 1276.
Subadai's last and greatest campaign was the invasion of Russia and eastern Europe, described in detail above. Batu, son of Jochi, was the overall leader, but Subadai was the actual commander in the field, and as such was present in both the northern and southern campaigns against Russia and the Ukraine. He commanded the central column that moved against Hungary. While Kaidu's northern force won the battle of Leignitz and Kadan's army triumphed in Transylvania, Subadai was waiting for them on the Hungarian plain. The newly reunited army then withdrew to the Sajo river where they inflicted the tremendous defeat on King Bela IV at the battle of Mohi. Subadai masterminded the operation, and it was to prove one of his greatest victories.
The king had summoned a council of war at Gran, an important settlement on the south of the Danube bend upstream from Buda and Pest. As Batu was advancing on Hungary from the north-east it was decided to concentrate at Pest and then head north- east to confront the Mongol army. When news of the Hungarians' apparent intentions reached the Mongol commanders they slowly withdrew, drawing their enemies on. The Mongols took a stand near Eger to the east of the river Sajo, on a flat plain bounded to the north by the famous wine-growing area of Tokay. It was a strong position. Woodland prevented their ranks from being reconnoitred, while across the river on the plain of Mohi, the Hungarian army appeared to be very exposed.
Subadai launched the battle of Mohi during the night of 10-11 Apri11241, only one day after his compatriots had won the great battle of Leignitz. One division crossed the river in secret to advance on the Hungarian camp from the south-east. The main body began to cross the Sajo by the bridge at Mohi. This met with some resistance, so catapults were used to clear the opposite bank. When the crossing was completed the other contingent attacked at the same time. The result was panic, and to ensure that the Hungarians did not fight desperately to the last man the Mongols left an obvious gap in their encirclement. As they had planned, the fleeing Hungarians poured through this opened trap which led to a swampy area. When the Hungarian knights split up, the light Mongol archers picked them off at will and it was later noted that corpses littered the countryside for the space of a two days' journey. Two archbishops and three bishops were killed at the Sajo. By late 1241 Subadai was discussing plans to invade Austria, Italy and Germany, when the news came of the death of Ogodei Khan, and the Mongols withdrew.
With his return to Mongolia Subadai's name disappears from history. Perhaps he retired from active service, because we know he was dead by 1248. He remains one of Genghis Khan's most celebrated generals, and there is a statue of him in Ulan Bator, honouring a fine soldier and a loyal and honourable follower of the Mongol Khans.
Saddam Sounds Off: The Hulegu Speech
Full Text of Saddam Hussein's Speech
Baghdad, January 17, 2003
(Portions about Hulegu and the Mongols highlighted in Red, with Emphasis added.)
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful!
There are those who, on being told: 'Your enemy has mustered a great force against you and so fear them,' they grew more tenacious in their faith and replied: Allah's help is all -sufficient for us. He is the best Protector'. Thus they earned Allah's grace and bounty and no harm befell them. For they had striven to please Allah, whose, bounty is infinite. It is Satan that prompts men to fear his followers. But have no fear of them. Fear Me, if you are true believers. Do not grieve for those that quickly renounce their faith. They will not harm Allah in the least. He seeks to give them no share in the hereafter. Their punishment shall be terrible indeed.
God speaks the truth!
Great people in Iraq, the land of faith, Jihad, bravery and glory!
Brave members of the gallant armed forces!
Sons of our glorious Arab nation!
Men of goodwill in the world, wherever you are!
From the bright light of dawn, from the ray of sun which has risen after a long absence, from its horizon, from the lids of the eyes which were wounded by heavy tears for people, dear for all of us, who can no more be seen, but who can become visible with the new sun, and from the horizon which God has ordained to be vast, with a new birth and life in whose skies exist green birds and a strong newborn which God has decided to be faithful to its nation, from all this your glorious Revolution and march, a new Iraq, was born. Its faith has been increased and deepened after the Grand Confrontation on the night of 16/17 1991, the grand military phase of the eternal battle of Um Al-Maarik, by the flagrance of the generous blood, suffering and commendable patience.
A new Iraq was born with firm resolution, great power of vision and a heart, which has been increased in strength by a determination for ascent and for overcoming difficulties. It was firm in its love for its nation. Its faith, which God has given it and which the situation and banner was perfumed by generous blood from its sons, has been deepened by a scarifies which God has accepted in compensation for the negligence which took over those who ruled Baghdad, and therefore the foreigners with the horny feet of their horses, found their way towards it. The radiation of its eyes over the nation and humanity has set down, after the water of Tigris was dyed with plentiful blood along with the ink of its books which were filled with science and knowledge, and which were thrown into the water in the year 1258, as a punishment for a history whose soul departed its body and for a civilization whose faith and guards disappeared. Hence, the ravens croaked in it, showing impudence to its eyes through which humanity saw its way to raise in culture after it had played its role and into enlighten those who could see that and accepted from it as a means from God to them as a reward for its faith and fear.
The new Iraq was born on such a view, and was born with it, its rifle in place of the arrow, spear and sword, to be armed so that the ravens could not be so covetous as to venture its palms and the eyes of its children.
A strong, believing and healthy Iraq was born. But the birth, as all other births which came before it in the horizon of humanity and in our nation, was not able to render ineffectual the croak of ravens, nor the hissing of snakes or the crossing of far crocodiles from the seas of their family in order to help the beasts of earth in their attack against the sun, in a desperate hope to obscure its light which radiated from Baghdad or to shed the blood of its people in a fake hope and out of an imagination that the generous blood shed on the soil of Baghdad and on the soil of Iraq could hinder the plants and trees from becoming green, from blossoming and from carrying with its fragrance pollens which might tempt the appetite of butterflies, and thus be able to carry with the news of new faith and resolution, with the dew and tears, a pollen to every tree whose branches and leaves become dry or ceased to give fruits now that the water ceased to reach its roots and was confident that no one could take care of its fruits and guard its plants, trees and growth.
With the new birth, there was Satan and his companion, the lizards of this time, who spit out their fire on the healthy body. But, as the birth of Baghdad was now healthy and proper, blessed by heaven by order of its God, and that its guard were putting their hands on their rifles during the dawn prayer on the day of birth, with great confidence in their breasts, on the night of 16/17 January 1991 and afterwards, Baghdad, in the name of Iraq, kept defending itself along with every faithful valiant and noble woman in defense of the command which God has so decided to their new birth. Their will of determination never bent . They defeated all evil troops of more than thirty states together with those who supported them. The number of the army, which the jihadists in the Iraq army had confronted, mounted to twenty-eight. The state of Iraq stood in the face of the aggression of forty-two countries on the night of 16 / 17 January. The confrontation and the battle lasted for a month and a half with such momentum. Afterwards, the sanctions and aggression continued for thirteen years until the present day. Such was the defence of the Iraqis on that day and the days that followed. Others, in their turn, defended the seeds which they sowed and elevated what they had built, to the point that their fields were mixed with the spacious gardens. Plants covered the land of Iraq reminding of its past when the land of Iraq was described as the land of the black for the multitude of its plants which disappeared from Baghdad, its countryside and towns, until it appeared as if they did not exist before as one sign of its health. It had mixed with the lofty constructions, dear and visible, and was dominated by the high minarets, domes and signs of the houses of worship. And with every exaltation of "Allah is the greatest" on the battlefields, the same gratification rose high in the mosques together with the voices of worship in their places, each in accordance with his own religion and manner. A visitor could tell that he was in Baghdad even though his eyes were shut, in an attempt that a traveler could hardly recognize his feet on the map... Was there a place much better than Baghdad, where religions and racial tolerance together with constructive views being born, on the side and direction of every constructive thing of other views?
The new birth brought back once again the spirit of Baghdad, and with the birth a stand, a sword, a pen and a banner were born. The call of "Allah is the greatest" blessed the stand, the sword and the pen. The birth whose threats were knitted by the dawn and blessed by the call for prayer, was an impregnable birth to every malicious, perfidious and greedy...It could not deserve, nor could Allah and the people accept for it, but the life chosen for it by its pioneers after they asked the permission of their Lord, the Merciful. The scheming of the attackers backfired in that aggression and in the on-going aggression which they make longer to the present day. Everyone who tries to climb over its wall, be it an aggressor, an insolent, a wicked, a perfidious and an oppressor will fail in his attempt.
Is not this your description and position for the men of Iraq, the believer and loyal jihadists, and for the noble women as well? Or is there anyone who might delude himself into believing to say, after treading down his luck, that Saddam Hussein is speaking about his wishes and not about a description of a condition in which he lives and gets to know, with heart and soul, its comprehensive and detailed nature? By God, this is your description and attitude, or even a reward for your suffering, sacrifices, and patience, o brave men and women.. The evil ravens and evil crocodiles, still foster wickedness and would never cease their communication with their disappointed hopes, despite the fact that their deep wounds and disgrace can not be rubbed out with the passage of time. The lizards which breathed out fire on our lord, Ibrahim (peace be upon him), as is often related by people, still give birth and still assign for every birth the task of breathing out fire, out of their belief that they are capable of burning away, in defiance of God's will which He chose to be cool and safe.
Hence, with the flying banner, raise high your swords and rifles, oh our dear people, and remind anyone who may still be under a delusion, so that he might not be deluded of your stand in the Greatest March, on the day of the Grand Allegiance and in other attitudes, but if he does so, let your guns waiting in ambush for him, preceded and guided by the radiation and light of your faith necessary for safeguarding your eyes. This is because, if their ravens have a fancy and find no one to deter them, God forbid, then they would peck up the eyes and devour the hearts and brains of faith, virtue and innovation. Hold fast to your banner, the banner of ( Allah is the Greatest) there is nothing but it that can help motivate the resolution to rise and give to defence its profound connotation.
Say: God is the greatest, oh brothers and sons. Remember the meanings of this great call in accordance with the profundity of your faith, so that its echo, along with your words and support, could be sounded by all towns and rural areas, by mountains and by plains. And with the help of the waters of Tigris and Euphrates and the water of the Gulf, your voice can reach not only every brave man and woman in the land of faith and Jihad, but also every loyal man and woman in the nation, every fair-minded and everyone who has an honorable stance in humanity.
When birth is associated with a stance, a determination, a pen, a sword and a banner, then birth can assume its proper role in our nation, God willing.
When we say that history is tantamount to doctrine, and is remembered by those who inherit it with contemplation, consideration and responsibility, this is because everything right is born with it and from it, and becomes a new and constant history after it gives a new birth with each glory and construction. A firm belief is its safe foundation . It becomes a doctrine carried from the past, still possesses the condition of the true birth when so remembered by its sons with the responsibility of the present, and with the due ambition for the future.
Such was the labour of the past. From its womb it begets a doctrine; new in its spirit, in dress and colour and its special path ... And with the new doctrine, a strong flag-post and hand has been born bearing our pride and our guidance to faith: Allahu Akbar, to stand firm in the face of every violent wind, God willing, or evil attempt.
Yes, Allahu Akbar!
Allahu Akbar!
Brothers: The saying that (history repeats itself) means, among other things, that aspects of the past could be repeated though they assume the colours and names of their stages...They repeat themselves should they be re-analyzed, revived and dissolved into their primary elements and ingredients as to their strength and weakness, ascent and descent, climbing and falling into abyss, good and bad, climbing to peaks and falling into abyss, pursuit of good will and virtue against pursuit of evil and vice, those who hate people and bring harm to them against those who love people and work for their welfare, the destroyers and the constructors and the like in the series of the images and their contrasts, up and down, bad and good.
Yes, it is true that history repeats itself but not on the basis of an uncontested premise of the ability to go up, as compared with the past without faith, consciousness, attitude and determination, or to give up to a descent case, as compared with the past also, except when all its items in life, man and nature are repeated to the point that it can hardly be conceived. Yet, a conscientious faith in portraying of how the role of man can be effective and ascending, of how can that faith be maintained together with its factors and causes and how can one reject any condition that may have an adverse impact on the faith, of the role of the believing and vanguard man in it and in its movement, or the denouncing of all this, is the decisive case in which history may repeat itself in the same form, here and there, whether negatively or positively.
Baghdad in its known history , had played the role of the Arabs' and Muslims' pure eye. It was God's spear on earth, the Arabs' skull, the reservoir of their wisdom and glorious heritage, the focal point of their civilization and great radiation. That was with other supporting roles in other centres in conformity of what had happened in Baghdad or before that time. When the Mongols and Tatars reached the zenith of their strength and occupied China, India, Persia and other countries, they were unable to convert their ascent to strength by backwardness and destruction into a force capable of bringing construction, civilization and culture. The destroying force found its complex in Baghdad; the abode of civilization and peace, and made it its target for destruction which was rendered feeble because of the weakness of those who did not hold firm to the factors of ascent, its causes and results, and also of the weakness of its rulers and the betrayal of the traitors... Hulegu and his troops occupied Baghdad for forty days and destroyed every live thing in it. And because the people of Baghdad, I mean the rulers in it, were not quite prepared when the Mongols and Tatars invaded the territory of China, India, Persia and the surroundings, their invasion of Baghdad was in agreement of what history had described, and which later include Syria and the parts connected to it.
But Baghdad was not in a position to defend itself properly, and therefore the eyes of Hulegu's army were not gouged out on its walls nor was it extinguished in its face the venture of trespassing it, or even to deny it the chance of going ahead to others from the nation to attack them as it attacked Baghdad, till Hulegu's eyes were gouged out at the hands of the Mameluke dynasty in Egypt at the famous battle of ( Ain Jalut ),after they were able to get prepared for it and learnt lessons from the war before them and after Hulegu's intent and methods were revealed... History tells us that western peoples and circles had played, for their own reasons, a role in directing Hulegu to the east, indeed to the Arab world in particular. The Jews and their supporters played a remarkably malicious role against Baghdad in the past and this conspiratorial, aggressive and wicked role is today reverting to them, to the Zionist Jews and to the Zionists who are not of Jewish origin, particularly those who are in the US administration and around who stood in opposite front of our nation and Iraq. The force in America proved itself to be incapable of educating itself. It was not able to change itself into a capability, so that its impact would be humanitarian and instructive. Zionism and prejudicial people had pushed it to search for a role through a devastating brutal instinct instead of ascending to a position of responsible ability and to its civic, cultural role which suits this age and suits the role of balanced nations and their construction role in the collective milieu and work.
Yet, Baghdad today, brothers, has its eyes pure, its mind and conscious clear of any rust or cover, and are proud of the nation and for it, in the name of God, after they have put their trust in the Owner of Potency and gets prepared to the role.
Although some eyes and minds in our nation and humanity are still incapable of seeing or perceiving the pros and cons in the nation and humanity, the people and rulers of Baghdad have resolved to compel the Mongols of this age to commit suicide on its walls and make the confrontation, in terms of meaning and sacrifice, to rise to a level which could lead other eyes and minds to be wide open of what is going around it and get elevated to its role, and make the force which it possesses after or before anyone may take this risk and is deceived by its Satan to trespass the walls of Baghdad, to be effective in the human milieu, capable of converting it into an ascent force in the milieu of constructive competition and not a brute force based on brutal devastating instinct.
Acting upon this, brothers and friends in our nation and humanity, we give our promise and make the Capable and the Great, our witness for our promise.
And acting upon this also, we have prepared our plans and muster our strength at the level of armies, people and leadership after placing our reliance on God . All success is from God.
Allah is the greatest
Allah is the greatest
The rulers of Baghdad in the past grew old. They renounced the role so commanded for them by God and deterred those who were responsible for their subjects from introducing innovations in their life affairs and defence of it when Hulegu came to the walls of Baghdad in the year 1258. Thus Hulegu came with the sunset and the rule passed to him with Baghdad as its capital. The Mongols succeeded and the sun set down from Baghdad at that time.
But now, despite Hulegu's spirit has settled in whomsoever it has settled; in their actions, in what they did, or in what they are now doing, or in what they intend to do, of those who have been incited by the criminal Zionists in more than a place in the world, they have come to confront our nation at a time when the sons of our nation are embracing inside their souls and breasts, a great faith and a great state of consciousness of their role and of how it should be in order that they attain what it must be attained, and thus the nation could revert to its true belief, and could, with its Jihad and struggle, realize a true ascent to its great, faithful, pan-Arab and humanitarian role.
Hulegu's army has now come at this age to confront Baghdad after it has born anew with the sunrise, to record, with its new youth, a level of ascent which suits it well after it has abandoned its leading role for about seven hundred years.
O Iraqis, you have indeed brought the sun back to Baghdad, and have shined in it at the time the city has been illuminated by you. But oh, how can a new Hulegu destroy the city or the great Iraq, and how can the brutal, the perfidious and the greedy, after God has ordained this nation to rise again, defeat the will of determination of your brothers in Palestine as well or wherever the will of truth, steadfastness and resistance has ripened or blossomed in the breast of every believer who embraces a great confidence.
Oh people!
You know that the first human civilization in history was grown, blossomed and bore fruits in Iraq . From that civilization, the air carried its seeds to reach to whomever it could reach, who, according to his own personal opinion, added colour to it to suit his own country. For this reason, it is the mother of civilization of Iraq which Hulegu of this age wants to attack. So, tell him in a clear, loud voice, oh evil, halt your evil-doings against the mother of civilization, its museum and basic witness, the cradle and the birthplace of prophets and messengers. Tell him to let people, each in accordance with his human choice, to build, and to build and to build which is necessary for rising high the construction, for work, for fruitful cooperation and for the dissemination of love among people. Tell him to avoid provoking hatred and evil doings so that every one can enjoy his rights, full and complete, in such a manner that might please God and bring happiness for him in the two worlds.
Everyone in whose body the Hulegu's intent and action has settled down will commit suicide at the walls of Baghdad and Iraq towns, as was the case with those who died at the walls of Jenin and Palestinian towns.
The entire nation will rise up in defence of its right to life, of its role and of anything it holds sacred ... Their arrows will be on the wrong track or will recoil to their breasts, God willing, the martyrs of the nation will turn into green birds in paradise as the Merciful has promised.
Let evil be on he who thinks evil!
Long live our glorious nation!
Long live Iraq!
Long live Iraq with its brave jihadist army!
Long live Palestine, free and Arab from the sea to the river! Long live Palestine's freedom fighters and jihadists together with its heroic people!
Glory and heaven be for martyrs!
Glory and heaven be for the martyrs of Iraq, Palestine and the nation!
Allah is the greatest!
Allah is the greatest!
Allah is the greatest!
Source
Baghdad, January 17, 2003
(Portions about Hulegu and the Mongols highlighted in Red, with Emphasis added.)
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful!
There are those who, on being told: 'Your enemy has mustered a great force against you and so fear them,' they grew more tenacious in their faith and replied: Allah's help is all -sufficient for us. He is the best Protector'. Thus they earned Allah's grace and bounty and no harm befell them. For they had striven to please Allah, whose, bounty is infinite. It is Satan that prompts men to fear his followers. But have no fear of them. Fear Me, if you are true believers. Do not grieve for those that quickly renounce their faith. They will not harm Allah in the least. He seeks to give them no share in the hereafter. Their punishment shall be terrible indeed.
God speaks the truth!
Great people in Iraq, the land of faith, Jihad, bravery and glory!
Brave members of the gallant armed forces!
Sons of our glorious Arab nation!
Men of goodwill in the world, wherever you are!
From the bright light of dawn, from the ray of sun which has risen after a long absence, from its horizon, from the lids of the eyes which were wounded by heavy tears for people, dear for all of us, who can no more be seen, but who can become visible with the new sun, and from the horizon which God has ordained to be vast, with a new birth and life in whose skies exist green birds and a strong newborn which God has decided to be faithful to its nation, from all this your glorious Revolution and march, a new Iraq, was born. Its faith has been increased and deepened after the Grand Confrontation on the night of 16/17 1991, the grand military phase of the eternal battle of Um Al-Maarik, by the flagrance of the generous blood, suffering and commendable patience.
A new Iraq was born with firm resolution, great power of vision and a heart, which has been increased in strength by a determination for ascent and for overcoming difficulties. It was firm in its love for its nation. Its faith, which God has given it and which the situation and banner was perfumed by generous blood from its sons, has been deepened by a scarifies which God has accepted in compensation for the negligence which took over those who ruled Baghdad, and therefore the foreigners with the horny feet of their horses, found their way towards it. The radiation of its eyes over the nation and humanity has set down, after the water of Tigris was dyed with plentiful blood along with the ink of its books which were filled with science and knowledge, and which were thrown into the water in the year 1258, as a punishment for a history whose soul departed its body and for a civilization whose faith and guards disappeared. Hence, the ravens croaked in it, showing impudence to its eyes through which humanity saw its way to raise in culture after it had played its role and into enlighten those who could see that and accepted from it as a means from God to them as a reward for its faith and fear.
The new Iraq was born on such a view, and was born with it, its rifle in place of the arrow, spear and sword, to be armed so that the ravens could not be so covetous as to venture its palms and the eyes of its children.
A strong, believing and healthy Iraq was born. But the birth, as all other births which came before it in the horizon of humanity and in our nation, was not able to render ineffectual the croak of ravens, nor the hissing of snakes or the crossing of far crocodiles from the seas of their family in order to help the beasts of earth in their attack against the sun, in a desperate hope to obscure its light which radiated from Baghdad or to shed the blood of its people in a fake hope and out of an imagination that the generous blood shed on the soil of Baghdad and on the soil of Iraq could hinder the plants and trees from becoming green, from blossoming and from carrying with its fragrance pollens which might tempt the appetite of butterflies, and thus be able to carry with the news of new faith and resolution, with the dew and tears, a pollen to every tree whose branches and leaves become dry or ceased to give fruits now that the water ceased to reach its roots and was confident that no one could take care of its fruits and guard its plants, trees and growth.
With the new birth, there was Satan and his companion, the lizards of this time, who spit out their fire on the healthy body. But, as the birth of Baghdad was now healthy and proper, blessed by heaven by order of its God, and that its guard were putting their hands on their rifles during the dawn prayer on the day of birth, with great confidence in their breasts, on the night of 16/17 January 1991 and afterwards, Baghdad, in the name of Iraq, kept defending itself along with every faithful valiant and noble woman in defense of the command which God has so decided to their new birth. Their will of determination never bent . They defeated all evil troops of more than thirty states together with those who supported them. The number of the army, which the jihadists in the Iraq army had confronted, mounted to twenty-eight. The state of Iraq stood in the face of the aggression of forty-two countries on the night of 16 / 17 January. The confrontation and the battle lasted for a month and a half with such momentum. Afterwards, the sanctions and aggression continued for thirteen years until the present day. Such was the defence of the Iraqis on that day and the days that followed. Others, in their turn, defended the seeds which they sowed and elevated what they had built, to the point that their fields were mixed with the spacious gardens. Plants covered the land of Iraq reminding of its past when the land of Iraq was described as the land of the black for the multitude of its plants which disappeared from Baghdad, its countryside and towns, until it appeared as if they did not exist before as one sign of its health. It had mixed with the lofty constructions, dear and visible, and was dominated by the high minarets, domes and signs of the houses of worship. And with every exaltation of "Allah is the greatest" on the battlefields, the same gratification rose high in the mosques together with the voices of worship in their places, each in accordance with his own religion and manner. A visitor could tell that he was in Baghdad even though his eyes were shut, in an attempt that a traveler could hardly recognize his feet on the map... Was there a place much better than Baghdad, where religions and racial tolerance together with constructive views being born, on the side and direction of every constructive thing of other views?
The new birth brought back once again the spirit of Baghdad, and with the birth a stand, a sword, a pen and a banner were born. The call of "Allah is the greatest" blessed the stand, the sword and the pen. The birth whose threats were knitted by the dawn and blessed by the call for prayer, was an impregnable birth to every malicious, perfidious and greedy...It could not deserve, nor could Allah and the people accept for it, but the life chosen for it by its pioneers after they asked the permission of their Lord, the Merciful. The scheming of the attackers backfired in that aggression and in the on-going aggression which they make longer to the present day. Everyone who tries to climb over its wall, be it an aggressor, an insolent, a wicked, a perfidious and an oppressor will fail in his attempt.
Is not this your description and position for the men of Iraq, the believer and loyal jihadists, and for the noble women as well? Or is there anyone who might delude himself into believing to say, after treading down his luck, that Saddam Hussein is speaking about his wishes and not about a description of a condition in which he lives and gets to know, with heart and soul, its comprehensive and detailed nature? By God, this is your description and attitude, or even a reward for your suffering, sacrifices, and patience, o brave men and women.. The evil ravens and evil crocodiles, still foster wickedness and would never cease their communication with their disappointed hopes, despite the fact that their deep wounds and disgrace can not be rubbed out with the passage of time. The lizards which breathed out fire on our lord, Ibrahim (peace be upon him), as is often related by people, still give birth and still assign for every birth the task of breathing out fire, out of their belief that they are capable of burning away, in defiance of God's will which He chose to be cool and safe.
Hence, with the flying banner, raise high your swords and rifles, oh our dear people, and remind anyone who may still be under a delusion, so that he might not be deluded of your stand in the Greatest March, on the day of the Grand Allegiance and in other attitudes, but if he does so, let your guns waiting in ambush for him, preceded and guided by the radiation and light of your faith necessary for safeguarding your eyes. This is because, if their ravens have a fancy and find no one to deter them, God forbid, then they would peck up the eyes and devour the hearts and brains of faith, virtue and innovation. Hold fast to your banner, the banner of ( Allah is the Greatest) there is nothing but it that can help motivate the resolution to rise and give to defence its profound connotation.
Say: God is the greatest, oh brothers and sons. Remember the meanings of this great call in accordance with the profundity of your faith, so that its echo, along with your words and support, could be sounded by all towns and rural areas, by mountains and by plains. And with the help of the waters of Tigris and Euphrates and the water of the Gulf, your voice can reach not only every brave man and woman in the land of faith and Jihad, but also every loyal man and woman in the nation, every fair-minded and everyone who has an honorable stance in humanity.
When birth is associated with a stance, a determination, a pen, a sword and a banner, then birth can assume its proper role in our nation, God willing.
When we say that history is tantamount to doctrine, and is remembered by those who inherit it with contemplation, consideration and responsibility, this is because everything right is born with it and from it, and becomes a new and constant history after it gives a new birth with each glory and construction. A firm belief is its safe foundation . It becomes a doctrine carried from the past, still possesses the condition of the true birth when so remembered by its sons with the responsibility of the present, and with the due ambition for the future.
Such was the labour of the past. From its womb it begets a doctrine; new in its spirit, in dress and colour and its special path ... And with the new doctrine, a strong flag-post and hand has been born bearing our pride and our guidance to faith: Allahu Akbar, to stand firm in the face of every violent wind, God willing, or evil attempt.
Yes, Allahu Akbar!
Allahu Akbar!
Brothers: The saying that (history repeats itself) means, among other things, that aspects of the past could be repeated though they assume the colours and names of their stages...They repeat themselves should they be re-analyzed, revived and dissolved into their primary elements and ingredients as to their strength and weakness, ascent and descent, climbing and falling into abyss, good and bad, climbing to peaks and falling into abyss, pursuit of good will and virtue against pursuit of evil and vice, those who hate people and bring harm to them against those who love people and work for their welfare, the destroyers and the constructors and the like in the series of the images and their contrasts, up and down, bad and good.
Yes, it is true that history repeats itself but not on the basis of an uncontested premise of the ability to go up, as compared with the past without faith, consciousness, attitude and determination, or to give up to a descent case, as compared with the past also, except when all its items in life, man and nature are repeated to the point that it can hardly be conceived. Yet, a conscientious faith in portraying of how the role of man can be effective and ascending, of how can that faith be maintained together with its factors and causes and how can one reject any condition that may have an adverse impact on the faith, of the role of the believing and vanguard man in it and in its movement, or the denouncing of all this, is the decisive case in which history may repeat itself in the same form, here and there, whether negatively or positively.
Baghdad in its known history , had played the role of the Arabs' and Muslims' pure eye. It was God's spear on earth, the Arabs' skull, the reservoir of their wisdom and glorious heritage, the focal point of their civilization and great radiation. That was with other supporting roles in other centres in conformity of what had happened in Baghdad or before that time. When the Mongols and Tatars reached the zenith of their strength and occupied China, India, Persia and other countries, they were unable to convert their ascent to strength by backwardness and destruction into a force capable of bringing construction, civilization and culture. The destroying force found its complex in Baghdad; the abode of civilization and peace, and made it its target for destruction which was rendered feeble because of the weakness of those who did not hold firm to the factors of ascent, its causes and results, and also of the weakness of its rulers and the betrayal of the traitors... Hulegu and his troops occupied Baghdad for forty days and destroyed every live thing in it. And because the people of Baghdad, I mean the rulers in it, were not quite prepared when the Mongols and Tatars invaded the territory of China, India, Persia and the surroundings, their invasion of Baghdad was in agreement of what history had described, and which later include Syria and the parts connected to it.
But Baghdad was not in a position to defend itself properly, and therefore the eyes of Hulegu's army were not gouged out on its walls nor was it extinguished in its face the venture of trespassing it, or even to deny it the chance of going ahead to others from the nation to attack them as it attacked Baghdad, till Hulegu's eyes were gouged out at the hands of the Mameluke dynasty in Egypt at the famous battle of ( Ain Jalut ),after they were able to get prepared for it and learnt lessons from the war before them and after Hulegu's intent and methods were revealed... History tells us that western peoples and circles had played, for their own reasons, a role in directing Hulegu to the east, indeed to the Arab world in particular. The Jews and their supporters played a remarkably malicious role against Baghdad in the past and this conspiratorial, aggressive and wicked role is today reverting to them, to the Zionist Jews and to the Zionists who are not of Jewish origin, particularly those who are in the US administration and around who stood in opposite front of our nation and Iraq. The force in America proved itself to be incapable of educating itself. It was not able to change itself into a capability, so that its impact would be humanitarian and instructive. Zionism and prejudicial people had pushed it to search for a role through a devastating brutal instinct instead of ascending to a position of responsible ability and to its civic, cultural role which suits this age and suits the role of balanced nations and their construction role in the collective milieu and work.
Yet, Baghdad today, brothers, has its eyes pure, its mind and conscious clear of any rust or cover, and are proud of the nation and for it, in the name of God, after they have put their trust in the Owner of Potency and gets prepared to the role.
Although some eyes and minds in our nation and humanity are still incapable of seeing or perceiving the pros and cons in the nation and humanity, the people and rulers of Baghdad have resolved to compel the Mongols of this age to commit suicide on its walls and make the confrontation, in terms of meaning and sacrifice, to rise to a level which could lead other eyes and minds to be wide open of what is going around it and get elevated to its role, and make the force which it possesses after or before anyone may take this risk and is deceived by its Satan to trespass the walls of Baghdad, to be effective in the human milieu, capable of converting it into an ascent force in the milieu of constructive competition and not a brute force based on brutal devastating instinct.
Acting upon this, brothers and friends in our nation and humanity, we give our promise and make the Capable and the Great, our witness for our promise.
And acting upon this also, we have prepared our plans and muster our strength at the level of armies, people and leadership after placing our reliance on God . All success is from God.
Allah is the greatest
Allah is the greatest
The rulers of Baghdad in the past grew old. They renounced the role so commanded for them by God and deterred those who were responsible for their subjects from introducing innovations in their life affairs and defence of it when Hulegu came to the walls of Baghdad in the year 1258. Thus Hulegu came with the sunset and the rule passed to him with Baghdad as its capital. The Mongols succeeded and the sun set down from Baghdad at that time.
But now, despite Hulegu's spirit has settled in whomsoever it has settled; in their actions, in what they did, or in what they are now doing, or in what they intend to do, of those who have been incited by the criminal Zionists in more than a place in the world, they have come to confront our nation at a time when the sons of our nation are embracing inside their souls and breasts, a great faith and a great state of consciousness of their role and of how it should be in order that they attain what it must be attained, and thus the nation could revert to its true belief, and could, with its Jihad and struggle, realize a true ascent to its great, faithful, pan-Arab and humanitarian role.
Hulegu's army has now come at this age to confront Baghdad after it has born anew with the sunrise, to record, with its new youth, a level of ascent which suits it well after it has abandoned its leading role for about seven hundred years.
O Iraqis, you have indeed brought the sun back to Baghdad, and have shined in it at the time the city has been illuminated by you. But oh, how can a new Hulegu destroy the city or the great Iraq, and how can the brutal, the perfidious and the greedy, after God has ordained this nation to rise again, defeat the will of determination of your brothers in Palestine as well or wherever the will of truth, steadfastness and resistance has ripened or blossomed in the breast of every believer who embraces a great confidence.
Oh people!
You know that the first human civilization in history was grown, blossomed and bore fruits in Iraq . From that civilization, the air carried its seeds to reach to whomever it could reach, who, according to his own personal opinion, added colour to it to suit his own country. For this reason, it is the mother of civilization of Iraq which Hulegu of this age wants to attack. So, tell him in a clear, loud voice, oh evil, halt your evil-doings against the mother of civilization, its museum and basic witness, the cradle and the birthplace of prophets and messengers. Tell him to let people, each in accordance with his human choice, to build, and to build and to build which is necessary for rising high the construction, for work, for fruitful cooperation and for the dissemination of love among people. Tell him to avoid provoking hatred and evil doings so that every one can enjoy his rights, full and complete, in such a manner that might please God and bring happiness for him in the two worlds.
Everyone in whose body the Hulegu's intent and action has settled down will commit suicide at the walls of Baghdad and Iraq towns, as was the case with those who died at the walls of Jenin and Palestinian towns.
The entire nation will rise up in defence of its right to life, of its role and of anything it holds sacred ... Their arrows will be on the wrong track or will recoil to their breasts, God willing, the martyrs of the nation will turn into green birds in paradise as the Merciful has promised.
Let evil be on he who thinks evil!
Long live our glorious nation!
Long live Iraq!
Long live Iraq with its brave jihadist army!
Long live Palestine, free and Arab from the sea to the river! Long live Palestine's freedom fighters and jihadists together with its heroic people!
Glory and heaven be for martyrs!
Glory and heaven be for the martyrs of Iraq, Palestine and the nation!
Allah is the greatest!
Allah is the greatest!
Allah is the greatest!
Source
MODELS PREDICTOR: PROBLEMS OF DEVELOPMENT AND ADEQUACY
Introduction
Nobody will disbelieve, but the epoch of the mass personal prognostication by mathematical models only begins and unknown, as it will cut (perekalechit) again the world. It is possible to begin Maja calendar, models for prognostication of eclipses, waves. And who knows today, how scientific prognostication of weather began – in the civilized society then talks about and weather were ahead of policy, economy, and who_with_whom. Today all of progressive humanity (PH) uses weather forecasts, and only insignificant part of PH knows about the mathematical models of prognostication of weather.
To attention of romanticies. As that one time one of authors in the field not far away saw a rainbow, walked up and saw: from the back of rainbow - only dampness. Rainbow it is position with which you look at the World.
Many topically tasks of prognostication at engineering approach (constructing of models) are taken to the conservative calculations. In this article three examples of models predictors are presented.
It seems to us that the «romantic» (where all incomprehensible) tasks of prognos-tication will disappear never. And even searching them is not necessary - they will get you.
Modest tasks are put in this article: you want to do and sell wooden stools (today here dominant influence of poisonous plastic and sawdusts) or at to purchase another aluminium factory and want to know business prospects.
By the way, in these examples scales of tasks different, and one essence – a model is needed for Your Task. We suppose that the use of model-predictor will be promoted by efficiency of activity of user.
We will begin presentation of the supposed «hybrid intellect» - man and models predictor with visual. In former epoches friend №1 of the man there was a horse, and frend #2 it is a dog.
Hybrid systems «rider-horse» gave elevating a mind and acceleration
A “horse-горбунок” («Конёк-Горбунок» re-read?) fastened the tendency of evolution of myths: magic horse became all less than and all more clever – all the same people became less than to militate. you will look, what little horse drives such large Ivan-fool (picture on the left). Last of peat-time of evolution horse in the pocket of overcoat (picture on the right).
The last picture was done a long ago and so: to the American humour («secret adviser», picture from ancient Word) added the pair of strokes - got a «slavonic» variant.
Another fairy-tale characteristic is been a materials of the article - they are dangerous for people with high education, status and scientific achievements: can on him "svikhnut'sya" (= свихнуться).
Those, who suppose prognostication top magic or top mathematics, firmly will be disappointed - in the presented examples in some program some entrance information is entered and some processes settle accounts the program from the set initial state to optimum eventual.
Yet more sorrowful conclusion for statistical forecast - it is necessary not to catch and to guess, but create chances - to search prognostication of strategy of success and safety for an object . Such approach can be named "by active prognostication". In "applied" biznes-literature meets necessarily : not "optimize, that have, search new directions", not catch chances, but create them" ....
Ideal prediktor is "goldfish" - that for it will inquire, it will realize. It is translated into the language of practical idealism so: we search. we construct the model of the desired state, and then will realize him . But it rather for the "leaders of world proletariat".
In this article do we try to transform the model tasks of prognostication in the conservative tasks of class "when will a next eclipse be in my garden?".
But it is "Impossible to win and large victory at once - all must develop gradually" (Ya. Gashek Adventures of gallant soldier Shveyk). In folklor becomes firmly established done "quickly , and not quickly and fairy-tale tells soon ".
We will consider problems and tasks of prognostication step by step, translating them, on possibility in and category "Prognosis of sun eclipses", or, even, in and category weather "forecast ".
continue reading...
Nobody will disbelieve, but the epoch of the mass personal prognostication by mathematical models only begins and unknown, as it will cut (perekalechit) again the world. It is possible to begin Maja calendar, models for prognostication of eclipses, waves. And who knows today, how scientific prognostication of weather began – in the civilized society then talks about and weather were ahead of policy, economy, and who_with_whom. Today all of progressive humanity (PH) uses weather forecasts, and only insignificant part of PH knows about the mathematical models of prognostication of weather.
To attention of romanticies. As that one time one of authors in the field not far away saw a rainbow, walked up and saw: from the back of rainbow - only dampness. Rainbow it is position with which you look at the World.
Many topically tasks of prognostication at engineering approach (constructing of models) are taken to the conservative calculations. In this article three examples of models predictors are presented.
It seems to us that the «romantic» (where all incomprehensible) tasks of prognos-tication will disappear never. And even searching them is not necessary - they will get you.
Modest tasks are put in this article: you want to do and sell wooden stools (today here dominant influence of poisonous plastic and sawdusts) or at to purchase another aluminium factory and want to know business prospects.
By the way, in these examples scales of tasks different, and one essence – a model is needed for Your Task. We suppose that the use of model-predictor will be promoted by efficiency of activity of user.
We will begin presentation of the supposed «hybrid intellect» - man and models predictor with visual. In former epoches friend №1 of the man there was a horse, and frend #2 it is a dog.
Hybrid systems «rider-horse» gave elevating a mind and acceleration
So in dreams, and so in reality
Naturally, on this theme created the masses of myths and fairy-tales.
A “horse-горбунок” («Конёк-Горбунок» re-read?) fastened the tendency of evolution of myths: magic horse became all less than and all more clever – all the same people became less than to militate. you will look, what little horse drives such large Ivan-fool (picture on the left). Last of peat-time of evolution horse in the pocket of overcoat (picture on the right).
So in fairy-tales, and so along life
The last picture was done a long ago and so: to the American humour («secret adviser», picture from ancient Word) added the pair of strokes - got a «slavonic» variant.
Another fairy-tale characteristic is been a materials of the article - they are dangerous for people with high education, status and scientific achievements: can on him "svikhnut'sya" (= свихнуться).
Those, who suppose prognostication top magic or top mathematics, firmly will be disappointed - in the presented examples in some program some entrance information is entered and some processes settle accounts the program from the set initial state to optimum eventual.
Yet more sorrowful conclusion for statistical forecast - it is necessary not to catch and to guess, but create chances - to search prognostication of strategy of success and safety for an object . Such approach can be named "by active prognostication". In "applied" biznes-literature meets necessarily : not "optimize, that have, search new directions", not catch chances, but create them" ....
Ideal prediktor is "goldfish" - that for it will inquire, it will realize. It is translated into the language of practical idealism so: we search. we construct the model of the desired state, and then will realize him . But it rather for the "leaders of world proletariat".
In this article do we try to transform the model tasks of prognostication in the conservative tasks of class "when will a next eclipse be in my garden?".
But it is "Impossible to win and large victory at once - all must develop gradually" (Ya. Gashek Adventures of gallant soldier Shveyk). In folklor becomes firmly established done "quickly , and not quickly and fairy-tale tells soon ".
We will consider problems and tasks of prognostication step by step, translating them, on possibility in and category "Prognosis of sun eclipses", or, even, in and category weather "forecast ".
continue reading...
Monday, February 14, 2011
World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse
Our market-based global economy as currently managed is in trouble. The market does many things well. It allocates resources with an efficiency that no central planner could even imagine, much less achieve. But as the world economy expanded some 20-fold over the last century it has revealed a flaw— a flaw so serious that if it is not corrected it will spell the end of civilization as we know it.
The market, which sets prices, is not telling us the truth. It is omitting indirect costs that in some cases now dwarf direct costs. Consider gasoline. Pumping oil, refining it into gasoline, and delivering the gas to U.S. service stations may cost, say, $3 per gallon. The indirect costs, including climate change, treatment of respiratory illnesses, oil spills, and the U.S. military presence in the Middle East to ensure access to the oil, total $12 per gallon. Similar calculations can be done for coal.
We delude ourselves with our accounting system. Leaving such huge costs off the books is a formula for bankruptcy. Environmental trends are the lead indicators telling us what lies ahead for the economy and ultimately for society itself. Falling water tables today signal rising food prices tomorrow. Shrinking polar ice sheets are a prelude to falling coastal real estate values.
Beyond this, mainstream economics pays little attention to the sustainable yield thresholds of the earth’s natural systems. Modern economic thinking and policymaking have created an economy that is so out of sync with the ecosystem on which it depends that it is approaching collapse. How can we assume that the growth of an economic system that is shrinking the earth’s forests, eroding its soils, depleting its aquifers, collapsing its fisheries, elevating its temperature, and melting its ice sheets can simply be projected into the long-term future? What is the intellectual process underpinning these extrapolations?
We are facing a situation in economics today similar to that in astronomy when Copernicus arrived on the scene, a time when it was believed that the sun revolved around the earth. Just as Copernicus had to formulate a new astronomical worldview after several decades of celestial observations and mathematical calculations, we too must formulate a new economic worldview based on several decades of environmental observations and analyses.
The archeological record indicates that civilizational collapse does not come suddenly out of the blue. Archeologists analyzing earlier civilizations talk about a decline-and-collapse scenario. Economic and social collapse was almost always preceded by a period of environmental decline.
For past civilizations it was sometimes a single environmental trend that was primarily responsible for their decline. Sometimes it was multiple trends. For Sumer, it was rising salt concentrations in the soil as a result of an environmental flaw in the design of their otherwise extraordinary irrigation system. After a point, the salts accumulating in the soil led to a decline in wheat yields. The Sumerians then shifted to barley, a more salt-tolerant crop. But eventually barley yields also began to decline. The collapse of the civilization followed.
Archeologist Robert McC. Adams describes the site of the ancient Sumerian civilization on the central floodplain of the Euphrates River in what is now Iraq as an empty, desolate area now outside the frontiers of cultivation. He says, “Vegetation is sparse, and in many areas it is almost wholly absent….Yet at one time, here lay the core, the heartland, the oldest urban, literate civilization in the world.”
For the Mayans, it was deforestation and soil erosion. As more and more land was cleared for farming to support the expanding empire, soil erosion undermined the productivity of their tropical soils. A team of scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has noted that the extensive land clearing by the Mayans likely also altered the regional climate, reducing rainfall. In effect, the scientists suggest, it was the convergence of several environmental trends, some reinforcing others, that led to the food shortages that brought down the Mayan civilization.
Although we live in a highly urbanized, technologically advanced society, we are as dependent on the earth’s natural support systems as the Sumerians and Mayans were. If we continue with business as usual, civilizational collapse is no longer a matter of whether but when. We now have an economy that is destroying its natural support systems, one that has put us on a decline and collapse path. We are dangerously close to the edge. Peter Goldmark, former Rockefeller Foundation president, puts it well: “The death of our civilization is no longer a theory or an academic possibility; it is the road we’re on.”
Among other things, the situation in which we find ourselves pushes us to redefine security in twenty-first century terms. The time when military forces were the prime threat to security has faded into the past. The threats now are climate volatility, spreading water shortages, continuing population growth, spreading hunger, and failing states. The challenge is to devise new fiscal priorities that match these new security threats.
We are facing issues of near-overwhelming complexity and unprecedented urgency. Can we think systemically and fashion policies accordingly? Can we move fast enough to avoid economic decline and collapse? Can we change direction before we go over the edge?
We are in a race between natural and political tipping points, but we do not know exactly where nature’s tipping points are. Nature determines these. Nature is the timekeeper, but we cannot see the clock.
The notion that our civilization is approaching its demise if we continue with business as usual is not an easy concept to grasp or accept. It is difficult to imagine something we have not previously experienced. We hardly have even the vocabulary, much less the experience, to discuss this prospect.
One thing is certain—we are facing greater change than any generation in history. What is not clear is the source of this change. Will we stay with business as usual and enter a period of economic decline and spreading chaos? Or will we quickly reorder priorities, acting at wartime speed to move the world onto an economic path that can sustain civilization?
Source: http://www.earth-policy.org/books/wote
The market, which sets prices, is not telling us the truth. It is omitting indirect costs that in some cases now dwarf direct costs. Consider gasoline. Pumping oil, refining it into gasoline, and delivering the gas to U.S. service stations may cost, say, $3 per gallon. The indirect costs, including climate change, treatment of respiratory illnesses, oil spills, and the U.S. military presence in the Middle East to ensure access to the oil, total $12 per gallon. Similar calculations can be done for coal.
We delude ourselves with our accounting system. Leaving such huge costs off the books is a formula for bankruptcy. Environmental trends are the lead indicators telling us what lies ahead for the economy and ultimately for society itself. Falling water tables today signal rising food prices tomorrow. Shrinking polar ice sheets are a prelude to falling coastal real estate values.
Beyond this, mainstream economics pays little attention to the sustainable yield thresholds of the earth’s natural systems. Modern economic thinking and policymaking have created an economy that is so out of sync with the ecosystem on which it depends that it is approaching collapse. How can we assume that the growth of an economic system that is shrinking the earth’s forests, eroding its soils, depleting its aquifers, collapsing its fisheries, elevating its temperature, and melting its ice sheets can simply be projected into the long-term future? What is the intellectual process underpinning these extrapolations?
We are facing a situation in economics today similar to that in astronomy when Copernicus arrived on the scene, a time when it was believed that the sun revolved around the earth. Just as Copernicus had to formulate a new astronomical worldview after several decades of celestial observations and mathematical calculations, we too must formulate a new economic worldview based on several decades of environmental observations and analyses.
The archeological record indicates that civilizational collapse does not come suddenly out of the blue. Archeologists analyzing earlier civilizations talk about a decline-and-collapse scenario. Economic and social collapse was almost always preceded by a period of environmental decline.
For past civilizations it was sometimes a single environmental trend that was primarily responsible for their decline. Sometimes it was multiple trends. For Sumer, it was rising salt concentrations in the soil as a result of an environmental flaw in the design of their otherwise extraordinary irrigation system. After a point, the salts accumulating in the soil led to a decline in wheat yields. The Sumerians then shifted to barley, a more salt-tolerant crop. But eventually barley yields also began to decline. The collapse of the civilization followed.
Archeologist Robert McC. Adams describes the site of the ancient Sumerian civilization on the central floodplain of the Euphrates River in what is now Iraq as an empty, desolate area now outside the frontiers of cultivation. He says, “Vegetation is sparse, and in many areas it is almost wholly absent….Yet at one time, here lay the core, the heartland, the oldest urban, literate civilization in the world.”
For the Mayans, it was deforestation and soil erosion. As more and more land was cleared for farming to support the expanding empire, soil erosion undermined the productivity of their tropical soils. A team of scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has noted that the extensive land clearing by the Mayans likely also altered the regional climate, reducing rainfall. In effect, the scientists suggest, it was the convergence of several environmental trends, some reinforcing others, that led to the food shortages that brought down the Mayan civilization.
Although we live in a highly urbanized, technologically advanced society, we are as dependent on the earth’s natural support systems as the Sumerians and Mayans were. If we continue with business as usual, civilizational collapse is no longer a matter of whether but when. We now have an economy that is destroying its natural support systems, one that has put us on a decline and collapse path. We are dangerously close to the edge. Peter Goldmark, former Rockefeller Foundation president, puts it well: “The death of our civilization is no longer a theory or an academic possibility; it is the road we’re on.”
Among other things, the situation in which we find ourselves pushes us to redefine security in twenty-first century terms. The time when military forces were the prime threat to security has faded into the past. The threats now are climate volatility, spreading water shortages, continuing population growth, spreading hunger, and failing states. The challenge is to devise new fiscal priorities that match these new security threats.
We are facing issues of near-overwhelming complexity and unprecedented urgency. Can we think systemically and fashion policies accordingly? Can we move fast enough to avoid economic decline and collapse? Can we change direction before we go over the edge?
We are in a race between natural and political tipping points, but we do not know exactly where nature’s tipping points are. Nature determines these. Nature is the timekeeper, but we cannot see the clock.
The notion that our civilization is approaching its demise if we continue with business as usual is not an easy concept to grasp or accept. It is difficult to imagine something we have not previously experienced. We hardly have even the vocabulary, much less the experience, to discuss this prospect.
One thing is certain—we are facing greater change than any generation in history. What is not clear is the source of this change. Will we stay with business as usual and enter a period of economic decline and spreading chaos? Or will we quickly reorder priorities, acting at wartime speed to move the world onto an economic path that can sustain civilization?
Source: http://www.earth-policy.org/books/wote
Sunday, February 13, 2011
The Mongol Crusaders - The Great khan Mongke
The next Khakhan, Mongke, was elected in 1251. Upon begin crowned Khakhan, Mognke announced his ambitions to continue the line of conquests that was halted during Guyuk's reign. The first was to conquer the Song (Sung) Empire, the last of the three pre Chingis Empires in "China" free from Mongol control. This and the long series of campaigns against the Song will be examined later. His other motive was to destroy the presence of the Assasins (Ismailis), who have been threatening the governors of the western provinces, and bring the Abbasid Caliph into submission. Thus, this campaign would travel through Persia and into Mesopotamia and towards the Middle East.
The Mongols had seen a limited incursion into the Middle East when Baiju conquered the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum in 1243. However, further campaigns into Baghdad were canceled at that time due to the instability of the newly acquired Asia Minor and the political troubles in Karakorum. Mongke's proposed expedition, however, was planned to be a great one, and indeed it would live up to its name. While Mongke Khan was to personally lead the attack against the Song, he entrusted his brother, Hulegu, to lead the Mongol "Crusade."
Hulegu's "Crusade"
In 1253, Hulegu departed from Mongolia to begin the largest operation since Batu's invasion of Russia. It was also the most advanced Mongol army yet to campaign, with the latest in world siege weapon technology, and a group of experienced lieutenants. Hulegu's expedition attracted great enthusiasm among Christian communities, including a number of Georgian and Alan volunteers. Hulegu's army marched slowly compared to Mongol standards, taking three years to finally reach Persia. He made his way into Khurasan (region in Persia), annexing the local dynasty in the area. The first of the primary objectives was completed with the capture of the Assassins' (the Hashashins) fortress of Gerdkuh on the south side of the Caspian Sea. Hulegu then advanced west and captured Alamut, forcing the Assassins' Grand Master to surrender.
After the capture of Alamut, Hulegu marched toward the grand prize of Baghdad. The Caliph of Baghdad happened to be an incompetent military commander, one foolishly ignorant of the Mongol threat. When the Caliph decided to prepare for a siege, Hulegu was already closing in. Upon his arrival, a force of 20,000 cavalrymen rode out to confront the Mongols. This force was easily defeated, making the siege inevitable. Baghdad held out for a week until its east walls were breached. On February 13, 1258, the city surrendered and a devastating slaughtered ensued. The treasure was looted, the magnificent mosques were destroyed, and the populated was massacred. (An interesting thing is that all the Christian inhabitants in the city were spared.) Accounts claim a slaughter of 800,000 men. This may have been an exaggeration, as the city was later revitalized to an extent. However, there is no doubt that the greatest city in the Middle East had forever lost its glory and that there is no doubt the fall of Baghdad was one of the greatest blows to Islam.
Egypt is saved
Hulegu then withdrew almost his entire army except a minor force of 15,000 men to his general Kedburka to keep an eye on the horizon. Meanwhile, the Mameluks were expecting the full fury of the Mongols, and gathered a large force of 120,000 men. But Hulegu had already withdrawn. Thus, the Mameluks only met Kedburka's 25,000 (15,000 Mongols and 10,000 allies) men at Ain Jalut. The heavily outnumbered Mongols lost in a battle that has traditionally been exaggerated symbolize the dramatic halt of Mongol expansion. In truth, it was the death of Mongke Khan that really saved Egypt, much like how the death of Ogedei Khan saved Europe.
Mongke's death, Civil war and Kublai Khan
The death of Mongke Khan in 1259 was a significant turning point in the history of the empire. In the West, it meant that Hulegu's campaign was at an end. The political envoironment in the East became unstable, and thus, Hulegu had to settle down to claim his land. Hulegu Khanate in Persia became known as the Il-Khanate. However, there was even more problems. Hulegu's campaing agaisnt the Caliph bitterly angered the Muslim Khan Berke of the Golden Horde. With throne of the Great Khan in vacancy, unable to regulate peace, civil war erupted between Berke and Hulegu. Interestingly, this civil war also forced Berke to abandon his plans to ravage Europe once more.
In the East, two brothers competed fiercely for the throne of the Great Khan. One year after Mongke Khan's death in 1259, Kubilai Khan was elected Khakhan in a Khuriltai. Shortly later, his brother, Ariq Boke, was also elected Khakhan at a rivaling Khuriltai. The civil war lasted until 1264 (parallel to the civil war in the west), when Kubilai was victorious over Ariq Boke, thus becoming the undisputed Khakhan. This civil war had an implied meaning. During the war, Kublai Khan based himself in China while Ariq Boke based himself in Karakorum. Kublai Khan's victory implied that China was becoming more over important to the Empire than Mongolia, symbolizing the sinification of the Mongols in the East.
To the Empire as a whole, these years of the civil war meant an end to cohesion. A bitter divide now existed in the west, and the in the East, the Great Khan became only interested in China. Thus, one may argue that the death of Mongke Khan in 1259 meant the end of the "Mongol Empire", (although the Mongol Empires would continue to thrive invidually). However, because Kublai Khan later became so great of a ruler, some prefer to have the timeframe of the "Mongol Empire" inclusive until the end of Kublai's Reign, who did hold nominal power over the other Khanatse.
Source: The Mongol Empire
Related articles:
The Mongols had seen a limited incursion into the Middle East when Baiju conquered the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum in 1243. However, further campaigns into Baghdad were canceled at that time due to the instability of the newly acquired Asia Minor and the political troubles in Karakorum. Mongke's proposed expedition, however, was planned to be a great one, and indeed it would live up to its name. While Mongke Khan was to personally lead the attack against the Song, he entrusted his brother, Hulegu, to lead the Mongol "Crusade."
Hulegu's "Crusade"
In 1253, Hulegu departed from Mongolia to begin the largest operation since Batu's invasion of Russia. It was also the most advanced Mongol army yet to campaign, with the latest in world siege weapon technology, and a group of experienced lieutenants. Hulegu's expedition attracted great enthusiasm among Christian communities, including a number of Georgian and Alan volunteers. Hulegu's army marched slowly compared to Mongol standards, taking three years to finally reach Persia. He made his way into Khurasan (region in Persia), annexing the local dynasty in the area. The first of the primary objectives was completed with the capture of the Assassins' (the Hashashins) fortress of Gerdkuh on the south side of the Caspian Sea. Hulegu then advanced west and captured Alamut, forcing the Assassins' Grand Master to surrender.
After the capture of Alamut, Hulegu marched toward the grand prize of Baghdad. The Caliph of Baghdad happened to be an incompetent military commander, one foolishly ignorant of the Mongol threat. When the Caliph decided to prepare for a siege, Hulegu was already closing in. Upon his arrival, a force of 20,000 cavalrymen rode out to confront the Mongols. This force was easily defeated, making the siege inevitable. Baghdad held out for a week until its east walls were breached. On February 13, 1258, the city surrendered and a devastating slaughtered ensued. The treasure was looted, the magnificent mosques were destroyed, and the populated was massacred. (An interesting thing is that all the Christian inhabitants in the city were spared.) Accounts claim a slaughter of 800,000 men. This may have been an exaggeration, as the city was later revitalized to an extent. However, there is no doubt that the greatest city in the Middle East had forever lost its glory and that there is no doubt the fall of Baghdad was one of the greatest blows to Islam.
Egypt is saved
Hulegu then withdrew almost his entire army except a minor force of 15,000 men to his general Kedburka to keep an eye on the horizon. Meanwhile, the Mameluks were expecting the full fury of the Mongols, and gathered a large force of 120,000 men. But Hulegu had already withdrawn. Thus, the Mameluks only met Kedburka's 25,000 (15,000 Mongols and 10,000 allies) men at Ain Jalut. The heavily outnumbered Mongols lost in a battle that has traditionally been exaggerated symbolize the dramatic halt of Mongol expansion. In truth, it was the death of Mongke Khan that really saved Egypt, much like how the death of Ogedei Khan saved Europe.
Mongke's death, Civil war and Kublai Khan
The death of Mongke Khan in 1259 was a significant turning point in the history of the empire. In the West, it meant that Hulegu's campaign was at an end. The political envoironment in the East became unstable, and thus, Hulegu had to settle down to claim his land. Hulegu Khanate in Persia became known as the Il-Khanate. However, there was even more problems. Hulegu's campaing agaisnt the Caliph bitterly angered the Muslim Khan Berke of the Golden Horde. With throne of the Great Khan in vacancy, unable to regulate peace, civil war erupted between Berke and Hulegu. Interestingly, this civil war also forced Berke to abandon his plans to ravage Europe once more.
In the East, two brothers competed fiercely for the throne of the Great Khan. One year after Mongke Khan's death in 1259, Kubilai Khan was elected Khakhan in a Khuriltai. Shortly later, his brother, Ariq Boke, was also elected Khakhan at a rivaling Khuriltai. The civil war lasted until 1264 (parallel to the civil war in the west), when Kubilai was victorious over Ariq Boke, thus becoming the undisputed Khakhan. This civil war had an implied meaning. During the war, Kublai Khan based himself in China while Ariq Boke based himself in Karakorum. Kublai Khan's victory implied that China was becoming more over important to the Empire than Mongolia, symbolizing the sinification of the Mongols in the East.
To the Empire as a whole, these years of the civil war meant an end to cohesion. A bitter divide now existed in the west, and the in the East, the Great Khan became only interested in China. Thus, one may argue that the death of Mongke Khan in 1259 meant the end of the "Mongol Empire", (although the Mongol Empires would continue to thrive invidually). However, because Kublai Khan later became so great of a ruler, some prefer to have the timeframe of the "Mongol Empire" inclusive until the end of Kublai's Reign, who did hold nominal power over the other Khanatse.
Source: The Mongol Empire
Related articles:
Saturday, February 12, 2011
KOZAK-MAMAI (MAMAI THE COSSACK)
"Ancient Symbolism of Kozak-Mamai Image"
By Tetyana Poshyvaylo-Marchenko, Art Historian,
Deputy Curator of Ivan Honchar Museum, Kyiv, Ukraine
Kozak-Mamai (Mamai the Cossack) is an image often portrayed in folk paintings in Ukraine in the 17th-19th centuries. It became so popular that it was regarded as a sort of national Ukrainian symbol. Kozak-Mamai was painted on the walls of houses, on doors and windowsills, on tiles and chests, on many household objects, even on bee hive houses in apiaries. It would be premature to say that we know all there is to know about the genesis of these representations and reasons of their popularity. There is enough evidence to suggest that the representation of Kozak-Mamai goes back to very early times. It was known to many ethnic groups that lived in the territory of the present day Ukraine in the first millenium BC and the first millenium AD.
So, Kozak-Mamai is a result of complex interactions of several ethnic groups and cultural traditions. Though we cannot give yet a comprehensive answer to the question which factors contributed to such a wide and consistent popularity of the Kozak-Mamai image that persisted for centuries, we know for sure that Kozak-Mamai is a deeply symbolic image, a concentrated expression of Ukrainian people’s reflections over their ethnic identity.
The Cossack (and before the Cossack, a free warrior ready to stand up in defense of his homeland) was an embodiment, in the collective consciousness of the people, of spiritual strength and adamant will to fight invaders and oppressors. In later times, when the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks were disbanded by the Russian Imperial authorities, Kozak-Mamai was looked upon as a reminder of the heroic past. In spite of the fact that Kozak-Mamai was usually represented in the state of thoughtful repose rather than in battle with the enemies, the onlooker could feel there was strength and readiness behind the peaceful front.
The Cossacks upheld the moral precepts and cultural traditions of their ancestors, among them the ideals of camaraderie and collectiveness. In the Cossack collective consciousness the pagan mythological and poetic view of the world got mixed up with moral and ethic principles of Christianity. The Cossack mentality reflected the entire scale of Ukrainian national values, in the foundation of which there were Ukrainian concepts of God, Love, Homeland, Land as Mother of all Life, Native People, Statehood, Independence, Freedom, Aspiration to Be Liberated from Foreign Domination, Justice. The Zaporizhzhya Sich (a self-governed Cossack Community in Southern Ukraine centred on the Dnipro River) turned to be a spiritual centre around which the ethnic awareness and national mentality of the Ukrainian nation was formed.Practically everything that can be seen in Kozak-Mamai pictures has some symbolical significance. For example, there is a tree, usually appearing in Mamai pictures, mostly oak. This tree, one of the central traditional symbols of the Ukrainians, symbolizes strength and longevity of the nation on the one hand, and on the other it is a universal symbol of life, of the Universe, its structure and its life cycles.
Another important element in Kozak-Mamai pictures is the representations of the horse. Cossacks were excellent horsemen. In the Ukrainian symbolism the horse embodies the concepts of destiny, faithfulness, loyalty, love of freedom and self-sacrifice. Cossack chiefs’ coats of arms often carry representations of horses. In age-long folklore traditions the horse symbolized fire and light; the horse protected its master against evil spirits. In the cosmological Ukrainian symbolism it was a symbol of cycles in the development of the Universe, embodiment of the cosmos itself.
Bandura, a Ukrainian musical instrument appearing in Kozak-Mamai pictures, symbolizes love of songs and music, wisdom and dreaminess, whimsicality and belief in ultimate victory. The song was a vehicle for expressing feelings, thoughts, aspirations. Through songs, the Cossacks told of their perception of the world and gave their assessment of reality around them. The last words of a dying Cossack were addressed to his bandura. Cossack bandura-players passed cultural traditions from generation to generation.
All kinds of cups, goblets, bowls, beakers that can be seen in Kozak-Mamai pictures symbolize (in addition to being things indispensable in the Cossack life) the life-giving force, the womb of the Universe, the universal feminine principle.
Hillocks, featuring in the background of Kozak-Mamai pictures, symbolized the Ukrainian homeland, the place of the final rest, heroic death in defence of homeland, unity of the Cossack clan. The burial mound was often topped with a stone “baba” (female idol) which was the cosmological symbol of the maternal source from which everything living had sprung.
The spear stuck into the ground as part of the funeral rights had a pennon affixed to it. It symbolized the Cossack glory, respect for the deceased and grief.
In combination with the bowl, the tree and the cross, the spear was a sign of spatial orientation. The pennon indicated spiritual side of the Cossack-knight, his standing above the mundane, his victory and self-assertion. Even the Kozak-Mamai’s hat and its shape had some symbolic meaning.
Powder-flasks were almost exclusively depicted as horns, and horns are universal symbols of male strength. In Ukraine there was an additional association with the ox, symbol of sacrifice, self-denying industriousness, and with the astronomical Taurus, the zodiacal sign of Ukraine.
Bow and arrows, though out of use in the 17th century, invariably make their way into Kozak-Mamai pictures, symbolizing the tension between spiritual and natural forces, connections between sky and earth, the worlds of the living and of the dead; arrows are symbols of the light of the Supreme Force, of sunrays.
All of the features of the picture were designed to heighten the importance of the central figure, that of Kozak-Mamai. All the details mattered here — his posture, bearing, dress. Kozak-Mamai was shown sitting the way sacred representations of the Orient show their gods and divine personages, Buddha among them. Mamai’s head is shaved with only one tuft of hair remaining and sticking right out of the middle of his forehead. The shaved head symbolized in many cultures of the world the resignation from the mundane world. Probably, the Cossacks shaved their heads in token of their desire to give up the secular life and devote themselves to asceticism.
The image of Kozak-Mamai can be regarded from the point of view of a symbolic representation of the Cossack, the prototype of all the Cossacks, who carried the heavy cross of serving the national idea of independence and fighting for it. From the mythological and poetic point of view Kozak-Mamai can be viewed as a mysterious image combining in itself many features of the universal, cosmic symbolism.
The meaning of the word “Mamai” cannot be adequately determined, evidently it carries something enigmatic, something that cannot be explicitly revealed. (In Turkic languages, ‘Mamai’ means ‘no one’ (nikhto), ‘the impossible’ (niiak), ‘he who is without a name, without the word.’ This is emptiness itself”) The ancient people believed that words could be materialized and then act on their own, independently of the one who uttered them. Nothing, they thought, should be expressed with exhaustive completeness, a measure of secrecy should be persevered as a way of preserving the true knowledge. In other words, the image of Kozak-Mamai could be regarded as a symbol of a coded Weltanschauung system of the Ukrainians. With a considerable degree of certainty we can say that Kozak-Mamai is a symbolical sign system, into which vitally important principles of Ukrainian ethnicity have been programmed, and which carries the basic national ideals and spiritual reference points of the Ukrainian people.
Related articles:
Cossacks and Tartar: Nomadic Societies of the Asiatic and Trans-Pontine Steppe by Ian Blanchard
Cossack Mamai
The famous image of Cossack Mamai occupies a special place in Ukrainian culture. He was a powerful military commander of the Blue Horde in the 1370s. The Blue Horde was one of the uluses within the Mongol Empire formed around 1227 after the death of Genghis Khan and subsequent division of his empire. It was the western constituent part of the Golden Horde. This magnificent volume retells Cossak Mamai’s story in reproductions of approximately 250 four color paintings and accompanying text that tells the story of this famous mongol general. The paintings and critical biography, depict not only the man and the general Mamai, but also offer a rich portrait of the customs of 14th century Eastern Europe under mongul rule.
By Tetyana Poshyvaylo-Marchenko, Art Historian,
Deputy Curator of Ivan Honchar Museum, Kyiv, Ukraine
Though you’re looking at me, you won’t guess where I’m from, what’s my name you won’t tell neither, only if you’ve happened have been in the steppe wide with no end to it, then you might figure out who I am.
From an inscription on one of the Kozak-Mamai pictures.
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| Kozak-Mamai by a villager from the land of Cherkasy. End of the 18th – first half of the 19th century, oil on canvas, 78 cm x132 cm. |
So, Kozak-Mamai is a result of complex interactions of several ethnic groups and cultural traditions. Though we cannot give yet a comprehensive answer to the question which factors contributed to such a wide and consistent popularity of the Kozak-Mamai image that persisted for centuries, we know for sure that Kozak-Mamai is a deeply symbolic image, a concentrated expression of Ukrainian people’s reflections over their ethnic identity.
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| Kozak-Mamai (detail). End of the 18th – beginning of the 19th century. Oil on canvas, 98 cm x75 cm. |
The Cossack (and before the Cossack, a free warrior ready to stand up in defense of his homeland) was an embodiment, in the collective consciousness of the people, of spiritual strength and adamant will to fight invaders and oppressors. In later times, when the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks were disbanded by the Russian Imperial authorities, Kozak-Mamai was looked upon as a reminder of the heroic past. In spite of the fact that Kozak-Mamai was usually represented in the state of thoughtful repose rather than in battle with the enemies, the onlooker could feel there was strength and readiness behind the peaceful front.
The Cossacks upheld the moral precepts and cultural traditions of their ancestors, among them the ideals of camaraderie and collectiveness. In the Cossack collective consciousness the pagan mythological and poetic view of the world got mixed up with moral and ethic principles of Christianity. The Cossack mentality reflected the entire scale of Ukrainian national values, in the foundation of which there were Ukrainian concepts of God, Love, Homeland, Land as Mother of all Life, Native People, Statehood, Independence, Freedom, Aspiration to Be Liberated from Foreign Domination, Justice. The Zaporizhzhya Sich (a self-governed Cossack Community in Southern Ukraine centred on the Dnipro River) turned to be a spiritual centre around which the ethnic awareness and national mentality of the Ukrainian nation was formed.Practically everything that can be seen in Kozak-Mamai pictures has some symbolical significance. For example, there is a tree, usually appearing in Mamai pictures, mostly oak. This tree, one of the central traditional symbols of the Ukrainians, symbolizes strength and longevity of the nation on the one hand, and on the other it is a universal symbol of life, of the Universe, its structure and its life cycles.
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| Kozak-Mamai (folk painting). 18th century. Oil on canvas, 88 cm 567 cm. Poltava Oblast. |
Bandura, a Ukrainian musical instrument appearing in Kozak-Mamai pictures, symbolizes love of songs and music, wisdom and dreaminess, whimsicality and belief in ultimate victory. The song was a vehicle for expressing feelings, thoughts, aspirations. Through songs, the Cossacks told of their perception of the world and gave their assessment of reality around them. The last words of a dying Cossack were addressed to his bandura. Cossack bandura-players passed cultural traditions from generation to generation.
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| Kozak-Mamai by P. Zakharenko. End of the 19th – beginning of the 20th century. Oil on canvas, 102 cm 573 cm. Folk Architecture and Life Museum of Ukraine (FALM of Ukraine) |
Hillocks, featuring in the background of Kozak-Mamai pictures, symbolized the Ukrainian homeland, the place of the final rest, heroic death in defence of homeland, unity of the Cossack clan. The burial mound was often topped with a stone “baba” (female idol) which was the cosmological symbol of the maternal source from which everything living had sprung.
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| Kozak-Mamai. First half of the 19th century. Oil on canvas, 100 cm 5110 cm. Chernihiv Museum |
The spear stuck into the ground as part of the funeral rights had a pennon affixed to it. It symbolized the Cossack glory, respect for the deceased and grief.
In combination with the bowl, the tree and the cross, the spear was a sign of spatial orientation. The pennon indicated spiritual side of the Cossack-knight, his standing above the mundane, his victory and self-assertion. Even the Kozak-Mamai’s hat and its shape had some symbolic meaning.
Powder-flasks were almost exclusively depicted as horns, and horns are universal symbols of male strength. In Ukraine there was an additional association with the ox, symbol of sacrifice, self-denying industriousness, and with the astronomical Taurus, the zodiacal sign of Ukraine.
Bow and arrows, though out of use in the 17th century, invariably make their way into Kozak-Mamai pictures, symbolizing the tension between spiritual and natural forces, connections between sky and earth, the worlds of the living and of the dead; arrows are symbols of the light of the Supreme Force, of sunrays.
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| Kozak-Mamai by F. Stovbunenko, 1928. Oil on canvas, 98 cm x80 cm. Ivan Honchar Museum. |
The image of Kozak-Mamai can be regarded from the point of view of a symbolic representation of the Cossack, the prototype of all the Cossacks, who carried the heavy cross of serving the national idea of independence and fighting for it. From the mythological and poetic point of view Kozak-Mamai can be viewed as a mysterious image combining in itself many features of the universal, cosmic symbolism.
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| Kozak-Mamai, painting on the front of the chest. 19th century. Oil on wood. The village of Kuzemyne, Okhtyrsky Raion, Sumy Oblast. (FALM of Ukraine.) |
Related articles:
Cossacks and Tartar: Nomadic Societies of the Asiatic and Trans-Pontine Steppe by Ian Blanchard
Cossack Mamai
ALEXANDER THE GREAT – SUL KHARNAI, KING OF MEDITERRANEAN SEA.
Sul Kharnai has become famous by name Alexander the Great in the world and Sul Kharnai is his Mongolian name. In ancient time there was a lake called Sul Kharnai in central Asia, today this lake is Mediterranean Sea. The reason why that lake is named Sul Kharnai is that in ancient time during the ice age Sul Kharnai Lake took its source from snow-capped mountain and it was surrounded only by ice.
That why people called him Sul Kharnai. In modern materialist science his ancient name is “Титес”. By geographical locations of his birth place he has separated Eurasia and Gondwana, and by his geographical shift he has formed the first Belt. And his is the only one Emperor who succeeded in campaigning in counter – clockwise direction. By his geographical location he has become the emperor of states.
Alexander the Great is the only one who could master natural ability to shift in his geographical location. Alexander the Great could see the fall of Darius III in his final battle against Persian Empire. He saw it in his dream, he had a dream intuition and it has brought him victory. He has cleaned the western side of central Asia for the last time and even today it didn’t lose its importance. And now he has become Emperor of states for eternity. Today Sul Kharnai will fulfill his historical duty from city Alexandria. He controls the Mediterranean Sea, and Gondwana plate.
He was son of powerful ancient Mongolian Otog (tribe). Even today he is still important part of powerful ancient Mongolian lineage and rules all states. Sul Kharnai is one of three Khaans who formed The World Protection Belt; he is inseparable part of The World Protection Belt. Alexander the Great moves along his geographical location and rules all states on Gondwana plate. His descendants are still continuing his reign and natural ability.
But it seems that he will prove his name Sul Kharnai once again. You can know more about him the ruler of The Third Belt that covers the most part of the earth from his biography book.
Source
Related articles:
That why people called him Sul Kharnai. In modern materialist science his ancient name is “Титес”. By geographical locations of his birth place he has separated Eurasia and Gondwana, and by his geographical shift he has formed the first Belt. And his is the only one Emperor who succeeded in campaigning in counter – clockwise direction. By his geographical location he has become the emperor of states.
Alexander the Great is the only one who could master natural ability to shift in his geographical location. Alexander the Great could see the fall of Darius III in his final battle against Persian Empire. He saw it in his dream, he had a dream intuition and it has brought him victory. He has cleaned the western side of central Asia for the last time and even today it didn’t lose its importance. And now he has become Emperor of states for eternity. Today Sul Kharnai will fulfill his historical duty from city Alexandria. He controls the Mediterranean Sea, and Gondwana plate.
He was son of powerful ancient Mongolian Otog (tribe). Even today he is still important part of powerful ancient Mongolian lineage and rules all states. Sul Kharnai is one of three Khaans who formed The World Protection Belt; he is inseparable part of The World Protection Belt. Alexander the Great moves along his geographical location and rules all states on Gondwana plate. His descendants are still continuing his reign and natural ability.
But it seems that he will prove his name Sul Kharnai once again. You can know more about him the ruler of The Third Belt that covers the most part of the earth from his biography book.
Source
Related articles:
Friday, February 11, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Are the Greeks "still" Indo-European? Were they ever?
Modern Greeks do not descend predominantly from Indo-Europeans. It is silly to talk about whether or not the Greeks are "any longer" Indo-European, since the people living within the geographic boundaries of Greece were at no time predominantly Indo-European by ancestry. However, the aristocracy of classical Greece would indeed have derived from Indo-Europeans. John V. Day notes that:
Also keep in mind, Greeks have 28% Near Eastern HG9 and 28% North African HG21. Much of this ancestry may date from the Neolithic, but it is curious that RM doesn't interpret this data to mean Greeks are 56% "Hamito-Semitic" and therefore very much less than "pure" European. As Day (2002) says: "Genetically, Greek and Yugoslav populations are among the least typically 'European.'"
Update: In fact, new research is suggesting that much of the "Neolithic" ancestry in Greece represents gene flow from after the Neolithic.
Have the Greeks changed since antiquity?
Of course. The old aristocracy, responsible for much of the greatness of ancient Greece, certainly no longer exists. That, in itself, is a big enough change. Even the peasants have changed, though the exact degree to which the Greek goatherd of today is descended from the ancient Greek goatherd is an open question.
Everyone knows about the major Slavic and Albanian influxes into Greece. As Paul Theroux puts it:
Given the movement of large numbers of Greeks into Anatolia during the Byzantine era, and the movements of Albanians and Slavs into Greece, it is always possible that a given Turk has as much or more classical Greek ancestry as a given modern Greek. And, there is always the strong possibility of a Turkic contribution to the Greek gene pool.
There has been gene flow into Greece from from Negroids and Mongoloids (see below), the extent of which is not easy to quantify at this time. However, absorption of genes from the Near East and North Africa likely happened on a much larger scale than the absorption of non-Caucasoid genes; and this recent non-European Caucasoid admixture may be more significant than non-Caucasoid admixture when discussing changes in the racial character of the Greek nation. Richards et al. (2002) find a "very high frequency (~20%) of recent gene flow" in eastern Mediterranean Europe.
Angel (1945) sees evidence of an immigration trend, continuing from Roman times through Byzantine times and later, that brought Mediterranean, Eastern Alpine, and Armenoid elements [from the Near East, one presumes] by sea, and [Slavic speaking, in Byzantine times] Alpine and Dinaric elements from the north. Angel also believes that in Classical times, Athens absorbed a large population of slaves and metics.
Obviously, the Greek gene pool has received a great deal of outside input, which makes sense, based on Greece's location and history. Angel tries to stress the continuity of the Athenian people, but it's hard to see what's so continuous about an originally Mediterranean population which today is brachycephalic and largely Alpine, and in which an important minority racial element of earlier times has essentially disappeared. It should be understood that when Angel speaks of "continuity", he merely means that racial change in Greece is gradual, rather than sharp. In this sense, one could just as easily stress the "racial continuity" of Arabs as they gradually absorbed large numbers of sub-Saharan slaves.
The source of classical Greek achievement
Angel mentions "Blegen's model of fusion of diverse material, social, and even psychological elements to form the culture of Classical Athens". Blegen is correct that Athenian cultural achievement owed something to the fusion of cultures. But, the key elements that seperated Greek thought and achievement from those of earlier civilizations originated with the Indo-Europeans:
Murphy (1941) takes a similar view to Angel's, but acknowledges another factor:
It would certainly seem that the composition of the immigrants is of key importance, regardless of whether or not "hybrid vigor" plays some role. These periods of greatness were invariably followed by periods of decline or mediocrity, accompanied by continuing or increased blending of racial elements. Wave after wave of Alpines and Mediterraneans continued to arrive in Greece from Roman times onward. But blending with these new arrivals never produced an "efflorescence". W.D. Hamilton's (1975) theory is preferrable to that of Angel:
Negroids in ancient Greece
RM claims:
In his book Race, John R. Baker writes that:
The presence of Negroid or partially-Negroid types in Greece is confirmed by cranial evidence. J.L. Angel reports:
Negroid admixture in Greece
Considering the foregoing, it should come as no surprise that Richards et al. (2000) detected Ethiopian mtDNA haplogroup M1 in Greece. Additionally, sub-Saharan Y-chromosome haplogroup A (most common among Khoisians and Ethiopians) was found in an individual from Mitilini (Di Giacomo et al. in press). Other sub-Saharan haplogroups are found in Greece's neighbors. Note, Greece remains relatively little studied with respect to population genetics. The few relevant studies that have been done have fairly small sample sizes. It's too early to say much about levels of sub-Saharan mtDNA markers compared to other countries in Europe. In any event, exact levels of recent sub-Saharan mtDNA and Y-chromosome markers aren't all that relevant, since larger amounts of Negroid genes may have entered Greece via Negroid-admixed, E3b-carrying North African males.
E3b, the most common Y-chromosome haplogroup in Greece, "probably originated in eastern Africa" (Semino et al. 2004). It has been proposed that the most frequent E3b subclade in Greece, E-M78, which accounts for nearly half of Peloponnesian Y-chromosomes (Cruciani et al. 2004), originated in Somalia (Sanchez et al. 2003). Bearing in mind the above, it is perhaps not so surprising that the much maligned study "HLA Genes in Macedonians and the sub-Saharan Origin of the Greeks" independently reported a genetic connection between Ethiopians and Greeks (Arnaiz-Villena et al. 2001).
In addition to ancient admixture, some Negroid admixture may have accrued to Greece during Ottoman times. Buxton and Rice (1931) mention that "in Cyprus there is a greater proportion of platyrrhiny among the lower classes than in other social strata, but this is perhaps due to the importation of negro slaves by the Turks." Angel (1945) mentions a "Turkish period skeleton" from Athens, "which is unquestionably the remains of a Negroid individual, though possibly with very slight white admixture." Interestingly, 4.3% of Y-chromosomes in a sample of Turkish Cypriots are sub-Saharan (Cruciani et al. 2004; values for Greek Cypriots aren't reported).
Mongoloid admixture in Greece
In addition to Negroid admixture, there is clear genetic evidence for Mongoloid admixture in Greece. In a sample of 118 Greeks, "HpaI morph 1 [a Mongoloid marker] was detected for the first time in a European sample" (Astrinidis 1994).
3% of Greek Y-chromosomes belong to HG26, a haplogroup which is found at high frequencies in some Mongoloid populations. However, the presence of HG26 is not -- as Dienekes once claimed -- proof of Mongoloid ancestry, since HG26 is defined by a very old mutation (HG26 is ancestral to the common European haplogroup HG1). The original bearers of HG26 were most likely either Caucasoid, or of a racial type ancestral to both Caucasoids and Mongoloids. Regardless, many Asian steppe populations belong predominantly to Y-chromosome haplogroups which are also found in Europe (HG26, HG1), making it difficult to assess the male Mongoloid contribution in Greece with the data we currently have. I expect that further study will demonstrate Central Asian ancestry in Greece, as has already been demonstrated in nearby countries.
Mongoloid and Central Asian mtDNA and Y markers are present on the Croatian island Hvar.
In Anatolia, "[t]he most reliable estimates suggest roughly 30% Central Asian admixture for both mitochondrial and Y-chromosome loci" (Di Benedetto et al. 2001). Since there is no strong genetic barrier seperating Greece and Anatolia (see, for example, Simoni et al. 1999), there is no reason to believe modern Greeks have been shielded from the significant Central Asian input in their neighbors.
It should be obvious from history and geography that Greeks have more Mongoloid ancestry than, e.g., Germans; just as Hungarians no doubt have more Mongoloid admixture than western Europeans, so to do Greeks. And Greeks certainly have vastly more Mongoloid admixture than the British. See below for examples of Greek celebrities with obvious Mongoloid admixture.
Photographs of Greeks
Some of the "Greek" celebrities RM has posted are probably not fully Greek by ancestry. For example, Bob Costas' full name is "Robert Quinlan Costas". Unless someone can think of a better reason why a "Greek" would have an Irish surname for a middle name, I'll take this piece of evidence to mean Costas is probably half-Irish. It is hard to confirm whether or not the other Greek-Americans RM has posted are of full Greek ancestry. For example, I've heard that Alexi Lalas is only half-Greek.
Typical Greeks:
Corina Stergiaou (left), "a very typical Greek woman", says Dienekes; Pete Sampras (right), "looks entirely Greek", according to Pontian Greek and amateur anthropologist Dienekes Pontikos.
Greek students:
Some Greek celebrities with visible Mongoloid ancestry:
More Greeks with apparent non-European ancestry:
In the interest of bandwidth, I'll leave it at that. Though, if I wished to, I could list a dozen genuinely non-European-looking Greeks for every "Hamito-Semitic" Briton RM has posted.
Source
Indo-Europeans often seem to have been small minorities in the countries they penetrated: the Celtic warrior-class in Ireland; the Roman patricians; the few Homeric heroes and the so-called "pure Greeks" of later years; and the Aryans battling against the many natives in India.According to Peterson, the Greek aristocracy were seperated by "caste-like stratification . . . from the freemen and slave classes among whom the genetic influence of the autochthonous 'Pelasgian' population may have predominated" (Peterson 1974).
Also keep in mind, Greeks have 28% Near Eastern HG9 and 28% North African HG21. Much of this ancestry may date from the Neolithic, but it is curious that RM doesn't interpret this data to mean Greeks are 56% "Hamito-Semitic" and therefore very much less than "pure" European. As Day (2002) says: "Genetically, Greek and Yugoslav populations are among the least typically 'European.'"
Update: In fact, new research is suggesting that much of the "Neolithic" ancestry in Greece represents gene flow from after the Neolithic.
Have the Greeks changed since antiquity?
Of course. The old aristocracy, responsible for much of the greatness of ancient Greece, certainly no longer exists. That, in itself, is a big enough change. Even the peasants have changed, though the exact degree to which the Greek goatherd of today is descended from the ancient Greek goatherd is an open question.
Everyone knows about the major Slavic and Albanian influxes into Greece. As Paul Theroux puts it:
The Greeks had not taken very much interest in their past until Europeans became enthusiastic discoverers and diggers of their ruins. And why should they have cared? The Greeks were not Greek, but rather the illiterate descendants of Slavs and Albanian fishermen, who spoke a debased Greek dialect and had little interest in the broken columns and temples except as places to graze their sheep. (Pillars of Hercules, 315-316)
There has been gene flow into Greece from from Negroids and Mongoloids (see below), the extent of which is not easy to quantify at this time. However, absorption of genes from the Near East and North Africa likely happened on a much larger scale than the absorption of non-Caucasoid genes; and this recent non-European Caucasoid admixture may be more significant than non-Caucasoid admixture when discussing changes in the racial character of the Greek nation. Richards et al. (2002) find a "very high frequency (~20%) of recent gene flow" in eastern Mediterranean Europe.
Angel (1945) sees evidence of an immigration trend, continuing from Roman times through Byzantine times and later, that brought Mediterranean, Eastern Alpine, and Armenoid elements [from the Near East, one presumes] by sea, and [Slavic speaking, in Byzantine times] Alpine and Dinaric elements from the north. Angel also believes that in Classical times, Athens absorbed a large population of slaves and metics.
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| Pete Sampras. So, have the Greeks "changed since antiquity"? You tell me. (Note that while Sampras is apparently a quarter Jewish, I am assured by certain Greeks that he is entirely modern Greek in appearance.) |
The source of classical Greek achievement
Angel mentions "Blegen's model of fusion of diverse material, social, and even psychological elements to form the culture of Classical Athens". Blegen is correct that Athenian cultural achievement owed something to the fusion of cultures. But, the key elements that seperated Greek thought and achievement from those of earlier civilizations originated with the Indo-Europeans:
While Egyptians and Babylonians collected a great deal of information about mathematics and astronomy and practiced impressive engineering on a grand scale, their "sciences" never had a really scientific basis. Their knowledge existed either as the lore collected by the priests or as the products of practical trial-and-error. Only the Indo-European Greeks actually systematized scientific and mathematical knowledge, and they were able to construct it into a system because the system itself was their concept of a Cosmic Order in which all events and phenomena were related through causality and its inexorable linkages of one event and phenomenon to another. . .Inspired by Blegen's model of the fusion of cultures, Angel looks to blending of racial types as "one of the real and probably indispensable little factors which help produce a great people and which underlie the whole history of civilization." What this theory ignores is the major role played by the endogamous aristocracy in Greek achievement. Since Classical times, Greece has received even more outside genetic input and has become even more blended. If this is the key to greatness, why has Greece been going downhill since the Classical age?
"It is no accident," wrote V. Gordon Childe, "that the first great advances towards abstract natural science were made by the Aryan Greeks and the Hindus, not by the Babylonians or the Egyptians, despite their great material resources and their surprising progress in techniques – in astronomical observation for example. . . ." (Clark 1996)
Murphy (1941) takes a similar view to Angel's, but acknowledges another factor:
. . . which can be deduced from Darwin's work in general and which later researches have brought more into the light. It appears that the human racial crossings which produce the most marked instances of efflorescence in genius and ability, take place among the varieties which are comparatively akin to each other and that, on the contrary, where the varieties which hybridize are distant from each other in type . . . there is a deficiency in the production of superior ability.Murphy mentions "conquering hordes . . . from the Eurasian steppes" settling the Fertile Crescent and "creating a highly developed civilization"; and he mentions a process "'seen in ancient Greece or the Florentine Renaissance; first a migration of peoples (immigration of strong, warlike races), then, for centuries, a relative intellectual calm, and, finally, a period of abundant genius.'" It's not clear why those events should be explained in terms of blending of racial types, rather than in say, the blending of cultures, the imposition of important elements of the invading cultures on the new lands, or the acquisition by the "warlike races" of resources which allow them to fulfill their innate potential. Murphy does suggest that "mingling of the successive waves of immigrants" may be more important than "the crossing of the invading people with aborigines".
It would certainly seem that the composition of the immigrants is of key importance, regardless of whether or not "hybrid vigor" plays some role. These periods of greatness were invariably followed by periods of decline or mediocrity, accompanied by continuing or increased blending of racial elements. Wave after wave of Alpines and Mediterraneans continued to arrive in Greece from Roman times onward. But blending with these new arrivals never produced an "efflorescence". W.D. Hamilton's (1975) theory is preferrable to that of Angel:
The incursions of barbaric pastoralists seem to do civilizations less harm in the long run than one might expect. Indeed, two dark ages and renaissances in Europe suggest a recurring pattern in which a renaissance follows an incursion by about 800 years. It may even be suggested that certain genes or traditions of pastoralists revitalize the conquered people with an ingredient of progress which tends to die out in a large panmictic population for the reasons already discussed. I have in mind altruism itself, or the part of the altruism which is perhaps better described as self-sacrificial daring. By the time of the renaissance it may be that the mixing of genes and cultures (or of cultures alone if these are the only vehicles, which I doubt) has continued long enough to bring the old mercantile thoughtfulness and the infused daring into conjunction in a few individuals who then find courage for all kinds of inventive innovation against the resistance of established thought and practice. Often, however, the cost in fitness of such altruism and sublimated pugnacity to the individuals concerned is by no means metaphorical, and the benefits to fitness, such as they are, go to a mass of individuals whose genetic correlation with the innovator must be slight indeed. Thus civilization probably slowly reduces its altruism of all kinds, including the kinds needed for cultural creativity (see also Eshel 1972).The peak of Greek civilization was only reached after the "ingredient of progress" had been introduced by the Indo-European invaders. By the time complete mediocrity set in, the disproportionately Nordic and Indo-European-descended aristocracy had all but disappeared. Lundman agrees that:
The racial structure of the old historical European peoples - the Greeks, Romans, and Celts - has been treated at length in my book Geographische Anthropologie (1967). Certainly, these peoples had, at least in their upper social strata, stronger Nordic components than the present inhabitants of these lands.Roger Pearson (1991) has suggested the possibility that "Europe has suffered a severe dysgenic decline over the past two thousand years". If this is true, Greece, which today has perhaps the lowest average IQ in Europe, may have been particularly hard hit. On the other hand, it may well be that only the elite classes in ancient Greece were exceptionally intelligent. And, when the elites died out or were absorbed by the much more numerous masses, the intellectual power of Greece was dissipated.
Negroids in ancient Greece
RM claims:
"There’s no evidence that blacks were at all present in Ancient Greece"The above statement is blatantly false.
In his book Race, John R. Baker writes that:
Evans provides a few pictures of persons showing Negrid characters, and suggests that 'partly negroized elements' may have been brought to Crete as captives. (517)(Before you afrocentrists get your hopes up, know that Baker makes clear: "No one has ever suggested, on evidence either from skulls or pictures, that any non-Europid people participated in the origin or development of Cretan civilization.")
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| An Ethiopian living in Greece in the 1st century A.D. "Memnon, Ethiopian favorite of Sophist Herodes Atticus" |
In my own skeletal samples from Greece I note apparent negroid nose and mouth traits in two of fourteen Early Neolithic (sixth millenium B.C.), only two or three more among 364 from fifth to second millenium B.C., one among 113 Early Iron Age, one or two among 233 Classic and Hellenistic skeletons, but four clear Negroids (all from one area of Early Christian Corinth) among ninety-five Roman period, two among eighty-five Medieval, and of course ten among fifty-two Turkish period Greeks, yet none among 202 of Romantic (nineteenth century) date.Frank Snowden has researched the presence of blacks in the ancient Greece from the standpoint of art and literature. His findings include:
Both the literary and archaeological evidence points to a not infrequent crossing between blacks and whites. Nothing in the observations on such unions, whether marriage or concubinage, resembles certain modern strictures on racial mixture.With respect to the number of blacks in ancient Greece, Snowden states:
Of course one reason for the color bar which recently existed in the West was the belief that it was race mixing which led to the collapse of Greek, Roman, and other civilizations. . . .
No laws in the Greco-Roman world prohibited unions of blacks and whites. Ethiopian blood was interfused with that of Greeks and Romans. No Greek or Roman author condemned such racial mixture. . . . The scientists Aristotle and Pliny, like Plutarch, commented as scientists on the physical appearance of those born of black-white racial mixture but included nothing resembling certain modern strictures on miscegenation. . . . It is safe to assume, therefore, that in course of time many Ethiopians were assimilated into a predominantly white population. (Blacks in Antiquity, 193-195)
Even though we cannot state, in the manner of modern sociologists and historians,the ratio of Blacks to Whites in either Greece or Italy, we can say that Ethiopians were by no means few or rare sights and that their presence, whatever their numbers, constituted no color problem. (Blacks in Antiquity, 186)Most slaves in Greece were Caucasoid. But, since slaves were a large fraction of the population, even if blacks made up a small minority of slaves many may have been present. A Greek source gives a figure of 400,000 slaves in Attica in 317 BC, compared to 21,000 adult male citizens and 10,000 adult male metics (resident aliens). While modern authors recognize that the 400,000 figure "must be wrong" (Webster 1973, 41), it seems that all Athenians who could afford to owned slaves, and some owned up to 1,000. In the end, Webster estimates that slaves made up roughly a third of the population of Athens (62,000 out of a total population of 186,000 -- personally, I think this may be an underestimate). If one third of the remaining population consisted of metics, that means that less than half the inhabitants of Athens were citizens.
Negroid admixture in Greece
Considering the foregoing, it should come as no surprise that Richards et al. (2000) detected Ethiopian mtDNA haplogroup M1 in Greece. Additionally, sub-Saharan Y-chromosome haplogroup A (most common among Khoisians and Ethiopians) was found in an individual from Mitilini (Di Giacomo et al. in press). Other sub-Saharan haplogroups are found in Greece's neighbors. Note, Greece remains relatively little studied with respect to population genetics. The few relevant studies that have been done have fairly small sample sizes. It's too early to say much about levels of sub-Saharan mtDNA markers compared to other countries in Europe. In any event, exact levels of recent sub-Saharan mtDNA and Y-chromosome markers aren't all that relevant, since larger amounts of Negroid genes may have entered Greece via Negroid-admixed, E3b-carrying North African males.
E3b, the most common Y-chromosome haplogroup in Greece, "probably originated in eastern Africa" (Semino et al. 2004). It has been proposed that the most frequent E3b subclade in Greece, E-M78, which accounts for nearly half of Peloponnesian Y-chromosomes (Cruciani et al. 2004), originated in Somalia (Sanchez et al. 2003). Bearing in mind the above, it is perhaps not so surprising that the much maligned study "HLA Genes in Macedonians and the sub-Saharan Origin of the Greeks" independently reported a genetic connection between Ethiopians and Greeks (Arnaiz-Villena et al. 2001).
In addition to ancient admixture, some Negroid admixture may have accrued to Greece during Ottoman times. Buxton and Rice (1931) mention that "in Cyprus there is a greater proportion of platyrrhiny among the lower classes than in other social strata, but this is perhaps due to the importation of negro slaves by the Turks." Angel (1945) mentions a "Turkish period skeleton" from Athens, "which is unquestionably the remains of a Negroid individual, though possibly with very slight white admixture." Interestingly, 4.3% of Y-chromosomes in a sample of Turkish Cypriots are sub-Saharan (Cruciani et al. 2004; values for Greek Cypriots aren't reported).
Mongoloid admixture in Greece
In addition to Negroid admixture, there is clear genetic evidence for Mongoloid admixture in Greece. In a sample of 118 Greeks, "HpaI morph 1 [a Mongoloid marker] was detected for the first time in a European sample" (Astrinidis 1994).
3% of Greek Y-chromosomes belong to HG26, a haplogroup which is found at high frequencies in some Mongoloid populations. However, the presence of HG26 is not -- as Dienekes once claimed -- proof of Mongoloid ancestry, since HG26 is defined by a very old mutation (HG26 is ancestral to the common European haplogroup HG1). The original bearers of HG26 were most likely either Caucasoid, or of a racial type ancestral to both Caucasoids and Mongoloids. Regardless, many Asian steppe populations belong predominantly to Y-chromosome haplogroups which are also found in Europe (HG26, HG1), making it difficult to assess the male Mongoloid contribution in Greece with the data we currently have. I expect that further study will demonstrate Central Asian ancestry in Greece, as has already been demonstrated in nearby countries.
Mongoloid and Central Asian mtDNA and Y markers are present on the Croatian island Hvar.
Worthy of note is the finding of considerable frequency of haplogroup P*(xM173) in the population of the island of Hvar. According to Wells et al this lineage displays maximum in Central Asia while being rare in Europe, Middle East and East Asia. Its presence in Hvar recapitulates our finding of mtDNA haplogroup F on the island of Hvar and in mainland Croatian population that is virtually absent in Europe but, again, common in populations from Central and Eastern Asia. There are several possibilities for the occurrence of the ancestral lineage of M173. One is the well-documented alliance of Avars (a Mongol people) and Slavs (Croatians) that followed Avar arrival to the eastern Adriatic in 6th century AD. The other is the expansion of the Ottoman Empire from the 16th to 18th century AD when refugees from the western Balkan frequently immigrated to the islands. Lastly, the ancient Silk Road linking China with western Asia and Europe could be a possible path of P(xM173) lineage, too. Any of these migratory patterns could have introduced this mutation to the investigated population. (Barac et al. 2003)Paleolithic European HG1 is marked with the M173 mutation. As noted above, P*(xM173) is found in Croatia, indicating the presence of Central Asian genes in the Balkans. It would be interesting to see what proportion of the HG1 in Greece is marked with M173, but I'm not aware of any studies which have reported this data.
In Anatolia, "[t]he most reliable estimates suggest roughly 30% Central Asian admixture for both mitochondrial and Y-chromosome loci" (Di Benedetto et al. 2001). Since there is no strong genetic barrier seperating Greece and Anatolia (see, for example, Simoni et al. 1999), there is no reason to believe modern Greeks have been shielded from the significant Central Asian input in their neighbors.
It should be obvious from history and geography that Greeks have more Mongoloid ancestry than, e.g., Germans; just as Hungarians no doubt have more Mongoloid admixture than western Europeans, so to do Greeks. And Greeks certainly have vastly more Mongoloid admixture than the British. See below for examples of Greek celebrities with obvious Mongoloid admixture.
Photographs of Greeks
Some of the "Greek" celebrities RM has posted are probably not fully Greek by ancestry. For example, Bob Costas' full name is "Robert Quinlan Costas". Unless someone can think of a better reason why a "Greek" would have an Irish surname for a middle name, I'll take this piece of evidence to mean Costas is probably half-Irish. It is hard to confirm whether or not the other Greek-Americans RM has posted are of full Greek ancestry. For example, I've heard that Alexi Lalas is only half-Greek.
Typical Greeks:
Corina Stergiaou (left), "a very typical Greek woman", says Dienekes; Pete Sampras (right), "looks entirely Greek", according to Pontian Greek and amateur anthropologist Dienekes Pontikos.
Greek students:
Ethnic Greeks enrolled at UK and US universities.
Some Greek celebrities with visible Mongoloid ancestry:
L-R: Ioanna Soulioti; Marios Fragkoulis; Yanna Lyberi
More Greeks with apparent non-European ancestry:
L-R: Vana Barba (Negroid strain?); K. Dmitris Tsatsos (Hither Asiatic); Unknown (Orientalid strain?)
In the interest of bandwidth, I'll leave it at that. Though, if I wished to, I could list a dozen genuinely non-European-looking Greeks for every "Hamito-Semitic" Briton RM has posted.
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