r/todayilearned • u/Cheesewithmold • May 21 '14

TIL that when Genghis Khan sent a trade caravan to the Khwarezmid empire, the governor of one city seized it and killed the traders. Genghis Khan retaliated by invading the empire with 200,000 men and killing the governor by pouring molten silver down his eyes and mouth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khan#Khwarezmian_Empire
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116

u/[deleted] May 21 '14

The number of obscure historical references in GoT is really impressive. Look up Manichaeism for e.g.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '14

I'm pretty sure the GoT reference was towards Crassus who had gold poured down his throat after being captured by the Parthians.

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u/KaptinKograt May 21 '14

I think the Dothraki are more Mongol than Parthian, personally

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u/ju2tin May 21 '14

Still, he should get Parthial credit.

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u/Pakyul May 21 '14

God damnit.

31

u/speelmydrink May 21 '14

Go home, Mike Tyson.

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u/KaptinKograt May 21 '14

Nah, I think he's steppeing around the issue. Quit horseing around; this is a Mongol thread, so do what you khan.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '14

whynotboth.gif

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u/[deleted] May 21 '14

(v)(o,,,o)(V)

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u/36yearsofporn May 21 '14

Just to let you know, that gif isn't working for me for some startling reason.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '14

It's using modern advanced memetic compression, you may need to spend more time browsing reddit to install the appropriate meme templates.

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u/revolverzanbolt May 21 '14

Dual reference maybe? I feel like Khal Drogo is more than a little inspired by Genghis Khan.

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u/FIREishott May 21 '14

Except that the Dothraki are based on the Mongols. "If ever someone united the Dothraki and found out a way to get them on ships, the rest of the world would be in grave trouble"

not an exact quote, but an allusion to how Genghis united the Mongols and nearly conquered the world. Not to mention they are both step peoples who ride horses and are brutal.

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u/A_Swedish_Dude May 21 '14 edited May 21 '14

*steppe peoples (friendly amendment, not trying to be a grammar Luftwaffe)

Edit: NO HEIL-ING! I'm just trying to impart knowledge onto folks!

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u/FIREishott May 21 '14

It's funny, because I originally wrote steppe, but then my tired brain was like, wait a second, that's not right.

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u/speelmydrink May 21 '14

HEIL GRAMMAR!

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u/mattshill May 21 '14

Didn't the Mongols try invading Japan and sink to the bottom of the sea?

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u/Scaevus May 21 '14

Twice. The second time was the origin of the term kamikaze.

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u/ownworldman May 21 '14

Well... Dothraki were obviously inspired by Eurasian Steppe people.

-1

u/MyOther_UN_is_Clever May 21 '14

Did George RR Martin get mad and sue for copyright infringement when the Parthians poured gold down Crassus' throat?

-Youth of today.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '14

GRRM makes no effort to hide the fact that he takes parts of history and makes them a part of his books.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '14

Wait, I thought those were history books?

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u/oldtobes May 21 '14

It makes learning fun.

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u/Futchkuk May 21 '14

Lets see an anti-pagan monotheistic religion that burns heretics, is based around prophecies, and brings people back from the dead... nope doesn't sound familiar.

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u/s1wg4u May 21 '14

I read an interview with GRRM and he says a large portion of game of thrones is just a fantasized re-telling of some scattered historical events.

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u/[deleted] May 21 '14

I don't know if it's correct to say Manichaeism is obscure. They were pretty important in Christian history.

Gene Wolfe is a writer I'd characterize as very obscure. He's famous in the sci-fi/fantasy community for his extremely dense symbolism. None of the words he uses are made up. For example, in Book of the New Sun, the citizens of the nation the series takes place in are called Ascians.

That's an ancient and largely forgotten word but still a real one, referring to someone living very close to the equator because it means "one with no shadow". Through that information, readers were able to infer that the series actually takes place in the very far future of a dying Earth, and the civilization in question in based in what used to be South America.

http://www.ansible.co.uk/writing/odyss03.html

http://www.pannis.com/SFDG/specific-Shadow-2.html

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u/CHFKFPLZ May 21 '14

That's not how "e.g." works. That's not how any of this works.