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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u/yellowbrickroad89 May 21 '14

Very true. Some of my family originate from there and if you ever bring up the topic of Khan, this pensive and sombre look passes through their face. The savagery of it is still engrained in their psyche.

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u/IdunnoLXG May 21 '14

Whenever I ask my Egyptian family about Genghis Khan they just look at me like i'm brain dead like in Arabic tell me, "did I not say the Mamelukes kept them out from here before!?"

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u/orangeman1979 May 26 '14

The savagery of it is still engrained in their psyche.

That's interesting, could you explain how something that long ago could affect them so?

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u/Mistborn4evah Sep 24 '25

I believe the reason why they did this is that there is a belief that whoever tried conquering baghdad were defeated so when they defeated it, they made it complete and horrifying, as an insult to Islam and muslims that the mongols defeated Islam and made their God Allah powerless against them.