Game changing weapons and their role in empire building

[emali]

@kyuktothecore

Genghis made it extremely hard to like or even admire him. The only admirable quality he had in my opinion is ruthless efficiency. The mongols did not care about culture, so when they conquered a nation or city, they went on the rampage, destroying everything of value, including libraries, temples, schools and hospitals. The cities that dared resist his demands for surrender were treated especially harshly after being defeated, with their entire populations being massacred or enslaved.I find it hard to believe that the “inferior” mongols managed to conquer more advanced cities like Baghdad.
Contrast the mongols’ handling of conquered kingdoms with the Greek, Roman or even Persian treatment. These 3 empires would largely allow the people to continue with their way of life, so long as they understood who was boss. Sometimes all these conquered kingdoms had to do was pay tribute and contribute soldiers. Alexander for example was notorious for handing back kingdoms to the kings he had defeated, often appointing these kings or other nobles as satraps (governors). He also built many new cities, known as Alexandrias in the places he conquered. The most famous Alexandria was the one which was located in Egypt. So these moves made the Greeks, and Romans to be given favourable treatment by historians.

very true the first thing the mongols did after conquest was to DFHKM any females around, then burn down the entire city

[kyuktothecore]

@kijanamrefu

Trus about the record keeping. Even when the Great Zimbabwe was discovered, Rhodesia tried covering up and denying it’s existence. Imagine how much more has been kanyagiwad.

About Africans not being ‘hungry for conquest’, I’d counter by saying, how rich was Rome in it’s prime, yet it kept expanding?

That question is a tricky one. I can’t tell whether it was being content with what they had, or they weren’t adventurous enough. Maybe superstition came into play…but it’s a little annoying that all these empires existed in Africa and we know more about Greece and Rome than we do about them. Even in school, I remember textbooks would dedicate pages to kina Livingstone, Ludwig Krapf, Evelyn Baring, the queen and all these other beberus while only giving paragraphs to kina mekatilili, waiyaki, koitalel, sakawa. and other great kenyans. Hata sahii kwa internet, you’d be hard pressed to come across Swahili content. I don’t understand why.

[gashwin]

@emali

strories kama za Mansa Musacould not be taught in our schools just incase we stopped worshiping the european conquerors and realised that we too had great men in history…btw why didnt they include Genghis Khan kwa hiyo list ya great conquerors in our schools curriculum? his empire was bigger than that of any european conqueror

blame in on the narrowminded crafters of the 8-4-4=0 “system”. I first learnt of Mansa Musa in my primary history and then West African history between 3rd and fourth form. i daresy the old 7-4-2-3 system was better laid out and gave learners a wider worldview…

[Goks]

@kyuktothecore

This Mansa Musa sounds very interesting, I wonder why we don’t know that much about him.
Musa made his pilgrimage in 1324. His procession reportedly included 60,000 men, including 12,000 slaves who each carried four pounds of gold bars…But Musa’s generous actions inadvertently devastated the economy of the regions through which he passed. In the cities of Cairo, Medina, and Mecca, the sudden influx of gold devalued the metal for the next decade.
Given that the people of mali and west Africa in general were exposed to Arab civilization as far back as the 1300s, shouldn’t they be far more ahead of other African countries?

The problem with us Africans is that we are too myopic. Out of about 10 “dreamers”, Only one gets to accomplish his/her dreams.We see here and now( wacha nikule na watu Wangu sasa, leo ni leo msema kesho ni muongo). He had a good vision for Mali that he was able to implement. He was the USA of that time. On his way back from hajj he bought & brought all the smart folks and talent to his kingdom from Egypt. This propelled it to a center of knowledge in West Africa. After his death the state crumbled and everything was pilfered by the “andu a nyumba” of that time…there were no successive and visionary leaders that would continue with what he had started.

[Goks]

@gashwin

and then there was Mansa Musa of Mali who travelled with so much gold when on a pilgrimage to Mecca he caused serious inflation in Egypt and the Middle East…

There was an interesting feature about him on PBS just the other day. I was captivated by the research done on him. I never knew or heard anything of him before.

Based on the records and account witnesses the dude was the richest person in the world at that time and still is historically (dude was worth more than 200 billion in the 1300s from gold & salt). He is the only guy in the world that eclipsed the trillion mark when his wealth was pegged to current gold prices.

Funny enough the mines were later discovered by a certain European professor (can’t remember his name), who came across a map of the area where the famed ruins were. The prof. and his bankroller used crafty means to lay claim to the mines. After they restarted the mining operation, the Mwalimu never touched chalk nor returned to class again. He had never seen so much gold in his life.He became a wealthy fella.

[Jazzman]

@gashwin

and then there was Mansa Musa of Mali who travelled with so much gold when on a pilgrimage to Mecca he caused serious inflation in Egypt and the Middle East…

Hehehe, I want to be this rich. I go holidaying in Tz and cause serious inflation until they declare me persona non grata

[Jazzman]

@kyuktothecore

That question is a tricky one. I can’t tell whether it was being content with what they had, or they weren’t adventurous enough. Maybe superstition came into play…but it’s a little annoying that all these empires existed in Africa and we know more about Greece and Rome than we do about them. Even in school, I remember textbooks would dedicate pages to kina Livingstone, Ludwig Krapf, Evelyn Baring, the queen and all these other beberus while only giving paragraphs to kina mekatilili, waiyaki, koitalel, sakawa. and other great kenyans. Hata sahii kwa internet, you’d be hard pressed to come across Swahili content. I don’t understand why.

Now that we know better, it’s up to us to put up our history (whatever we can salvage) on the net and in our books so that the future generations can learn about our beautiful dark skin and be more African and not grow up kissing kardashian’s or nimi kinaj’s ass, listening to taylor swift at the expense of Zamajobe, Angelique Kidjo and Saida Caroli

Best way to start is to promote our music and our innovations, our struggles for independence or build a wikipedia on Africa and call it Africapedia

[Jazzman]

@Goks

There was an interesting feature about him on PBS just the other day. I was captivated by the research done on him. I never knew or heard anything of him before.

Based on the records and account witnesses the dude was the richest person in the world at that time and still is historically (dude was worth more than 200 billion in the 1300s from gold & salt). He is the only guy in the world that eclipsed the trillion mark when his wealth was pegged to current gold prices.

Funny enough the mines were later discovered by a certain European professor (can’t remember his name), who came across a map of the area where the famed ruins were. The prof. and his bankroller used crafty means to lay claim to the mines. After they restarted the mining operation, the Mwalimu never touched chalk nor returned to class again. He had never seen so much gold in his life.He became a wealthy fella.

Some people like this need to be Mugabe’d