The old saw goes “When you rape, pillage, kill, conquer from West to East, you go down in history as Alexander the GREAT; when you do it from East to West, you are Genghis Khan the barbarian.” This is not really very funny, but a perfect example of colonialism in the writing and retelling of history. There are many such examples of one kind of narrative dominating discourse: what Chimamanda Adichie calls “The Danger of a Single Story“.
The Empire Podcast continues to explore new worlds and challenge old narratives. It is hosted by two wonderful story tellers; (1) Anita Anand and (2) William Dalrymple. If you haven’t heard any of the episodes, I strongly recommend that you do. A very good thing about the series is that Anita and William invite scholars who have deep study of the subject to appear on the show and talk about an historical event or period or character. The scholarship then shines through in a fast paced conversation. The latest episode that dropped today, 11th April 2024, is on Mrs. Genghis Khan.
Now I know what you are imagining. As Anita Anand said, if you are a fan of The Game of Thrones you are visualizing the Mongol army as some variation of the Dothraki hordes. You are envisaging Ghenghis Khan as Khal Drogo and his wife as one of the Khaleesis in Dosh Khaleen, the one alongside perhaps. Nope you cannot pretend that you visualised her as Danerys Targaryen. You know you didn’t. 🙂
The episode talks about Borte, the wife of Ghengis Khan. Speaking about Borte is historian Marie Favereau who is the author of the book The Horde: How the Mongols Changed the World. In this episode Marie, Anita, and William tear off many myths that we associate with the Mongols and their lives. They forced me to pause and think of everything that I thought I knew. I was forced to challenge myself and the assumptions I have held. I have no doubt that you will be compelled to think too. I will not say much about the content cos that would be giving it away; and whatever I write cannot do justice to what was narrated.
This episode is a must listen, even if you don’t follow the other stories in the series though you really should, especially if you have been born and brought up in the West and have a western view of history.
Normally I socialise some of the more stunning Empire Pod episodes on Twitter. The reason I wrote something here is that there was more I wanted to say than would be allowed by 280 character limit.
Makarand
Musings of a wanderer 