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Mangudai
Consul
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Topic: Was Sbetai fat and one-eyed? Posted: 28-Dec-2004 at 05:34 |
Some authors have written that Sbetai was fat, but in fact they base that claim on a single passage in the Secret History - where it is said that Chinggis sent after his general in "an iron cart". The writers have then interpreted this as that Sbetai was so fat, that he couldn't ride and had to be transported in a strong cart of iron, like some kind of beast!
That hypothesis is completely disconnected and out of context, why then have authors of history books used it? Sbetai was evidently not fat - at least he could ride a horse! During the invasion of Kwarizm - according to muslim historians like Juvaini - Chinggis sent for Sbetai - who rode several days and nights on his horse to get to his emperor's headquarters as fast as possible. Could such an obese person - who previously is said to have been transported in a cage like an elephant - have done that? No, Sbetai couldn't have been fat, or at least not obese
Another claimed attribute of Sbetai is that he supposedly was one-eyed. How did he get one-eyed, and where is that stated?
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Tobodai
Tsar
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Posted: 28-Dec-2004 at 16:01 |
I bet his sucess scared peopel so they made him into a bogeyman, he certainly could have had one eye though, after all that hard campagining.
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"the people are nothing but a great beast...
I have learned to hold popular opinion of no value."
-Alexander Hamilton
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Snafu
Knight
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Posted: 28-Dec-2004 at 20:41 |
Never heard any of that. It's possible that someone is confusing Subedai with Temujin's old enemy Tarkutai, who was supposedly so fat that he couldn't ride a horse and had to be pulled along in a wagon.
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Temujin
King
Sirdar Bahadur
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Posted: 29-Dec-2004 at 13:28 |
mmh, I can remember the cart story, but I'm not 100% sure if it was referign to Sube'etai. if it did, then it was either another person witht hat name, or Sube'etai was pretty fat when he was younger and became slimer later, prolly due to the hardship suffered durign camapigns.
regarding the one-eyed thing. I'm not sure readign about it or not, but i've seen a modern reconstruction picture of him with an eye-patch...
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Imperator Invictus
Caliph
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Posted: 30-Dec-2004 at 14:38 |
That's an interesting question. I've also seen a picture of him with an
eye patch. But he has both eyes in this chinese ink drawing:
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cattus
Arch Duke
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Posted: 30-Dec-2004 at 14:54 |
nice pose.mongols wore winged helmets? It looks Tang influenced.
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Temujin
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Posted: 30-Dec-2004 at 15:53 |
as a Chinese image it's of course inaccurate.
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Chono
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Posted: 31-Dec-2004 at 08:05 |
Maybe he wore a chinese helmet?
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Mangudai
Consul
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Posted: 31-Dec-2004 at 09:44 |
Originally posted by Temujin
as a Chinese image it's of course inaccurate. |
Yes of course, that painting is not contemporary but was made in the 19th century
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TheOrcRemix
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Posted: 31-Dec-2004 at 11:47 |
doesn't look fat
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True peace is not the absence of tension, but the presence of justice.
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Nick1986
Emperor
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Posted: 30-Mar-2011 at 13:40 |
Highly unlikely as unfit warriors were usually the first to be killed. However, it's possible he put on weight as as old man
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