Episode 78: Al Mu’tadid

Before you even hit play it should already be clear to you that the caliphate is only going to get stronger over the course of our discussion today. Al Mu’tadid seems to have been incapable of doing any wrong; his decisive leadership reinvigorated the state far beyond what his pr ...  Show more

Reading about this caliph’s reign in our sources is a bewildering experience: everything is simultaneously great and on the brink of destruction. Later histories pick apart developments in the administration throughout al Muktafi’s time in charge in search of a crack or culprit. ...  Show more

A story of great myth and of huge historical significance, the foundation of Baghdad is a fundamental episode in the development of Islam. The Umayyad Caliphate, the first great Islamic empire, stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the borders of China; no dynasty had ever preside ...  Show more

One of the most powerful, and feared, leaders of history - Attila the Hun's legacy has persevered over centuries. His consolidation of the Hunnic tribes helped play a significant role in shaping the ancient geopolitical landscape of 5th century Europe and Asia - ultimately hel ...

We're in the Mongol lands of Central Asia in the late 1100s. This is a place of nomadic warriors, a region divided between tribes. But one man will emerge to unite them. Armed with the greatest military mind of his age, he will lead the Mongol peoples far beyond their own borders ...  Show more

Synopsis: A coalition marshalled by Hadad-ezer of Aram-Damascus and Urahilina of Hamath successfully defends southern Syria from further Assyrian encroachment. But a decade of campaigning by Shalmaneser begins to take its toll. “I destroyed, devastated, and set fire to Qarqar, hi ...  Show more