Please don,t shoot the messenger .

K

Kevin the grey

Joined
Aug 26, 2005
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All through and even before time envoys have been sent . Trade delegations , hostage exchanges , messages of peaceful intent and threats of war . Not all these poor puppies made it back home . I was wondering if anyone had stories of what happened to them before their demise . Imprisonments and other impediments to travel are just as welcome .
 
You've lost me Kevin. LOL. Its not hard to do. You've got to speak slowly to me bro.
 
aproy1101 said:
You've lost me Kevin. LOL. Its not hard to do. You've got to speak slowly to me bro.
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Some cultures would employ banners of peaceful intent (A white flag) during times of war when they wanted to sue for peace. parelz or offer quarter to the enemy . Sometimes these messages were returned in a very direct fashion such as sending their head home in a basket . A very strong indication the answer is no .

I am asking if anyone knows stories similar to this theme .
 
I remember hearing stories of Ghenghis Khan doing this.
 
Here's a triple play for you, Kev.

After conquering Kara Kitay, Genghis Khan found that he shared a border with Khwarezmia. Realizing that they would be a valuable ally he sent a caravan to establish ties with them. Inalchuq, the governor of the city of Otrar, had his forces attack the caravan.

Not one to take no for an answer, Genghis sent a second group to see the ruler of Khwarezmia himself, Shah Ala al-Din Muhammad. The shah had all of them shaved and beheaded, save one. (Presumably to report back that the answer was still no.) Genghis, ever the go-getter, then attacked and conquered Khwarezmia.

Upon taking Otrar, Genghis had most of the residents killed. As retaliation for the earlier insult, Inalchuq was executed by having molten silver poured in his ears and eyes. The shah fled and evaded capture for some time. It's not clear how he died. It's said that Genghis completely destroyed the shah's birthplace by diverting a river.

The moral of the story is simple: when unexpected company arrives, it never hurts to be polite...especially if that company happens to be a Mongol horde.
 
Dave ? Talk about getting an earfull .

I know in Irish culture some warring factions might exchange younger sons of Royal blood as a sign of good will . Of course no mention would be made of emprisoning them . They were just visiting . If one group strayed across border lines or otherwise did not follow the agreement then said son might have an unfortunate accident . Talk about a peace mission .
 
I don't have the deails exactly right, but the story is interesting. There was once a rich country that was being eyed by two neighboring countries.

They each decided that the rich country would be relatively easy pickings and decided to invade. However they both knew that they would lose some men because the rich guys would put up a struggle.

Country A told country B to go ahead and invade, that they, country A were just not ready to mount a full-scale attack on the rich country.

So country B invaded annd at a cost of about half their army, succeeded and carried off a lot of gold and other heavy booty. As they neared their own border, the soldiers from Country A attacked country B's decmiated army who were further tired after carrying all the heavy booty, took the booty, took control of country B's country and the rich guys country.

Any historians ever heard of this? It seems like the rich country was Persia.
 
Kevin the grey said:
b + c = A . L:O:L

Isin,t it Persia that has changed names at least once ?

l
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It has a bit more notorius name now ---- IRAN!

I have a close friend from there. He says he is from Persia. He only dimly knows where Iran is located. At least that is what he says.

I like the image of Persia. I'd be tempted to change it back.

Images of beautiful women in veils, sultans, camels, Arabian nights, The Red Shadow thundering across the sands with his faithful band of riffs behind him. Righting wrongs in the "Robin Hood" tradition, Curved sabers glinting in the moonlight. Ah, those were the days. The stuff legends were made of. Romance at the oasis....

Anybody know this wonderful hokey song?

"Over the ground
There comes a sound
It is the drum, drum, drum of hoof-beats in the sand.

Quiver with fear
If you are near
It is the thunder of the "Shadow" and his band.

And all who plunder learn to understand, to understand:
The cry of

Ho!
So we sing as we are riding
Ho!
It's a time you best be hiding Low,
It means the Riffs are abroad,
Go,
Before you've bitten the sword.
Ho!
That's the sound that comes to warn you.
So!
In the night or early morning, you know,
If you're the "Red Shadow's" foe,
The Riffs will strike with a blow,
That brings you woe.

Ho!
So we sing as we are riding
Ho!
It's a time you best be hiding Low,
It means the Riffs are abroad,
Go,
Before you've bitten the sword.
Ho!
That's the sound that comes to warn you.
So!
In the night or early morning, you know,
If you're the "Red Shadow's" foe,
The Riffs will strike with a blow,
That brings you woe."

Where the hell are the Riffs and the Red Shadow when it is Iran? Oil. Murder. Torture, beheading. Hate. 12th century medieval darkness.

==========================

I have another good friend whose middle name is (no kidding) "Osamah!" It means "oak". He is hugely embarrassed by this name his mother gave him 37 years ago. Mixed emotions about changing or deleting it becasue his mother, now deceased, loved the name and wanted him to grow up "Strong as an oak."

He is African-American and not middle eastern, but stiill. . . .

It is, unfortunately on his driver's license. I would never have known about it except I just sold him some real estate. The closing attorney wanted him to sign using his full name and he would only use his first and last names.

I ABSOLUTELY do not have the heart to tease him about this anme.

Reminds me of a Farside cartoon where two bears are standing in the woods. One bear has a bullseye on his chest. The other bear says, "Bummer of a birthmark, Ralph!"

Bummer of a name, Osamah.
 
Bill Step away from the morphine drip . L:O:L

Actually thats a pretty neat poem . I almost get a pirates of the desert theme from it . When I was younger and read more adventure literature I would rarely read the poetry in them . I felt it was a little flowery and took away from the good hard slash em , stab em writing . Now that just getting out of bed is an adventure I might have a bit more of an eye for it .
 
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