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Originally Posted by ariel
Never knew Turks to be so teary-eyed and gullible.... Must have been hell of a love story to force them to circumvent every known museum protocol:-)
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In November 1996, while I was telling the story of the Battle of Kossovo Polje (1389 CE), I was interrupted by the Imam when he asked me:
"Out of the fourteen Turkish emirates in Anatolia, why was it the emirate of the House of Osman that was able to accomplish all these military successes, by means of victories and conquests? Why only this emirate?"
So, I answered that the Ottomans pursued a policy of conquests ambitiously and more vigorously than the other emirates. Then I spoke about the formation of the Janissaries, Spahis, etc...but the Imam was unconvinced. The 60 year-old Imam told me:
"Listen carefully: All nations have clever people, vigorous people, geniuses, braves, champions, heroes, etc...yet it's technological superiority that comes as a decisive factor that decides which nation triumphs over the other...let me give you an example: After losing the Battle of Yarmouk in 636 CE, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius I did not complain that the Muslim military leadership was superb, nor did he complain that the wars with Persia had exhausted him...NO! Rather he complained from the superiority of the swords used by the Arab Muslim warriors when he said: "My soldiers have spent their night waking up from the nightmares of the swords of the Arabs and their exceptional lengths!"
Then he added:
"That extra length in the Arab sword was something the Byzantine warrior found himself unaccustomed to and unable to deal with; something that made the Byzantine warriors frightened; especially that their casualties from these Indian swords (which the Arabs used) were tremendous."
...And it was then that I began thinking of writing about the Arab sword of the 7th and 8th century CE. Yes, that was the beginning!