A light read on the confluence of food, military leaders, and biological warfare
Food:
I hadn’t had Egyptian food for some time and so yesterday I treated myself to eggs with basturma and molasses with tahini. These are two dishes that I really used to like as a child. My mind is naturally drawn to them as go-to dishes when I am at home in Egypt.
I must have had this meal a couple of thousand times in my life if not more. Yesterday was different though. I noticed something quite strange that they both have in common. They both evoke thoughts of two very important military men in history: Malik Al Ashtar and Genghis Khan.
Military leaders:
Malik Al Ashtar must be the most underrated character in Islamic history. He was the victor of the most controversial battle in Islamic History: Battle of the Camel, where he led Ali Ibn Abi Talib’s army against forces headed by Aisha, Prophet Mohammed’s widow.
Al Ashtar, which means ‘injured eyelid’ wasn’t his family name but rather a nickname he was given due to an injury he got in battle which scarred his eyelid. Those who did their homework for history class know that he was intentionally omitted from history. For as we all know, history is one of the spoils of war and it’s up to the victors to tell us the version of the past that they prefer.
He was on his way to Egypt as her new governor. When he arrived at Sinai, a man hired to kill him invited him to his house to rest and eat. The man poisoned his molasses and tahini, thus ending the life of one of the greatest field marshals of his time, if not of all time. As a very big fan of Al Ashtar, this is something that flashes in my mind when I eat molasses and tahini.
Then we’ve got Genghis Khan. Again, it isn’t his actual name but rather his given title which roughly means “Universal Ruler”. He was a controversial figure who has been described as genocidal. As a political and military leader though, he was terrifyingly intelligent and ahead of his times.
Khan mastered psychological warfare: months before attacking a city, he would send some of his soldiers there as travellers to instil fear in its population, spread stories about how ruthlessly brutal the Mongolian army was or how it was undefeatable. After each massacre, he would let survivors go free knowing they would work as terror spreaders in the region.
He also used propaganda in warfare and here is where basturma comes into play. The Mongols had a nomadic lifestyle. Basically a group of men who were always on the go with no time to cook complicated recipes really. So a common food that soldiers would generally have as supply was basturma. They dried the meat with salt and kept it under their saddle and let the heat, after a couple of weeks of riding, do the trick. Voila, you’ve got yourself some cured meat. It smelt so utterly bad though that the smell of the Mongolian army grew to become a reputation.
A common story that his agents apparently spread in unconquered cities was that “you’d smell Khan’s army before you even see it”. Yet another curiosity my mind chooses to remember while I enjoy my eggs with basturma.
Biological Warfare
Although biological warfare doesn’t come to mind when I am eating (thank God for that), it feels relevant to talk about it these days with a pandemic keeping us all at home, and also because it’s related to Khan.
The earliest record of biological warfare that I know of is found in Homer’s Odyssey where we learn of arrows dipped in venom. However, Khan was no fictional character and he mastered this form of warfare considering the technology of his time. He used to capture men suffering from the plague from all over his empire, releasing them in cities weeks before he planned to invade.
At a later stage of the Mongolion expansion, Mongols famously used plague-infected corpses of their own soldiers as weapons during the siege of Caffa. This forced the city to surrender as the illness had spread amongst its population. According to Gabriele de Mussi, those who escaped the city after the siege, are the ones who spread the Black Death to Europe killing almost a third of its population.
Building the Hive Mind
I am very curious to know what foods remind you of people and what the connection is, I am sure I am not the only one out there. Who knows, we might find some sort of commonality. So let me know in the comments below please.
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