The Mongolian Empire stretched from the Pacific Ocean in the East all the way to Poland in Europe. Why did the Mongols never venture South into India?

This map depicts the Mongolian empire at the height of its power. However I'm curious as to why the Khans never ventured South into India? I assume it was far richer than the Middle East(Kwarrismian Empire) or present day Russia(Kievian Rus).

2 Answers 2015-04-25

Any good socures on assyrilogy and slavery in ancient assyria?

1 Answers 2015-04-25

What's a common misconception about a historical fact or figure that is easily debunked?

1 Answers 2015-04-25

Do we know how Alexander the Great interacted/reacted with the Hebrews upon winning the land from Persia, or vice versa?

Anything with sources would help.

All I know for sure is that after Alexander's death, the Ptolemaic and Seleucid Empires clashed over it various times until the victory of the Maccabees in the 2nd century BCE. I'm more interested in what happened when Alexander actually lived.

1 Answers 2015-04-25

Why does mutilation in the Byzantine empire seem more common than elsewhere?

In the Battle of Kleidon there is the mass blinding of Bulgarians, I always have heard that rebels and such were likewise mutilated. It may be confirmation bias, but I feel as though it's more common than many other places.

1 Answers 2015-04-25

After the fall of Constantinople, to what extent did Greek-Turkish intermarriage occur? What happened to these people during the population exchanges? Can they be found in any specific location today?

1 Answers 2015-04-25

Have Vice Presidents of the United States typically had more influence when the President they were serving under were Vice Presidents as well?

A famous quote from John Adams is:

“The Vice Presidency is the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived"

I was wondering generally if Presidents have been more sensitive to the role of Vice President and allowed them to exert more influence if they had done the job themselves.

2 Answers 2015-04-25

Were there Roman foods which I could name? Were there any which I would be totally unfamiliar with?

5 Answers 2015-04-25

Why is it that, in the USA, the Republican Party used to be the liberal party of the north and Lincoln while the Democrats were mostly more conservative southerners? How, when, and why did it happen that this situation reversed?

I gather that it began to happen around the earlier part of the 20th century (I think) but it still seems confusing to me that they completely reversed like they have.

I have found some links here: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/us_history#wiki_changing_role_of_republicans_and_democrats

This is probably the best answer I've found so far: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/yczua/can_someone_address_a_brief_history_of_democrats/

1 Answers 2015-04-25

Why was George Washington so revered prior to his presidency?

He lost the majority of his battles, let his personal pride and ambition delay the adoption of the ultimately successful Fabian strategy, he had little generalship experience and was routinely outmatched by the likes of Howe. In fact, there is little I can attribute to Washington when examining the factors that led to the triumph of the American revolution. Yet he was uniformly beloved by all Americans and held the status of a deity. What am I missing here?

2 Answers 2015-04-25

How wide spread was the battle hammer in history?Was it an effective weapon?

1 Answers 2015-04-25

How likely was the survival of men who were first to climb the siege tower?

1 Answers 2015-04-25

Looking for a couple of good books for two exams I have coming up. British society 1900-1950 ish

Need one for social & economical impacts of world war one. (mainly social)

and need one based on the suffragettes and and pre suffragettes movements.

I just need to get a grasp of the time around those periods, any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

1 Answers 2015-04-25

Saturday Reading and Research | April 25, 2015

Previous

Today:

Saturday Reading and Research will focus on exactly that: the history you have been reading this week and the research you've been working on. It's also the prime thread for requesting books on a particular subject. As with all our weekly features, this thread will be lightly moderated.

So, encountered a recent biography of Stalin that revealed all about his addiction to ragtime piano? Delved into a horrendous piece of presentist and sexist psycho-evolutionary mumbo-jumbo and want to tell us about how bad it was? Need help finding the right book to give the historian in your family? Then this is the thread for you!

10 Answers 2015-04-25

Why were there so many communists in WW2 Europe?

I've been reading a few histories of WW2 recently and in every single European nation the resistance or partisan movements seem to always be divided up into a communist group and then a nationalist group. How was it that communism was able to command such a strong following in these countries that they were able to consistently muster the numbers and resources for a separate resistance movement?

1 Answers 2015-04-25

I often hear that for hundreds of years after the Roman Empire fell, some European peoples still thought they were in it. Is this true? If so, how?

3 Answers 2015-04-25

Police badges in the United States seem to fall into two general design categories, shields and stars. When did these designs arise and how have they changed over time?

As an example of what I'm talking about, here are two "shield" type badges:

And here are two "star" type badges:

Then there are some that seem to blend the two, like this NYPD badge from 1972, which interestingly is a "Police Woman" badge. There are many more exampls of different styles of NYPD badges on this page.

I personally associated the star type of badge with the stereotypical Old West and Western states in general, but I have no idea if that has a basis in reality and those NYPD badges show that they've been used in other parts of the country. And I found examples of shield type badges in many Western states as well.

Where did these two styles come from and how have they changed in use and popularity over time? Have there been fashion trends in police badges?

3 Answers 2015-04-25

What series of history videos would you reccomend?

I tend to learn best through video so I wanted to know if anybody could reccomend any series of videos exploring history (preferrably not reanactments or dranatzations). Currently I only watch Extra History and Crash Course History on a regular basis and I'm looking to expand my horizons. I'm interested in pretty much all types of history but I prefer linguistic and cultural history, history on a global scale, industrialization, and any period or place that the average person doesn't often seen covered. I'd prefer for them to be free or on Netflix but if something is especially good and unavailable without cost through legal means I may plan to purchase it in future.

6 Answers 2015-04-25

Lost Books of the Bible

Does anyone know what happened to the books that were not included in the Christian Bible, and an overview of what they contained?

2 Answers 2015-04-25

What did the Queen (Elizabeth II) say of the Rhodesian Republic?

Ian Smith and his cabinet signed the UDI (Unilateral Deceleration of Independence) after the Britain and the Commonwealth began to turn away from it, seeing it as a betrayal. However, before 1970, she was named as the Commander and Chief of the official Head of State of the Rhodesian Republic, even going as far as to make "God Save the Queen" its anthem until 1970. My question is this, What did the queen actually say in response to Rhodesia, Ian Smith and the Bush War?

1 Answers 2015-04-25

What is the oldest record of "applause"? How old is the practice of applauding?

3 Answers 2015-04-25

What was daily life like in a 300s era ancient rome? pre 379

1 Answers 2015-04-25

What are some of Justinian I's mistakes?

When searching for Justinian I's life story, sites mentions a lot of the amazing things he did(Hagia Sophia, the corpus jurex, territorial expansion). However, did he do anything wrong, that would have accelerated Byzantium's fall under Ottoman rule?

This is a pure enthusiastic question, and I may be asking more of an open question, but Justinian I is one of my favorite people to read about.

2 Answers 2015-04-25

What were Pope Innocent III's three faults?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Innocent_III#Death_and_legacy

2 Answers 2015-04-25

What were some obscene gestures used by ancient Greeks, Romans, Persians, et al.? How do we know what they looked like?

3 Answers 2015-04-25

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