How Greek Hellenism caused women to be curtailed through history:
In 507 BC in Ancient Greece, a thinker named Cleisthenes started a political ideology known as Democracy.
Democracy, meaning the 'rule of the people' in Greek, stated that instead of having tyrants who inherit the title of ruler rule over the people, people who were mature enough to make a decision would vote for a ruler.
Though Democracy was supposed to treat everybody equally, women were not allowed to vote for a ruler, have jobs or hold big titles in society. Women were treated as second class
Ironically, in Greek civilization, people worshipped women goddesses like Athena, the goddess of wisdom. The capital of Greece, Athens was also named after Athena. This meant that though the Greeks worshipped women, they curtailed them.
In 334 BC, the Greek emperor Alexander the Great started his conquest of the known world.
He started with his invasion of Persia before trying to spread Hellenism (Greek values and culture) to the entire known world. Alexander invaded kingdoms and empires including Sumer, Egypt and Kush.
Like this, ancient kingdoms that practised customs from before 500 BC which empowered women, were influenced by Greek or Hellenistic - worshipping women but curtailing them.
Though it is argued that during this time, many great women rose to power in Greece, including the mother of Alexander the Great, Olympias, historical records show that powerful women like here were diminished or even killed.
Even Olympias was condemned to death by the Macedonian assembly, but when soldiers refused to carry out her sentence, she was assassinated by her enemies.
In around 800 BC, a conqueror named Piye led campaigns to conquer the southern border of the Egyptian empire. His successful campaigns would later lead to the establishment of a great empire known as the Kushite empire or the kingdom of Kush.
The Kushite Empire soon started to prosper. However, the Egyptian empire claimed that the Kushite empire was a part of Egypt since it was so close to Egypt’s southern border. This resulted in multiple battles between Kush and Egypt.
But though Egypt was a stronger force, the Kushite empire was able to dominate most of the later battles with Egypt in its history.
Happy Women's day! Stories of women who changed the history of our world. @sarahjxckson@GirlUp
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On this day (14th February) in 1483, the first Mughal emperor Babur was born. 14th February is also marked as an official cultural day in Uzbekistan celebrating the birth anniversary of Babur. This day is known as Babur Day.
During Babur Day, multiple events are conducted that are attended by celebrities, high ranking officials and students.
Musicians sing songs inspired by music pieces commissioned by Babur, poetry written by Babur is recited, painting competitions are held and theatre performances on Babur's life is acted.
To be admitted into the army of the Mongol empire under Genghis Khan, you had to be able to wage war on a horse without a saddle! This required great skill, balance and coordination.
When such great skill was combined with the grip of the Mongol horse saddle, the cavalry of the empire was almost undefeatable.
In 1453 AD, the Ottoman Empire under Mehmed II, also known as Mehmed the conqueror, invaded the Byzantine Empire or the Eastern Roman Empire, located in the areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.
After the invasion, most of the Byzantine empire citizens decided to stay put in the Ottoman Empire and convert to Islam which the Ottomans followed.
Being a follower of Islam in the Ottoman empire gave one many advantages in the society, including being able to dodge the Jizya tax which was imposed on non-muslims in the empire.
Paintings and depictions of Mughal emperor Babur made on the command of his grandson Akbar were based entirely on depictions from the memory of people who claimed to have seen him. This was because most people who had physically seen Babur died before Akbar.
Most of these depictions were made by the late daughter of Babur, Gulbadan Begum. Akbar's artists carefully made these portraits of Babur and then had Gulbadan Begum examine them.
Later in her life, Gulbadan Begum would become the first and most famous lady Mughal historian and chronicler. She also wrote the book Humayun-Nama on her half brother, the son of Babur and the father of Akbar, Humayun.