One of the unintended consequences of asking an outsider for help. This is illustrated by an Aesop's fable and by three well-documented historical events - in Britain, Southern Italy and Egypt. There are probably many others.
Aesop’s fable: King of the Frogs: The Frogs were living as happy as could be in a marshy swamp that just
suited them; they went splashing about caring for nobody and nobody troubling
with them. But some of them thought that this was not right, that they should
have a king and a proper constitution, so they determined to send up a
petition to Jove to give them what they wanted. "Mighty Jove," they
cried, "send unto us a king that will rule over us and keep us in
order." Jove laughed at their croaking, and threw down into the swamp a
huge Log, which came down splashing into the swamp.
The Frogs
were frightened out of their lives by the commotion made in their midst, and
all rushed to the bank to look at the horrible monster; but after a
time, seeing that it did not move, one or two of the boldest of them ventured
out towards the Log, and even dared to touch it; still it did not
move. Then the greatest hero of the Frogs jumped upon the Log and commenced
dancing up and down upon it, thereupon all the Frogs came and did the same; and for
some time the Frogs went about their business every day without
taking the slightest notice of their new King Log lying in their midst.
But this
did not suit them, so they sent another petition to Jove, and said to him,
"We want a real king; one that will really rule over us." Now this
made Jove angry, so he sent among them a big Stork that soon set to work gobbling
them all up. Then the Frogs repented when too late.
Saxon conquest of Britain: Hengist and Horsa were brother chieftains
from Jutland, who led the first Saxon bands which settled in England. They were
called in by the British king Vortigern to defend him against the Picts and
other enemies.
The place of their landing is said to have been Ebbsfleet in Kent, probably sometime around 450A.D.. Hengist and Horsa were at first given the island of Thanet as a home, but they soon quarrelled with their British allies, and gradually possessed themselves of what became the kingdom of Kent.
In 455 theSaxon Chronicle records a battle between Hengist and Horsa and Vortigern at a place called Aegaels threp, in which Horsa was slain. Thenceforward Hengist reigned in Kent, together with his son Aesc. There later followed three subsequent battles, which resulted in the expulsion of the Britons from Kent.
Norman
conquest of Southern Italy: Immigrant Norman brigands acclimatised themselves to
the Mezzogiorno as
mercenaries in the service of various Lombard and Byzantine factions,
communicating news swiftly back home about the opportunities that lay in the
Mediterranean. These aggressive groups aggregated in various places, eventually
establishing fiefdoms and states of their own; they succeeded in unifying
themselves and raising their status to one of de
factoindependence within fifty years of their arrival.
Unlike
the Norman conquest
of England (1066),
which took place over the course of a few years after one decisive
battle, the conquest of Southern Italy was the product of decades
and many battles, few decisive. Many territories were conquered independently,
and only later were all unified into one state. Compared to the conquest of
England, it was unplanned and unorganised, but just as permanent.
Mameluke takes
over as rulers of Egypt:
Mameluke (or Mamluk or Mameluk or mamaluke or mamluq or marmeluke or marmluk) (Arabic: مملوك (singular),
مماليك (plural), literally means "owned by the king" or
"slave." It refers to white slave soldiers, primarily Christians,
like the Janissaries but also Mongols, who converted to Islam and were employed
by various rulers including the Abbasidand Ayyubid dynasties and the Ottoman Empire.
Like Janissaries, Mamelukes
converted to Islam and served the Muslim rulers until modern times. And like
the Janissaries, the Mameluke caste was governed by rules that supposedly
prevented children of Mamelukes from inheriting their position and similar
restrictions designed to ensure they would never be a threat. As in the case of
the Janissary soldiers, the rules were often eroded or disregarded.
The
Mamelukes seized power for a time in Egypt, Damascus and India and set up their
own dynasties. They did two signal services to the Muslim and Arab world: They stopped the advance of the Mongols at Ayn Jalut,
and they finally drove the Crusaders from Palestine.
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