A Witch in Mongolia: EP 4 - Review and General Thoughts
(Content: Discussion of slavery in 13th-century Persia and the Mongolian Empire)
If I get anything wrong, please correct me without hesitation!
The large time jumps surprised me, but frankly, if one is following history, there are often large gaps where historical figures/events are absent from the records. According to merchandise, Fatima ends the episode at about 21
It pains Sitara to recognise aspects of her younger self, earn to learn, and Fatima, extolling the virtues of learning, within Sorghaghtani. Firstly, it subverts her previous expectation that the Mongolians are all savages who don't understand the true value of that book, and but it also means she will be putting what she acquired while living in Tus to use for the people who destroyed her life.
She feels truly powerless, not even having the space to grieve properly and instead being expected to acquiesce to the demands of her captors. Sorghaghtani also holds more political power and freedom than Sitara ever did, and thus can make a true different with her knowledge (remember Sitara feeling frustrated that she couldn't travel like Muhammad last episode?)
Furthermore, this establishes is a fundamental different in perspective between nomadic and sedentary peoples in the past, which is a recurring theme throughout this episode. The act of conquering, destroying, or absorbing the enemies' assets was the norm on the steppe. Sorghaghtani herself was married to Tolui to establish a political alliance between the Mongols and Keraites, and later her father was killed after the Keraites revolted.
However, the fact that she was treated rather well in contrast to Sitara due to her high status (plus, she was never a slave), means she completely overlooks Sitara's misery.
Sitara has always been one to do things her own way, even since the first episode. The emotional dissonance she feels is contrasted with the physical struggles of the other Tus captives with adapting to the steppe climate.
They eventually get used to it, and Fatima realises just how alone she is in holding onto her hatred. It is all she has left, after all
Bankhar doggo cute
Ouch
Future Yuan dynasty ruler Kublai and future Ilkhanate founder Hulegu are so cute
The story of Kublai catching a rabbit and Hulegu catching a deer during their first hunt—and having Genghis Khan smear fat on their fingers—appears to come from Rashid al-Din's "Jami' al-Tawarikh" (Compendium of Chronicles).
That Huelugu and Kubhlai clearly adore Sitara shows a new side of the dynamics a slave has to navigate. While Sorghaghtani and the children may believe that they've genuinely bonded, Sitara only treats them with such a warm attitude because she has to. Unlike Fatima's household, where they validated her emotions even when she lashed out at them and eventually planned to emancipate her, if Sitara were to voice her negative emotions here, they would be ignored and she might be punished.
That said, I do wonder if Zumurrud ever similarly felt resentful towards Fatima and others...
I love how Genghis Khan's face is never shown. It truly paints him as a larger-than-life figure. He and Sitara never directly met, but his influence is all-pervasive
Representing him as a wolf in this episode and the second one is a reference to the founding myth of his clan, the Borjigin, which stemmed from the union of a wolf and a doe.
The story dives into differences between Islamic and Mongolian norms when slaughtering animals. What the man did here is sever the lamb's aorta with his finger, and Fatima is referring to Dhabihah, which is the Islamic method for slaughtering halal animals. One is supposed to call upon Allah for each animal, and must not sever the spine.
I like that Fatima explains the reasoning behind the Dhabihah. It shows how cultural norms are influenced by wisdom. However, I also think that Mongolian method is likely influenced by the steppes being much colder - i.e. the meat won't spoil as quickly, so it doesn't matter if the blood remains.
Locals know best, in either case
This is a bezoar stone! It's a hardened cluster of materials that are hard to digest that forms within the body. Likely the lamb felt sick because the stone irritated its stomach lining
The word is derived from the Persian “pād-zahr” (پادزهر), which literally means “antidote”. Many scholars of the Islamic Golden Age, such as Ibn Sina (whose work in medicine was depicted/mentioned in the first episode, I believe), touted it as a panacea. It does have significance in Mongolian culture as well, but I think that's probably going to be explained later.
There's so much attention to detail packed inside every scene, and it really helps to make the world feel alive
This is a Mongolian dish eaten on special occasions even today. It's also interesting that there is a parallel dish found in countries more to the west, including Iran, called kaleh pache (I think?)
And this drinking tradition (which I cannot find an English translation for but is spelled like this with the Cyrillic alphabet: сэржим өргөх) requires dipping the ring finger in the drink (usually airag or vodka) and flicking it a number of times (sources differ on how many) to offer blessings to the sky, earth, etc.
Mongolian wrestling, aka Bökh, is also featured! It has a long history, and served as a way to develop the strength and endurance which the harsh nomadic lifestyle demands
Odegei assuming a more ancient illustrious ('Khagan [lit. Khan of Khans]' instead of 'Khan') reminds me of Qin Shi Huang mashing together two imperial titles from Chinese mythology to make his own. It speaks to his ambition of surpassing his father.
Also, the reason Jochi isn't here is because he died shortly before Genghis Khan. Last episode was the only time we'll see him. He was quite estranged from his family due to his ambiguous paternity (his name even means 'guest').
An exciting twist in the story! Presumably this is how Fatima meets Töregene?
Earlier, Fatima grew frustrated that she had made so little progress towards the book, but in fact, this might just be her chance. The years she spent 'doing nothing' actually integrated her into Sorghaghtani's inner circle!
With her knowledge as a scholar and her knowledge of the court, she gains one of her greatest assets as a slave to the Mongols: Being irreplaceable.
I love this chapter because it isn’t only a good example of how one makes the protagonist interact with historical figures in a cohesive logical way in historical fiction but it is a good foreshadowing for the role of chinese alchemy and taoist beliefs in later chapters.
from this twitter post, tomato soup (mangaka for jaadugar: a witch in mongolia) had made a doujin that was called "The Ark Departs From Palestine" 方舟はパレスチナを発つ(たつ)
the story is set around two shia muslims (who are from the order of assassins) sent to assassinate conrad, the king of jerusaleum. the time period was set during the crusades. proceeds of this doujin were sent towards the UNHCR
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