Educated in Southern California with a Bachelors in History and a Juris Doctorate, Shahan has directed his passion for understanding how the world works into a writing practice that aims to deliver entertaining and enlightening content for the inquiring mind.
Disillusioned with the world, Prince Shakyamuni climbed an unconquerable mountaintop to meditate in peace until he died, then reincarnated 84 times until achieving godhood. This version of Buddha’s apotheosis was retold by Marco Polo in the late 13th century.
In the medieval realm of the Hind–that is the Indian sub-continent circa 1300 A.D.–there was a practice among some of the folk there that, when a man died, his living […]
For long, the world’s sole source of diamonds was India. Specifically in Hyderabad, ancient and medieval people fished diamonds out of deep, rocky mountain crags using a technique involving raw meat and live eagles.
Sultan Tughluq was one of the Sultans of Delhi, an imperial Islamic kingdom in 14th century India. He was violent and foolish and no one liked him. However, his bad government policies persisted since he continuously waged war on the peoples of the Indian sub-continent. The citizens of Delhi, though, had a funny way of fighting back.
In 1254 A.D., King Hethum I of Armenian Cilicia, a kingdom on the Mediterranean coast in the midst of the Crusades, sought an alliance with the world’s mightiest power of the time, the Mongol Empire. The overland journey was far flung and dangerous and many barbarian nations were encountered therein, but the result was a success and curious adventure.
The Maldives have long been regarded as a paradise on Earth, but legend has it that its islands are the birthplace of the coconut. See here why it is right properly considered “brain food.”
Aden was and still is an important port city on the southwestern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Built up by medieval merchants, it was the home of many rich and eccentric traders. Click above to read more about a funny rivalry between two such men.
The Land of Darkness was a realm of pitch black in the northern reaches of Eurasia where a legendary race of spirit-people resided, guarded by tundra wolves. They opened their realm only to the richest and most adventurous of merchants. This is the history of the medieval Siberian fur trade.
Despite the pestilence of the plague, which ravaged the world for centuries, measures of social distancing and a desire for a new world sparked the genius in many of humanity’s greatest thinkers. Dreamers like Isaac Newton, Petrarch and Boccaccio, and Leonardo da Vinci were able to hone their mental energy toward their creative pursuits and lead humanity toward new planes of enlightenment.
By living a clean life devoted to his art and the gods, this mythological Cypriot from Greek and Roman mythology was able to build himself the perfect woman and make her come to life.
