The Darkhad, the soul guards of Genghis Khan

The Darkhad, the soul guards of Genghis Khan(supchina.com)

75 points by evilsimon 5 years ago | 9 comments

davidw 5 years ago |

> To honor the Khan’s wish of secrecy — we are entering deep into the territory of legend here — 2,000 people who attended the Khan’s funeral were slaughtered by his army. The army was then killed by the Khan’s escort. The escort then killed anyone that crossed their path, in order to conceal where Genghis was buried. Finally, when they reached their destination, the remaining survivors committed suicide.

That seems a bit over the top.

the_af 5 years ago | |

> The army was then killed by the Khan’s escort.

I wonder which definition of "army" and "escort" this legend is using. Unless there was trickery involved (or it was done willingly) it stands to reason that an honor guard or escort cannot murder a whole army.

This is probably just a legend.

opportune 5 years ago | |

Unfortunately, they had no idea that one day satellites would make burial sites a little more conspicuous.

There is good evidence that Genghis Khan is buried at Burkhan Khaldun (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkhan_Khaldun). You can see a man-made earth mound at the top here: https://zoom.earth/#view=48.762048,109.009539,17z/layers=esr.... Of course, the Mongolian government would rather not allow searches or excavations for the burial site.

AlotOfReading 5 years ago |

The Darkhad valley where they live is incredibly beautiful and remote. In the summer the slopes bloom with alliums and rhubarb while the riverbanks are crowded with their famous white horses. You just have to watch out for the horrific grasshoppers that eat almost anything, including plastics.

octygen 5 years ago | |

These grasshoppers sound like a solution for the world's plastic problem? Also, I just added that region to my Travel TODO list :)

hkarthik 5 years ago | | |

Just because they eat it, doesn't mean they digest it and get it out of the ecosystem.

That's the problem with plastic, breaking it down without consuming a ton of other resources, or getting even worse by-products in the process. Plastic in its current form should have been made illegal at least 30 years ago in favor of far more biodegradable options.

AlotOfReading 5 years ago | | |

They seemed to have some preferences, but it's cool nonetheless. I still have the polyester jacket they chewed holes in and others reported similar issues with their tents.

1MachineElf 5 years ago | |

Sounds a bit like exploring Fallout NV or 76.

AlotOfReading 5 years ago | | |

I was there during the 2017 DRPK nuclear test frenzy and we saw military aircraft overhead every few days heading in and out of Russia, so there was a fair bit of apocalyptic ambience.