Historical Who Am I Riddles

[Kilo11]

Abdül, you leaned the wrong way, but I am gonna give you the rep and the victory anyway, because you clearly knew who I was talking about.

The answer is indeed Ögedei Khan. Almost no one knows about him, but it was under his rule that the Mongol Empire reached its furthest extent. And it was his death that most altered the potential course of history, because, as Abdülmecid pointed out, the Mongol armies turned home to attend the Kurultai (the gathering to elect a new Great Khan). At that time Batu and (the criminally overlooked) Subutai were crushing their way through Europe, and by most scholarly accounts had routed the last proper resistance that there might have been. Thus, Batu and Subutai were in a position to finish Poland and Hungary, and then cut clear through the HRE and France, all the way to the Atlantic. It would have meant a Mongol Empire from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and would have led to a massively different Europe in the centuries that followed. But Ögedei died, and without him, the Mongol generals had no proper writ of authority, at least not until a new Khan was elected. So they turned around, left Europe in ashes, and then crossed back roughly 3000 miles to the Mongolian steppe to have their Kurultai. So if Ögedei had not died, we might all be Mongols right now

Anyway, Abdülmecid has the floor!


EDIT: If someone would be so kind as to give Abdül a rep on my behalf, I'd much appreciate it! The lad did well, but apparently I have already praised him in the recent past, and cannot do so again yet.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

I was never thinking of Ogedei at all. The description sounded way more like Attila or some obscure tribe that wreaked havoc and got wiped out. Maybe if it included that his father was important and his brothers and nephews all tried to be king, I would have gotten it.

[Morticia Iunia Bruti]

Repped him for you.

[Sar1n]

I was never thinking of Ogedei at all. The description sounded way more like Attila or some obscure tribe that wreaked havoc and got wiped out. Maybe if it included that his father was important and his brothers and nephews all tried to be king, I would have gotten it.

And I discarded Genghis' successors because by then, Mongols were well established which didn't really fit one of the lines.

[Abdülmecid I]

I was a humble postal clerk,
but most people call me a jerk.
Got from my office expelled,
over a juicy affair with a Jewish girl.

The telegraph administration didn't cover my ambitions,
so I worked hard and soon my jurisdiction encompassed much more than long-distance transmissions.
The war ended in defeat,
but I ran way, albeit not in a manner discreet.
In the end I was so despised,
that my assassin got canonised.
For killing me, a mere postal clerk, who might have been a jerk. Who am I?

[Kilo11]

Unfortunately, though there is a wealth of information here Abdül, I am stumped. I will hunt about though, and see what I might find...

And I discarded Genghis' successors because by then, Mongols were well established which didn't really fit one of the lines.

Which line did not fit? Seriously. Every line in that riddle fits Ögedei, and together they only indicate Ögedei. The Mongols being established at that time doesn't undermine any part of the riddle, and I also take issue with the idea that the "Mongols were well established"; they had expanded greatly under the leadership of one man, Genghis, and after that man's death there was no telling with certainty what would happen. It was just as likely that they would melt away upon Genghis's death than that Ögedei would be respected as the new Khan and lead them even further than Genghis had. So yeah, tell me which part doesn't work.

[Sar1n]

And set a home for my people who had none.

That one.

[Kilo11]

That fits with Ögedei, and only Ögedei. During Genghis' time the Mongols remained relatively similar to how they were before being united, namely as nomadic peoples with no cities. Ögedei, however, had a capital built for the Mongol people. Karakorum was envisioned by him, and is actually something which Genghis would probably have looked upon with disdain (as he looked down on virtually all cities, and the softness that sedentary life seemed to breed in city-folk). So Ögedei took a people who had no "home" in the sense we think of the word (since home was wherever they laid their heads), and he gave them a place to go back to, to gather and call their own. So the line is about Karakorum.

[Abdülmecid I]

Some extra hints:

My career culminated in gaining a post existing since the 14th century, but the state I served survived only one year after my death.

[Kilo11]

Hey Abdül, do you have another hint for us? I'd really like to put more effort into this, but I am getting stumped on every avenue I try. Plus, it is not helping that any searches I do with "assassin" or "telegraph" automatically get filled with, respectively, Assassin's Creed stuff and Daily Telegraph articles. I think Google hates me

[Abdülmecid I]

Hmm, there isn't much to hint, unless I give him up completely. The last is very useful to recognize the empire, under which the official served. In politics, our mysterious individual followed in the steps of Pompey, Crassus, Caesar, Lepidus, Octavian and Mark Anthony, but, unlike these famous Romans, he didn't have a cognomen, not even a surname! In fact, he might have acquired a surname, had he lived just thirteen years more...

[Kilo11]

Oooohhh. This is a lot to work with. I have real life stuff to do for a while, but I will come back to this soon! Many thanks for the additional points!

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

Mehmed Talaat Pasha?

[Abdülmecid I]

Talaat Pasha is the right answer! He began as a simple postal clerk, ran into trouble and then rose into prominence, thanks to the Young Turks Revolution. During WWI, he was one of the three Pashas (hence the reference to the Roman triumvirates) who held most of the power in the Ottoman Empire during that time, together with Djemal and Enver. He even became (briefly) the Grand Vizier of the Empire, but is also considered to be the primary culprit for the Armenian Genocide. He succeeded in escaping to Germany, but was assassinated by an Armenian nationalist, who was acquitted (on somewhat flimsy grounds) and is venerated as a hero nowadays. 13 years later, in 1934, as a result of Kemal's modernising reforms, all Turks were obliged to declare a surname.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

My original guess was Enver Pasha but that didn't add up.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

My father was a thrice crowned king and thrice wed,
Two of his crowns were lost across the tides,
My mothers were as good as dead,
The only inheritance would not abide,
My brother gained his golden crown,
Since I've no crown to call my own,
My sworded hand against the iron flank,
His crown was gained upon my head,
My brother's crown it too did fall,
I picked it up and claimed the other,
My three crowns ruled long and short,
But I could not command the waves...
My short lived Empire.

[Cookiegod]

My father was a thrice crowned king and thrice wed,
Two of his crowns were lost across the tides,
My mothers were as good as dead,
The only inheritance would not abide,
My brother gained his golden crown,
Since I've no crown to call my own,
My sworded hand against the iron flank,
His crown was gained upon my head,
My brother's crown it too did fall,
I picked it up and claimed the other,
My three crowns ruled long and short,
But I could not command the waves...
My short lived Empire.

I'm confused by the lines marked. Brother gained a golden crown, ok good, then dude took the crown of his brother by force, ok good, and then huh?! the brother who just lost his crown lost his crown?!
And then the dude we're searching for picks it up (so we're at three now?) and then claims the other (that makes four?)

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

"His crown" does not refer to the brother. Thanks for picking up on that.

[Kilo11]

Lord Oda, would you mind throwing us some sort of hint to get this game back online?

[ggggtotalwarrior]

Sounds like a no feelsbad