Episode 273: The Tartarian Empire (Patreon)

According to the Tartarian Empire conspiracy theory there once existed a massive, advanced regime that stretched over much of the Asian continent. This Empire’s power was so great that they built structures all over the world, including in Africa, North America and South America. Buildings such as the White House in Washington D.C. and the Great Pyramids in Egypt were built by the great, globe spanning Tartarian empire. They were able to accomplish this in part thanks to advanced technology that is lost to time, like batteries powered by the Earth which distributed electricity wirelessly.

This theory has spawned a community of people who pour through old European maps and pictures of 19th century buildings in search of evidence for this lost empire, then post their findings on Reddit and Tik tok.

But was there really a lost empire called “Tartaria?” Or have conspiracy theorists on the internet misinterpreted an archaic European term for parts of Asia then proceeded to desperately search for evidence of a better world that was lost to time?

REFERENCES

Inside the ‘Tartarian Empire,’ the QAnon of Architecture

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-04-27/inside-architecture-s-wildest-conspiracy-theory

Shaoxin, Dong. "The Tartars in European Missionary Writings of the Seventeenth Century." In Foreign Devils and Philosophers, pp. 82-103. Brill, 2020.

Graff, Rebecca S. "Dream City, Plaster City: Worlds’ Fairs and the Gilding of American Material Culture." International Journal of Historical Archaeology 16 (2012): 696-716.

Greenhalgh, Paul. "Ephemeral Vistas: Great Exhibitions, Expositions Universelles and World’s Fairs, 1851–1939." (1989)

CIA Document: National Cultural Development Under Communism

https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP78-02771R000200090002-6.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walhalla_(memorial)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmenhaus_(Burggarten)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Hall_Post_Office_and_Courthouse_(New_York_City)

The Singer Building

https://www.nypap.org/preservation-history/singer-building/