Synonyms of strongman

The cold indifference of history buried that grandiose tyrant in the oblivion of the desert — a haunting reminder that even the most grandiose of leaders are but fleeting shadows in the long arc of history.

In the propaganda video, the narrator mentions the core Shiite religious figures Ali and Hussein, the first and third Shiite Imams, respectively, as well as the Battle of Karbala, a seventh-century uprising by Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, against a tyrant named Yazid.