A few years back, I had some marble figurines of various ancient Samurai given to me by a friend of mine from Japan which when playing, the children in the house broke and buried it in the back yard .
So I guess in a few years from now, someone might come across it and lay claim that Japanese are the progenitors of my area with perhaps Shinto-ism being our forefathers ancient belief!@?
lol!
Im sorry to say, that what this article is insinuating is utter falsehood/fantasy!. Some of the sources of these articles are quite dubious and their seems to be an attempt to distort the true history of the region by claiming that gangetic indian culture spread North and West which is entirely innacurrate and a distortion of history as well as facts.
What is known and proven, is that Tamil culture from the Southern tip of the state of india (around the state of Tamil Nadu) spread East and South to parts of South East Asia(eg.. Cambodia, Malaysia etc.. )
Gangetic India was never an ''exporter'' of culture, rather quite the opposite, many would say that it was an ''adopter'' / ''hijacker'' of cultures due to the prevailing shame that many gangetic indians had(many would argue this trait still continues hence the posting of such absurb articles and posts on a regular basis) with the arrival foreigners be they Aryan or what not and the subsequent class distinction and seperation of ''colours''(vernas)- (later to develop into hinduism) that they imposed in order to seperate themselves from the people(s) there. This in essence established a formal system of class distinction and the resultant social and pathological problems associated with it on the people involved.
Gangetic indians where always quick to adopt the ways of outsiders(Iranic, Trans Indus aka Pakistani, Afghans/Bactrian etc.. and concoct 'more socially acceptable'' lineages in an attempt to improve their social standings as well as stature vis-a-vis hinduism and their regions social dynamic. This process appears to be continuing as the caste system of seperation and the barriers it forms for people(s) belonging to apparently ''lower classes'' is still practised in the modern day republic of india and often trancends religious boundaries. Infact, in recent years, many of Gangetic india's Christians and Muslims have continued the legacy of their ethnic cousins and often fabricate foreign lineages to improve their lineages when in reality many simply converted into the more egalitarian montheistic religions of Christianity and Islam. Its such a shame that people in this day and age are being taught to be ashamed of their roots especially in this era of multiculturalism.
What is known is that Russia had various ethnic groups (Scythians, Vikings, Finno-Ugric peoples, Turkic and later Slavic peoples just to name a few!), one often overrunning the other and over time a common culture developed particularly in and around the region of modern day Moscow which began to excise considerable power in the area and over ran the war-like Tribes such as the Tatars. They would later begin to form the modern Russian state and the development of a common Russian culture and language. Being at the crossroads and in possession of lands involved in the ancient Silk Route and international trade, a considerable amount of goods, merchandise, slaves etc.. criss cross its path. So much international trade and foreign exotic items traversed its path.
I would hope that moderators and All Empire Forum members would hold to a higher standard and encourage more accurate and FACTUAL discussions/postings rather than propogating false claims particularly of a system of class dicrimination which delegates people as being inferior/superior which I believe we all should reject.
Despite it all, I did get a good ''chuckle'' when I first read this post!! lol! but seriously guys/gals, lets stick to factual history!
Edited by MarcoPolo - 14-Nov-2007 at 18:54