Gulf arabs and indians? - History Forum ~ All Empires

gulf arab

Originally posted by Arab

Yes, there was much interaction between the Gulf and the Indus valley in ancient times, and Oman actually held territories in modern-day Pakistan in the 18th century.

Don't forget Zanzibar in Tanzania. A lot of the darker skinned Omanis are referred to as 'Zangibari'.

Timidi mater non flet

Originally posted by balochii

why do gulf arabs and indians look a like??? just watch these two videos posted by some saudi guy, he is arab who is posting and he thinks saudis look indian:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4dqR-rMSlk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkOn7u_fQfU&feature=related

The only difference is arabs are filthy rich and indians are filthy poor.

Probably because Arab traders settled in India's ports and left many descendents. The mythical Sinbad was apparently based on a historical Muslim explorer who reached India

Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains!

Originally posted by balochii

^ are you native of Bahrain??

I was born here but my mother is Iraqi and my father is Iranian.

Originally posted by Cryptic

Originally posted by Arab

Arabs usually have convex "Roman" noses

Does this feature become less prounounced in Iraq? From what I have seen on T.V. and from the few Iraqis that I have met (mostly Chaldean minority), the Iraqis seem to have more rounded faces and "softer" features. Is this impression correct?

Well, in the Levant area and Fertile Crescent in general you will find some people with lighter skin, light eyes, soft features etc. Unlike further south in the Arabian peninsula, this area was ruled by many, many peoples and it is also a crossroad between Europe and Asia and thus there is a lot of diversity and more ethnic groups. So, you could find one person who looks like a northern European, and another person who looks like an Indian or Central Asian.

Edited by Arab - 21-Feb-2011 at 11:45

I think their skin color was the same as today. Some medieval Muslim scholars such as al-Jahiz pointed out that Arabs had lighter skin than Ethiopians. And when I said Bedouins have dark skin I didn't mean dark like Africans. Their skin color is comparable to north Indians. It is made even darker from exposure to the sun.

I'm not sure about Bedouins being Australoid. According to wikipedia Australoid features are a large brow ridge and large, portruding jaws. But I haven't seen these features on anyone in the region. Arabs usually have convex "Roman" noses unlike the broad noses of Aborigines or Africans. People with very dark skin are probably descended from slaves. I didn't know the Ainu were australoid though, that is interesting...

Many people from Yemen have African ancestry as they have very dark skin, but in isolated mountain villages the people have much lighter skin and even green eyes, which suggests the original people of the region had light skin.

Edited by Arab - 20-Feb-2011 at 10:35