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India Part of Greater Middle East?
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Cellular View Drop Down
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Posts: 85 		  Quote Cellular Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: India Part of Greater Middle East?
    Posted: 10-Dec-2005 at 22:31

I have always viewed India  as a part of the "Greater Middle East"

 

India for much of its history has been ruled by Muslim dynasties and kings.

 

-Many of India's greatest buildings were done during Muslim ruling times.

 

-India had a great muslim population until lace>Indialace> was split into a couple countries(although today there is still a great minority of muslims)

 

-(I know this does not count as too much) Much of Northern India is desertious and semi arid.

 

I had alot more written yesterday but after I sent my topic it was deleted 3 times because of errors, so I will add more as discussion goes on

 

Note: I am not saying India is totally "Middle Eastern", but can be considered a part of the Greater middle east



Edited by Cellular
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Posts: 6565 		  Quote Maju Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10-Dec-2005 at 22:48
Well India/South Asia is large enough to make a region of its own. SW Asia (aka Middle East) is not defined by Islam (only) but by geography and history. Central Asia, North Africa, Sud-Saharan Africa and SE Asia also have wide Muslim populations and history yet they are not considered SW Asia (aka Middle East or rather Near East).

Yet, if we were to divide Asia in two halves, India would be clearly in the Western one, with the possible exception of the NE region (Assam and other states east of Bengal).

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Posts: 1027 		  Quote Anujkhamar Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Dec-2005 at 06:45
I would consider us to be more part of SE Asia than SW Asia.

I'd be careful as to what you mean by "much of india's history has been under muslim rulers". If you mean some of India's history has been under muslim rulers then it's fine. But for the majority of human history the majority of India has not been under muslim rulers.

It's also as Maju said, the middle east isnt defined as regions where Islam exists, as he said, SW Asia


Edited by Anujkhamar
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Posts: 740 		  Quote OSMANLI Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Dec-2005 at 07:02

Pakistan and Afghanistan are often refered to as the Middle East.

However i would consider Pakistan as the maximum extent. India is too far. In addition to the coutries depicted as MEastern i would also add Egypt, Israel, TRNC, Palestine and S.Cyprus.



Edited by OSMANLI
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Posts: 1070 		  Quote Jhangora Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Dec-2005 at 07:05
Cellular I think this topic should have been titled "Impact of Islam on India".You are mixing religion n geography.
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Posts: 740 		  Quote OSMANLI Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Dec-2005 at 07:18
Islam is bound to be the dominant factor in any discusion about the ME. However countries such as Israel and S.Cyprus are non-Muslim states whilst still being in the ME. Countries such as Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Palestine are home to a Christions to.
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Posts: 4613 		  Quote Leonidas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Dec-2005 at 07:47
Call me picky but i would regard the Indus as the natural border to the South Asia region, if we look past modern boundaries
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Posts: 952 		  Quote Paul Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Dec-2005 at 12:00
And hasn't India had much more influence on the middle east than the middle east on India in terms of technology and culture. Perhaps the middle east should be part of greater india.
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Posts: 6565 		  Quote Maju Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Dec-2005 at 13:39
Originally posted by Leonidas

Call me picky but i would regard the Indus as the natural border to the South Asia region, if we look past modern boundaries


I doubt the Indus is any border. It has normally been the center of most states, not their border. I rather think that the deserts of Eastern Iran are the diffuse borders of SW Asia. The borders of South Asia are rather the mountains of NW Pakistan. The border is diffuse and I would rather think of Central Asia as a fluctuant frontier of mainly semi-nomadic peoples, penetrating in Afghanistan and NE Iran. Baluchistan seems rather Southern Asia to me but it's also somehow of a border region.

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Posts: 8792 		  Quote Zagros Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Dec-2005 at 13:57
Logically, half of Iran is not in the Middle East, from the longitude of the Eastern coast of the Mazandaran/Caspian Sea it is, with Afghanistan and Western Pakistan in what would logically be called CA.
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Posts: 1378 		  Quote Ikki Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-Dec-2005 at 05:33
India is in the middle, beginning and end of the main asian influence, not Near East not Far East, India is India with her own civilization; islamic influence? right, the hindu influence, not only the religion, is absolutelly crucial for SE Asia; another example, Buddism is an indian religion, although is not present today. Can't be ascribed to these simplistic concepts as Middel, Near, Fast...
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Oct-2007 at 04:09
Originally posted by Leonidas

Call me picky but i would regard the Indus as the natural border to the South Asia region, if we look past modern boundaries
Not really, it has never been the boundry of any state.
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Posts: 4613 		  Quote Leonidas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Oct-2007 at 06:19
Originally posted by Sparten

Originally posted by Leonidas

Call me picky but i would regard the Indus as the natural border to the South Asia region, if we look past modern boundaries
Not really, it has never been the boundry of any state.
natural borders (better said boundaries) are different to political borders. Generally ive always thought when you cross the Indus from the west your entering the Indian sub continent (approximatly)and a different cultural sphere.




Edited by Leonidas - 06-Oct-2007 at 06:21
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Posts: 246 		  Quote Tyranos Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Oct-2007 at 06:41
Ancient World maps had India as included as partve Asia, granted North Africa was included as Asian as well on those maps. Even today  though, the Middle East is just as broad, and often includes North Africa within its deffinition too .
 
 


Edited by Tyranos - 06-Oct-2007 at 06:41
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Oct-2007 at 11:54

Not really, in the South, it bifurcates Sindh completely, and is Sindhi on both sides except for some areas. And Sindh is the most "Indian" of our provinces. In the North, well again not really.

There is no real geographic feature which is a sharp divide like say the Rhine. Its more of a transition. By the time you reach Lahore in C Punjab you find a change from say Peshawar, but there is not much at say Mianwali which is in W Punjab.
 
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Posts: 253 		  Quote andrew Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Oct-2007 at 16:06
Originally posted by OSMANLI

Pakistan and Afghanistan are often refered to as the Middle East.

However i would consider Pakistan as the maximum extent. India is too far. In addition to the coutries depicted as MEastern i would also add Egypt, Israel, TRNC, Palestine and S.Cyprus.

 
That's a HORRID map of the Middle East, with all do respect OSMANLI but that's just no accurate. Egypt not even included, you serious? Egypt was one of the original Middle East countries that encompassed Egypt, the Arabian penisula, and the Levant and now they include Afghanistan and Pakistan South Asian countries and exclude Egypt and consider it the Middle East!? Not to mention Palestin/Israel which has been at the center piece for centuries!
 
Historically the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, and the Levant have shaped the cultures of the Middle East anything that involves Turkey and Iran is used fro geo-political reasons anything for Pakistan and Afghanistan would be for the sole purpose of Islam itself. Misconceptions is that South Asia and the Middle East are alike, we are completely different culturally and historically I just hope Westerners realize this.


Edited by andrew - 06-Oct-2007 at 16:07
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Oct-2007 at 16:54
Not really true. If you include Iran in the Mid East, than Pakistan and Afghanistan should be included too.
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Posts: 1379 		  Quote The Hidden Face Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Oct-2007 at 17:36
From civilizational point of view, Pakistan and Afghanistan are a part of the Middle east. But the countries differ in ethnic culture.

Edited by The Hidden Face - 06-Oct-2007 at 17:49
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  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Oct-2007 at 17:48
Pakistan and Afghanistan are multicultural they do not have one culture.
 
In Pakistan, we have Sindhis and Serikis who are v "Indian", Baloch who are a transition between Mid East and India, pakhtuns Baltis, Chitralis and Kashmiris who are C Asian, Hindko and Punjabis who are a transitiona; group. Not to mention Muhajirs who are from all over India.
 
Pakistan is a country which straddles W, C and S Asia. We are a part of all three.
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Posts: 1379 		  Quote The Hidden Face Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06-Oct-2007 at 18:01
Exactly Sparten. Like many countries Pakistan and Afghanistan are multicultural and multi ethnic. What I would like to point out is that those countries share the same civilizational inspiration with the Middle east. In terms of ethnicity and folkloric culture however, some regions of Pakistan are Middle eastern some are Central asian and and other South Asian. You're so right about that. 
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