history and myth quiz 2014

History and Mythology Quiz

The Dravidian languages have no cognates outside the subcontinent.

Some research however links it to an ancient language outside India, raising controversies about immigration and settlement into India.

Which Kingdom/people are we talking about ?

The Elamites who ruled in Iran from 4000 BC. The Elamo-Dravidian language family is a hypothesised language family that links the Dravidian languages of India to the extinct Elamite language of ancient Elam ( Eelam ?). The extinct Harappan language may also be part of this family.

Who was the "the little gentleman in the black velvet waistcoat” many Jacobites toasted ?

A mole. William III of England, who had ousted James II on the throne during the glorious revolution of 1688, died because his horse had stumbled into a mole's burrow.

Looking for a name

Chyawan

Amla, the rejuvenating fruit is the essential ingredient of Chyawan prasha

The Iron One with yellow beard and yellow hair.He, Lord of Tawny Coursers, Lord of fleet-foot Mares, will bear his Bay Steeds safely over all distress.His yellow-coloured jaws, like ladles move apart, what time, for strength, he makes the yellow-tinted stir,When, while the bowl stands there, he grooms his Tawny Steeds, when he hath drunk strong drink, the sweet juice that he loves.

Who is being described, and where ?

Indra in the Rigveda

These fruits are called Chinani and Chinarajaputra in Sanskrit. There is an interesting story of their introduction to India.

In the 2nd century AD, Kanishka, battling the Chinese on his northern borders in Central Asia, held a Chinese prince hostage in Kashmir. The prince missed his native fruits and introduced their cultivation.

Which fruits ?

Peaches, and pears

In a treaty with the Hittites on a cuneiform tablet, they invoked the gods Indra, Mitra and Varuna. Who are these people responsible for the oldest written records in a language akin to Sanskrit?

Mitanni – A people who ruled in Northern Mesopotamia in about 1500 BC.

Some features of this religion :

* An immersion in water at initiation* A hymn beginning with the words ‘‘Thou hast redeemed us too by shedding the eternal blood.’" * The birth of the savior on December 25th

* 12 companions of the redeemer

Which religion ?

Mithraism : a modified Persian religion popular with the Roman soldiers in particular.Christianity shares many more features with it.

Which modern city is named after an incident in the Ramayana which supposedly took place there, and which sparked off Sita’s abduction ?

Nasik – the site of Panchvati and Tapovan, where Shurpanakha’s nose (Nasika) was cut off.

According to Jain tradition, this kingdom was destroyed when 2 princes took refuge here after refusing to give up the Elephant “sprinkler”, who would spray the court ladies with water, and an 18 strand pearl necklace, to their half brother. To pursue this war, a city was built which played a major role in the country for the next 1000 years.

Which kingdom and which city ?

The Licchavi kingdom based in Vaishali.

Pataliputra was built by Ajatashatru to facilitate the war.

The tallest building ever built in the world right until the 20th century – it rose to a height of 600-700 feet as per descriptions of ancient chinese travelers.

The remains of the base found tend to corroborate the descriptions.

What are we talking about ?

The Stupa built by Kanishka in Peshawar during the second century AD.

The remains today are found in Shahji ki DeriThree Chinese reports are known (by Faxian, who visited India between 399–412 CE, Sung Yun who visited India in 518 CE, Xuanzang who visited India in 630 CE).

This country is named after an animal not found there in historical times. This animal is repeated in themes across the country.

The name is the legacy of the settlers who still dominate it, and still call themselves after the animal.

Sinhala Desha, Ceylon or Sri Lanka was named after Vijay Singh, who legendarily emigrated there from India in the 5th century BC.The Lion or Sinha gave its name to the Sinhalas though there are no lions in Sri Lanka.

In 2007, an international team of researchers using satellite photographs and other modern techniques concluded that this city had been the largest preindustrial city in the world, with an elaborate infrastructure system connecting an urban sprawl of at least 1,000 square kilometres. Although the size of its population remains a topic of research and debate, newly identified agricultural systems may have supported up to one million people.

Which City ?

Angkor, the capital of the Khmer kingdom in Cambodia.

The building on the left (model) was built 300 years before the building on the right. Who built the earlier building, and where was it located ?

It is a model of the astronomical observatory built by Ulugh Beg, Timur’s grandson, in Samarkand in 1424.Raja Jaisingh’s Jantar Mantar was built in 1724.Ran into somebody whose Portuguese astronomer ancestor had been invited by Raja Jaisingh to build the Jantar Mantar.

An interesting origin has been suggested for the word “alas”, based on the mourning cry of somebody for his beloved.

Who is mourning for whom ?

Hercules, crying out for Hylas, his arms bearer, when he was abducted by nymphs in Mysia. Hercules abandoned the Argonauts to search for him.

What is the origin of the place name Kandahar ?

The name "Kandahar" is believed to be a transliteration of Alexandria(Alexandria >> Iskanderiya >> Kandahar).

Alexander the Great founded the city in 330 BC and named it Alexandria in Arachosia. It was an important city - Ashoka erected two rock edicts here – one in Greek, and one in Greek + Aramaic.

Persephone, Theseus, Herakles and Orpheus.

They all returned from the Underworld Alive.

All name origins for countries in South America.

Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela

All invented by Thomas Jefferson

The revolving Chair, the moldboard plough, The polygraph and the wheel Cipher.

The Museion at Alexandria. Euclid – 5 postulatesClaudius Ptolemy – earth centric view of the universe Archimedes – Archimedes principleEratosthenes – calculation of the circumference of the earth.

Builders of Famous walls.Antonine, Qin Shi Huang, Walter Ulbricht, Hadrian

“He asked my name; I told him Ahmed ibn Bagr, a Circassian from Kuneitra….They took me upstairs to the Bey’s room….The Bey cursed me with horrible threats.. Whispered to the corporal to take me out and teach me everything…a whip...he made it whistle over my ear, taunting me that before the tenth cut I would howl for mercy, and at the twentieth beg for the caresses of the Bey.”

Who is this ?

T E Lawrence, recounting torture in Palestine.

“From the billowing incinerator on the embassy roof rained twenty, fifty and one hundred dollar bills. Most were charred; some were not.. An embassy official said that more than five million dollars were being burnt… The swishing of the rotors now drowned the sounds of dusk; the crump of artillery, the cries of women…Inside the embassy itself there was champagne foaming on to polished desks, as several of the embassy staff tried systematically to wreck their own offices…pouring bottles of scotch on to the carpet..”

What is happening ?

The evacuation of the US embassy in Saigon in ‘75

Eyewitnesss account by John Pilger

1. English2. French3. Occitan4. Italian5. Latin6. Greek7. Saraiki dialect (he wrote a grammar)8. Hindustani9. Marathi10. Urdu11. Arabic12. Persian13. Pushtu

14. Sanskrit15. Portuguese16. Spanish17. German18. Icelandic19. Swahili20. Amharic21. Fan22. Egba23. Asante24. Hebrew25. Aramaic26. Many other West African & Indian dialects

By the end of his life, he spoke at least 25 languages – or maybe 40, if distinct dialects are counted, some of them well enough to disguise himself as a native,The languages reflect his travels and his translations.Who are we talking about ?

Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890)

Burton's best-known achievements include traveling in disguise to Mecca, an unexpurgated translation of One Thousand and One Nights (The Arabian Nights), bringing the Kama Sutra to publication in English, and journeying as the first European to visit the Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile.

How were Chiang Kai Shek and Dr. Sun Yat Sen related ?

Sun Yat-sen was married to Soong Ching-Ling. Soong Ching-Ling's sister, Soong May-Ling, was married to Chiang Kai-shek, and thus the two leaders were brothers-in-law through marriage to the Soong sisters.

What is the origin of the name “easter “ ?

The name Easter comes from Eostre, an ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess, originally of the dawn, and later of Fertility. The Indian equivalent is Ushas.

Another word origin from Eostre is Estrogen.

The Goddess Saraswati in her Iranian cognate, was a demoness who devoured children. She morphed into a major goddess in another mythology in a fusion with Demeter.

Who ?

The important Buddhist Goddess of fertility, Hariti, who developed in Central Asia. Note the Cornucopia.

No man can serve two masters:…Ye cannot serve God and X." Matthew 6:19–21,24 (KJV)

This entity mentioned in the New testament was commonly interpreted as a Syriac god of riches. No trace or mention of him has however been found outside the Bible.

Mammon.

Flood Myth

Deucalion and Pyrrha

Mt. Ararat

Gilgamesh

Many famous Indians derive their name from this mythical Avestan King. According to the Shahnama he divided the people into four groups:

The priests, who conducted the worship of HormozdThe warriors, who protected the people by the might of their armsThe farmers, who grew the grain that fed the peopleThe artisans, who produced goods for the ease and enjoyment of the people

His name is the cognate of a well known Indian god, followed by the Avestan version of “Shreshta”

Who ?

Jamshed

Jam and shid, corresponding to the Avestan names Yima and Xšaēta. Xšaitah meant "bright, shining" or "radiant" and is probably cognate with the Sanskrit word "Shrestha“

There are also a few functional parallels between Avestan Yima and Sanskrit Yama, for instance, Yima was the son of Vivaŋhat, who in turn corresponds to the Vedic Vivasvat, "he who shines out", a divinity of the Sun. Both Yamas in Iranian and Indian myth guard Hell with the help of two four-eyed dogs.

Creatures Born from Drops of Blood

Kali swallowing the demons born from Raktabija

Snakes in Libya produced from the blood dripping from Medusa’s severed head

Anemones produced from Adonis’s Blood

False accusations of Rape

Joseph and Potiphar’s wife from the Bible

Hippolytus, son of Theseus accused by Phaedra

Kunala, son of Ashoka accused by Tissaraksha

Kinnar

Connect -

Phra Lak Phra Lam

Yama Zatdaw

Maharadia Lawana

Paumachariyam

Different names for the Ramayan

Laos - Phra Lak Phra Lam

Burma (Myanmar) - Yama Zatdaw

Philippines - Maharadia Lawana

Jain - Paumachariyam

This famous work of literature was commissioned by a ruler to provide himself divine antecedents and also a foundation myth for his empire.

It is now arguably that language’s most studied epic.

The ruler, the epic and the author.

The Aeneid by Virgil was commissioned by Augustus. Virgil took the disconnected tales of Aeneas' wanderings, and fashioned this into a compelling founding myth or national epic that at once tied Rome to the legends of Troy, explained the Punic wars, glorified traditional Roman virtues and legitimized the Julio-Claudian dynasty as descendants of the founders, heroes and gods of Rome and Troy.

Elihu Yale (April 5, 1649 – July 8, 1721) was a British merchant and philanthropist, Governor of the East India Company settlement in Madras and a benefactor of the Collegiate School of Connecticut, which in 1718 was renamed Yale College in his honor.

The River origin Myths –

The Saraswati, Brahmaputra, Yamuna and Ganga

Whose last words to his enemies?

"I have studied, given gifts,ruled the sea-girt earth,Placed my foot on the headsof my enemies'I have achieved the peak of power.Who is there more fortunate than me? I go to heavenwith my friends and followers,And all of you stay back herewith grieving mindsand shattered hearts."

Duryodhana

Connect .

Krishna showed his Vishvarupa.

The foundation myth of this kingdom, has been borne out by the genetic analysis of males, specially from the aristocracy bearing the “Indian marker.”

Which kingdom, and the name of the founder ?

Cambodia (the khmer Kingdom) & Kaundinya.

In the foundation myth a Brahmin from India called Kaundinya landed there and married the Nage Princess Soma. Many Khmer kings claim descent from him.

Many Cambodians belong to the Y chromosome group Haplogroup H, which denotes Indian descent.

A rare theme in Indian myth and history connects these.

Widow Remarriage

(In each case with the elder brother’s wife)

Chandragupta married Dhruva devi, the widow of Ramagupta

Mandodari, the widow of Ravana married Vibhishan

Tara, the widow of Vali married Sugriva

Thank You