Afgans and misc. questions

[chocoballs]

Current events aside, wasn't the Afgan significant at some point. I seem to remember Alex the Great making contact with them. I'm probably wrong on that point but please enlighten on the Afgan question.

Secondly, I don't think there are an Islam civs. Can't say that they weren't significant throughout history.

Lastly, what religion did the Persians subscribe to?

thanks

[chocoballs]

stoned from civ again..:0

Are any of the civs in the game representative of the Islam faith?

we've essentially got roman catholic, protestant, and buddhism covered.

[History Guy]

Well, as for Islamic Civs, the Babylonians (Iraq), Persians (Iran), and Egyptians are all now Islam Countries. The Persians worshiped multiple gods, and the cult of Zoroasterism started in ancient Persia.

[PMLF]

Zoroastrism is monotheistic, or atleast dualistic . Because of Islamic repression, Zoroastrism was virtually destroyed. Now there are only a few zoroastrians in the world.

[History Guy]

That is true, I have read little on Zoroasterism, but it was very popular during the reign of Cyrus the Great (who some have speculated was in fact a Zoroaster) but as soon as Persia was conquered by Al the Great, it was repressed in favor of Zeus and his rowdy bunch of Olympian gods, and when that was replaced by Artaxerxes (not the one who was Xerxes' kid, but the Sassanid) Zoroasterism became pretty popular again, and then when the Islamic armies literally rolled up the Persian gulf and for the final time overthrew the Persians Zoroasterism was again repressed, and now there is very little of it about.

[Martinus]

Originally posted by History Guy
That is true, I have read little on Zoroasterism, but it was very popular during the reign of Cyrus the Great (who some have speculated was in fact a Zoroaster) but as soon as Persia was conquered by Al the Great, it was repressed in favor of Zeus and his rowdy bunch of Olympian gods, and when that was replaced by Artaxerxes (not the one who was Xerxes' kid, but the Sassanid) Zoroasterism became pretty popular again, and then when the Islamic armies literally rolled up the Persian gulf and for the final time overthrew the Persians Zoroasterism was again repressed, and now there is very little of it about.

Well, it basically survived in the form of Manicheism and through a weird marriage with Judaism/Christianity in lived on as medieval Gnosticism (like Albigensians, Bogomils et. al.)

[History Guy]

Yeah, that's right. And Augustine at one time fell for it.

[molly bloom]

Ancient Afghanistan:

As part of the Kushan Empire:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atla...eral/gloss.htm

Gandhara culture:

www.gandhara.com.au/

www.heritage.gov.pk/gandhara-1.1.html

www.silk-road.com/artl/gandhara.shtml

www.tourism.gov.pk/gandhara_civilization.html

Mahmud of Ghazni, from Kabul:

www.afghan-network.net/Rulers/ghaznavids.html

http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n...5_n2/conq.html

Persian/Iranian religions:

Manichaeism:

www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/mani.htm

Mithraism (possibly Iranian in origin, this is disputed):

www-relg-studies.scu.edu/netcours/rs011/sess26/mithra.htm

www.well.com/user/davidu/mithras.html

Nestorian Christianity:

www.factmonster.com/ce6/society/A0835269.html

Zoroastrianism:

www.avesta.org/avesta.html

The followers of Zoroastrianism are now known as Parsees, and can be found in India, mainly in Maharashtra and Gujarat States, East Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan and many other parts of the globe:

members.tripod.com/holy_98/parsees.htm

[Plan Austral]

Afghanistan was known as Bactria during the persian empiere, it was one of the main satrapies.

[chocoballs]

oneof the cities you build as the persians is Bactra. same one?

[Plan Austral]

Yes Bactra
was the satrapy,
Bactria was the capital city, it still exists with the name of Bahlk i think.

[PMLF]

I think that there are some afgans or maybe pakistanis that claim to be descendents of Alexander the Great soldiers'.

Does anyone heard about it too?

[Rasbelin]

Having the Afghans in the game's EP or any unofficial modpack is IMO waste of time, because there's so many other civs people are waiting for; like the Arabs. But of course I don't say that an Afghan modpack wouldn't be welcomed. The point was simply if it wouldn't be better to make the other more wanted mods first.

[Plan Austral]

Originally posted by PMLF
I think that there are some afgans or maybe pakistanis that claim to be descendents of Alexander the Great soldiers'.

Does anyone heard about it too?

Yes and they probable are,
Alexande founded a lot of cities
with the soldiers of his army that didn´t want to go on in the war/expedition,
and that were already married with
persian woman.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by PMLF
I think that there are some afgans or maybe pakistanis that claim to be descendents of Alexander the Great soldiers'.

Does anyone heard about it too?

Gandharan and Graeco-Bactrian civilizations in Pakistan and Afghanistan:

www.afghan-info.com/CONSTART.HTM

paknews.org/articles/nov98/art2nov-14.html

www.silk-road.com/artl/buddhism.shtml

www.silk-road.com/artl/chrono.shtml

and relevant dates, all B.C. :

240 * C ASIA: Bactrian Greeks break away from Seleucids (forming Graeco-Turkic culture in Bactria)

-240 HALLEY'S COMET

-239 INNOVN: first record of Halley's Comet (China)

- C ASIA: Bactrian Greeks (Afghanistan-NW India) break away from Seleucids (Persia-Syria)

-238 MED'N: Rome takes Sardinia and Corsica from Carthage; Carthage colonises S Spain

[d_dudy]

i thought they were all arabian

[ranskaldan]

no, there are no Arab countries east of Iraq. Iran is populated by the Persians (about 60%). Afghanistan is populated mainly by the Pushtuns and Tajiks.

[Rasbelin]

Not to forget the Uzbeks. There's currently some Arabs too, but they will be wiped out.

[PMLF]

Thanks for the links!

About the arabs, I think that only the people from Arabic peninsula are true Arabs. All the other arabs are arabized people, that after the conversion to Islam adopted Arab language and culture.