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News & ArtsWednesday, September 23, 2009
The Descendants of Alexander the Great
Posted by Dan Savage on Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 5:48 AM
This story—via Americablog—is utterly fascinating...
Today there are an estimated 3,000 Kalasha left in three remote and steep valleys in Chitral in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. The children wear their hair in orthodox Jewish-style ringlets and sport bright coloured topi hats. The women occasionally have tattooed faces, wear long black robes with coloured embroidery. [They have unique] festivals and rituals, which include a rite of passage in which a prepubescent boy is fattened in the mountains over a summer and then when he returns is allowed to have sex with any woman he chooses.Married Kalash women are able to elope with other men if the object of their desire accepts a written proposal and agrees to pay double her dowry to the abandoned husband—often in cows.
The Kalash are the descendants of the armies of Alexander the Great. They live in North West Pakistan, have blond hair and blue eyes, drink alcohol, smoke cannabis, and keep to themselves in their hard-to-reach valleys. Sounds idyllic—well, except for that rite-of-passage ritual for young boys, which sounds like my worst nightmares realized. ("Wait a minute—I have to get fat and have sex with a woman?") But Islamic militants have declared war on the Kalash because, you know, there is no morality without religion Islam means peace and, gee, atheists are so intolerant blah blah blah.
2
If you look at nature, there always seems to be some species of animal alive today that looks remarkably like species of animal from each period of past evolution. People seem to have this quality as well. Where ever you look, you can find a people that act like some part of human social evolution. From bush people in Africa to the Mongols and so forth. That there are people isolated in a mountainous region of Pakistan that have retained many ancient traditions from so long ago is fascinating and important for understanding our western heritage. That Islamists want to destroy them is also a part of our religious heritage. Destruction of people by religious fanatics has a long history. The question becomes; how do we stop it? What's worked in the past?
3
I don't know Vince....smh
I'm so disappointed in [certain] religions. Last night I watched a program highlighting how Islamic people in Indonesia are advocating (successfully) for Sharia law to rule on certain islands in that country. Sharia law would focus primarily on 1) adultry 2) sexual immorality 3) indecent clothing (i.e. not wearing the hijab, etc.) .
????? Has everyone gone completely mad?????
I'm so sick of this un-checked, un-evolved, un-critical type of thinking.
Just venting...
I'm so disappointed in [certain] religions. Last night I watched a program highlighting how Islamic people in Indonesia are advocating (successfully) for Sharia law to rule on certain islands in that country. Sharia law would focus primarily on 1) adultry 2) sexual immorality 3) indecent clothing (i.e. not wearing the hijab, etc.) .
????? Has everyone gone completely mad?????
I'm so sick of this un-checked, un-evolved, un-critical type of thinking.
Just venting...
4
Some interesting thoughts here.
I should say, it's not exactly unusual for people in that part of the world to have strikingly western features. I remember seeing a Kashmiri politician on TV, and asking my friend how a white guy got elected in Kashmir. Turns out the guy was a Kashmiri, but he would have been believable as an Englishman or something.
I should say, it's not exactly unusual for people in that part of the world to have strikingly western features. I remember seeing a Kashmiri politician on TV, and asking my friend how a white guy got elected in Kashmir. Turns out the guy was a Kashmiri, but he would have been believable as an Englishman or something.
6
Are you sure that this is not just the fantasy of a pudgy adolescent boy? The sex with any woman he wants part is straight out of most straight guy's fantasy life.
7
Why do the militants want to destroy everything? I think they need to sit down for a while, relax and figure out what's wrong in their own lives that they can fix first.
8
Wow. I remember studying the Kalash in anthropology and they never mentioned anything about that "rite of passage." Damn.
9
@4
I always thought the same thing....the indo-european language has spread far and wide, I just figured we all a common ancestor. The ethnic differences come from outside migrations of people intermixing...
I have seen a ton of Iranians that look whiter than I do.
I always thought the same thing....the indo-european language has spread far and wide, I just figured we all a common ancestor. The ethnic differences come from outside migrations of people intermixing...
I have seen a ton of Iranians that look whiter than I do.
10
Beetlecat the same reason why dogs lick their own nads: Because they can.
Islam expansionism seems to have the same thing going for it as Christian expansionism: They're doing it, and the rest of us live-and-let-live types are, well, letting them, and we didn't know to swat that bug when it was small and few in numbers.
As long as there is hierarchical religion, we're going to have folks at the top who want to sustain it, and that means suppressing critical thought amongst the lower ranks.
And on these terms, yes, religion itself is corrosive to reason (though, vice versa).
Islam expansionism seems to have the same thing going for it as Christian expansionism: They're doing it, and the rest of us live-and-let-live types are, well, letting them, and we didn't know to swat that bug when it was small and few in numbers.
As long as there is hierarchical religion, we're going to have folks at the top who want to sustain it, and that means suppressing critical thought amongst the lower ranks.
And on these terms, yes, religion itself is corrosive to reason (though, vice versa).
11
Interestingly, Kalash is also a common African tribal name, thanks to the ubiquitous Avtomat Kalashnikova 47. I wonder if there's any correlation.
12
@7 - they know what's fucked up in their own lives. They're pissed everyone else's isn't equally fucked up, so they pass laws to require the same degree of repression in everyone else's.
14
"They live in North West Pakistan, have blond hair and blue eyes, drink alcohol, smoke cannabis, and keep to themselves in their hard-to-reach valleys. Sounds idyllic"
I wish I could drink and smoke with nothing but whities too!
I wish I could drink and smoke with nothing but whities too!
15
@2 - that whole theory assumes a unilateral course of human social evolution, and that's just not how it happens. For example; many indigenous American tribes had greater gender equality and respect for gay/transgender people than white settler societies were able to achieve until centuries later, but we decided we were more "socially evolved" 'cuz they didn't have ships and guns and shit.
Defining social evolution strictly by use of Western society as the gold standard of "most evolved" is an old bullshit trick.
Defining social evolution strictly by use of Western society as the gold standard of "most evolved" is an old bullshit trick.
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