You may be aware, that English is an "Indo-European" language. In this language family are languages as diverse as English, Spanish, Russian, Kurdish, Gaelic, Farsi, Hindi, Greek, and many extinct languages, such as Latin, Tocharian, Hittite, Sanskrit, etc.
Language families are all just descendants of one original language, and the original language was Indo European, or Proto Indo-European, a language that now seems likely to have been spoken about 5,000-6,000 years ago in the Ukraine/Russia
These people likely were able to spread out and conquer areas ranging, eventually, from Ireland to parts of China, because of a combination of having domesticated horses, chariots, battle axes, which they used to obliterate settled populations in areas. The mounted horse-back raid that wipes out farmers is a common meme throughout history, and here we have a very successful example of it. They were lactose-tolerant when many people weren't, and it is hypothesized that the domestication of horses was initially done for meat, and later for their milk, and only after horses had been domesticated for some time was riding them adopted. Trying to ride a wild horse seems rather unfeasible.
As well as sharing languages, material cultures, burial customs, and warfare styles, these people also shared a religion descended from an original source. This religion became what is today Hinduism in India, and what was called Paganism throughout Europe. The religions of Greece, The Vikings, the Romans, The Celts, all of these religions seem similar because they really are just variations of a common theme.
You see this simply in the names for the principal Gods in many religions. From Wikipedia:
*Dyēus Ph2tēr (literally "sky father" [in Indo European]) is the god of the day-lit sky and the chief god of the Indo-European pantheon. The name survives in Greek Zeus with a vocative form Zeu pater; Latin Jūpiter (from the archaic Latin Iovis pater; Diēspiter), Sanskrit Dyáus Pitā, and Illyrian Dei-pátrous.[5]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-...n_religion
India still maintains its Pagan religion, and it is seen in other areas throughout the world. You may recall Yazidis, a group that is Ethnically Kurdish (the Kurds are an Indo-European speaking group) but instead of being Muslim, they are pagans. ISIS was not so happy about them existing and they were close to being wiped out. These people maintain some form of paganism hearkening back to thousands of years ago, though they are likely not long for this earth.
Zoroastrianism took a lot of the pagan gods and turned them into other divine figures, for instance, many of the divine figures in the Rig Veda, the oldest of Hinduisms sacred texts, are cast as demons in Zoroastrianism.
It is curious to me that after so much conquering from such a small starting point, and after such a succesful culture that dominated much of Eurasia, that pagan religions outside of India started falling before Monotheistic religions.
There are today in Europe people who are called Neo-Pagans who want to re-claim their old religions. Why would Norweigans worship a religion founded in the Middle East when they have their own traditions based in their own culture? The question is no different than asking why conquered people in Africa or Latin America should believe the religion of their conquerors instead of their own native beliefs.
It's strange to look at India and think, in some ways, those people have kept the ancient Pagan traditions that used to exist in Europe alive (albeit in a form that has evolved significantly) more so than they have been kept in Europe.
Greek and Roman mythology still fascinate people, obviously we have many classicists here who look to ancient writings for sources of wisdom. Understanding that ancient religion is more than just myth, but actually a historical story of our own origins, is fascinating to me.
Language families are all just descendants of one original language, and the original language was Indo European, or Proto Indo-European, a language that now seems likely to have been spoken about 5,000-6,000 years ago in the Ukraine/Russia
These people likely were able to spread out and conquer areas ranging, eventually, from Ireland to parts of China, because of a combination of having domesticated horses, chariots, battle axes, which they used to obliterate settled populations in areas. The mounted horse-back raid that wipes out farmers is a common meme throughout history, and here we have a very successful example of it. They were lactose-tolerant when many people weren't, and it is hypothesized that the domestication of horses was initially done for meat, and later for their milk, and only after horses had been domesticated for some time was riding them adopted. Trying to ride a wild horse seems rather unfeasible.
As well as sharing languages, material cultures, burial customs, and warfare styles, these people also shared a religion descended from an original source. This religion became what is today Hinduism in India, and what was called Paganism throughout Europe. The religions of Greece, The Vikings, the Romans, The Celts, all of these religions seem similar because they really are just variations of a common theme.
You see this simply in the names for the principal Gods in many religions. From Wikipedia:
*Dyēus Ph2tēr (literally "sky father" [in Indo European]) is the god of the day-lit sky and the chief god of the Indo-European pantheon. The name survives in Greek Zeus with a vocative form Zeu pater; Latin Jūpiter (from the archaic Latin Iovis pater; Diēspiter), Sanskrit Dyáus Pitā, and Illyrian Dei-pátrous.[5]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-...n_religion
India still maintains its Pagan religion, and it is seen in other areas throughout the world. You may recall Yazidis, a group that is Ethnically Kurdish (the Kurds are an Indo-European speaking group) but instead of being Muslim, they are pagans. ISIS was not so happy about them existing and they were close to being wiped out. These people maintain some form of paganism hearkening back to thousands of years ago, though they are likely not long for this earth.
Zoroastrianism took a lot of the pagan gods and turned them into other divine figures, for instance, many of the divine figures in the Rig Veda, the oldest of Hinduisms sacred texts, are cast as demons in Zoroastrianism.
It is curious to me that after so much conquering from such a small starting point, and after such a succesful culture that dominated much of Eurasia, that pagan religions outside of India started falling before Monotheistic religions.
There are today in Europe people who are called Neo-Pagans who want to re-claim their old religions. Why would Norweigans worship a religion founded in the Middle East when they have their own traditions based in their own culture? The question is no different than asking why conquered people in Africa or Latin America should believe the religion of their conquerors instead of their own native beliefs.
It's strange to look at India and think, in some ways, those people have kept the ancient Pagan traditions that used to exist in Europe alive (albeit in a form that has evolved significantly) more so than they have been kept in Europe.
Greek and Roman mythology still fascinate people, obviously we have many classicists here who look to ancient writings for sources of wisdom. Understanding that ancient religion is more than just myth, but actually a historical story of our own origins, is fascinating to me.