Kalash of Cultures - Pakistan: http://youtu.be/qEXnEfdvv6s The argument: 1. Watch the video; this Dardic mountain tribe plays polo. They fiercely fought for their independence through the ages, till the British arrived; at which point they adopted some British customs like playing polo on weekends (although they claim they invented the game first). 2. The Kalasha have lived in geographic isolation for so long that their DNA has diverged. But, there are markers to suggest that they come from around the Mediterranean(that is, that they are Dardic). There are 2 theories as to how they got there: a. They were travellers along the silk route who decided to settle in a scenic location and sell spices, apricots and cherries (the latter two do not grow in the subcontinent, only in the Mediterranean; and with no contact with the outside world for centuries, there's no other way they could've gotten these fruits) b. They are descendants of Alexander the Great 's armies; who ref...
The only possible link is - if Josiah Harlan was Kipling's inspiration - as a modern "Alexander the Great" (though, I thought Harlan resembled more of a huckster con man), was that he's born in Newlin Township of Chester County, PA. Harlan did meddle with the domestic affairs of Afghanistan and eventually ensconced himself in Ghowr Province, an out-of-way province smack in the middle of Afghanistan in the Hindu Kush.
ReplyDelete"Most unconquerable regions" probably refers to the Hindu Kush, present day Afghanistan. The region is "unconquerable" because of the topographical and human geography - it's mountainous, and offer few trafficable routes connecting population centres (there's 3 main routes in Afghanistan - Highway 1 (Ring Road around the Hindu Kush), Highway 4 and Highway 7 (to Khyber Pass) that connects present day Afghanistan to Pakistan. Ghowr province does not lie on any of these main roads since it's located on the central highlands.
Afghanistan lies between the fertile plains of Near East Civilizations (Euphrates/Tigris) and the civilizations of the Far East (to the East of the Indus Valley). The terrain in Afghanistan favours defenders who occupy the high ground and knows the way around the broken terrain. Any conquering civilizations from the West intending to reach the Far East will need to circumnavigate the Hindu Kush - if they want to reach China they will need to make a left turn head north into the grasslands of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and then Mongolia. Else if they head East and South will need to fight through multiple urban population settlements between ancient India to Burma in very difficult terrain and tropical climate. The Himalayan range is a formidable obstacle that few armies can move through. The alternative is for conquering armies to develop their maritime force and sail.
The Hindu Kush was Alexander's stop butt. If Alexander had wanted to complete his world conquest, he would have needed a Navy. Josiah Harlan did join the British East India Company, one of the most powerful corporation in the world that was also a Private Military Company with a powerful navy.
From what I can observe of Chester County, PA - the geography is no where as challenging as that of the Hindu Kush. As far as similarities go, it is probably a strategic piece of estate that lies between Susquehanna River and Delaware River, and controlled the land routes to the West of north America. Other trivia on Wikipedia was that Chester County was the centre of Naval ship construction. The whaling ship The Niantic was built in Connecticut (trying to find how this fits into Ingress lore).
Those familiar with US history will need to advice. Was Chester County a gateway to the West of north America, somewhat like Khyber Pass in Afghanistan?