10 ancient peoples that exist today that everyone has long forgotten

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Most people forget that many peoples of the world have emerged quite recently. Examples include South Sudan and East Timor. Also, few people remember that many once outstanding nations have ceased to exist completely. Human history is a long account of the rise and fall of nations, empires, and peoples that inhabit them. However, while empires collapse, rebellions fail, and cultures are lost in time, tiny remnants of various ethnic groups sometimes survive.

1. Lost legionnaires in China

Contact between the Roman Empire and China during the Han dynasty was limited, but there is evidence that residents of the remote Chinese district of Liqian are descendants of Roman soldiers who died 2,000 years ago. The theory was proposed by Oxford professor Homer Dabbs after he studied ancient Chinese stories about the battle with the nomadic Xiongnu barbarians in 36 BC. on the western border of China. In this battle, more than 100 people who fought for the Xiongnu, lined up in a "fish scales" battle formation, very similar to the Roman "turtle" formation and uncharacteristic for such nomadic peoples.

Dubbs noted that 17 years earlier, some 10,000 Romans had been captured by the Parthians in the disastrous Battle of Carrhae. Historical records show that the prisoners were transported to the eastern border of Parthia, near the western border of China (Parthia then owned the territory of modern Iran). Dubbs believed that these people may have become mercenaries fighting for the Xiongnu before they were captured by the Chinese, who began to use these tribes to defend their border. He believes that it was these Romans who founded the border town called Litsian (by the way, this name sounds remarkably similar to "legion"). To this day, many people in Lician Village have blue or green eyes and blonde hair … and this is in China. A 2010 genetic study found that 56 percent of their DNA is of European origin. Despite all the evidence, the theory remains controversial.

2. Thai villages founded by exiled Chinese soldiers

When Chinese nationalists were defeated by the communists under Mao Zedong in 1949, many fled to Taiwan. However, the 93rd Division retreated to Myanmar (Burma), where during the Cold War it fought against the Burmese government and ethnic militias, and continued to attack China itself with the help of Taiwan and the US government. The Chinese eventually ended up in Northern Thailand, where they founded more than 60 villages that still exist today. They were allowed to remain in the country after the fugitive Chinese helped the Thai government in its conflict with the communists, and in the 1980s they received citizenship on the condition that they lay down their arms and go into agriculture. To this day, these villages retain their Chinese identity and culture, and have become a real tourist attraction for Thais looking to experience Chinese culture.

3. "Confederate colonies" of Brazil

When the Confederation was defeated in the US Civil War, the Brazilian Emperor Pedro II, a staunch ally of the Confederation, declared that he was ready to host Confederate soldiers and sympathizers in his country who wanted to start a new life. Thousands of southerners, driven by hatred of the enemy and an instinctive desire to preserve their cultural values, began to flock to Brazil. Although Brazil was the last country in the Americas to outlaw slavery (in 1888), maintaining its “southern” culture was a major motivator for emigrants. Indeed, to this day, in all cities in Brazil, cultural holidays of the Confederation and the southern part of the United States are celebrated annually by thousands of descendants of these Americans, who locally call "Confederado." In fact, many of them are already dark-skinned today, but this does not prevent them from dancing dashingly under the proudly waving flags of the Confederates.

4. Kenyans descended from Chinese sailors in the 15th century

In the 15th century, the Chinese explorer Zheng He was sent on an expedition to the east coast of Africa to spread Chinese culture there, to show everyone the power of China, and also to establish ties with the continent. However, several of his ships were sunk near the Kenyan island of Lamu in 1415. Local legends say that 20 surviving Chinese, who managed to swim ashore, killed a dangerous python there, after which they received permission from local residents to establish their settlement. They allegedly converted to Islam and married local women, and their descendants continue to live on the island to this day.

Interestingly, in 2005, a young descendant of these sailors received a scholarship to study in China. This was not an isolated incident. Some tribes north of Cape Town also claim to be descended from Chinese sailors as early as the 13th century. They have pale skin and something similar to Mandarin, and they call themselves Awatwa, which means "abandoned people." There is also archaeological evidence for this theory. In both places, Chinese pottery was found, allegedly brought by these "lost" sailors.

5. Lost Jewish tribes in Africa

The Bible states that there were once 12 "tribes" of Israel, each of which was founded by one of Jacob's sons. Ten of these tribes went missing after the Assyrian invasion of their homeland in 721 BC. The Lemba tribes living in South Africa and Zimbabwe claim that their ancestors were Jews who fled the Holy Land at the time. Although many of them are now Christians, their cultural traditions remain remarkably similar to those of the Jews - they abstain from eating pork, practice male circumcision, ritually kill animals, and paint the Star of David on their gravestones. Some men even wear yarmulkes. In 2010, a British study found that the tribe was of Jewish genetic origin. Interestingly, the Lemba priests have a gene found only among Jewish priests, that is, they had a common ancestor about 3000 years ago when the priesthood arose. The sacred prayer language of Lemba is a mixture of Hebrew and Arabic, further confirming that they are descendants of a lost Jewish tribe.

6. Jewish tribe lost in India

Like the Lemba, the Bnei Menashe people living in the mountainous region on the Indian-Burmese border believe that they are also the descendants of Jews expelled in 721 BC. Once headhunters, the Bnei Menashe practiced animistic religions before converting to Christianity in the 19th century and finally to Judaism in the 20th century, when many of them emigrated to Israel. Now, however, they maintain a cultural connection with the ancient Jews, claiming to be descendants of the Mannasiev tribe, named after Mannasia, the eldest son of Joseph. However, claims of Jewish heritage remain controversial as several genetic studies have shown different results and the evidence remains inconclusive. Most scholars believe that a small group of their ancestors descended from the "lost tribe" and extended Jewish traditions and customs to a large group of people. This could explain both Jewish cultural roots and the lack of accurate genetic data.

7. The legacy of Alexander the Great

Wherever Alexander appeared with his army of Macedonians, he influenced the peoples and cultures he encountered. Between 334 and 324 BC he passed through the Persian Empire, reaching the borders of the Indian subcontinent. Some of his followers even stayed there to establish the Indo-Greek kingdoms there, which lasted for centuries before the revival of Islam in the region. Scholars have noted similarities between Ancient Greek and Sanskrit, and Ancient Greek coins can still be found in local markets. Indeed, when British colonial rulers arrived in the region in the 19th century, local chieftains displayed ancient Greek bowls presented to them by the invaders to prove their right to rule. Representatives of the Kalash people in modern Pakistan and Afghanistan claim to be descended from the Macedonian army that passed through these lands millennia ago. The Kalash worship their own varieties of ancient Greek gods, and unlike their Muslim neighbors, they collect and ferment grapes because they have a lot of reverence for wine.

8. Descendants of Polish deserters in Haiti

As the only country to emerge from a slave uprising, Haiti has a unique history. Haiti was a French colony, and during the uprising, thousands of Poles fought as mercenaries for Napoleonic France. The reason was simple. Poland was divided between Prussia, Russia and Austria. Although they never gained independence until 1918, many Poles believed they could liberate their country by fighting Napoleon. But when instead they were sent to fight thousands of kilometers from their homeland against slaves who wanted nothing but their freedom, many of the Poles either deserted or, when captured and offered the opportunity to switch sides, began to fight for the rebels. After the war, Poles mingled with the locals and created communities in the countryside. First of all, it is the city of Kazal, which has preserved its Polish culture to this day. The fact that the Haitian government granted Poles the right to own land, despite the Haitian constitution explicitly prohibiting white landowners, is a testament to the respect these people had for their fellow rebels.

9. Islanders descended from the rebels

In 1790, nine rebels from the British ship Bounty, along with several Tahitian men and women, settled on the uninhabited island of Pitcairn after they set their ship on fire and sunk. Initially, the tensions caused by alcoholism and disease (and this was not counting other problems) led to several deaths in a small group of settlers. But in the end, thanks to the fact that everyone found a common language on the basis of the Christian faith, the group managed to create a fully functioning community on the island. Pitcairn became a British colony in 1838, and many of the inhabitants, who were descended from the ship's original crew, moved to neighboring Norfolk Island in 1856 with the Tahitians accompanying them. Despite this migration, descendants of the rebels continue to live on Pitcairn to this day.

10. Algerian rebels in a prison on a Pacific island

For most of the 19th and 20th centuries, Algeria was ruled by the French. However, a significant part of the local residents did not particularly like this state of affairs, and in 1870 they began an armed uprising against French rule. In the end, they were defeated, and the leaders of the rebels were imprisoned on the Pacific island of New Caledonia, which France used as a penal colony. In fact, during French rule in Algeria, more than 2,000 Algerians, whom the French called "rebels", met the same fate. New Caledonia, which remains French territory to this day, was colonized in 1853, and about ten percent of its nearly 300,000-strong population can in fact claim Algerian ancestry. Since all Algerian deportees were men, this community has a mixed heritage (often Algerians married French women). Many of these descendants continue to feel deep resentment about the imprisonment of their ancestors and the strong connection to their Algerian roots.