What would you say is the closest RW inspiration for the Minrothadders? I always thought of them as British, perhaps Victorian Age, even though they are said to have some Nithian roots.
Second, what are the Urduk of Sindh to be based on? I am assuming the regular Sindhi are based on the general peoples of India (feel free to comment on that too actually).
Thanks!
Havard
Second, what are the Urduk of Sindh to be based on? I am assuming the regular Sindhi are based on the general peoples of India (feel free to comment on that too actually).
There isn't a direct correspondence, but the Urduk are most likely based on the Dravidian people of India, with the Sindhi representing the Aryans.
The Aryans, of course, conquered the lands of the Dravidians, assimilated their lifestyles, and instituted the caste system for various reasons (possibly because they wanted to insulate and preserve themselves from interbreeding overmuch with the much larger population of Dravidians and losing their cultural identity).
That history is different from Mystara's Sind, where the Sindhi and Urduk achieved a much more mutual peace (among some other differences), but the basis of the caste system is more or less the same.
That's the closest RW correspondence between the two that I can think of. The name "Urduk" clearly comes from Urdu- which is linguistic branch of Indo-European and doesn't actually relate to the Dravidians (Dravidian being a family of languages itself).
Interesting info, Cthulhudrew. Thanks for the background.
Looking at the Minrothad gaz, it seems that the Nithian element is mainly of historical significance and humans are a minority, heavily influenced by other seagoing people's. Heavy Thyatian influence seems very likely, supporting what you guys are saying.
Havard
Note that "Sindhi" and "Urdu" are both languages spoken in modern Pakistan and northern India, and are both Indo-European. The correspondence between Urduk and Sindhi and Aryans and Dravidians is therefore quite limited, since actually Urduk and Sindhi probably speak a closely related language, and, while the Urduk are the nomad invaders (Aryans) and the Sindhi the sedentary farmers (Dravidians), in Mystara the Sindhi had the upper hand.
Note also that there are no direct correspondences for the Dravidian languages in Mystara, since of the three primary M-Indian nations, Sind corresponds to the Indus Valley (Pakistan), while Rajahstan and Shahjapur also represent northern parts of the Indian subcontinent (in different timeframes, most likely the Rajput kingdoms and the Mughal empire).
GP
Note that "Sindhi" and "Urdu" are both languages spoken in modern Pakistan and northern India, and are both Indo-European. The correspondence between Urduk and Sindhi and Aryans and Dravidians is therefore quite limited, since actually Urduk and Sindhi probably speak a closely related language, and, while the Urduk are the nomad invaders (Aryans) and the Sindhi the sedentary farmers (Dravidians), in Mystara the Sindhi had the upper hand.
Agreed on the limited connections, but they're the closest analogue that I have ever found (note though, that the Urduk aren't the invaders- the Sindhi are; the Urduk existed prior to the Sindhi migration from the Atruaghin plateau).
I would suggest though, that RW linguistic conventions really don't seem to have any connection to the Urduk/Sindhi analogues in Mystara, and that the names (Urduk and Sindhi) were probably just selected as "Indian" sounding names for the two groups.
What would you say is the closest RW inspiration for the Minrothadders? I always thought of them as British, perhaps Victorian Age, even though they are said to have some Nithian roots.
The Dutch Netherlands - that is the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (in particular the 1650-1750 period) - seems also a good RW-inspiration for the Minrothad Guilds. The state is loose, private companies (i.e. Guilds) hold real power, the true ruler is money and the realm is a far-ranging sea power (even if mostly in trading). Moreover, the Netherlands had their share of political infighting - to pick up only one reference, Oran Meditor is risking to be assassined just like RW ruler of Holland Johan van Oldenbarnevelt was in 1619, within the struggles of local factions over political and religious issues.
Obviously, the linguistic pattern of Minrothad should be rather unique: GAZ9 says the "Patois" is a mix of many mainland tongues (and I'd argue mostly of Thyatian, perhaps over a Nithian-Old Traldar substrate, with heavy Darokinian/Hin and Elvish influences, and some Dwarven also). Nevertheless, given the vicinity of Hattias, there's some room to tweak the tongue more toward some sort of Dutch. ;)