EDIT: Maybe to clarify a bit - I picked the Silk Road on a whim, even though as /u/EnclavedMicrostate pointed out it's not the best example as it wasn't really a thing. In general, I'd be interested in any land-based caravan journey crossing rough terrain.

If so, how different was it from Christianity? Did it too regard tribal animism as "backward" and "barbaric"? What do we know about this?

I know that the USSR did a lot to promote certain concepts of ethnic and national identity, but I've read some claims that they more or less invented some identifiers/groups wholesale. How much of our modern idea of what constitutes a Kazakh/Kyrgyz/Turkmen/Uzbek/etc. can be attributed to differences that would have been well-understood prior to the 20th century, and how much of it comes from the Soviets?

In the United States, most folks have conceptions of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, etc. as different cultural eras, with distinct national moods and touchstones. I also know there's similar notions of "The Roaring Twenties" and "The Gay Nineties". But how far back does this cultural fascination with ten-year periods go? And how widely do other countries and communities subscribe to the same rubric?

I recently learned about the Haitian revolution, and how it ended with Haiti completely abolishing slavery. This happened roughly 50 years before the American Civil War ended with the abolishment of slavery throughout the US. Before that, I know that slaves at least occasionally tried to escape to the northern states, but I'm curious if they ever tried to escape to Haiti? If they did, what unique challenges might they have faced? And if they didn't, why would an escaping slave choose to go north instead?

I've seen the list of recommendations but I'm not sure what to expect from each one.

I'm specifically looking for a book that really goes into the specifics- numerous maps, battle plans, statistics, number of troops, supply lines etc.. I'm a little tired of reading the likes of "but the 3rd battalion was running out of supplies and could not advance". Which supplies? At what rate were they using up artillery shells? How long could they continue fighting for? How close was the nearest depot?

I’ve heard that at the time of independence only about 40% of Indians spoke Hindi. Why not just try and educate the masses in English, which is also a much more useful language in general?

In the last season of game of thrones, Samwell Tarly suggests voting rights for all and everyone laughingly dismisses it. How absurd would the idea be in such a setting? Did anybody ever attempt to create a full democracy in medieval Europe? Is it realistic that it would occur to a “highborn” to get the peasants involved in ruling?

How modern is the idea of universal suffrage? We hear about democracy since the time of Ancient Greece. But were there any activists for women’s voting rights back then?

I would like to know how these concepts on voting rights evolved through time on popular opinion in Europe

It is accepted that many indigenous populations (eg. sth America, Australia) were decimated by novel diseases such as small pox introduced by European colonists/invaders.

Are there any cases of a novel disease that was endemic in an indigenous population affecting European colonists/invaders?

Hello all, I hope that this question is within the scope of this subreddit (it seems like it is as it's related to the general field of history but I can never be too sure).

I am a graduate student pursuing a Master's in History, but as an elective I took a course in Archives which technically falls under the category of Public History. I understand the differences between the two in theory, although I am not too certain about the differences in practical applications of each degree. Working for an archival institution appeals to me, but so does conducting independent research and producing historical scholarship. (On a personal note I'm considering switching my program while I still can but I'm torn about this.)

I was hoping that some Public Historians here might be willing to weigh in on how related (or not) the fields are in practice, and how (if at all) majors or doctors in Public History contribute to historical scholarship.

Thank you in advance for any advice, insight, or information you'd be willing to provide.

I'm really curious about this, women back then had thick eyebrows and mustaches and a lot of body hair and those were considered the standard beauty. What I want to know is, how come women nowdays look much more feminine in Iran and the facial and body features of men and women are drastically different? I

I find the North African front in WW2 very strange because compared to every other major combat zone in the war, either in Europe or Asia, I never seem to hear anything about how it effected the local population there. Half the time it can seem like the Italians, British and Germans were fighting a war in an almost perfect environment for war game enthusiasts where there's vast flat plains of unobstructed desert terrain with no civilian population to concern oneself over, just armies politely facing off against each other in mobile operations.

I suspect this is nowhere near the whole story, I know that before the war the Italians had fought a protracted campaign to completely pacify a lot of the mobile tribes in Libya and that German troops persecuted the Jewish community in North Africa during their time there, but I know next to nothing beyond this. Were Amazigh and Arab forces pressed into service by either side? Was there any kind of refugee crisis or famine related to the war time deprivations? Did resistance groups to European imperialism attempt to leverage the situation to their advantage? Just generally how did the population who lived there, whether Amazigh, Arab, Jewish, or anything else react to their countries becoming battlegrounds between the Europeans?

Looking to learn more about him and there’s quite a few biographies out there, wondering which one is best/most interesting? Thanks!

My main focus in this question is the border between Portugal and Spain (or it's smaller kingdoms) between XII and XVI centuries, but I guess it should be similar to any other border in Europe... I am wondering what crossing a border looked like? Were there permanent guards/armies checking the borders on the main roads? If so, would they question the people trying to cross what was their business to go to the other side of the border? Or there was no control at all? How did it work overall? Thanks in advance.

I just finished reading Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin a few months ago, and I am very intrigued by all of the intricate rituals of tea drinking done by the rich and upper class of the Qin dynasty. In the book, they mention several teas, but with names that don't come up as anything when I google. I decided I would ask here, as some were prepared with snow, others with rain water during a certain period on the Chinese calendar, etc. I was wondering what were the actual names of the tea drank by the upper class during this period, and were certain blends only limited to the upper class? I suppose I should also add, what did the poor mainly drink during this time as well?