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ShreevatsaR
  • Member for 12 years, 2 months
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Is the Persian name or title Khosrow related to the name Caesar?
FWIW (for those trying to get their bearings about the Proto-Iranian root), Wiktionary points out: “From Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hsuĉráwas, from *Hsu- (“good”) +‎ *ĉráwas (“fame”). Equivalent to *Hhu- (“good”) +‎ *ĉráwah (“fame”). Cognate with Vedic Sanskrit सुश्रवस् (suśrávas, “famous”), Ancient Greek Eὐκλῆς (Euklês).”
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How did the ancient Romans count with their fingers?
We can count numbers 1 to 10 on our fingers now; are you claiming that the Romans did not? I can understand you dismissing the specific diagram in the OP as fantastical, but that still leaves the question unaddressed of how Romans counted on their fingers. (Did they do it exactly as we do?)
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Cultural understanding of Penelope's suitors
Incidentally, a very similar culture of hospitality was (is?) present in Indian culture too (including many examples of this "theoxenia" in the epics/puranas, and elaborate rules of hospitality in the dharmashastras); probably yet another example of the broader Indo-European culture.
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Which language is oldest in India?
What makes you say that "Prakrit definitely predates Sanskrit"? It's the other way around: Prakrit can be traced back to Vedic Sanskrit at any rate. Also, Brahmi is a script (used for writing Sanskrit and Pali, among others), not a language. And Pali is a kind of Prakrit too (Magadhi / Ardhamagadhi), which just acquired distinctive status for historical reasons (extensive use in Buddhism, etc). (Finally, it is debatable whether Sanskrit and the Prakrits (especially the early ones) should be classified as different languages or as different registers.)
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Why is Dravidian history ignored?
The idea that the Indus Valley civilization spoke (or wrote) Dravidian is quite disputed. We just don't know. Even the Dravidian/Aryan encounters are really more hot air than any certain facts we can be sure of; I recommend the survey The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate by Edwin Bryant (Oxford University Press, 2001).