The Mongolians attach the same importance to Genghis Khan. They don't think he'll be reincarnated, but they do regard him as the founder of their nation and idolise him to an extent that the Founding Fathers would envy. He too united the tribes and the settled peoples, and defeated a superior force through cunning rather than brute force. He was even a khan - the same as Nerevar.

Yer ^^ I'd pretty much agree totally with this. I'm not even convinced on the Assyrian name thing. I think one person has made the claim and many just blindly believe it. I've googled Dunmer names and nothing matches up to Assyrian.

"Tong" as in Morag Tong is a 100% Chinese originating name. Wikipedia "Tong" to see this. The Morag Tong assassins also kinda resemble ninjas assassins in many ways. The Dark Brotherhood are originally a branch from the Morag Tong.

Almost every culture has that Savior/God they are waiting on or great Hero from the past they look up to. Jesus, Quetzalcoatl, Lono, The Messiah, Gilgamesh, Caesar, Ghengis Khan, Attilla, Alexander the Great, Qin Shi Huang, Aristotle, etc etc...
The sound of the names have almost zero bearing on the type of culture they represent. The Dunmer alone have unique names to themselves and Chinese and Babylonian sounding names alongside Mongolian(some names are basically ripped from Babylonian words and restructured with the same basic sounds so they are not actual Babylonian words, http://www.peiraeuspubliclibrary.com/names/asia/babylonia.html, do they http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Category:Morrowind-Places-Daedric_Ruins)

Roma are both ethnically and culturally european. Being part of the european cultural sphere for 1000 years makes them in every aspect european. They share no cultural traditions, habits or beliefs with Indian cultures, but share many with european cultures. The only connection with India is the language of Romani which is indo-aryan and has been found to have similarities with Indian dialects spoken in Hyderabad (but it is a difficult study since Romani is also heavily influenced by germanic and slavic languages). But it is about as far fetched to label european romas Indian as it is to label european jews arabs.

Also for the record, most romani people do not and have never lived a nomadic life in caravans, the majority of Romas live, and have always lived, in permanent settlements, however many of these setttlements have never been officially approved and both historical and current discrimination and persecution against Roma forces them to abandon the settlements. Again, by comparison they are no more nomadic than Palestinians who are forced to leave their settlements due to Israeli expansion.

With Genghis and Nerevar the similarities are more than superficial. It's not so much 'looking up to' as it is ancestor reverence.

That's relious drivel, I was talking about actual races of people. I'm not much for Religion, but Humans weren't physically altered. Thing is, in TES, the gods and godesses are actually real.

Not entirely. I too love history, especially that of ancient Europe (Rome, Greece, Carthage, etc.), so I know a lot about the Roman and Greek history and culture. In TES, from what I've "learned", the Ayleid culture is what shaped the Cyrodiilic culture and that of the Summerset Isles. So in a way, they are alike. The Greek and Roman culture too were very alike, so that is one of the reasons I relate the Isles to ancient Greece. It's not entirely that I am the most familiar with the Greeks. I am also very familiar with the Persians, the people of Carthage, the Gauls, the Celts, the Egyptians, the Macedonians (Alexander the Great is a favorite of mine ). I am also familiar to a lot of other cultures. You're right in a way that ancient Greece is one of the cultures I am most familiar with, but, reading what you think, that's not entirely why I see the Altmer that way.

(sigh) Ancestor reverence is common too with important people. In fact in Korea they practice worshiping all kinds of great Generals and such. In many Asian countries this is a common practice. Ghengis khan is revered in several countries including Korea and Mongolia.
relious=Religious?

I know. I am well aware of the gods and how they function in TES lore. But in the Mythologies of some races they WERE physically altered. But that is mythology. Mythology can inspire just as much as history can. Your example of any other cursed race that was altered by an evil deity was a bad one and incorrect as well. Azura is not evil. It is a Daedric Prince, which is not the same thing as an evil deity. Hell it is more spirit than deity anyways. In fact all Daedra are is spirits that did not participate in creation yet still are attached too it, almost obsessively so. Thus the Aldmer dubbed them Daedra, or not our ancestors. Aedra mean our ancestors. Aedra does not mean good and Daedra does not mean bad.

In any case my anology with Christians was spot on in regards to the information you provided. Try something better and more unique, like a race of people who domesticated giant bugs and were ruled and watched over by a trio of immortal god kings for 3500 years that happen to have the Heart of a long dead God sitting in a volcano that they use to restore their powers with that has been blowing divine diseases at them for centuries.

We also do not KNOW that Azura is the cause of the Dunmers change. It could be biological. Mer seem to adapt incredibly fast. Look at the Falmer. They devolved in a matter of 4000 years or less. That is incredibly fast as far as evolution is concerned. Azura could just be Tribunal propaganda to convert the Dunmer from ancestor worship. Or it COULD be Azura.

Well, let's ask Bethesda

And from what I've seen, I'd say it was Azura

And please sir, forgive me for the typo. English is not my first language, and I sometimes miss when spell-checking. Surely you can understand?

In case I wasnt clear before - Thalmor are the spanish inquisition. Religious fanatics that torture people to confess to worship of another religion.

I was not making fun of you for the typo. I was not sure if relious wasn't a word so i made a guess I hoped was right.

The thing about bethesdas sources in game is that everything is written with a little bias or even misinformation. The idea that Azura cursed the Dunmer could just be made up mythology by the tribunal temple. I don't think it is but it could be. You need to pay careful attention when reading tes lore. Almost nothing can be taken at face value.

That takes into account the rest of their culture how?

The spanish inquisition was only devoted to investigating heresy, that is people who interpreted the christian faith differently, not those who worshipped other Gods or religions. It is also shown through records that when asked by secular authorities to assist with investigations concerning witchcraft and paganism, they discharged those accusations of witchcraft and pagan worship towards individuals in every single case. The inquisition never burned one single 'witch', though they did persecute and torture many christian heretics.

Shrug. The SI tortured people that believed in God a little differently. Thalmor torture people that believe in the Pantheon of Gods a little differently.

Yes, the similarity is still present I suppose...perhaps even more so...

lol. Roma is just one branch of the Romani people. Roma is the word "Roms" using Romani grammar as 'a' is the same as an 's' to make something plural. Within the Romani language the word for themselves as a whole is "Rromane" as in "Rromane Ekhipe" (Romani union) or "Sar e Rromane Phrala ta Phenya" (All Romani brothers and sisters).
Speak these words to a Rajasthani or Punjabi and they should mostly understand the sentences even though a thousand years removed. Other sentences are "Tu san miro phral" (you are my brother) / "tu san miri phen" (you are my sister) or "de man pani" (give me water), "ekh, dui, trin shtar, panch" (one, two, three, four, five), besh tele (sit down)... All other pushed theories thrown on the net over their language is nonsense by unacknowledged people trying to make elegant theories without actually knowing the language or culture.
As well as the language they do share many cultural ways with Indians. Within Romani society they have a strict law over lifestyle put into categories of Wuzho (pure) & Marime (impure) such as hygiene, clothing and family ways such as they will not have animals near the living quarters. They will not wash animal eating utensils near their own. They will also not wash clothes used for washing dishes in the same bowel / washing machine as that which they wash their clothes in (the thought of washing your knickers along with the tea towels is a bit crude for them). They have strict rules on marriage and many still have arranged marriages where a dari (price) is paid. In true Romani culture it is very strict to marry another Romani. To marry a non-Romani can get you cast out. Girls are traditionally expected to cover up properly. The list goes on. These rules of Wuzho / marime go back to a Hindu / Sanskrit root. Obviously like most cultures today, many are loosing their ways in the last few years due to modern media and new world views on integration.
They also have Christian adaptations of Hindu beliefs. The cross is called a trushul which is Indian for trident which is what Indian deities carry. They have a Saint called Sara e Kali where the ceremony mirrors that of the goddess Kali.
They have superstitions and beliefs of good & bad spirits that are still echoed in India to this day... The mulo, and the household snake are examples.

In addition to this many if not most true Romani still look very Indian in appearance with a brown complexion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6HfenInNEA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd4hcO5htQg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq7-8HjchKI

as for all the other stuff about not travelling. I know all that. Romani word for quarter as also used for a word for for housing estate is "Mahala". They are first recorded as coming into Europe as vets. An occupation some still did up until very recent. The point many went down hill was when racist persecution started against them when the king of Romania started enslaving them.

Sorry. I had to put you right when you tried correcting me saying I was wrong.

I just think it felt out of place in Skyrim, it seems Imperial influence is hardly prevalent in Skyrim that is why it seems out of place and the design of the armor is to Roman.
I think the armor suited the Empire in Oblivion and Morrowind because it fit the aesthetic of the Imperials in that game and they made the design fit.
Sure if you really want to compare two things a video game and real world you can but I just think that the ES are to fantastical to truely compare to our world.

I just read the history of Romania no where does it mention India. Romanians or Romani have close ties to ancient Rome. Hence the name Romania, hence the language romance, even their crest is an off shoot of a roman eagle. Romania was the province of Dacia in roman times conquered by Trajan. These Gypsy’s you talk about; the word gypsy is Greek rooted for Egyptian. Balkan European gypsies can possibly be trace to Egypt.

Its nothing to do with Romania. Romani (Gypsy) & Romanians are two different people. The word Romani comes from the Indian Sanskrit root Raman.


Gypsy is short for Egyptian but it came around in western Europe. The Romani first arrived into south east Europe in around 1300ad. Around 1400 ad a large group of Romani broke away from the main group and made their way up through Hungary and arrived in the "Holy Roman Empire" which was Germany and North Italy. From this group broke away a smaller group of around 100 who made their way down into Spain. This group went under the banner of being Dukes, Earls & Counts and claimed they were from "Little Egypt". It is from here that people called them as Egyptians and it is from the English word that the word Gypsy arrived. In Spain it is "Gitano".

No where in any dialects of Romani do any called themselves as "Egyptian" or anything close.
India in the ancient world was know as Sind (rooted from 'sin' meaning water as Hindu religion was connected to the sacred river). People from India were called Sindoi. It is from the word we get Hindu, Hindi & India (dropping the 'h'). Some Romani call themselves as "Sinte".

Romani has no Egyptian loan words nor share any real cultural roots.

You forgot England, Canada and France who were all major parts of the war yet did not commit such crimes.

Just their love for science, reason and logic. That's all really. I think that with races in TES, there's only one or two things identifiable with real world cultures and there is nothing even close to an exact match.

Again, there's a similarity but you can't really say that just because of their nomadic lifestyle, the Ashlanders are supposed to be Mongolian. That's one similarity but it pretty much ends there.

I am humbly grateful for all those valueable insights! There are many theories I am not up to date with, I am mostly familiar with those of prof. Ian Hancock at Texas University.

And the point of my post was to point out that romani are similar to indian cultures in the same way that jews are similar to arab cultures (they also speak similar languages, share ideas about impurities and purities, believe in one God, use the same calendar, adhere to similar dresscodes etc.), but jews are deeply rooted in europe while arabs are deeply rooted in the middle east, ethnically and culturally jews are more european than middle eastern, and romani are more european than indian.

Actually Romanians and Romani are as different as apples and oranges and neither have anything to do with the Romans.

Also, I don't get how the Khajiit are like the Roma.

To me it fit the world of Skyrim really well; it seems disciplined, harsh, just like Skyrim itself (well maybe not disciplined). And the design of the armor was very Roman in Morrowind too, I think. And yes, Nirn truly is a wonderful place. But I'm a curious person, who just wanted to know what the Dominion could be compared to in Ancient Europe.