askhistorians

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Schoolboy romances were supposedly very common in the great British public schools of the 19th and early 20th centuries. As many of these boys would later go on to high political offices, could these relationships act as a kind of 'old boys network within the old boys network'?	150
As a young man Sun Yat-sen was known to be fanatically Christian, smashing what he considered to be idols in his hometown in China. How much of his later work with non or anti-Christians such as the Soviets can be considered to be a softening of these views or was it just for political ends?	124
When Europe transitioned from various indigenous religions to Christianity, biblical names started to become common and older names became less favoured to various degrees. Did any particular names acquire a particularly unpopular status, similar to a naming taboo?	88
When Japan transitioned from the Edo to the Meiji periods, one of the actions taken by the new government was to clamp down on the widespread homosexual and pederastic culture in the name of Westernisation. How did Japanese cultured society react to this and how effective was the suppression? NSFW	80
Joseph Campbell claims in his work 'Oriental Mythology' that Human Sacrifice was a common occurrence across India before the British prohibition in 1835, citing the Kalighat in Calcutta, the Shiva temple in Tanjore and the Durga Puja in Assam as sacrificial centres. How accurate is this?	72
Mike Duncan’s history of Rome describes Caracalla’s purge of Geta’s supporters and their families as being of unprecedented size and brutality. Do we really know enough about it to say that?	60
At the time of the Haitian revolution, the Jewish population of the island had grown due to an influx of refugees. As Jews were discriminated against due to the code Noir, was there significant sympathy and support from the Jewish community for the slaves or was race hatred more predominant?	31
Wikipedia claims that communal conflicts between Hindus-Muslims during the Islamic invasions of the subcontinent provoked the creation of a military order of Hindu ascetics in India. Does this have any basis in truth?	23
Would a Confucian scholar-bureaucrat say of the Song dynasty ever engage in hunting, athletics, gardening or any kind of rigorous physical activity?	20
During the Warlord and Republic period in China, the Muslim dominated Ma Clique seems to be the only force in the country with a strong religious affiliation. Is this assessment correct or did other Warlords, Cliques and factions have such support?	19

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