askhistorians

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I've seen the Mongols blamed for the destruction of Mesopotamia's historic irrigation systems, leading to that region's decline in importance. Is that true, and if so, why weren't the irrigation networks rebuilt afterwards?	31
The Pashtun people of Afghanistan are seen as an especially warlike people. But Afghanistan used to have a Buddhist presence. To what degree was Buddhism present among the Pashtun people before Islam, did it have any lasting influence and did Afghan Buddhism have any unique characteristics?	30
In the song "Matchmaker, Matchmacker" from Fiddler on the Roof, there's a mention of dowries (or lack thereof for the girls). How common were dowries in Eastern European Jewish marriages and what did they typically consist of?	27
Pre-Islamic Arabia was surrounded by Christians in Byzantine Syria, Egypt and the Ethiopian presence in Yemen. There were also large Christian and Jewish minorities inside Arabia. Was Arabian paganism already moribund at the advent of Islam?	27
What was the opinion of the Islamic scholars, the 'ulema, and the wider Muslim community towards sending kids to Western missionary schools in colonial times?	27
back when trains ran on steam engines, what would happen if the train, for whatever reason, ran out of water to boil in the middle of no-where? Was there any way to get an emergency water fill-up to a stranded train?	27
Reading a book on ancient India, it seems there are no chronicular native histories and much of what is known has to be reconstructed from references in non-historical texts (religious texts, plays, treatises, etc). But what did these texts use as a reference?	26
According to the Wikipedia article on Grendel's mother, Grendel's mother is referred to by a word that could mean she was a valkyrie or a goddess. If this were the case, how would that square with Beowulf being a poem composed in pagan times and then written down by Christians?	24
I've encountered on a Reddit (a) user(s) arguing that Chan and its Japanese counterpart Zen are not Buddhism. Was this a position taken by historical practitioners/masters of Chan or Zen Buddhism?	23
The British aristocracy and gentry smashed their castles and built country houses and then demolished those because inheritance taxes on them were too high. Did a similar process play out in other European countries or were castles, mansions and manors better preserved?	23

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