Why all the Stans?
Oct 5th, 2001, 10:27 AM
#5
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According to the Indo-European Etymology Dictionary at Leiden University, NL, http://iiasnt.leidenuniv.nl/ied/ <BR> <BR>-stan has the following meanings: <BR> <BR>Church Slavic: stanú `camp' <BR>Russian: stan `figure, torso, camp' <BR>Czech: stan `tent' <BR>Slovak: stan `tent <BR> <BR>Indo-European reconstruction: steh2-no- <BR> <BR>Other cognates: Skt. sth´na- `abode, place' [n] <BR> <BR>Hope that helps!
Oct 6th, 2001, 02:12 PM
#18
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Yes, it just means "land of." <BR> <BR>Unfortunately, most of those countries are artificial political creations and aren't the land of just one people. <BR> <BR>For instance, when the British were moving out of India in the 1940s, they created Pakistan, which originally was divided into East Pakistan and West Pakistan, out of the Muslim regions, and the Hindu regions became India, which also had never before existed as one unified country. The very name of Pakistan is actually an acronym of the ethnic groups it included! <BR> <BR>http://www.slam33.freeserve.co.uk/pakistan.htm <BR> <BR>In the early 1970s, East Pakistan, tired of being overshadowed and exploited by West Pakistan, rebelled and after a very messy war, became independent Bangladesh. <BR> <BR>Even so, Pakistan is a reluctant federation of groups that traditionally haven't gotten along. One of them, the Pashtuns, are also heavily represented in Afghanistan and most of the Taliban are Pathan (Pashtuns), who get lots of support (financial etc.) from Pakistan. <BR> <BR>Other ethnic groups in Afghanistan, including Uzbeks and Tajiks, are descended from Turks, and fled INTO Afghanistan early in the twentieth century, when the Soviet Union was overtaking their regions and persecuting Muslims. So of course, they are in the north and have more allegiances to the Stans to the north. <BR> <BR>So that's the story of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the other Stans are just as messy. To keep this on-topic: You don't want to travel there right now.
