Headcanon confirmed, Thavnair includes Indian cultural elements!

[Shadha]

This actually isn't new at all, but I'm sort of new to the game and I didn't see it anywhere online, so I'm posting about it out of enthusiasm.

At first it was just wishful thinking that the game world would include India's culture somewhere or another, because of personal interests. And let me say I realize Hydaelyn isn't restricted to real world cultures, but still, I'd hoped it might inspire some distant Othardian nation, or something.

But then I went looking at the game's katars (wrongly called jamadhars, which are actually the kind that open into three blades when you squeeze the grip) and found the Thavnairian Katars. After a moment of flailing that the game's only actual jamadhars are called katars, I realized the potential significance. Katars are an iconic Indian weapon, and the only instance of "katars" in the game references Thavnair. I knew it wasn't enough to jump to conclusions, because patas and baghnakhs are also unique to India and appear without cultural significance, but it got me looking.

I read more about Thavnair and found the two kinds of lassi in the game, which is a distinctly Indian drink, and noticed the rolanberry variety references Thavnair's extremely spicy food. Thavnair obviously draws from Middle Eastern culture, too, but Middle Eastern food isn't especially spicy compared to Indian food, which is, as everyone knows, where curry comes from.

Then I realized there's a state in North India called Rajasthan, which literally means "Land of Kings" and contains most of the Thar Desert.

Rajasthan.
Radz-at-Han.

My face when.

So, I'm pretty excited, even if we're not going there in the next expansion. As I said, Thavnair obviously includes Middle Eastern cultural elements, too, but everyone already knows that. And it makes sense, because Persia owned North India for a couple hundred years, and Rajasthan borders Pakistan, too.
That, or SE just gets brown people mixed up.

[Hinoto-no-Ryuji]

This is neat! I'm always interested in using real-world influences to get a sense of what unseen regions of the world are like, and while I think most of us assumed Middle Eastern (I used Iranian and Persian names for some Thavnairians in my character's backstory), the Indian connection is a really cool find - especially as it pertains to Radz-at-Han, the capital of the region, which could mean that India is a much stronger influence on that whole region than previously expected. Thanks for the post!

[Iromi]

Oh I love this more, thank you for sharing ^^ I was hoping we'd get to go to thavnair in 4.0, it's the most interesting place for me in eorzea atm. Maybe dancer will come from there

[Sounsyy]

Great finds on the katars and Rajasthan! Definitely something I missed when I was doing my own searches. Thavnair is definitely one of my main points of interest in the world, so I get really excited every time there's something new released.

But if you wanted to know more about Thavnair, you can check out all the lore I've found on it here. There's a few more Persian/north Indian references.

[Naraku_Diabolos]

Kind of off topic, but even in FFXI, Aht Urghan was based on Indian culture as well. I think that right now, Ala Mhigo may have a mixture of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Indian influences. There's bound to be more real world influences later on. I'm waiting on a Celtic one since my heritage is predominantly Celtic.

[Shadha]

Great finds on the katars and Rajasthan! Definitely something I missed when I was doing my own searches. Thavnair is definitely one of my main points of interest in the world, so I get really excited every time there's something new released.

But if you wanted to know more about Thavnair, you can check out all the lore I've found on it here. There's a few more Persian/north Indian references.

Oohh, that's such a good post! Thanks so much. I just started playing like, this past August, so there's still a lot I haven't seen (and a lot that can no longer be seen) so that was all really helpful.



This in particular is really cool because Buddha was Indian. Buddhism became more popular elsewhere in Asia than in India, but it originated there (and significantly influenced Hinduism in its passing). Like, in the Chinese epic Journey to the West, the characters (including Sun Wukong, the Monkey King) were journeying west to retrieve sacred Buddhist texts from India. It's neat to see that referenced, even in such a small way.

I'm waiting on a Celtic one since my heritage is predominantly Celtic.

I mean. I know of one Celtic cultural reference.



I don't know any real details because I haven't seen that content yet, but the lore book said Cúchulainn was a hero from the world that became the Void, and ended up like this because the heroes there killed primals in a way that basically poisoned them with their essence, mutating them more and more each time. In Irish mythology, Cú Chulainn was kind of a Hercules figure who turned into a terrible, grotesque beast when he flew into a rage to fight.

...I know that's not what you're looking for, but I think it's neat. I:

[Okamimaru]

the cuchulainn we face in void ark is a variation on one of the first lucavi you kill in FF Tactics (War of the Lions)... Cuchulainn the Corrupt i believe... more so than finding real world influences in game, i find noticing all the little nods to past games much more interesting... i deal with the real world on a daily basis and am not impressed XD

[Sounsyy]

Kind of off topic, but even in FFXI, Aht Urghan was based on Indian culture as well. I think that right now, Ala Mhigo may have a mixture of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Indian influences. There's bound to be more real world influences later on. I'm waiting on a Celtic one since my heritage is predominantly Celtic.

Until we learn a little more about Ala Mhigo in the upcoming patch, I'd have to say that ancient Mhach draws the most from Irish/Celtic influences that I've seen. Nero put together a pretty good post on the real world inspirations and mythologies behind Mhach's ark and monsters.

[Hinoto-no-Ryuji]

the cuchulainn we face in void ark is a variation on one of the first lucavi you kill in FF Tactics (War of the Lions)... Cuchulainn the Corrupt i believe... more so than finding real world influences in game, i find noticing all the little nods to past games much more interesting... i deal with the real world on a daily basis and am not impressed XD

Piggybacking off Sounsy's post a bit, a handful of the higher Voidsent - Ferdiad, Scathach, Cuchulain - as well as a number of things associated with their Mhachi summoners - Cait Sith, Dun Scaith - come from Irish/Celtic mythology, especially the Ulster Cycle; given the consistency of the motif, it's likely they're taking inspiration from that, rather than the other games. It's not like the game is wanting for references from past games elsewhere, though, haha.

[Shadha]

Year and a half necropost, but hey:



They addressed the misnomer, lmao. Additionally:



Relevant because this was actually something done in India in real life with tigers, which is vaguely terrifying, lol.

Also, how I said "because patas and baghnakhs are also unique to India and appear without cultural significance", apparently patas are, in FFXIV, an Eorzean version of the Thavnairian jamadhars, and baghnakhs are literally Amalj'aa weapons that Eorzeans took and used.