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Putative Persian perversities: Indian Buddhist condemnations of Zoroastrian close-kin marriage in context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 October 2008

Jonathan A Silk
Jonathan A Silk
Affiliation:
Leiden University, email: j.a.silk@let.leidenuniv.nl
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Abstract

Ancient and medieval sources from Greece to Korea speak of the morally reprehensible habits of the Persians, who engage in close-kin marriage. Indian Buddhist texts also preserve similar ideas. One interesting passage in a narrative text makes use of this motif in a particularly interesting way, thereby indicating the character who appeals to the trope as ethically beyond the pale. The present paper explores the background of this common depiction of Persian marriage customs for its own intrinsic interest, and as a means to explicate the passage in question.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 71 , Issue 3 , October 2008 , pp. 433 - 464
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 2008

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References

1 I would like to express my thanks to Prods Oktor Skjaervo and the anonymous reviewers for the journal for their advice on Iranian matters. Victor Mair kindly introduced me (electronically) to Sanping Chen, whose guidance on Chinese sources on Central Asia has been most valuable. I also thank Walter Scheidel for his encouragement.