Kosala and the Kosalans (According to REH)
Mar 13, 2017 9:52:14 GMT -5
Post by deuce on Mar 13, 2017 9:52:14 GMT -5
Kosala is a land in the East during the Hyborian Age. While thought by some to be utterly unknown and mysterious, Robert E. Howard actually told us quite a bit about the Kosalans and Kosala. Let's look at Red Nails...
“A dead city,” grunted Conan. “That’s why the ditches were broken and the plain untouched.”
“But who built it? Who dwelt here? Where did they go? Why did they abandon it?”
“Who can say? Maybe an exiled clan of Stygians built it. Maybe not. It doesn’t look like Stygian architecture.
It was of heroic proportions, and the floor of a curious red stone, cut in square tiles, that seemed to smolder as if with the reflection of flames. The walls were of a shiny green material.
“Jade, or I’m a Shemite!” swore Conan.
“Not in such quantity!” protested Valeria.
The vaulted ceiling was of lapis lazuli, adorned with clusters of great green stones that gleamed with a poisonous radiance.
“I never saw people exactly like them. But there’s the smack of the East about them—Vendhya, maybe, or Kosala.”
“Were you a king in Kosala?” she asked, masking her keen curiosity with derision.
“No. But I was a war-chief of the Afghulis who live in the Himelian mountains above the borders of Vendhya. These people favor the Kosalans. But why should Kosalans be building a city this far to west?”
The figures portrayed were those of slender, olive-skinned men and women, with finely chiseled, exotic features. They wore filmy robes and many delicate jeweled ornaments, and were depicted mostly in attitudes of feasting, dancing or love-making.
“Easterners, all right,” grunted Conan, “but from where I don’t know. They must have lived a disgustingly peaceful life, though, or they’d have scenes of wars and fights."
“Then your ancestors didn’t build Xuchotl?” asked Valeria.
“It was ancient when [Tlazitlans] first came into the land. How long it had stood here, not even its degenerate inhabitants knew.”
“At dawn [Tolkemec] opened the gates. The [Tlazitlan] warriors swarmed in and the halls of Xuchotl ran red. Only a few hundred folk dwelt there, decaying remnants of a once great race. Tolkemec said they came from the east, long ago, from Old Kosala, when the ancestors of those who now dwell in Kosala came up from the south and drove forth the original inhabitants of the land.
So for many centuries the people of Xuchotl dwelt in their city, cultivating the fertile plain, until their wise men learned how to grow fruit within the city—fruit which is not planted in soil, but obtains its nourishment out of the air—and then they let the irrigation ditches run dry, and dwelt more and more in luxurious sloth, until decay seized them.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, compare all the points above about Xuchotl and the Kosalans who built it with what REH says about the people of Xuthal in Xuthal of the Dusk:
Above them the walls towered some thirty feet in height, composed of a smooth greenish substance that shone almost like glass. Conan scanned the parapets, expecting to be challenged, but saw no one.
He saw a wide open expanse, like a court, bordered by the arched doorways of houses composed of the same greenish material as the outer walls. These edifices were lofty and imposing, pinnacled with shining domes and minarets.
“Is he dead?” she whispered, shrinkingly indicating the man who lay limply before the gate. The body was that of a tall powerful individual, apparently in his prime; the skin was yellow, the eyes slightly slanted; otherwise the man differed little from the Hyborian type. He was clad in high-strapped sandals and a tunic of purple silk, and a short sword in a cloth-of-gold scabbard hung from his girdle.
They entered the open doorway, and found themselves in a wide chamber, the walls of which were hung with velvet tapestries, worked in curious designs. Floor, walls and ceiling were of the green glassy stone, the walls decorated with gold frieze-work. Furs and satin cushions littered the floor. Several doorways let into other rooms.
He took the chair at the other end, and seizing a jade goblet, emptied it at a gulp. It contained a crimson wine-like liquor of a peculiar tang, unfamiliar to him, but it was like nectar to his parched gullet. His thirst allayed, he attacked the food before him with rare gusto. It too was strange to him: exotic fruits and unknown meats. The vessels were of exquisite workmanship, and there were golden knives and forks as well.
He was exactly like the others they had encountered: tall, well-made, clad in purple garments, with a jeweled girdle. There was neither surprize nor hostility in his amber eyes. They were dreamy as a lotus-eater’s. He did not draw the short sword at his side. After a tense moment he spoke, in a far-away detached tone, and a language his hearers did not understand.
“This city is called Xuthal; it is very ancient. It is built over an oasis, which the founders of Xuthal found in their wanderings. They came from the east, so long ago that not even their descendants remember the age.”
“Much of the time these people lie in sleep. Their dream-life is as important—and to them as real—as their waking life. You have heard of the black lotus? In certain pits of the city it grows. Through the ages they have cultivated it, until, instead of death, its juice induces dreams, gorgeous and fantastic."
She shook her head. “They manufacture their own food out of the primal elements. They are wonderful scientists, when they are not drugged with their dream-flower. Their ancestors were mental giants, who built this marvelous city in the desert, and though the race became slaves to their curious passions, some of their wonderful knowledge still remains. Have you wondered about these lights? They are jewels, fused with radium. You rub them with your thumb to make them glow, and rub them again, the opposite way, to extinguish them. That is but a single example of their science. But much they have forgotten."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The same massive use of "jade"/green-stone. Light jewels. Artificially produced food. Decadent luxury. The amazing level of tech/magic. The "Xu-" in the names of both cities.
The physical appearance of the two groups is slightly different, but the Xuchotlans had pulled out of Old Kosala as the "New Kosalan" invaders had come up from the south. The Xuthalis had been in exile so long that all Thalis could learn was that they had "come from the East". Very likely, the Xuthalis were a more "pure" strain of Old Kosalan. By the time the Xuchotlans had fled Kosala, there had likely been mixing with their future conquerors for some time. We know from Man-Eaters of Zamboula that the "New Kosalans" were unequivocally "brown". The lighter-skinned pure-blooded Old Kosalans mixing somewhat with the brown "New Kosalans" could easily produce the stock from which the later Old Kosalans of Xuchotl derived.
What we know for a fact is that neither of the descriptions of the Xuthalis nor Xuchotlans matches that of the "New Kosalans" seen in "Man-Eaters" nor how REH describes Khitans or modern Chinese. We also don't see any reference to such super-science in Khitai. Kosala is a whole other, different beast from Khitai.
REH very likely derived the name of Kosala from the ancient kingdom in India:
infogalactic.com/info/Kosala_Kingdom
“A dead city,” grunted Conan. “That’s why the ditches were broken and the plain untouched.”
“But who built it? Who dwelt here? Where did they go? Why did they abandon it?”
“Who can say? Maybe an exiled clan of Stygians built it. Maybe not. It doesn’t look like Stygian architecture.
It was of heroic proportions, and the floor of a curious red stone, cut in square tiles, that seemed to smolder as if with the reflection of flames. The walls were of a shiny green material.
“Jade, or I’m a Shemite!” swore Conan.
“Not in such quantity!” protested Valeria.
The vaulted ceiling was of lapis lazuli, adorned with clusters of great green stones that gleamed with a poisonous radiance.
“I never saw people exactly like them. But there’s the smack of the East about them—Vendhya, maybe, or Kosala.”
“Were you a king in Kosala?” she asked, masking her keen curiosity with derision.
“No. But I was a war-chief of the Afghulis who live in the Himelian mountains above the borders of Vendhya. These people favor the Kosalans. But why should Kosalans be building a city this far to west?”
The figures portrayed were those of slender, olive-skinned men and women, with finely chiseled, exotic features. They wore filmy robes and many delicate jeweled ornaments, and were depicted mostly in attitudes of feasting, dancing or love-making.
“Easterners, all right,” grunted Conan, “but from where I don’t know. They must have lived a disgustingly peaceful life, though, or they’d have scenes of wars and fights."
“Then your ancestors didn’t build Xuchotl?” asked Valeria.
“It was ancient when [Tlazitlans] first came into the land. How long it had stood here, not even its degenerate inhabitants knew.”
“At dawn [Tolkemec] opened the gates. The [Tlazitlan] warriors swarmed in and the halls of Xuchotl ran red. Only a few hundred folk dwelt there, decaying remnants of a once great race. Tolkemec said they came from the east, long ago, from Old Kosala, when the ancestors of those who now dwell in Kosala came up from the south and drove forth the original inhabitants of the land.
So for many centuries the people of Xuchotl dwelt in their city, cultivating the fertile plain, until their wise men learned how to grow fruit within the city—fruit which is not planted in soil, but obtains its nourishment out of the air—and then they let the irrigation ditches run dry, and dwelt more and more in luxurious sloth, until decay seized them.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, compare all the points above about Xuchotl and the Kosalans who built it with what REH says about the people of Xuthal in Xuthal of the Dusk:
Above them the walls towered some thirty feet in height, composed of a smooth greenish substance that shone almost like glass. Conan scanned the parapets, expecting to be challenged, but saw no one.
He saw a wide open expanse, like a court, bordered by the arched doorways of houses composed of the same greenish material as the outer walls. These edifices were lofty and imposing, pinnacled with shining domes and minarets.
“Is he dead?” she whispered, shrinkingly indicating the man who lay limply before the gate. The body was that of a tall powerful individual, apparently in his prime; the skin was yellow, the eyes slightly slanted; otherwise the man differed little from the Hyborian type. He was clad in high-strapped sandals and a tunic of purple silk, and a short sword in a cloth-of-gold scabbard hung from his girdle.
They entered the open doorway, and found themselves in a wide chamber, the walls of which were hung with velvet tapestries, worked in curious designs. Floor, walls and ceiling were of the green glassy stone, the walls decorated with gold frieze-work. Furs and satin cushions littered the floor. Several doorways let into other rooms.
He took the chair at the other end, and seizing a jade goblet, emptied it at a gulp. It contained a crimson wine-like liquor of a peculiar tang, unfamiliar to him, but it was like nectar to his parched gullet. His thirst allayed, he attacked the food before him with rare gusto. It too was strange to him: exotic fruits and unknown meats. The vessels were of exquisite workmanship, and there were golden knives and forks as well.
He was exactly like the others they had encountered: tall, well-made, clad in purple garments, with a jeweled girdle. There was neither surprize nor hostility in his amber eyes. They were dreamy as a lotus-eater’s. He did not draw the short sword at his side. After a tense moment he spoke, in a far-away detached tone, and a language his hearers did not understand.
“This city is called Xuthal; it is very ancient. It is built over an oasis, which the founders of Xuthal found in their wanderings. They came from the east, so long ago that not even their descendants remember the age.”
“Much of the time these people lie in sleep. Their dream-life is as important—and to them as real—as their waking life. You have heard of the black lotus? In certain pits of the city it grows. Through the ages they have cultivated it, until, instead of death, its juice induces dreams, gorgeous and fantastic."
She shook her head. “They manufacture their own food out of the primal elements. They are wonderful scientists, when they are not drugged with their dream-flower. Their ancestors were mental giants, who built this marvelous city in the desert, and though the race became slaves to their curious passions, some of their wonderful knowledge still remains. Have you wondered about these lights? They are jewels, fused with radium. You rub them with your thumb to make them glow, and rub them again, the opposite way, to extinguish them. That is but a single example of their science. But much they have forgotten."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The same massive use of "jade"/green-stone. Light jewels. Artificially produced food. Decadent luxury. The amazing level of tech/magic. The "Xu-" in the names of both cities.
The physical appearance of the two groups is slightly different, but the Xuchotlans had pulled out of Old Kosala as the "New Kosalan" invaders had come up from the south. The Xuthalis had been in exile so long that all Thalis could learn was that they had "come from the East". Very likely, the Xuthalis were a more "pure" strain of Old Kosalan. By the time the Xuchotlans had fled Kosala, there had likely been mixing with their future conquerors for some time. We know from Man-Eaters of Zamboula that the "New Kosalans" were unequivocally "brown". The lighter-skinned pure-blooded Old Kosalans mixing somewhat with the brown "New Kosalans" could easily produce the stock from which the later Old Kosalans of Xuchotl derived.
What we know for a fact is that neither of the descriptions of the Xuthalis nor Xuchotlans matches that of the "New Kosalans" seen in "Man-Eaters" nor how REH describes Khitans or modern Chinese. We also don't see any reference to such super-science in Khitai. Kosala is a whole other, different beast from Khitai.
REH very likely derived the name of Kosala from the ancient kingdom in India:
infogalactic.com/info/Kosala_Kingdom
