# Religion(s) of my ancestors **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 14, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-s-of-my-ancestors/195210 "2003-08-14T19:14:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-s-of-my-ancestors/195210/1 "2003-08-14T19:14:22Z")
It seems (according to my father and what little genealogical research has been done) that ethnically my ancestors are from Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, northern India, and Rajasthan. Living relatives are in Pakistan and the US. (There is a chance - remote as it might be - that there were Jews in my ancestry.) Does anyone have any idea what the original religion (or religions) of my ancestors was (or were)? WRS ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-s-of-my-ancestors/195210/2 "2003-08-14T20:55:17Z")
What do you mean by “original religion”? ---
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-s-of-my-ancestors/195210/3 "2003-08-14T21:15:17Z")
The religion they practiced - not something they may have converted to later on. WRS ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-s-of-my-ancestors/195210/4 "2003-08-14T21:56:03Z")
That’s a huge geographic area with an _extremely_ varied religious background… the further back you go to try to figure out their “original” religion, the murkier it’s going to get. ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2003, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-s-of-my-ancestors/195210/5 "2003-08-14T23:28:53Z")
Islam spread into both Turkey and Iran fairly early, and I believe northern India would have also had some Muslim population by the 11 or 12 century. Prior to the Islamic influence, Zoroasterism was probably found in Iran, and I seem to remember that a dualistic religion was also strong in that region. Both Judaism and Christianity would have had some influence in Turkey, maybe Iran. Both Hindu and Buhddism were practiced in the area around what is now India/Pakistan. I suspect tribal/family gods would also have been worshipped well into the (European) Middle Ages in the more remote areas. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-s-of-my-ancestors/195210/6 "2003-08-15T03:28:25Z")
Christianity made it to India in the 7th or 8th century CE. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-s-of-my-ancestors/195210/7 "2003-08-15T04:29:10Z")
Which ancestors do you mean? Two generations ago? Ten generations ago? Fifty generations ago? Or the ‘first religion’ in the area before another one came along and bumped it aside? ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-s-of-my-ancestors/195210/8 "2003-08-15T06:15:26Z")
Get a copy of Will and Ariel Durant’s _Our Oriental Heritage_, part of _The Story of Civilization_ series. This will give you information on early Indian religions and those of Persia (Iran). Not as much on Turkey, though the book on Greece may cover some of that territory. ---
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-s-of-my-ancestors/195210/9 "2003-08-15T12:56:15Z")
Cool! Thanks for the responses so far! By “ancestors” I mean those before me. I know my ancestors have been Muslim for a few generations, but obviously they could not have been Muslim since the beginning of time, and I have no idea what religion they practiced before Islam, when and where they “embraced” Islam, and under what circumstances they accepted Islam. At one point, I thought my ancestors were Mongol - which makes it easy: they were animistic and/or Buddhist. But since my ancestry seems to come from the west instead, it’s a huge muddle. WRS