# Vikings in India? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2003, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259 "2003-09-18T00:58:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WaryEri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ea666f/32.png) [@WaryEri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WaryEri)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/1 "2003-09-18T00:58:19Z")
My SO’s roomate and his friends have a pet theory that the Vikings landed frequently in India, hundreds of years before the passage around Africa was managed by other Europeans. They mentioned “viking runes” written on stones in India as proof. The SO didn’t find this terribly convincing, and I’ve told him often enough about the wonders of SDMB, so he asked me to seek opinions here. The best I got out of google was about vikings inventing pizza. Has anyone here heard of Vikings in India? Ever in India, let alone making frequent trips to leave the Viking equivilant of “Kilroy was here” on some rocks? ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/2 "2003-09-18T01:27:26Z")
Never heard of this theory. It’s very possible he’s confusing India with Turkey: a viking did leave some rune graffitti in the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, aka Constantinople: [http://www.hum.gu.se/arkiv/ONN/1996/ONN.01/0746.html](http://www.hum.gu.se/arkiv/ONN/1996/ONN.01/0746.html) ---
**Author:** ![lokij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@lokij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokij)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/3 "2003-09-18T02:33:38Z")
It’s certainly possible, I’m not aware of any specific information regarding norse travels to India and I doubt it happened with any regularity (if at all) but they were some Awesome travelers. Let’s see… the Rus traded pretty heavily with the Byzantines and the rest of the middle east, slaves furs and amber. The only indirect evidence I can think of for norse contact or trade with india would be the norse ‘buddha’ found at the Oseberg site, you can see it here. [http://www.risingsun.no/~arno/daastol/images/oseberg\_mount.jpg](http://www.risingsun.no/~arno/daastol/images/oseberg_mount.jpg) It should be noted that there is no agreement on where it comes from, some say it’s actually celtic. Looks like a lotus seated Buddha to me though. ;\> If they could make it to Newfoundland I think a couple may have gotten a hair up their butts and went east from Constantinople. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/4 "2003-09-18T04:28:52Z")
You can’t go east from Constantinople and get to India in a boat, though, and the Vikings weren’t big on hiking… ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/5 "2003-09-18T05:14:12Z")
Good point, **dutch**. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/6 "2003-09-18T08:24:18Z")
There were definitely vikings on the Caspian Sea. The Arab historian Masudi describes them as raiding all around the Caspian in the 10th century. There is a Norse saga _Yngvars saga víðförla_ (The Saga of Ingvar the Far-traveler) about an 11th century Swedish prince who raided (and died) in “Sarkland”, probably the area around the Caspian. So the Caspian coast of Iran is probably as close as they ever got. That’s short of India by about 1,000 miles. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/7 "2003-09-18T09:41:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dutchboy208 \* > \*\*You can’t go east from Constantinople and get to India in a boat, though, and the Vikings weren’t big on hiking… \*\* Well, in the sense that hiking doesn’t normally involve dragging a boat across the landscape, no, they weren’t very big on hiking. But they did get to the Black Sea by following the rivers when they could and crossing land to hop from river to river. They didn’t only follow obvious sea routes. However, no, I’ve never heard anything about Vikings getting as far east as India. That’s a mighty long way to drag a boat. ---
**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/8 "2003-09-18T12:31:28Z")
Our history lessons never mentioned anything about Vikings landing in India. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/9 "2003-09-18T13:06:15Z")
If you tell me where to go a lookin’ for them stones, I could start about now 😉 I can confirm that Kilroy was here. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/10 "2003-09-18T13:55:45Z")
From [this site](http://adaniel.tripod.com/foreigners.htm). > [@](#): > > **The Konkanash Brahmans of west India are also believed to have non- Indian descent. According to a Hindu legend, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Parsuram, found on the Konkan beach some dead bodies which were washed to the shore. In order to cremate them Parsuram gathered them on a pyre. These dead bodies woke up on pyre, probably because they were not dead in the first place but were only unconscious. Parsuram converted these people to Hinduism and made them Brahmans. There are other theories about the origins of these Konkanash Brahmans. Many of these Brahmans have gray-green eyes. Some claim them to be Vikings or of other European origin.** Looks to me like just another some-people-look-different-from-us - so-they-must-be-descended-from-mysterious-strangers - from-a-far-distant-land - who-were-washed-ashore-long-ago theory. _[sub]fixed word wrap - **DrMatrix** _[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/11 "2003-09-18T16:18:15Z")
First, the presence of “Vikings” in Anatolia (THERE WAS NO SUCH PLACE AS “Turkey” AT THAT TIME) is easy to explain, since the Kievan Rus intermarried with the nobility of the eastern Roman Empire. They were not just raiders but were very successful and wide-ranging merchants. Whether they got as far as India, I would say that only through the Silk Road, and that’s generally not an effective way to do mass migrations. ---
**Author:** ![Eurograff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Eurograff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eurograff)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/12 "2003-09-18T17:35:26Z")
This theory is highly unlikely. If there was even a bit of truth in it you would think some of the Viking fansites like [viking.no](http://viking.no/e/index.html) would at least mention that possibility. To see why this wouldn’t work just get a good map and compare Russia to Middle East. Swedish Vikings went along major Russian rivers, and had to drag their boats only through few kilometers’ land journeys on mostly flat land to get to Caspian Sea and Black Sea, eventually Constantinople too. Same time Danish Vikings reached Constantinople by Mediterranean Sea. However there is no way you could cross the Iranian mountain ranges and manage to Arabian Sea and India any better than now. Of course you could get through Egypt, but it was occupied by Arabs, so no luck there. Alternative would be going around Africa, but although Phoenicians apparently did it already 2500 years ago, what would have been the motive for Vikings to do the same? Doesn’t sound too plausible. So if any Vikings ever visited India, they almost certainly did so only as individual traders or adventurers, perhaps with regular Silk Road caravans. Most likely first Europeans to sail the Indian Ocean were Portuguese in the late 1400s. ---
**Author:** ![hawkeyejo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e19b73/32.png) [@hawkeyejo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawkeyejo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/13 "2003-09-18T19:11:08Z")
**APB** I think its Koknastha (as opposed to Kokanash). Nonetheless, we don’t look too different from the rest of the people in the area. Green eyes don’t a Viking make. I have studied Indian history, and not just in school, but out of personal interest as well. No accounts of Vikings in India as far as I can tell. It also seems unlikely that a seafaring people would make such a land journey. And they wouldn’t have strayed as far south as India (even North India)…it would just have been too hot for them :). ---
**Author:** ![WaryEri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ea666f/32.png) [@WaryEri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WaryEri)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2003, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/14 "2003-09-18T19:51:06Z")
Hmm. So I suppose the tale of an “Indian Emporer” who hired all Viking body guards because they had no other local loyalties is probably not going to hold up under scruteny, either? I’ll see if I can get some cites for where these fellas came up with this “theory”. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/15 "2003-09-19T01:58:47Z")
Norsemen were routinely hired as royal guards throughout Europe. From England to Byzantium. They were mercenaries you could trust. But not India. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/16 "2003-09-19T09:59:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hawkeyejo \* > \*\*I think its Koknastha (as opposed to Kokanash). Nonetheless, we don’t look too different from the rest of the people in the area. Green eyes don’t a Viking make. \*\* No, of course not. Both versions of the theory sound complete bollocks to me, but the only way of getting a full answer to the OP is to work out where the ‘Vikings in India’ idea comes from. The wackier a theory, the more fruitful such an approach tends to be. The [pezarker.com](http://pezarker.com) site is therefore a potentially important clue (1) because it confirms that **WaryEri** ’s friends have not been alone in suggesting this theory and (2) because the theory mentioned there and from which the similar theory mentioned in the OP may ultimately derive seems so lame. ---
**Author:** ![WaryEri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ea666f/32.png) [@WaryEri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WaryEri)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/17 "2003-09-21T00:57:06Z")
I’m afraid all that I’ve gotten in the way of cites for this is that the SO’s roomate may have read a book on it once ( no title provided), and thinks he saw a map in National Geographic that showed vikings sailing around Africa. SO and I have decided that at this point we can call bullhockey on this theory with clear consciences. He figures the only way this might work out is by the Vikings having contact with the Byzantium empire. The Byzantium empire most likely had contact with India. Roomate might be confusing the idea that an Indian emperor having Viking bodyguards with a Byzantium emperor having Viking bodyguards. I guess this is too dear a subject to be threatened by lack of proof, so roomate and his friends aren’t interested in hearing that their ideas about vikings are full of holes. But thank you for enlightening the SO and I, at any rate. ---
**Author:** ![Aankh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@Aankh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aankh)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/18 "2003-09-21T05:36:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gouda \* > \*\*Our history lessons never mentioned anything about Vikings landing in India. \*\* I’m picturing an epic battle a la B.R.Chopra’s _Mahabharata_. The Indian host yells “_Aakraman_!!” and charges. All sorts of special-effects-y arrows fly through the air. The Vikings are wearing their normal horned head-gear, which, according to popular Indian mythology, was done only by the _asuras_; They charge forward with pigtails flying and swords aloft. What a canvas! Just imagine how much the Chopras could have made of it, if the Vikings had actually come down to India! Sighhh…I miss those Sunday morning shows. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/19 "2003-09-21T06:15:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WaryEri \* > \*\*I’m afraid all that I’ve gotten in the way of cites for this is that the SO’s roomate may have read a book on it once ( no title provided), and thinks he saw a map in National Geographic that showed vikings sailing around Africa. \*\* Perhaps he’s confusing vikings with **Phoenicians**. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that king Nechos II of Egypt sent an expedition under the Phoenician and Carthaginian mariners that successfully circumnavigated Africa in three years. I don’t know if any Phoenicians or Carthaginians ever reached Indian, but I wouldn’t be too surprised. ---
**Author:** ![ulfie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7ab992/32.png) [@ulfie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ulfie)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259/20 "2012-12-22T21:28:51Z")
An ironpott was find in thr middle of sweden(region närke city örebro).this is the oldest artefact made of iron .and it is imported from north part of india.the age of it is 3500 years .in same region the oldest iron manufacturing is 3000 years old ,and in large scale both iron and steel was produced .the location was in Viby.most of the bronze artefacts was imported from india but these are musch older, around 4500 years ago.spread all over sweden. sorry for my bad english! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-in-india/202259.md?page=2)