Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2021 March 24

= March 24 =

Slane & Hughes, 19th century, any connections?
Greetings,

Previously on this ref desk I had discussed about s:Index:A dictionary of Islam.djvu (1885)'s author  Thomas Hughes (priest)'s and his likely  sources on Muslim societies,  Islam and Saud Ottoman relationship sitting at Peshawar. One possibility was discussed is his membership Royal Asiatic Society might have been a source.

I was reading his preface to A dictionary of Islam again and he seems to give some credit to translations of Ibn Khallikan by William McGuckin de Slane (1801-1878) Who was also expert Arabic interpreter for French forces.

Hughes had access to some of Slane's work is mentioned in preface itself


 * 1) Slane's mother's name seems to be 'Euphemia Hughes', so any chance of close or distant relationship and both knowing each other?
 * 2) Where all Slane was posted and any chance of both having correspondence or was Slane writing for RAS  or any chance of any indirect contact?

Bookku (talk) 04:19, 24 March 2021 (UTC)


 * Hello, . Regarding your question 1), I can't give any definitive genealogical information, but I can say that Hughes is a fairly common surname in, or originating from, both Wales and Ireland (and is therefore also common in England and Scotland). Thomas Hughes came from the English county of Shropshire, adjacent to Wales and with a large Welsh admixture, while de Slane (so presumably his mother also) came from Northern Ireland, so while a family relationship is possible, the coincidence of name alone doesn't really support any likelihood of it. Others may be able to provide more specific evidence one way or the other.
 * With reference to 2), in this internet age we often forget the extent to which 19th-century scholars were able to communicate easily both nationally and internationally using the very efficient postal services of that era. Many scientists and others may have never met one another face-to-face but nevertheless have been regular collaborators either through learned societies' journals and other facilities, or by direct personal written correspondence – Charles Darwin is often held up as the exemplar of this, but it was common in 19th-century scholarship. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.219.35.136 (talk) 15:51, 24 March 2021 (UTC)

@ 2.219.35.136 Thanks for valuable inputs. Hughes  is one of early systematic commentary on prevalent practices among Muslim societies and to accept his notes as reliable sources We need to have a little more clarity on his various  content sources. Thanks again and warm regards Bookku (talk) 06:02, 25 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Given that Hughes deliberately immersed himself in Muslim Afghani culture, mastered the local language, and conversed extensively with Imams and others in order to understand their culture and religious beliefs, I would assume his notes mostly recorded their verbal accounts, rather than written material from other European academics. As this is not my area of expertise, I don't know how this stacks up against Wikipedia's 'reliable source' criteria: others may have a better idea – are there any relevent active WikiProjects in this area that could advise? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.219.35.136 (talk) 11:10, 26 March 2021 (UTC)

GEDmatch: When do matches get updated?
Hiya,

I uploaded the results of a DNA test kit to GEDmatch and it says it was last compared to other kits on March 7th, 2021. I wonder at which intervals the comparisons get updated. Does anybody know?

--Keimzelle (talk) 13:13, 24 March 2021 (UTC)


 * Nevermind - I learned that my DNA kit gets compared once (to all existing other DNA kits), and any new kit uploaded by anybody else will automatically be compared to my kit.--Keimzelle (talk) 22:25, 31 March 2021 (UTC)

The Taliban, photography, and the Internet
I know that when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan until 2001, they banned both photography and the Internet as being un-Islamic. However, nowadays a lot of Taliban fighters and even Taliban leaders actually do, in fact, get photographed and the Taliban also has an online presence nowadays. Was Taliban doctrine ever officially changed in regards to these things or did the Taliban sort of improvise as it went along in regards to this, believing that the circumstances of jihad against infidels warranted a reconsideration of their previous approach/policy in regards to these things? Futurist110 (talk) 19:04, 24 March 2021 (UTC)


 * IIRC when US forces busted Bin Laden's hideout and searched its computers, they found so much porn that they couldn't believe it was just for personal consumption, and had the NSA check it for hidden messages (steganography). I don't think they found any hidden messages though: it was just porn.  In the US, Utah (a highly antiporn state) is the largest porn consumer according to web statistics, pay-per-view, etc.  It works out about how you'd expect. 2602:24A:DE47:BB20:50DE:F402:42A6:A17D (talk) 05:15, 28 March 2021 (UTC)


 * Osama bin Laden's supporters could defend him by saying that while he looked at this porn, he never actually fapped to it–similar to Bill Clinton saying "Yeah, I smoked weed, but I never actually inhaled it!" Futurist110 (talk) 19:02, 28 March 2021 (UTC)

Civil War records
Are there any available records such as rosters and casualty lists for the 17th Virginia Infantry specifically Company A and Company H. of the 4th Virginia Cavalry? Gandalf the Groovy (talk) 20:34, 24 March 2021 (UTC)

American Civil War POW Records
Hello, I was wondering if there may be any records of confederate troops from the 17th Virginia infantry regiment captured at Antietam on September 17 1862 as well as exchange reports? Need these for research. Thank you. Gandalf the Groovy (talk) 21:22, 24 March 2021 (UTC)


 * Hi Gandalf the Groovy, I remember use KAVEBEAR was looking up individual Civil War soldiers records for a while, so they might be able to point you to the sources. I'm sorry I couldn't find in the ref desk archives - the search terms must be too broad. Perhaps you can try talking to KAVEBEAR if we don't come up with a direct sources for you in the meantime. 70.67.193.176 (talk) 15:55, 25 March 2021 (UTC)


 * Civil War Records: Basic Research Sources. Alansplodge (talk) 18:52, 25 March 2021 (UTC)


 * "The regiment was commanded by Colonel Corse and numbered only 56 men. Of these, 7 officers and 24 men were killed and wounded and 10 taken prisoner. Only seven men remained in the ranks at the end of the day: Colonel Corse was wounded for a third time, this time severely, and captured." So it is ten people you are looking for. You can also see here. KAVEBEAR (talk) 14:43, 26 March 2021 (UTC)