Jehoshua
Catholic
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2009
- Messages
- 7,248
I disagree that this is *always* true. Look at the conversion of Persia from Zoroastrianism to Islam, for example. It has been true more often than not but is not necessarily the case. Especially when the domestic religion itself has experienced significant setbacks in recent decades, like the traditional Dulama religion (abandonment of the religion by the Dulama Empire, even well before its loss of its original territories, repeated defeat of religiously motivated revolts by Dula, etc.)
thus the word "almost" in my post.
Just to clarify though, my line of thought goes along the lines that that the Vithanana have now been separated from their core homelands, and so unlike say the Caliphate its very much a tiny isolated group in the midst of a vast and ancient culture. This is a natural situation where cultural assimilation is likely. As to your point on the Dulama religion, you are of course right that it was ditched by the old Empire, but the fact still remains that the part of the Empire that the Vithana conquered happens to be the greater whole of the part where the old religion was kept. Also, I must note Machaianism is present (along with Iralliam and Aitahism, although these two are, like Ardavan, tiny minorities) and strong in the Vithanana, and connected to a powerful heartland, if not Dulama religion there is a good chance they could end up following that faith.
EDIT: Now that I think about it, the fall of the Dulama Empire could actually be a force for renewal for the traditional Dulama religion, since the blame for the diminution of Empire could fall on its rejection of the Dulama faith. At the same time the traditional Dulama religion could also serve as a powerful legitimising force for the new overlords, doubly so if the occasion strengthens the Dulama faith, which could encourage a similar phenomenon as we saw in the Kothari Exatai.