By Candor:
A while back when I started reading Magi, I wrote a list of references to 1001 Nights and a small analysis on the world, based on info I know and from Wikipedia, and posted it on a couple of forums. Now that the anime has ended Balbadd and the world and the characters have expanded a bit more, I thought I'd post it here, while adding some stuff I learned while roaming around the internet. So here goes:
One Thousand and One Nights, aka Arabian Nights, is a collection of stories that was collected throughout the centuries mostly from the Middle East in general and India. Ohtaka Shinobu, the author of Magi, and after her previous serialization, Sumomomo Momomo, was cancelled, was planning to make a manga with old Rome as its setting, but she thought she can base her manga on One Thousand and One Nights while expanding its fictional world to include Rome, as well as other cultures and countries, such as Mongolia and China in its imperial era, while trying to show some of the cultures of those countries, such as clothes, or for example the goat milk in the Kouga.
Here are some of the countries in Magi and the countries they're based on:
- Balbadd is based on old Baghdad. (Arabian Night's Alibaba is from Baghdad)
- Kouga is based on old Mongolia. The founder of the Kouga, Chagan Khan, is based on Genghis Khan.
- The Kou Empire is based on imperial China
(from the manga)
- The Rem Empire is based on ancient Rome. (Rem = Rome in Japanese) In ancient Rome, adoption was a common procedure, to either find a successor, to strengthen the ties between families, or to make allies.
- Heliohopt, Sharrkan's country, is based on ancient Egypt. (though the country hasn't been mentioned much in the manga, its people were shown 2-3 times)
- Magnostadt has a resemblance to Israel
The characters in Magi and who they're based on, whether from the stories or from real life:
Alibaba:
- Son of a merchant
- Married a poor woman
- Alibaba was mentioned as a king's son in some other stories
- Alibaba is from Baghdad
- The story he's featured in is called "Alibaba and the 40 Thieves". Summery: (will be continued in Kassim's and Morgiana's parts)
A poor woodcutter who once heard a group of 40 thieves planning to go to a treasure cave. Alibaba went to the cave and found a magical gate, he said "Open Sesame" or "Iftah Ya Simsim" and the door opened for him, and he took the treasure and went back to his home.
Kassim:
- Alibaba's greedy rich brother
- Like Alibaba, from Baghdad and son of a merchant
- He married a rich woman
After he made Alibaba tell him about the treasure, he went to the cave and was killed by the thieves. Alibaba went to the cave again and found his brother's dead body and brought it back home.
Morgiana or Morgana:
-A slave in Kassim's household.
- Morgiana was mentioned as Alibaba's wife in some versions of the story.
When Alibaba gave her Kassim's dead body, he told her to make others believe that he died a natural death. Morgana went to a tailor, Baba Mustafa, and made him stitch his body together to make it seem like a natural death, and Kassim was buried as if it was a normal death.
Sinbad or Sindbad:
Known as Sinbad of the 7 Seas, and Sinbad the Sailor. His name is based on a province in Pakistan called Sindh. Sindria is probably based on that province too.
Aladdin:
His story is called "Aladdin and the Magical Lamp". A poor man who got a magical lamp (from a man called Ja'far) that contains a blue Genie/Djinn. He used it to become rich and powerful, it's also mentioned that that lamp's owner is a legendary bird called Roc.
Ja'far:
Ja'far Ibn Yahya, a real person from the Arab Abbasid Caliphate era. He was like a prime minister of Harun Al-Rashid, the man Al-Rashid trusted the most, his right hand. He was mentioned in 1001 Nights in a couple of stories, often as a protagonist, an adventurer most of the time.
Solomon:
A man with wisdom, wealth, powers and abilities to speak with Djinn and animals. He's a king in Judaism, a saint in Christianity, and a prophet in Islam. He is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah split. Solomon's sins, including idolatry and turning away from Yahweh (the national god of Israel in the Hebrew Bible), leads to the kingdom's being torn in two during the reign of his son Rehoboam.
Scheherazade: (An important character that'll appear later in the series, but knowing about her beforehand is more exciting)
A legendary Persian queen, also said to be the story-teller of One Thousand and One Nights:
Scheherazade, a virgin that volunteered to be Shahryar's wife, a king who, because his previous wife was unfaithful to him, started marrying virgins and slayed them after one night of the marriage. In the first night Scheherazade told the king an exciting story, and left it unfinished. The king wanted to know how it ended, but Scheherazade told him she'll continue it in the next night, thus her life was spared for one day. In the next night she finished the first story, and started another exciting story and left it unfinished, and told him she'll continue it next night. She continued doing the same thing until one thousand and one nights passed, and she told him she has no more stories to tell. The king fell in love with Scheherazade in those 1001 nights, and had 3 kids with her. So, having been made a wiser and kinder man by Scheherazade and her tales, he spared her life, and made her his Queen.
Some plot-related stuff:
Djinn: The jinn, or genies, are spirits mentioned in the Qur'an and Islamic theology who inhabit an unseen world in dimensions beyond the visible universe of humans. Together, the jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of God. Like human beings, the jinn can also be good, evil, or neutrally benevolent.
Rukh (ルフ rufu): The word might a wordplay for Roc and Ruuh:
Roc: A giant legendary white bird that, according to some legends, can carry an elephant in its talons high into the air and drop him so that he is smashed to pieces. He was shown in the fifth voyage of Sinbad the Sailor as a bird who destroyed entire ships because his giant eggs were destroyed.
Ruuh: Arabic for Soul.
Quote:
Muslim_Otaku said:
In Islamic Theology the Ruh, is the undying soul of man, Blown into Adam, the Souls of each person to come after him were taken from his back, displayed as orbs for him to see.
Solomon's Wisdom: Solomon's most ascribed qualities was his wisdom. According to the Bible (1 Kings 3:4-9 , 3:11-12), Solomon asked God for the ability to discern between good and evil, and since Solomon didn't ask for other things like wealth or immortality or death for his enemies, but wanted discernment in administering justice, God answered his wish.
A popular story of his wisdom, known as the Judgement of Solomon: Two women came before Solomon to resolve a quarrel over which was the true mother of a baby. When Solomon suggested they should divide the living child in two with a sword, one woman said she would rather give up the child than see it killed. Solomon then declared the woman who showed compassion to be the true mother, and gave the baby to her.
Magic:
Quote:
Muslim_Otaku said:
In the Islamic version of the Story, Magic was an art/science that followed set rules and orders, producing set results after following a set pattern, whereas miracles go against the established order completely and cannot be given at the will of the user.
Magic follows the principles of nature, Miracles go against them to show divine power.
Reply With Quote
2 Member(s) thanked this post
2 Member(s) likes this post
(Arabic doesn't have the r-l confusion, but most probably the pronounciation was lost when transliterating his name from Arabic to Japanese to English).
), however it took me a while to remember that the demons in the Ars Goetia had been sealed by king Solomon.
