The Convoluted True Origin of Aladdin

While we are more familiar with Aladdin set in an Arabian setting, the original story, as written in One Thousand and One Nights, is set in China. But does an Islamic China as described in the original story really exist? In this video, we investigate the convoluted true origin of Aladdin.
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[@CoolHistoryBros]

Do you think Hollywood should make an R-rated Turpan Mongolian Aladdin?

[@skywise001]

Hell yea. Id go to see that. Well - as long as it wasnt whitewashed.

[@incelkeys6630]

Mongolian nights like mongolian days More often than not are colder than cold In a lot of bad ways Mongolian nights Like Mongolian dreams This eternal land of steppe and greens Is more than it seems

[@CleverCover05]

I prob would have liked the general story better than the straight-to-dvd sequel we actually got.

[@lagrangewei]

no, because they are retards that make a white emo teen goku with school life problem.

[@drswag0076]

with how they act current year, hell no. they'll ruin it by shoehorning in politics and a lot of virtue signaling, which is what we don't want in media. on the other hand, it make a good crossover when Aladdin fights Mulan. both of which got a animated movie by Disney. i think i would make it without all the PC bullshit.

[@princesskaylafaulkner]

As a fairytale nerd, I have also researched the history of Aladdin, but you've done a much better job. 😄 Thanks for making this video!

[@SuperSaiyanMaster2024]

I relate

[@boyanpenev9822]

I initially thought that They set it in China to be a far-off exotic place, kind of like how Shakespeare often set his stories in sort-of distant (but not unheard of) lands like Italy, Denmark etc.

[@shanedoesyoutube8001]

i figured the china aladdin was set in is like as far as possible within the western border

[@shishkabobby]

Denmark was not a far-off exotic land to Shakespeare. Genetically, you cannot tell the difference between Danes, the Dutch and East Anglians. They were part of an integrated North Sea community. But I agree on Italy, at least for the common folk in England.

[@--Paws--]

I used to work for a publisher that printed the illustrated version of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. It depicted Aladdin with Chinese clothing as well as the princess. My family also had a very old set of encyclopedias from the 50's that also included the story of Aladdin.

[@yiwoon_cr8s]

Good for you I guess cuz the original tale of Aladdin is set in ancient Xinjiang

[@MrZZooh]

@@yiwoon_cr8s the people CCP is raping and torturing in camps?

[@Spartan265]

@@MrZZooh What does that have to do with Aladdin? I mean yeah the CCP is shit obviously but that has nothing to do with what the guy said.

[@nhienleminhhue6605]

So Aladin was a Turk or someone else????

[@EnigmaG]

I watched an Aladdin play in London westend some years ago, the lead actor was Chinese. Excellent performance.

[@justinmileman7863]

I always heard the tale of Aladdin as being set in China, complete with "The Sultan Of China" so it was very puzzling when Disney churned out some desert city with a hero who looks distinctly middle-eastern.

[@magnuscritikaleak5045]

ANd Princess Jasmine appearance looks Punjabi Indian.

[@highlithouse6481]

When Aladdin came out the world wasn't ready for asian views yet. Disney was still getting backlash from racist aristocrat scene hint years later when asian population grew more open mulan came

[@thedstorm8922]

Not even middle eastern more like Indian

[@renlevy411]

@Rishabh Gautam Historical fact don't care about your feeling you fucking racist.

[@wolverine9377]

@Rishabh Gautam But story is from china 😁🤣

[@FeverAmbone105]

>the Western of France love eastern oriental product and attire Ah yes the proto weebs of 18th century

[@kenken8765]

The banyan coat popular during the 18th century was patterned from the Japanese kimono. So being a weeb is a 300 year old tradition.

[@connormclernon26]

The French have the 2nd highest consumption of Japanese media in the world, with the first obviously being Japan. By the definition, the French have a larger weeaboo population than America

[@Luna-ry8lv]

@@connormclernon26 source?

[@Luna-ry8lv]

@@kenken8765 Banyan coat is of Indian origin. It's literally in the name

[@MazinGo-1972]

No they're not a lame word invented by dorks.

[@venaist]

Europeans got many things from the east through Arabia and comfortably they thought their origin is Arabia. For example, the decimal number system, Damascus sword, 🦃, etc. Probably the stories too gone the same way.

[@ryansmith8345]

Wow very interesting 👏 🤔 👌 I'm Persian & I can definitely attest that the book of 1001 nights is strangely confusing sometimes..... For instance if you ask any Persian , they'll tell you it's an epic poem & story of medieval Persia simply because many of the stories take place in the lands that were all parts of Persia & ofcourse because the names of characters are mostly Persian & especially the main characters aka "Sháhrzād" , "Sháhrīyār" etc. Are all Persian* .... But then this doesn't change the fact that many of the stories also take place in far lands & *all the Eastern cultures & people & ways of life are present in this magnificent poetry* Later on I found out that while the original book was written in Persia , many many great aspects & stories of it was added to it later on in other lands such as India , Arabia or even in Europe as you proved in your video. *Hence I like to think of it as "one of the stories of the east" rather than an exclusively Persian , Armenian , Arabic , turkick , Mongolian or Chinese story* This is definitely a masterpiece of the east.

[@user-ql9ds7hl1b]

The origin of the Aladdin legend is Arabic

[@arlaxazure486]

Oh wow. That was certainly a rabbit hole you dove into, but one with very fascinating conclusions.

[@hyltoniali257]

A mistake at 9:32, Kublai & Hulegu are both sons of Tolui, it was Hulegu, the 3rd son who founded the IkKhagnate

[@gutar5675]

I'm very glad that I found this channel. You deserve many more views, my friend. High quality and thorough research. I feel like I've hit a gold mine.

[@dirtiestharry6551]

I'm so glad I clicked on this vid. I didn't care to click on this video because I thought it's another "Aladdin is actually.... *Gasp Chinese!" video. I already heard he was Chinese like 10 times prior by various youtubers so I didn't care. But I clicked on it by mistake and ended up learning something new. This shit is amazing. Thanks alot

[@HierophanticRose]

A Uighur/Mongol reconstruction of Aladdin would be something to see...

[@prestonjones1653]

Good luck getting Disney to make anything about Uyghurs.

[@KeyOfTheTwilight]

Oh yeah, I knew about that. I had a fairytale book with the story of Aladdin in it and the story was set in China. Which I never questioned, I guess. XD

[@mrmdemeter1]

A children’s show in mainland China made in 1980, called The Tales of Effendi, depicted life in Xinjiang. The characters and dress look indistinguishable from Arabic culture to outsiders, and is likewise altogether dissimilar to mainstream Han culture. When I first watched it I thought it was an Arabic show imported to China... but no. It would also explain all the similarities between the Culture in Aladdin and the Arabic / Islamic regions. Given that the characters in the story are most likely Uighurs. But in wider publications this had to be changed because of the overall Western ignorance of the region.

[@dodo-eu6ox]

It’s based on Xinjiang folk tale

[@lucinae8510]

It's also partly the Chinese government's fault, due to the crackdowns and suppression of Uyghurs and their culture.

[@arareign8944]

@@lucinae8510 When did it happened the suppression...Xynjiang was a home to some of the 56 ETHNIC GROUPS in China...

[@lucinae8510]

@@arareign8944 it’s currently ongoing.

[@jameschern2013]

han and tang dynasty ,they are all chinese .

[@salscapital]

Always such interesting info. Good job on your research!

[@cramerfloro5936]

Yay, I’m not theonly one to make an excruciating research on the muslim-chinese setting of Aladdin! : D I came to the conclusion of Chagatai khanates as well, so this came as a happy surprise. Also, good job on the video following the development of this tale. We appreciate and respect Hanna Diyab in this household!

[@dma8728]

i really enjoy your videos, learning so much

[@CleverCover05]

Seeing as this is my favorite of the Disney Renaissance, learning the true history behind the origin is a lot more interesting and fun than I was originally led to believe. I mean, the stories are amazing, but this has so many more threads and tangents! It's like a deep dive into tvtropes or Wikipedia.

[@ginnyjollykidd]

I love finding out the cultural backgrounds of famous historic tales!

[@maksKv91]

Amazing video! Great work on tracking the story! It must have taken ages. On that note can you do a video on the Ali Baba story as well?

[@evercast9213]

Great video!

[@skywise001]

I had no idea the story behind the story was so fascinating. Very cool :)

[@mcbarrazae]

*Still a better love story than Twilight* Hahahahaha, love it!!!!

[@Maazin5]

Very interesting video. Subscribed

[@AhasBaruog]

Wow. Nicely presented.

[@savagesavant4964]

How did I not find your channel sooner?

[@slllloraxxx]

Really cool. I knew about the "Chinese origins" of Aladdin but when I visited Turpan and Kashgar it made a lot of sense that it might have been set there.

[@GarrettPetersen]

9:33 Tolui died before the Mongol Empire fractured. It was his son Hulagu who founded the Ilkhanate in Persia.

[@t0xcn253]

Honestly, even tho I grew up with the Aladdin-era Disney in heavy rotation, this is not a subject I would normally be interested in...BUT just knowing that CJ wants to talk about it? Well, you have my attention Sir.

[@miketraskalle]

Darn good job!

[@Razielmn]

As a Mongolian, this was hilarious...

[@AhmadM25]

as a muslim syrian i am confused

[@HotZetiGer]

@@AhmadM25 Aladin or Altin means "Golden" in Turkic, Aladdin is Muslim Turk = Uyghur.

[@AhmadM25]

@@HotZetiGer it can also be علاء الدين

[@riza-2396]

Chinese think he is Arabic, Arabic think he is Chinese, in the story the "China" was somewhere in middle Asia at east of Persia... It's basically like "a mysterious place far far away"

[@paulphelps7809]

Well done! btw, the Hallmark movie "Arabian Nights" elegantly illustrates this story.

[@caocao4731]

I'd love for you to look at Enlightenment France's obsession with Chinese culture. Voltaire in particular, and the original translations of the Orphan of Zhao.

[@OziumG]

Bruh, Shahrazad literally took the phrase, "I can fix him" seriously lol

[@MrZZooh]

This video got me pretty convinced that Alaadin was actually Mexican. Thanks.

[@ZlatkoTheGod]

I tried reading 1001 nights once but couldn't quite get through it, with the stories within stories within stories it's like Inception on crack. I gotta get back to it sometime though.

[@user-fl7by8in5o]

👍 good video

[@Trovies84]

I just read this story. I can’t believe that Aladdin was Chinese! So cool! 🤯

[@wastedviking6280]

YOU LEAVE MY TACO SHUSHI ALONE SIR!

[@kuroazrem5376]

There was technically a chinese sultan in the XIX century in Yunnan (Southern China). Just look up the Panthay Rebellion.

[@CoolHistoryBros]

Interesting. Yeah, I did not pay any attention to things that happened after the story was written (1710).

[@kuroazrem5376]

@@CoolHistoryBros yeah for obvious reasons. Hey, may I ask where are you from?

[@CoolHistoryBros]

Australia.

[@kuroazrem5376]

@@CoolHistoryBros By your accent I thought you were from China or somewhere in Asia.

[@aporifera]

@@kuroazrem5376 His accent doesn't sound Chinese, Korean or Japanese. I'm guessing more along the lines of Indian or Indonesia maybe.

[@YASSERSELIM-pz4zy]

In One Thousand and One Nights, all the events take place in Iran: China in the East, India in the South, Morocco in the West, Turan in the North, and Iran in the middle. All of these are geographical terms within Iran.

[@HuskyDog88]

I know all about what happened to the king in that story from watching an episode of Wishbone.

[@jackieronaldwayerston6723]

_"Lately, I've been -"_ *_"- LOSING SLEEP."_*

[@skhuang4971]

Great analysis. I have been wondering about the story of Sinbad the sailor who sailed the seven seas. This sounds like the voyages of Zheng He, whose other name was 三宝 Sanbao. Zheng He made seven voyages as well. A coincidence? Mmmmm I don't think so.

[@uyfhkgc4468]

I wish his records wasn't burned.

[@cool06alt]

Sinbad is from baghdad in original story. As for the inspiration it could be anything since it is from 18th century addition. But the in-universe character is an arab.

[@magnuscritikaleak5045]

@@uyfhkgc4468 later mIng early qing dynasty historical officials devided to eradicate traces of his records because Qing dynasty wanted to Expel Islamic figures from China history.

[@venaist]

Europeans got many things from the east through Arabia and comfortably they thought their origin is Arabia. Probably the stories too gone the same way.

[@xiaoliu3397]

san bao means three treasure. He followed buddism and got the title of San Bao Enunch.

[@schmules101]

More cultural history please!!

[@optimus2200]

Nice very entreating. keep it up

[@matthewmann8969]

It would be nice if it was made on Netflix

[@Danielsanmu]

The musical instrument called in English "Turkish crescent" and in Turkish as çevgen (a set of jungles and bells used to rhythm the mehter mikitary music) is called in Spanish as "chinesco", literally "Chinese" or "Chinoid" (?) Instrument. I wonder if there is a similar history underneath

[@Fatherofheroesandheroines]

Oh great, the Arabian Nights song from the beginning of Aladdin is stuck in my head now..

[@AngryGrape1337]

Better yet, Alladin was actually a parody of Journey to the West. Think about it, both characters, whose names have religious significance, went on a journey going west (India vs Maghreb), with some man, and both characters fly on something (Instead of a cloud, it’s a carpet), that makes Alladin the original Dragon Ball. I say that, and some archeologists will discover manuscripts the next day saying that there are sequels to Alladin, where he fights space monkeys, a lizard man, and an insect-golem who turns perfect later on.

[@aman-hl9re]

Nice theory you got there

[@jiasunzhang8001]

There are many tales of a wishing device is originated from China, that's why the story is set in it. Such as wishing bamboo(which you have finited number of knot and every wish will cause one dispear)

[@AhmadM25]

as a syrian, my parents and grandparents always knew the story of aladdin to be middle eatsern. Before the disney movie came out. So i am pretty sure its middle eastern

[@cramerfloro5936]

I wouldn’t say that Hanna "invented" this fairytale, as it does show various elements of older folktales like Basile’s "the stone in the cock’s head" (it’s an italian/neapolitan tale, so it’s pretty absurd), written in the 1630s. If you however read the end of the story, you’ll notice that it seems like there was a completely different tale attached. When you ask people who know folktales, but don’t usually tell folktales, to tell you one, these type of things can happen

[@kikojavier3804]

i dont know if im offended or if i enjoyed the french accent impersination

[@yamsandpotatoes4243]

on hon hon~~ je m'en fous~~ c'est funny~~~ la baguette~~

[@jesusdelcanto9715]

Thanks for this content about Aladdin and The Nights. Just to add: we don't really know if Scheherezade was beautiful or not, because in the original texts there is nothing said about her physical aspect. This characteristic was added by some translators.

[@vmerkwurdigliebe3751]

The part where Sassinade ruled was never considered as China. China, comes from Indian word चीनस्थान, which can be romanized as Cinasthana, sthana means settlement, the same as stan. If I say Sinostan you would understand ( yes Indian is very close to Iranian). Cina, as Sina in Latin, probably from Kingdom of Chin (秦, not to be confused with the Habsburg dynasty in Europe) , this kingdom and later empire never controlled middle Asia. Before Li's Tang empire, middle asia was dominantly inherited by east Iranians, who were blond and blue/green eyed according to Chinese historians. Yet they suffered declines in hundreds and even thousands of years. Especially when LiTang's emperors favoured Turks and became the Sky Khan of them, Turks massively immigrated into middle asia and replaced most of the blond Iranians. 中国, literally middle land, was only refer to Northern China Plain even in 12th century when Song emperor (who was considered a Han Chinese) sent a letter to Jin emperor (who was a Nüzhen, which is proto Manchu), he refers emperor of Jin as emperor of the middle land, 中国, because Jin controlled the Northern China Plain. Middle Asians know China as Khitan, because Khitans, a proto mongolic people, controlled the passage to China and even northern China for centuries. Khitan can also be found in Latin as Cathay. Turkic people also call China as Togbeg, 拓跋 or 桃花石, in Altai languages tog means soil, beg means leader or king, so the Khitans used it to address their royal family, and the Turkic people used it to call the whole Khitan people even the whole territory they controlled.

[@tasnubarahman6068]

China is a chin arabic word or persian word

[@connarcomstock161]

Wait so they were together for 1001 nights. Had 3 kids. *mathtime* Average human pregnancy is 280 days give or take. X3 is 840. 1001-840 gives us 161. She was basically knocked up *the whole time* .

[@bxyhxyh]

I've read story of 1001 nights. Story basically is like this: King afraid to be cheated and killed by women so much. So he fucked one woman per night and killed them tomorrow morning. Then country was in disaster for killing all those young women and all people with young daughter fleed the city that king resides. So then minister's daughter's turn comes. She just accepted king's proposal. In the night after the sex, she tells so many fairy tale (Aladdin, Alibaba etc) to king and leaves the story on cliffhangers when the dawn is coming. Then king wants to know continuation of those stories so much he doesn't kill her. This happenned every night. After 1001 nights, she is out of fairy tale and she asks for his mercy because she gave birth to his three sons or something. But king said I love you so much now I can't kill you. And they lived happily ever after.

[@karaqakkzl]

1001 night basically 3 years - 2 weeks. Average Vietnamese traditional pregnancy somewhere around 9 month 10 days = 300 days

[@aporifera]

ever considered twins or triplets?

[@user-jz5gg3xn3u]

@@aporifera this is what I always assumed.

[@felixchrist667]

1001night is not real 1001days...... Its just metaphor for many....many....many night. Maybe 500night Maybe 1000ish night Or its 2346 night 😂😂 Its just metaphor, not real number.

[@sharadowasdr]

The Hallmark 1001 tales version got it right :D

[@personanongrata7862]

Well, a Persian king and his wife's story translated into "Arabian Nights"? I don't think Arabs and Persians will identify themselves in the same ethnicity.

[@rusdanibudiwicaksono1879]

'Arabian Nights' is what European called the (translated) version. Locals called it 'A Thousand And One Night'... 'Stories'.

[@personanongrata7862]

@@rusdanibudiwicaksono1879 I'm pointing out that the English translated title is a misnomer.

[@rusdanibudiwicaksono1879]

@@personanongrata7862 Well, Victorian Brits basically 19th Century version of typical 'Murican, so it's sort of understandable? :P

[@preetikushwa7032]

Of course they aren't . Zoroastrians don't even identify with Iranians nowadays lol.

[@Makaneek5060]

To be fair the Sassanids would claim rule over anything, Khosrow II even copied plans of the city of Antioch house by house so he could build his own version "Khosrow's better Antioch"

[@Thesandchief]

china as setting and chinese characters usually princesses show up pretty often in arabic literature now that I think about it.

[@um-vl6on]

This explain some weird movie/tv show that I watch on tv when I was a kid that told a story about aladin in chinese setting complete with a genie with chinese writing in his chest. Maybe anyone know what the show was?

[@HierophanticRose]

If you want some real adventure story written by medieval Arabs and (even if partially) sets place in China, I recommend Sinbad, and not the abridged holywood version. The original tale spans from Zanzibar to Taiwan and its an epic early-medieval high seas adventure through and through. It's a veritable Middle Eastern Odyssey

[@cheapskateangkol9371]

De aladdin i remember before disney still got his mom and got another ring genie beside lamp.

[@abbasabidi7503]

All these stories come from the book One Thousand and One Nights. The Persian version was destroyed by the Mongols. And only the Arabic version was available. Everyone thinks that stories are made by Arabs. But the stories were made by Iranians

[@random-tv3sd]

Chinese

[@zachdietrich4648]

so, Al-Addin was a Uighur. cool. the chinese used to call them "ogres," right? (i assume he was local population, not ruling class, because he started off as a street kid. but either could be possible.) this really makes the old story more interesting. thank you! really enjoying your work.

[@mingmingli3251]

no,uyghur people were called回纥huihe or回回huihui,now they are called 维吾尔weiwuer.

[@zachdietrich4648]

@@mingmingli3251 thank you so much for this clarity! but i wonder, in the context of what in the west are called "fairy tales," some of which come from the east, about the nature of the creatures called "ogres (oh gurs)" which occur in some Eastern stories. beings of size and power, known for capturing princesses and using pole arm weapons. heroes must fight and conquer them in stories i have read from china, korea, and japan. so i made a connection, based on the similarity in sound between uyghur and ogre. i can absolutely accept being mistaken!

[@andrewsuryali8540]

​@@zachdietrich4648 Ogre is a Norse monster derived from heroic sagas such as Beowulf. The name is derived from orcneas. No relationship to the East. You're thinking of the Oni or Chinese 鬼 (gui), which was originally a denizen of the Chinese underworld serving the king of hell. For some reason people have been translating Oni as Ogre in fiction, but this is completely incorrect. The proper translation of Oni is "demon", and 鬼 is properly translated as "malignant spirit" Also you're misunderstanding how Uyghur is pronounced. The "g" is silent.

[@zachdietrich4648]

@@andrewsuryali8540 thanks much! bad translations are a real problem. so, orcneas of course bears no relation to The Orkneys, right?

[@preetikushwa7032]

Ughyurs were originally Buddhists. The current uighyur identity is barely 100 years old.

[@markherron1407]

ALADDIN: The mythical hero of the Arabian Nights whom Superman met during a visit to tenth century Baghdad! Blessings and Hugs 💖💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕!

[@dudemevill1699]

I was actually shocked when I learned what a jin is and I saw alladin diffretafter that.

[@Moses_VII]

According to Anime, Aladdin was an old man who befriended Sindbad the sailor and Ali Baba the teenager and Sindbad's myna bird friend Jasmina (as she's called in the Arabic dub).

[@adurpandya2742]

The miniseries got it right. They could’ve been turkish too.

[@amrisyafari3946]

Hey, i wanna try that Sushi Taco.... looks good, mate. 🥰🥰🥰

[@mr.imperial8721]

Jafar, "prince abubu" Aladdin interrupts, "Abah-bwah", Jafar says, "whatever" Song: "prince Ali abah-bwah" ((paraphrasing)) 6:25 Prince ali abah-bwah and Ali baba sound similar....just being captain obvious

[@yinanzhang3324]

Growing up in China, I always thought Alibaba and Aladin are Uyghur folks. One of my friend from high school is Uyghur, he is called Aladin cause he could dunk. I would say he is pretty much all Chinese culturally though. Dude out drink everybody, and I am pretty sure he wasn't suppose to do that.

[@mackycabangon8945]

When I watched the introduction and how Aladdin kinda took place in 'China', I guessed that Aladdin would come from modern Xinjiang/tarim basin as that area is close to china and muslim. oh boy how i guessed right

[@moopower800]

I always thought Aladdin was Central Asian, cos a Chinese guy wearing a turban just didn't jive with me.

[@MrAIProgrammer]

Do a story on how the Golden Horde and the other 2 states converted to islam

[@AhmadM25]

as a syrian. my parents and grandparents always knew aladdin as a middle eastern story. Before the disney movie came out. So i am pretty sure its middle eastern then

[@zaysu9575]

I still believe it’s a middle eastern story

[@MistarZtv]

It always goes back to the monguls doesn't it.

[@Dxco31]

Mulan: wait what?

[@michaelbandada9887]

Disney: Ok, guys, let’s get some cool stories from other nations and turn them into movies but we gotta clean them up and make sure they are suitable for all audiences. That means, no toe cutting, eye blinding and no death by hot, iron shoes, ok? Animators: What about Mulan? It’s a story with war elements Disney: As long as there’s no outright killing or beheading of people, it’s a-ok!

[@stefthorman8548]

Mulan isn't Chinese, and was Turkic/proto-mongolian.

[@hrodvitnir6725]

But if Turpan was a Khanet, then it means it justified its rule by being related to Chinggis Khan and would not use the title Sultan. Since Sultan was only used by Turkic leaders with no relation to Chinggis (Timurids for instance). The steppe kept its own traditions post muslim conversion.

[@Doctor_17]

...so... Aladdin is actually Mongolian?

[@namedrop721]

Aladdin is Ughyur, duhhhh. The oldest English versions mention this.

[@CAP198462]

Chagatai Khanate. Why does that sound familiar? Today I learned Games Workshop borrows from Chinese history.

[@iamgreat1234]

Chagatai son of Genghis Khan

[@ringsaphire]

Wish Dragon went too far east with its settings, then? :p

[@CCartman69]

I didn't understand the last bit: Aladdin should either be Mongol or the local ____ population. What was that term? Subtitles said 'weaker'.

[@CoolHistoryBros]

"The local Uyghur population." They were originally Buddhist before they were converted to Islam by the Mongols.

[@mongolchiuud8931]

@@CoolHistoryBros They were Islamictized by the Karluks and potions of the Karakhanids not the Mongols. Modern Uyghurs are actually "named" uyghurs in the 20th century before that they were known just as Turki and were closely related to Uzebeks. True Uyghurs are the modern day Yugur people of Gansu who are still Buddhist etc etc.

[@sgcl10658]

@Bengal Sultan Uyghur has Turk origin.

[@bxyhxyh]

@@sgcl10658 Not Turk. Turkic origin. Turkic steppe people lived in todays Mongolia and Kazakhastan resides. Turk people lives in Turkey. That's different.

[@danshakuimo]

@@bxyhxyh Do Turks count as being a Turkic people too though?

[@Alkemisti]

When I read that story as a child, I just assumed Aladdin was an Uyghur and considered the issue settled.

[@raminybhatti5740]

Prince Ari... 😅

[@alejandrokaplan7243]

Why does it feel like places which had good history in the past with Islam becoming hostile to it

[@highlithouse6481]

Growing up vietnamese we didnt know the Disney version of Aladdin but inatead we knew the story from 1700s called Ali baba.... Soo maybe the story of Aladdin originated in east Asia instead of middle eastern?

[@kouykaing6188]

DON'T TELL HOLLYWOOD ABOUT THIS, THEY MIGHT BANNED THE MOVIES, AND NO MORE REMAKE.

[@tedjomuljono3052]

Its kinda ironic that just a few hundred meters from the shooting location of Disney's Mulan lies a concentration camp filled with Aladdin's people

[@djtan3313]

Asia was multi-cosmopolitan before d term!

[@dgbuchanan]

Excellent video, sir! Very enlightening! But, please be careful with that thumbnail title, "Is Aladdin actually Chinese?" As your video concluded, Aladdin's ethnicity was likely Mongolic or Uighur, not Chinese. Sure, he may have resided in China, but that doesn't make him "Chinese." There was no such thing as "Chinese" back then anyway, right? That's a modern national identity. China has always been and still is a land of multiple ethnicities.

[@mr.imperial8721]

3:12.

[@thevirtualjonathan1284]

in the burton version aladdin is chinese but he is transplanted to arabia.

[@elchattaamazulu1858]

Ha had to have been around all three empires think about it America traded with Asia in goods nd such

[@shanedoesyoutube8001]

i just realized something... king shahryar... reminds me of fooking henry viii (except it was a drama of divorce, not cheating)

[@williamwan3712]

I wonder if you can talk about “阿凡提The Folktale of Avanti(or Tale of Efendi)” next time. Chinese people thought Nasreddin Avanti is a Uyghur but according to historic research he is actually Turkish.

[@CoolHistoryBros]

I will look into it.

[@mongolchiuud8931]

Learn the difference between "Turkish" and "Turkic" because I think you're confused.

[@HWDragonborn]

Technically, they are right. Uyghurs are a Turkic group.

[@williamwan3712]

@@HWDragonborn Uyghurs are turkic, but not Turkish. Turkish today are basically Anatolians

[@hwasiaqhan8923]

The Zhengde emperor made a ban on eating pigs because he was born in the year of pig... lol 😂

[@shanedoesyoutube8001]

As if they were gonna eat him sooner or later