5 Strangest Accounts of First Contact in History 

The Arabic account of the Vikings was my favorite. The writer spends the entire time describing how vile the Vikings live compared to the Arabs only for the irony that the Vikings believe the Arabs are vile due to how they treat their dead. It’s a really poetic account on the two culture’s flipped view of what’s important.

I will never stop finding it funny that the first missionary was so ugly the Japanese literally went ''Oh it's a goblin''

That Japanese account on Europeans and "Their form of Buddhism" is absolutely fascinating

First contact stories always strike me as records from a more magical and mysterious age, where one could stumble across whole continents of humans with totally dissimilar languages, beliefs and traditions.

I forgot that Alexander named all cities after himself and was initially a bit confused in the first story

“Kenji, some goblins with long noses are here to see you”

What never ceases to amaze me is how each civilisation viewed itself as somewhat superior to their counterpart based on race, empire or religion. There's often a condescending attitude attached to these accounts describing their encounters with other people's whom they deem inferior to them. I guess that's why it was so easy to wage war back then because as far as they were concerned, the people they were fighting weren't a worthy adversary.

Never underestimate the Ancient Japanese art of absolutely decimating anyone different than them

Shaka pulling the oldest trick in the book Shaka: "Tomorrow we will hunt elephants, come along!" Englishmen: "We don't know if we have permission, nor are we inclined to do so" Shaka: "Scared?" Englishmen: "..." Englishmen: "We agree to hunt with you"

Ibn Fadlan was such a gentleman. Everyone else is basically calling foreigners horrible, malformed creatures and abominations against natural order, meanwhile he just berates the Viking Rus for their dirtiness but still calls them gorgeous.

The Zulu-English one was weirdly wholesome. They were fairly impartial.

It’s always fascinating to hear how these chroniclers detailed the new and unfamiliar. You can feel the curiosity driving them

The Japanese description of the missionaries is great. What I'd love is to hear the account (if it exists, of course) of the same missionaries so we can have parallel stories of the same event(s). Awesome as always!

It's quite interesting how the most "respectful" account was that of the British with the Zulu

The encounter between Portuguese and Japanese is colossal.

The last story of the British meeting with Shaka is pretty heart warming, usually anything to do with Europe and Africa ends with dead natives or some very uncool words being written about them, but in this acount the British seem to really be more friends rather then strictly empriacal visitors or conquers of the Zulu people which was a very fun exprience to watch. As always, your videos are one of a kind!

Ibn Battuta's account of meeting the Rus is probably one of my favourite historical accounts, it's so funny to me how aghast he is with their hygiene

The Japanese account in this video needs some explanations, otherwise it’s quite misleading. The text (Kirishitan Monogatari) was written in 1639, that means 96 years after the first arrival of the Portuguese (1543). And it was written with the specific purpose of denigrating Catholic missionaries. It was published right aftermath of Shimabara Rebellion (1637-1638), the last and the largest uprising against Tokugawa Shogunate in the former half of Edo period. The Tokugawa strengthened its dominance by destroying Toyotomi clan at the siege of Osaka(1614-1615) and they replaced pro-Toyotomi Daimyos with pro-Tokugawas in the region. Shimabara was once the domain of the Arima clan, which had been Christian. The Arima were moved out in 1614 and replaced by the Matsukura. The rebellion was mainly against Matsukura's misgovernance by peasants, with Christians and discontented samurais later joining the rebellion. Because the shogunate suspected that European Catholics had been involved in spreading the rebellion, Portuguese traders were driven out of the country by 1639, the exact year Kirishitan Monogatari was published. Basically Kirishitan Monogatari was written as a “propaganda” to instill the horrendous image of Catholic missionary in people. It consists of 12 chapters depicting the events in chronological order from the arrival of the Portuguese to the Shimabara rebellion. The part you heard in the video is the beginning of the first chapter of it, so it’s not “a naive first account” at all.

It's amazing how ancient and mysterious these accounts are. Now that the world is a smaller place, events like these will never happen again.

"Our arms aren't sufficient for hunting an elephant", proceeds to drop one with two shots . These people are using spears and bows which obviously worked well for them but nothing beats the boom stick .

I doubt that hunt was planned, and it wasn't for the meat either. They were politely showing the guests their strength, so that they would be dissuaded from any invasion. Shaka Zulu was truly wise.

For anyone wondering, medieval Arabs called the North people (Rus روس) while they called the Russians and other slavic people (Saqaliba صقالبة).

The Japanese description of a crucifix is simply priceless. That's exactly how I viewed it as a kid in church.

I gotta say that the Padre giving spectacles as a gift is actually genius.

I like how the Arab guy was dissing the Rus so hard, then at the funeral one of the Rus basically turned around and finally dissed him right back and even gave a good explination for WHY he thought his people's funerary practices were better - would've loved to have seen how the guy reacted! XD

These videos are incredibly fascinating, the way they describe each other like aliens from other worlds!

that last one sounds like they honestly had some good time with eachother

Susan Wise Bauer, in her book series about History, (The Ancient World, The Medieval World, The Renaissance etc.) in the first book have a great story that would fit your format perfectly, in the preface she writes: SOMETIME AROUND 1770 BC, Zimri-Lim, king of the walled city of Mari on the banks of the Euphrates, got exasperated with his youngest daughter. A decade earlier, Zimri-Lim had married his older daughter Shimatum to the king of another walled and sovereign city called Ilansura. It was a good match, celebrated with enormous feasts and heaps of presents (mostly from the bride’s family to the groom). Zimri-Lim’s grandchildren would eventually be in line for the throne of Ilansura, and in the meantime the king of Ilansura would become an ally, rather than another competitor among the crowd of independent cities fighting for territory along the limited fertile stretches of the Euphrates. Unfortunately, grandchildren didn’t arrive as soon as hoped. Three years later Zimri-Lim, still hoping to make the alliance with Ilansura permanent, sent the king another daughter: Shimatum’s younger sister Kirum. Kirum, sharp-tongued and ambitious, was expected to take her lawful place as second wife and servant to her sister. Instead, she decided to lobby for a position as the king’s first wife. She involved herself in politics, commandeered servants for her personal use, sneered at her sister, and generally queened it about the palace-until Shimatum gave birth to twins. Immediately the childless Kirum plummeted in the palace hierarchy. “No one asks my opinion any more,” she complained, in letter after letter to her father. “My husband has taken away my very last servants. My sister says that she will do whatever she wants to me!” Given Kirum’s behavior to her sister in the early years of her marriage, it is unlikely that “whatever she wants” involved anything good; and indeed, Kirum’s letters soon begged her father for rescue. The plea “Bring me home or I shall surely die!” progressed to “If you do not bring me back home to Mari, I will throw myself from the highest roof in Ilansura!” Zimri-Lim had hoped to make the king of Ilansura his friend. Unfortunately, leaving Kirum in the the man’s household wasn’t doing much to increase the goodwill between the two families. Seven years after the wedding, Zimri-Lim gave up, made a royal journey north, and in the words of his own court records, “liberated the palace of Ilansura” by bringing Kirum home.

I love how Ibd Fadlan went from describing the perfect creature, to brutes, in description of one group of people

An interesting point, the legendary horse Red Hare ridden by Warrior Lu Bu from Pre Three Kingdom era is actually a Bactrian horse origin. This is why Red Hare was larger and sturdier war horse.

The most hugely underrated history channel

They mention interperters, that makes me wonder how the job of trabslator started, who was the first among their people to try and learn a new tongue to try and mediate between 2 cultures, and how difficult it must have been learning with no prior help

I love how Ibn Fadlan just starts randomly roasting the Vikings

I remember seeing a video recently on the burning of the library of Alexander, and how it said that it wasn't really THAT much of a loss because it was mostly cultural records that got destroyed. This video, is a perfect example of why the part of that other video is just objectively wrong.

The Japanese art of Europeans is so fascinating! 😊

@9:29 this text was portrayed in a scene from the film “The 13th Warrior” with Omar AlSharif & Antonio Banderas from 1999.

Ibn Fadlan’s account inspired the book “The 13th Warrior” which inspired a movie. He was incredibly descriptive and an amazing historian, because he sets aside his judgements in order to provide a lot of details

Amazing as always but just a little suggestion, would love if you announced the new scene and the context each time like you used to. Most people I think listen to these like podcasts and it is very easy to get confused

"There they have no great king or chief, but everywhere the cities and towns have their own petty chiefs." Yep, sounds like Afghanistan since forever.

A detail on Ibn Fadlan's account: - He was accompanied by an interpreter whose primary language wasn't Norse and didn't understand the Kievan Rus culture much, so mistranslations of actions and customs were pretty common.

Imagine living at a time where bandits, raiders, and enemy armies threaten to plunder your village, having to learn combat for all men. Shit was wild.

After all the descriptions of the Europeans having big noses, the Emperor turns up with an enormous honker.

"What he said could not be understood at all, his voice was like the screech of an owl." That Japanese account is the first time I've laughed out loud watching these videos

Shaka really pulled the “no balls” card

Japanese art influenced by Christianity is so beautiful.

Imagine going so far to the point where you see people who look and are completely different than you. Must've been magical

Jeez the Japanese were very mean to that pedro guy 😂, like they called mans a big nosed goblin for god sake

Knowing where the Brits and Zulus met and hearing them describe it is so weird when listening to these stories which are mostly from another universe 🙂

Alexander trying to not name a city after himself challenge

The Vikings and Inuit becoming fast and lasting friends is my favorite. Makes perfect sense too, they share the annual hardship of far northern winters. Modern Americans who are living as semi homesteaders out in the frozen sticks of Alaska will tell you: reliable and honest neighbors are all too often the difference between life and death when winter is upon you. I postulate that this fact being so well known to both the Vikings and Inuit that it is woven into the cultural fabric of both peoples is the reason why this particular case of first contact between 2 desperate peoples living worlds apart DID NOT end in bloodshed.

Ah yes, Boiled Beef. Truly a delight for any fine Victorian Englishman.

Great Content! 😀Imagine if Han China had formed a full alliance with the Ancient Greeks on the frontiers of India! 😮

Thanks for more first contact stuff. This and petty griping reach me the most. You can learn a lot about people when you study how they react to leaving their comfort zone.

We're so very lucky to have such stories remembered and preserved

That description of christianity by the Japanese is incredibly interesting! It's pretty spot on afterall, really the kinda stuff I'd imagine a missionary of the time would be eager to tell everyone that will listen, but it still sounds so fascinating when you consider it's someone with no prior knowledge of the Abrahamic religions describing it by comparing stuff to things their own people will understand where it's needed, it's just real neat.

These first contacts giving similar vibes to preliminary study or introduction chapters of some discipline/courses. Fascinating and holds the graps of what would be uncovered next in depth detail

This is one of the most bizarre and interesting videos I have ever seen on RU-vid. I totally appreciate how amazing it is and how it made me feel completely different than I was before I watched/listened to it! Thank you for your work!

Always informative AND fascinating!

There's also the portuguese encounter with natives from Brazil on 1500. There's a letter that details the encounter: "Letter of Pero Vaz de Caminha" ( Carta de Pero Vaz de Caminha )

Crazy to contemplate how many of these scenarios ended horribly, despite initially being so jovial and kind. Christians in japan, British in zululand, anytime the vikings came across ANYONE.

Fascinating stuff! I would appreciate a little more context for each account so its easier to place who was meeting where and in what time period.

Very interesting to see all the Portuguese religious terms transliterated from speech into japanese orthography, like Bateren=Padre (Priest) and Iruman=Irmão (Brother).

I wish I could find really good documentaries on ancient history like this. I feel like typically a documentary follows one person, or one ruler, not the country it's about and their accounts or trades with other countries. Idk I just mean these are really interesting and detailed, it's cool seeing other ancient people in the perspective of a different ancient country.

Very succinct narration and cool artwork choices. This video kept my attention and entertained, as well as informed me of some intriguing historical stories. I love this format!

This is why I love history, it takes us on a journey into the past

Just found your channel and I really enjoy the content! I don't know if it would be much trouble but maybe adding a short introduction to each section, already for videos like this one where you have multiple accounts. Like half a paragraph to a paragraph of the time and setting, or any other relevant information. Regardless this is now one of my favorite channels!

As someone from the British isles the Japanese account has me HOWLING 😭😭😭

I like how they called the homes "fixed abodes" in the first account. Says a lot about how people viewed "their home" back then in that region. Some people were probably fine with abodes that were not "fixed" lol......which in the Western world, is a strange and alien idea these days.

This was exceptionally well done. I found it fascinating, particularly after listening to Dan Carlin’s series. Just excellent!

This was a delight to watch. Thank you ❤️

Fantastic. Highly informative and educational. Thank you.

The descriptions of mister Ibn Fadlan's are so rich, so beautiful, I lost myself in the pictures I imagined inspired by his words. I want to learn more about him.

Funny thing, my school in Portugal was in honour of Padre Pedro Arrupe, a Spanish priest who was the first to get in Nagasaki after the city was bombed, transforming his house into a hospital and having a major role in creating the jesuista order. Funnily enough, one record he recall was how the Japanese kids would call him a certain name due to his big nose

Pêro Vaz de Caminha's letter narrating the first encounter between the Portuguese and natives in (what would be) Brazil is fascinating and would be a great addition. On a sinister note, but an important one, Gomes Eanes de Zurara's account in 1444 of early African enslaved people brought to Portugal in his "The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea", although I can't conclusively judge if it is appropriate for this channel as it is very upsetting.

The Christian's arriving in Japan was fascinating. It is rather interesting that the Padre is described as completely black save for his nose. I assume that the priest was swarthy, perhaps Mediterranean and perhaps tanned from his journey. As the Japanese at that time would not have had contact with Africans, or other black people, they would have considered the priest to be black, at least in comparison to themselves. The description of the priest looking like a goblin, might simply have been the writer being unkind, or perhaps the priest was not the most handsome of men, though the description of him having claws on his feet is puzzling. Perhaps he is referring to the pointy toes of courtly shoes. The description of the converted beating themselves seems to be a description of self flagellation practiced on some Catholic sects. It is all very fascinating seeing it through alien eyes.

Jeez that Japanese historian roasted the hell out of those Portuguese guys. Listening to that description even hurt my feelings😂

Ibn Fadlan's account being so descriptive for the time is so unbelievably impressive.

I've seen every History of the Universe/Earth video... how have I never stumbled upon this channel. Instant subscribe as soon as I heard the voice. This is gunna be so good.

Small note on Ibn Fadlan's account; he says that the Rus used 'Frankish' swords, but at the time 'Frankish' was used by Muslims to refer to anything Western European. It doesn't actually mean they had swords made by Franks.

Man if I was Portuguese I might feel a little insulted right now 😂

There was an Iranian explorer who met the Viking Rus and he had a much different and positive opinion and his description is accurate to how the English talked about how obsessed with hygiene the Norse were, which matches actual real history on the Norse. He also relates their religion to that of a more primitive version of Zoroastrianism in his home country.

This should be a series... What a video!

It's always funny to see how non-Christians react to seeing Jesus on the Cross. They're usually horrified, and rightfully so. We're so use to seeing this display of brutal violence as an everyday thing.

Very , very interesting! Love your format ! Keep them coming! 👍🙈🙉🙊✌️

Thanks, this was really interesting!

"Roaming asses." Ibn Fadlan was somehow aware of my existence over a thousand years before I was born.

Moctezuma, was told that the Spanish smelled. And when he first talked to Cortez, he didn't actually see him as a god (as many would believe) but he told Cortez: i am of flesh and bone as you are.

Bing chilling on the Greeks 👀

great presentation dude!

Interesting that the Arab account of the Viking Rus is depicted almost to the letter in the movie 'The Thirteenth Warrior'. Great movie. Highly recommend it.

This video showed me Soo many cultural connections that i didn't know and really gave me a more broad picture

You failed to mention that the Europeans meeting with the Japanese, were from Portugal. Otherwise, you earned my subscription.✌️

Awesome video. Thanks so much 😊

Not going to lie I enjoyed hearing the Rus and the Portuguese getting thoroughly roasted in the annals of history 🤣

In my country's folklore, Dokkaebi is known as creatures that wields strength or knowledge about craftsmanship. I found out that these kind of folklore's fairy or gremlin was usually refering to people with different color that used to trade with my ancient country and some of them that decided to settle in my country. Many of them were Turkish or Northern nomadic tribes

The Vikings had disgusting "cleaning" habits!

The Roman’s first encounter with the Scottish or the British was a good one I read in grade school…

Ibn Fadlan's story on the Viking Rus reminds me of the flick called the 13th Warrior. Because that is what they did in the beginning of the flick. One of the best flicks that I throughly enjoyed. Be safe and be 😎

love how everyone describes the other as foolish to some degree... says a lot about our human nature

5:47 me after walking around for 5 hours in Minecraft