History Buffs! A Question!

[Australis]

I'm writing a story, and I half-remember a story I read somewhere, something like this:

There was a group of Vikings serving as mercenaries in India in the latter part of the Viking Age. After a falling out with the ruler they wee serving, they pillaged the place and took the gold throne with them, and were never heard of again.

I was under the impression it was the Peacock Throne, and the one we know today* was its replacement, but I can't seem to find info to that effect.

So, what do you history buffs out there know, about Viking mercenaries in India and the like?

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacock_throne

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

As Wikipedia states, the Peacock throne was created in the 17th century, long after the Viking age had ended. It is thought to have been stolen by the Persians in the early 18th century. The nearest people to India descended from Vikings would be the Varangians who assimilated with local Slavic tribes along the Dnieper to become the Kievan Rus'. However, by the 17th century, they would likely refer to themselves as Belarussians, Ukrainians, or Russians.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Yeah, I'm unaware of any Vikings going that far east. They went to Kiev (and by extension, were involved with the Eastern Roman Empire), but I'm unaware of them going to India. Not to say they didn't. The west is used to thinking of the Norsemen as pillagers, but they were also merchants and traders so I could see interest in trading with the east. They'd have to somehow make it over land to get to India, though, while going through either the Empire or the Persians, so it would be considerably more difficult.

I'd also have to agree with Asbo Zaprudder. I don't know much about the Peacock Throne, but, by the 17th Century, the Viking Age was long over. Even if they weren't called Belarussians, Russians, or Ukrainians, they were Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I don't think the Bombay Vikings count.

 

[Australis]

Yeah, they way I remember it (apologies for possible inaccuracy) was that the Peacock Throne replaced the one the Vikings took (though it had been stolen much earlier), something like that. And that they were a straight up and down band of mercs, not settlers. Apologies again for vagueness.

I'm working on a fiction story, with that idea coupled to a (real) Aboriginal rock carving near Sydney of a ship that looks an awful lot like a Viking longship. Great explorers and all that as well.

 

[M'Sharak]

As Wikipedia states, the Peacock throne was created in the 17th century, long after the Viking age had ended. It is thought to have been stolen by the Persians in the early 18th century. The nearest people to India descended from Vikings would be the Varangians who assimilated with local Slavic tribes along the Dnieper to become the Kievan Rus'. However, by the 17th century, they would likely refer to themselves as Belarussians, Ukrainians, or Russians.

I also thought of the Varangians, and wonder whether Australis might be thinking of the Varangian Guard of the later Byzantine Empire.

 

[Australis]

Yeah I think Asbo & M'Sharak are right. From Wikipedia:

When the Byzantine Emperor died, the Varangians had the unique right of running to the imperial treasury and taking as much gold and as many gems as they could carry, a procedure known in Old Norse as polutasvarf ("palace pillaging"). This privilege enabled many Varangians to return home as wealthy men, which encouraged even more Scandinavians to enlist in the Guard in Miklagarðr (Swedish = Miklagård = 'The Great City') (Constantinople)

So I think I'm conflating that, and a Byzantine gold throne being taken, with the Peacock Throne being taken, much later.

I don't think the Bombay Vikings count.

You know, I... do beleive you're right.

Thanks chaps! Feel free to add your own history questions! Theer's a lot of it out there, you know!

 

[Gov Kodos]

You might enjoy this Neil Oliver series about the Vikings, if you haven't come across it already. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhYVHlEnZPU&list=PLIqV890M8SLRFjyj3tNz3aPoSptQ0EI4z