Talk:Sinbad the Sailor

to D or not to D?

I have trouble believing that the "Sindbad" spelling is truly more appropriate than the "Sinbad" spelling... Google would seem to agree. Thoughts? --Dante Alighieri | [[User talk:Dante Alighieri|Talk]] 22:42, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

Google only shows what is more popular, not what is more accurate. Kaijan 09:16, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

OK, would you care to explain why "Sindbad" is more "accurate"? --Dante Alighieri | Talk 00:28, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

Leaving aside the issue of "accuracy" (we're talking transliteration anyway), the English-speaking world knows this character as Sinbad, not Sindbad. I'm changing the article. --Dante Alighieri | Talk 22:44, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

"Sindbad" with a 'd' is more accurate because that's the way it's spelled in Persian and Arabic - it's spelled that way in Persian script in the article itself :). But I'll stick with Sinbad - ultimately it's a matter of supreme unimportance. PiCo 01:00, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

transliterating Sinbad from Arabic, Persian/Farsi, Chinese, etc

from Arabicسندباد Sin-di-bad, Can anyone confirm that the Arabic really is Sin-di-bad? The way it's written here (and yes, I do read Arabic) it just says "Sndbad" - not even an "i".

I'm even more curious about what the Persian might be, since Sinbad is originally a Persian tale.

PiCo 09:12, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

The reason why there is no "i" in the arabic spelling is because arabic script does not write the whole words, as some vocals are left out, this can lead to som confusion at times for example the words "to merge"[Lahim] and "meat"[Lahm] are spellt the same way. Just like Hebrew as the name of god is spellt JHVH.

Some mean that Sindbad is actually a kurdish name as "Sand" means "to swear" as in swearing on something(not as a curse).

D'you mean some word like سوێند and so on. Then it would be more curious. Just transliterate, and try to explain linguistic and other oddities this supposed origin would make this look like: an odd fish... --78.126.133.88 (talk) 01:22, 21 September 2011 (UTC)

----سندباد Sinbad or Sindibaad is an Arabic tale NOT PERSIAN because it talks about a sailor from Basra which is an arabic city in Iraq also the original tale was written in Arabic Not Persian. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Aziz1005 (talk • contribs) 21:32, 28 January 2007 (UTC).

Sind/bad is not Arabic. It is Persian. Bad is wind. Sind or Hind is India/ the river Indus. A name which fits his profession. Any case Bad is wind and this name has only a meaning in persian and not in Arabic, Hindi/Urdu, Turkich or any other languages in the region.--Babakexorramdin (talk) 11:18, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

I mean, really, since Sinbad is actually Chinese, does it matter how his named is spelled in Persian or Arabic? I'm dying for someone to spell his name in Chinese. I think this entire article should be written in Chinese characters. That would really make it so much more wiki-ed up.JGC1010 (talk) 22:11, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

If the name

Sinbad's name can also be spelled Sindibad

Deleted the section on Sinbad's name - it basically said no-0one nkows anything about it, which is hardly worth saying at all. I was put here in the first place because someone kept adding the view that Sinbad was really tyhe Chinese explorer/admiral Cheng Ho Zhèng Hé (鄭和) - a claim which is more than a little speculative. That all seems to have died down now and I think it's best just to say nothing, since it seems there's nothing really to say. PiCo 08:10, 26 August 2007 (UTC)

Just a word about this admiral: another name he had was Mǎ Sānbǎo (馬三寶) — some similarity between this 'Sānbǎo' and the Persian name just shows how some can believe they are right and stand straight with utterly absurd suppositions. For example, how is it that Julie Scott Meisami / Paul Starkey could come without any doubt about their astonishing translation of سندباد — which is just some wind-Sind(h)/Sand in Persian, as far as I know. Nonsense! --78.126.133.88 (talk) 01:22, 21 September 2011 (UTC)

In the very first sentence we have a transliteration of the Arabic name - a similar addition for the Persian name would be good - any Persian speaking editor like to insert it?

Recent changes to the introduction suggest a different derivation to the name "Sinbad" - editing over the existing one. While this is not necessarilly incorrect - the source note for the existing derivation was left untouched - giving the new derivation the appearance of a sourced citation, which of course it was not - and leaving the "hinting at a Persian origin" (nonsense if the new devivation were accepted) untouched. I suspect that what we really need is a mention of several different speculative derivations (all CITED - with their own references!) and the conclusion that the true derivation is unclear, or at least contested. Or leave the different deivations alone, except to note where they can be found - with the introduction simply stating that the derivation is contested.

In the meantime, until something scholarly on these lines is suggested, I have simply reverted to an earlier version of the introduction, which at least makes sense and is internally consistent. --Soundofmusicals (talk) 18:52, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Deleted material about non-fictional Sinbad

I deleted this recent addition:

The birth place of Sindbad is considered by many as Sohar in North Batinha region of Sultanate of Oman.

Aktoy's story of the Shipwrecked Sailor is thought to be the inspiration for the classical story of Sinbad the Sailor. His other works includeThe Prophecy of Neferty, the Instruction of Amenemhet, and Sinuhe's tale.

Reasons are:

First, it sounds pretty odd to ascribe a birthplace to ma fictional character - he wasn't real, how could he have a birthplace? But if you give a reference (where did you find this idea?) it can be considered.

Second, the Aktoy theory seems extremely weak - there's no such thing as "the story of Sinbad the Sailor" - it's a collection of stories, not one. It's not even seven stories, as each 'voyage' contains more than one story. Moreover, the link between a 12th dynasty Egyptian tale (when was that - pre-100BC surely?) and a collection of tales that apparently took their present form only in the last few hundred years, is tenuous to say the least. But if you can give a precis of this Aktoy story, and a reference (i.e., the book where you read this point), it could be made into a useful addition (maybe).

Don't be disheartened, I'm not trying to prevent you joining the editing effort, just trying to keep it scholarly. PiCo 12:05, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

actually the Oman thing seems to be well known/popular and could mentioned but properly phrased, i.e. not as historic fact (in the sense as Robin hood could be mention in an article on nottingham)--Kmhkmh (talk) 13:47, 15 September 2009 (UTC)

Sinbad was Persian: look here

Historically, even if Sindbad were a real person, and even if he was born in a part of Iraq at the time part of the Persian Empire - this would NOT make the story necessarily Persian. In fact several of the tales in the cycle (Sindbad is really a cycle of tales in itself) clearly derive from Homer's Odyssey - and others are supposed to be from very ancient Egyptian sources. Actually Sindbad is fictional, and without a nationality or a "birthplace". The setting of the stories are principally imaginary or legendary countries.

The so-called "Arabian Nights" cannot be sheeted home (nautical expression appropriate in context) to any one nationality. In fact the "western" version of the collection has "added" stories (for instance Aladdin), and this seems to have been only the latest in a long line of assorted additions. The whole thing very obviously was not written down all at once, but grew like topsy over several centuries, and apart from the bulk of the tales at least being clearly of middle eastern origin any attempt to chauvinistically claim one or all of the tales for a particular country are very clearly POV OR (and a lot of other things).

I have also excised a fair bit of other rubbish from this article - will give it a proper going over later perhaps. Soundofmusicals 13:12, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

Please look at this link Indus River for understanding were the name of sand bad was coming!!!! and at the next step go on this site to understand who has written the stories!!!! List of characters within One Thousand and One Nights I DONT THINK EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT the writer is Persian!The name Shehrzade is a Persian name... and at the end why do you write some stories about the Island SindBad in Arvand-Rud  ???? There is NO RIVER with this name!!!!!!! Please stop lying about this matter..... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sina-aria (talk • contribs) 01:26, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

I don't see why the source was removed [[1]]. [[2]]. Have a place where the etymology is given, but I note that Sandbad/Sinbad the Magian [[3]] predates the compilation of the stories in Arabic and a Magian would hardly have an Arabic name. --alidoostzadeh (talk) 17:18, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Pakistan was part of the Persian empire, which could explain why many think that Sindbad was Persian, Sind refers to the river Sind that runs through the middle of Pakistan but which at the time of the Arab trade routes, previously was considered part of Persia. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 162.1.2.2 (talk) 17:43, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

strange or rude edits

Material added by user Sina-aria has been removed due to the inclusion of POV comments, grammatical errors, and some comments which, while they may or may not be correct, are besides the point of the article. However, it is my opinion that some of the material may be of use if someone familiar with the topic can extract the good from the less good. Here is the text (highlighted) that he or she has added and re-added. Please have a look. Matt Deres (talk) 14:30, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

A Personal attack over Introductory Paragraphs has been moved to discussion page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Babakexorramdin#Moved_this_to_more_appropriate_place

(Who was abusing who etc. is irrelevant to the main aim of getting the article to be as "good" as we can - so please keep it all where it is (or, better, delete it!!)

I note that currently (11 Feb.'09), one of the opening paragraphs uses a word "nomic". This is a word I've never heard before in many educated years living in England, UK. I've looked it up elsewhere, and am not much wiser. I wonder whether the contributor did actually mean to use the spelling "nomic"? Maybe 'nomadic' may fit better? If not, it may help if the contributor could edit the sentence, to either use a different word, or include a meaning for the word, as such a word is (almost?!) never used. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Trafford09 (talk • contribs) 12:37, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

"gnomic"? PiCo (talk) 10:11, 4 September 2009 (UTC)

New Introduction

Please read the "new" introduction before reverting to the very unclear, muddled mess it had become.

The new version does NOT

1. Delete (or "distort") any references

2. Add or delete any important or controversial "information".

3. It clearly includes both Persian and Arabic names!!!!!

The rational of the "new" introduction is (paragraph by paragraph):

Para one - describes what the story cycle is - gives BOTH Persian and Arabic names - includes information that may indicate a Persian origin (the reference about "Sinbad" being a Persian word) and the rationale for it usually being considered of Arab origin (setting and apparent nationality of hero). I suspect that a dogmatic insistence on either would be unscholarly POV - puting a short case for both - together in the same paragraph - is at least neutral. Remember that this is (like the 1001 Nights) a collection of folk tales - some of them re-tellings of VERY ancient works of Greek and Sanskit origin - and not a "literary composition" in the modern sense. It doesn't have a single "author" as such - how and when the stories were originally compiled, and how frequently since they have been revised is very simply unknown. In this context an insistence on pursuing the Arab/Persian argument indefinitely is (with due respect) rather silly.

Para two - simply summarises very briefly the setting and origins of the stories without muddling this up with contradictory statements based on the Persian/Arabic controversy.

Para three - Discusses the link between Sindbad and the 1001 nights - pointing out that this link is NOT of ancient origin, but very probably the work of Burton.

Para four is that bit about "Sinbad's Island" although personally this I feel this borders on irrelevant trivia. Soundofmusicals (talk) 04:37, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Reverted to the ealier lead because it made far more sense. Added the ref for Sinbad's Perisan name even though I remain unconvinced - since when is ""Sindh of Wind" a name in any language? Removed the Arabic and Persian script as irrelevant - the version we're dealing with is the English translation of Richard Burton (the explorer, not the actor). PiCo (talk) 05:25, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

I'll leave any argument to our dear Iranian friends! But you're surely not insinuating that Sinbad is an English story, invented by Burton? While any treatment of the original in English will include references to the Burton translation I think the idea that it is "what we are dealing with here" is just a bit over the top!

I think the actual translation of the name is "Indian Wind" which is quite a good name for the character in the stories.

I don't like revert wars so I'll leave your version intact, especially as the real content remains, and it is at least a bit shorter - but I honestly don't see how muddling quite different questions together instead of separating them "makes more sense Soundofmusicals (talk) 05:44, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Academia?

I disagree that the introduction to the article should have more than a cursory mention of the origin of the character, much less the debate on its origin that it currently contains. To English speakers - the target audience of English Wikipedia - Sinbad is foremost a fictional character. He goes sailing and has fantastic adventures. The way the introduction was prior to my changing it gave the impression that Sinbad is of primary interest as a scholar's exercise in tracing the history of various transliteration techniques or finding the real-life bases inspiring this fantasy writing. Sinbad is first a fictional character in stories; whatever else is said comes second. Bluerasberry (talk) 17:24, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

I agree that the academic (and rather speculative) matter you removed from the introduction does tend to disrupt the flow a little - but then this is an encyclopedia article, not just a retelling of the tales for the kiddies. How abut this for a compromise? Moving it out of the introduction, but putting it near the top rather than losing it down in the trivia? Not all "English speaking people" are American High School students - Wiki is a GENERAL encyclopedia, and all kinds of people consult it. Their interests in any given subject vary tremendously - and we need to have a fairly full and balanced account, especially of literary subjects.--Soundofmusicals (talk) 22:34, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

I agree with you that origins should be at the top of the article before restating of the plot. I have another problem, though, and it cannot be solved by mere shuffling of content already available. In looking at this article and the article for Arabian Nights, I get the impression that the Sinbad stories available to Western readers are from Burton's collection of the Arabian Nights, but that there are other collections of the Arabian nights that do not include Sinbad stories, and furthermore, there is talk on this discussion board that Sinbad stories have their origins in folk tales of various regions. I wonder what the oldest extant written source for these stories is, like for example, what were Burton's source materials for translating the stories, and how far back have the sources for his sources been traced? To what extent were the Sinbad stories compiled by Burton actually created for the first time in writing by Burton? As the article stands right now, it is not clear whether Sinbad stories ever existed in print before 1885. Does anyone have insight? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bluerasberry (talk • contribs) 18:03, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

I googled (google books)/researched that a while ago, though i don't have the actual link at hand anymore. The bottom line was that older (original) arabic/persian versions arabian knight do not include the sinbad stories. The cuplprit might have been indeed burton who incoporated additional regional folk tales into his edition of arabian nights. Hence the sinbad story is mideast folk tale that existed independent of the arabian stories, and it can be traced to the late medieval ages (14th century).--Kmhkmh (talk) 13:55, 15 September 2009 (UTC)

Basrah

Is Sinbad from Basra or Basrah? —Akrabbim^talk 13:14, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Historically no (or rather nobody knows), but he fictional character however starts his fist voyage from the city of basrah (at least in various english/western versions - see the link in the at the end of the article)--Kmhkmh (talk) 14:02, 15 September 2009 (UTC)

Sinbad was from Bagdad which is mentioned or somehow becomes evident several times throughout the tales. But because Bagdad is not a seaport, he (must have) started all of his (ship) journeys from Basrah and also had to go through there before returning to Bagdad every time.--80.141.195.41 (talk) 21:55, 31 October 2009 (UTC)

he was a native sindhi, from the sindh province of southern Pakistan that settled in basra — Preceding unsigned comment added by 162.1.2.2 (talk) 17:45, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Sind+bad / Bas+rah

Sindbad and 1001 night stories have Indo-Iranian origin ,after Islamic conquest , all these Iranic and Pakistani folklore were translated into arabic. even the name of the " Basrah" has persian origin like " Baghdad" and "Anbar". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.166.197.66 (talk) 20:48, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Origins and sources

This section has been pulled back into a rational arrangement - basically:

Para 1. Case for Persian origin. Para 2. Case for Arab(ic) origin. Para 3. Description of sources etc. that are both/neither!

in total - this section is an attempt to present something fairly controversial in a nice, balanced, NPOV way. any rearrangement needs to bear this in mind. --Soundofmusicals (talk) 21:26, 17 October 2010 (UTC)

Recent edits to this section by anonymous user are suspect due to "references" which seem to have no bearing on the case and other reasons. Rearrangement of other matter rendered changed version less coherent. --Soundofmusicals (talk) 23:38, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

File:Simorgh.jpg Nominated for speedy Deletion

An image used in this article, File:Simorgh.jpg, has been nominated for speedy deletion at Wikimedia Commons for the following reason: Copyright violations What should I do?

Speedy deletions at commons tend to take longer than they do on Wikipedia, so there is no rush to respond. If you feel the deletion can be contested then please do so (commons:COM:SPEEDY has further information). Otherwise consider finding a replacement image before deletion occurs. A further notification will be placed when/if the image is deleted. This notification is provided by a Bot, currently under trial --CommonsNotificationBot (talk) 21:23, 22 May 2011 (UTC)

Pakistani Sindbad

Sindbad was not arab or iraqi or persian, he was from sind which is today province of Pakistan even his name SIND BAD, its story name, the meaning, the wind from sind ( the story from sindh ) this story was brought to oman by omani sea traders and was first translate in arabic, second it was brought by people of iraq who lived many years in sind , Sindh was long time captured by MOHAMMED BIN QASIM and it was part of Khalifat of Haroon Rashid.

I support above declaration with "Where was Sindbad from?? from the name it clearly implies (Sindh) which is in Pakistan now and Sindhi sailors (Bawarih) were famous during that time, however he might have also been iranian or even arab, because persians and arabs both conqured sindh", the name sinbad comes from the Indus river in Sindh, he was a Sindhi fisherman and "Sindbad" means "Lord of Sind" .Sind was in Abbasid Kingdom in 8th century, which is now Sind province of Pakistan. story was set during the rule of the Abbassid Empire in 8th century, and on that time Persia and Sind were both in Arab Empire. Sind is actually mentioned in the story of the Third Voyage: ("And thence we fared on to the land of Sind, where also we bought and sold").and this story is also mentioned in Arabic ( specially in Arabian Nights) and Indian (Panchatantra) literature as well as in Persian literature. in Arabic, word "Daal" is clearly mentioned and Persian pronunciation is always wrong, they already pronounce "Sind" to "Hind". Another important thing is that Sindhi people are not living only in Sind they had long times ago traveled , did business with world over and they settled around the world see Sindhi diaspora they are living in Arab Area from hundreds of years. like wife of Imam Hussain (R.A) Shahar was also a Sindi. Dr Abdullah Mohammad Sindi is a Professor and Writer of Saudi Arabia. Dr Hayat Sindi is a scientist in Saudi Arabia. and Sindi native of UAE are in thousands. they also belong to Sindi families who were migrated from Sind to other countries, in Ancient times.Jogi 007 (talk) 14:37, 22 January 2016 (UTC)

Above comment unsigned but may be part of a recent persistent attempt to get Pakistan mentioned in this article. The Indus river does indeed flow through modern Pakistan (emphasis on the word "modern") - and it is possible that the name of the character in the story relates to the coast of what is now Pakistan - but this is NOT notable in this context (except in the way that it is already mentioned). To repeat what has OFTEN been stated in cases like this - Sindbad is FICTITIOUS - he was not "from" anywhere as he was not a real person. We cannot say ANYTHING about where he was born or lived from any external source for this reason. The story (for what this is worth) actually places him in what is now Iraq. This is also fairly meaningless. The author(s) of the original tales and the editor(s) who first brought them together may have had a real person in mind, but (even in the rather unlikely event that this is so) we have no way of ascertaining who the "real" Sinbad was, nor anything about his nationality.

So far as can be ascertained this story cycle is (like the Thousand and one nights with which it is often grouped) an Arabic folk tale collection from various sources. None of these has anything to do with the modern state of Pakistan in any way whatsoever. There is a link to the Indus river - which refers to an article describimng the river as lying mostly within modern Pakistan. I'm afraid you'll have to be content with that. --Soundofmusicals (talk) 05:12, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

File:KizkulesiminiatureNusretColpan.jpg Nominated for speedy Deletion

An image used in this article, File:KizkulesiminiatureNusretColpan.jpg, has been nominated for speedy deletion at Wikimedia Commons for the following reason: Other speedy deletions What should I do? Don't panic; deletions can take a little longer at Commons than they do on Wikipedia. This gives you an opportunity to contest the deletion (although please review Commons guidelines before doing so). The best way to contest this form of deletion is by posting on the image talk page. If the image is non-free then you may need to upload it to Wikipedia (Commons does not allow fair use) If the image isn't freely licensed and there is no fair use rationale then it cannot be uploaded or used. If the image has already been deleted you may want to try Commons Undeletion Request This notification is provided by a Bot --CommonsNotificationBot (talk) 10:31, 24 August 2011 (UTC)

File:HisarlarminiatureNusretColpan.jpg Nominated for speedy Deletion

An image used in this article, File:HisarlarminiatureNusretColpan.jpg, has been nominated for speedy deletion at Wikimedia Commons for the following reason: Other speedy deletions What should I do? Don't panic; deletions can take a little longer at Commons than they do on Wikipedia. This gives you an opportunity to contest the deletion (although please review Commons guidelines before doing so). The best way to contest this form of deletion is by posting on the image talk page. If the image is non-free then you may need to upload it to Wikipedia (Commons does not allow fair use) If the image isn't freely licensed and there is no fair use rationale then it cannot be uploaded or used. If the image has already been deleted you may want to try Commons Undeletion Request This notification is provided by a Bot --CommonsNotificationBot (talk) 10:33, 24 August 2011 (UTC)

Deleted Illustrations

I deleted five illustrations that were added in the last year or so. They gave the article a nice look, but no connections to the article were established. In the case of the "Howdah on the Elephants of Serendip", it appears the caption was simply made up--falsified. The dhow and xebec looked appropriate, but there is nothing in the article that mentions those types of vessels, and it looked like original--and dubious--research. No rhinoceros is mentioned in the article, so that had to go, despite its pleasant quaintness that seemed to fit the exotic story. Same with the dolphin, although I would add that it, like the elephants, had an essentially made-up caption.

It is worth noting that all these illustrations were added by anonymous edits, and none of the IP addresses were connected with extensive other edits.

So, apologies for taking away the pictures, but I suspect you will agree it was the right thing to do. Taquito1 (talk) 02:52, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

I agree. Irrelevant pictures, even if they look good, should be removed from the article.MilkStraw532 (talk) 03:00, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Deleted some of the same illustrations again, and a couple of new additions. Again, all nice-looking stuff, but either unconnected to the article (the rhinoceros), captioned with a fabricated description (like Howdah elephants and sailors gathering their goods), or original research (like the Xebec and the map of islands). There was an old map showing "islands visited by Sinbad"...nice and quaint, and possibly even right, but I challenge anyone to make even a slightly plausible case to prove it, along with a credible source. So it's original research. The picture of the stamp is nice, and really appears to show a Roc carrying a person--no problem with that, I think, although it should state the country of origin (Hungary, I believe).

Anyway, I found that the editor who added all that stuff has been indefinitely blocked for disruptive editing, or something like that. His two or three appeals have been declined. A survey of his other edits would probably uncover more "creative editing" of the same type.

Taquito1 (talk) 16:56, 4 December 2011 (UTC)

Possible link to Sanskrit source?

I have deleted, for now, the apparently good faith and possibly very interesting edit:

"The tale of Sindbad can be traced to the Brihatkathalokasamgraha by Budhasvamin, to the tale of the voyages of Sanudasa the merchant."

We need, not only a source, but a few more details about the (possible?) link between Sanudasa and Sindbad before this can be settled into the article. --Soundofmusicals (talk) 02:37, 6 November 2014 (UTC)

Origins and sources

This section has been "rationalised" - basically by removing everything about possible "Persian" origins, on the grounds that the references given did not check out. I have assumed good faith here (specifically that the editor concerned has actually looked at the original sources behind the references before rejecting them!) - but the stump of what was left no longer made sense - so I have copy edited the section a bit. It remains incomplete - if someone can find a (legitimately) referenced statement about the original Arabic manuscripts or editions this would round out the section. --Soundofmusicals (talk) 06:40, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

The original section on origins/sources was as follows:

The Persian name Sindbād ("Lord of the Sindh River")[1] hints at a possible Persian[2] origin. Another speculation of a Persian origin links Sinbad with a Persian adventurer and trader named Sulaiman al-Tajir, who traveled from Persia to southern China around the year 775 CE.[3]

The oldest texts of the cycle are, however, in Arabic and no ancient or medieval Persian version has survived. The story as we have it is specifically set during the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate and particularly highlights the reign of Harun al-Rashid. The name Sindbad indicates the name of the Indus River (Sindhu). The Sindhi sailors, who became famous due to their skills in navigation, geography, and languages, may very well have inspired the stories of Sindbad the Sailor.[4] Sindh is actually mentioned in the story of the Third Voyage: ("And thence we fared on to the land of Sind, where also we bought and sold").

A variation of the name Smbat also occurs in Armenia, as well as the version Lempad of his father's name Lambad. Incidents in some stories are also clearly influenced by ancient literary sources (including Homer's Odyssey and Vishnu Sharma's Panchatantra) and by Arab, Indian, and Persian folklore and literature.

The story of Sinbad le marin was included by Antoine Galland, the translator of the Mille et une nuits, in the 133rd "night" of his collection. The collection is tale 120 in Volume 6 of Sir Richard Burton's 1885 translation of The Book of One Thousand and One Nights[5] which, despite criticisms regarding the translation and the commentary of the Burton edition, remains the most extensive collection of Arabian Nights tales in English and is hence often used for reference purposes in the English-speaking world.[6][7] While the Sinbad stories are still usually thought of as tales told by Scheherazade in the Thousand and One Nights, they originated quite independently from that story-cycle, and modern translations by Arab scholars often do not include the stories of Sinbad[8] or several other of the Arabian Nights that have become familiar to Western audiences.

These are the sources in the text (link to the numbers above):

• (1) Eilers, W (1983), "Iran and Mesopotamia", in Yarshater, E, The Cambridge History of Iran 3, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 497. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to be available online. Nevertheless, when I search google books with any likely group of key words - Eilers, "Lord of (the) Sindh", Sindbad, "Iran and Mesopotamia" - nothing comes up. Eilers seems to be quite a prominent name, so I'm surprised.
• (2)Scott Meisami, Julie; Starkey, Paul (1998), [ Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, Taylor & Francis, p. 24], ISBN 978-0-415-18572-1. Article on page 721, not page 24. As one might expect, it finds the origins of the tales in ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and other places - but not Iran.
• (3)Szczepanski, Kallie Was Sinbad the Sailor Real? asianhistory.about.com. About.com isn't a reliable source, and Kallie Szczepanski seems to be a very lazy grad student who relies on websites for her information.
• (4)Burton, Sir Richard trans (2 November 2009). "The Third Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman – The Arabian Nights – The Thousand and One Nights". Classic lit. About. Retrieved 17 October 2011. This is just a website with a translation of the Third Voyage - nothing from Burton himself on sources.

So, one source that might be valid but can't be verified, one that's a good source but doesn't check out, and two that are not reliable. PiCo (talk) 07:45, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

I prefer your new one anyway! --Soundofmusicals (talk) 10:32, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

Etymology.

Guesses about derivation of the word need to be stated with due reserve - if only because of nationalist conclusions that have been drawn from one or the other... --Soundofmusicals (talk) 11:12, 29 January 2017 (UTC)

story-cycle

I removed a link to List of literary cycles appearing to be a link to story-cycle, as it serves no purpose at that specific place, for it does not provide any information on what is a story-cycle as a reader accustomed to the links system would expect. It would be fine if the phrasing was something like large collection of story-cycles or one of the best-known story-cycles, etc.. Then the reader would know to expect some form of compendium/ collection/ list/ etc. I have moved it to the See also section. Rui ''Gabriel'' Correia (talk) 09:06, 3 November 2017 (UTC)

"Appropriate links provide instant pathways to locations within and outside the project that are likely to increase readers' understanding of the topic at hand. Whenever writing or editing an article, it is important to consider not only what to put in the article, but what links to include to help the reader find related information", Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Linking. Rui ''Gabriel'' Correia (talk) 09:18, 3 November 2017 (UTC)

Resolved. Rui ''Gabriel'' Correia (talk) 09:46, 3 November 2017 (UTC)

Ownership issues

Dear Colleagues. The section above refers. Editor Soundofmusicals insists on linking a refereence to story cycle to a page listing examples of story cycles, rather then linking it to a page about story cycles. It is simply absurd to link a term to a list when an article about that term already exists. I have a left note on his talkpage, please weigh in if you feel inclined, otherwise, please leave your views here. Regards, Rui ''Gabriel'' Correia (talk) 09:52, 4 November 2017 (UTC)

Helping to defend a much vandalised article for years and "ownership" (in a derogatory sense) are, with the greatest possible respect, completely different things. I think (hope) Rui and I have sorted this one on my talk page - but I would hope that the original link is restored, at least as soon as the "article linked to" is improved, and provides the useful additional information one has a right to expect from its title. --Soundofmusicals (talk) 11:03, 4 November 2017 (UTC)

The latest round of "nationality" claims for this totally fictitious personage that has been refuted so many times is reemerging. If I am not to preserve this on the grounds that I do not "own" the article then will someone else please take it over? Seems it needs someone to "own" it for it to retain any encyclopedic validity at all. -Soundofmusicals (talk) 23:58, 8 November 2017 (UTC)

Rabbah bar bar Hanah

The article on the Talmudic Rabbi Rabbah bar bar Hana mentions his Aggada as a possible source of the First Voyage of Sindbad. Shouldn't that be mentioned here, too? ShemtovKML (talk) 01:37, 1 February 2018 (UTC)

Zheng He

I wondered if there could be any basis for this story in the voyages of Zheng He. Mainly because he also made 7 voyages in the Indian Ocean, just before the "Sinbad" story seems to have arisen. Location he sailed from is different of course, but perhaps Zheng He's voyages were widely known at the time and inspired the story? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 149.171.184.241 (talk) 05:50, 15 April 2018 (UTC)

As the only similarity between the two are seven sea voyages, this is unlikely - though not impossible. If you find a reference for that assumption, you can add it to the article, however.ASchudak (talk) 07:11, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

Sinbad is a Persian name

We do not have the name "Sinbad" in Arabic, this is a Persian name. If you do not believe, ask an Arab what "Sinbad" means. مصطفی کوهستانی (talk) 13:55, 6 September 2021 (UTC)

The name did travel through Arabic from Persian and is likely of Sanskrit origin. But it is not related to Sindh for which there have been recurrent additions in this article, that is simply folk etymology.

The name likely originates from Syntipas, a wise-man of 'Oriental' stories and got popular in Persia as attested by Sunpadh (both of these predate the later adventures of Sinbad). This is further validated by Dehkhoda among others; see the wiktionary entry.

The name's origin though should not have any bearing on the fictional character's supposed origin, ethnicity etc. The only information from the stories is that he was from the port-city of Basra, a multicultural pot during the Islamic Golden Age. Any speculation beyond that is an exercise in vanity. Also notifying Soundofmusicals, who has kept an eye such changes here, of the recent disruptions. Gotitbro (talk) 08:12, 12 March 2022 (UTC)

1919 silent film version

In the Adaptations/Theatrical films section of this article, why is there no mention of the 1919 "Sinbad the Sailor" silent film short? Isn't it significant when it is the very first depiction of the Sinbad tales in film? Linus Blankette (talk) 00:23, 16 August 2022 (UTC)

Sinbad the Sailor

Alexa 2405:205:1588:E4F8:7BD2:CB0F:EFC8:6401 (talk) 16:31, 21 August 2022 (UTC)