Gadianton robbers were Cantonese robbers

[Geiserik]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: (possibly posted by the BYU)


The Gadianton robbers, according to the Book of Mormon, were a secret
criminal organization in ancient America.
There is no historical evidence of the Gadianton robbers outside of
the
Book of Mormon
(end quote)

However in my decoding of the BoM Zarahemlah was Khazaria in Russia,
Present Kazakhstan, at that time 100 BC-100 AD ruled by the Persian
Zoroastrian Parts, which possibly were called the Zoramites in the
BoM.


Kazakhstan as well as Persia are bordering with China, who with the
Parths at that time settled up the silk route, passing through
Kazakhstan.(Samarkand)


Therefore we could suspect that in the book of Helaman the Han
Chinese
show up in the century before and after Christ with silk, and horses.
This would be in conformance with the Chinese records.


A suitable candidate for the Han Chinese is the secret criminal
organization the Gadianton robbers, possibly Cantonese robbers.
Canton
means Han town and Gadianton the robber, is a reference to the first
Han emperor, who was a common bush robber.


(quote)
Origins and rise to power Gadianton Robbers:
The society was founded around 52 BC or 51 BC by Nephite supporters
of
Paanchi, an unsuccessful candidate for the position of chief
judge.Paanchi had been executed for treason when he refused to accept
the election of his brother Pahoran II to the judgment seat, and one
of
his supporters, Kishkumen, assassinated Pahoran in retaliation.
Kishkumen and his associates entered into a pact to keep the
assassin's
identity a secret. (See Helaman 1:11)
(end quotation)


The brothers Paanchi and Pahoran were no doubt the grandsons of the
Parthian king Mithridates 2, Phraates, Paächus and Pacorus, who
fought
for the succession after their fathers dead. As they were dealing and
trading with the Chinese, it was possible that they hired secret
Chinese assassins.


Quotation Wikipedia on Pacorus:
Pacorus I of Parthia (died 38 BC) was the son of king Orodes II of
the
Parthian Empire. It is possible that he was co-ruler with his father
for at least part of his father's reign. He was the brother-in-law of
king Artavasdes II of Armenia.
Following the defeat of the Roman general Marcus Licinius Crassus at
the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC, Pacorus launched an invasion of Syria
in 51 BC, briefly conquering the Roman territory before being driven
out by Cassius.
Pacorus invaded Syria again in 40 BC in alliance with the Roman rebel
Quintus Labienus. The Roman garrisons defected to Labienus and the
combined armies defeated the forces of the Roman governor Saxa, who
lost most of his troops as he retreated to Antioch. With the Imperial
forces routed, Pacorus and Labienus occupied the whole of Palestine
and
Asia Minor, with the exception of a few cities that held out,
including
Tyre. In Judea, Pacorus deposed king John Hyrcanus II and appointed
his
nephew Antigonus king in his place.
In 39 BC, a Roman counterattack under Publius Venditius killed
Labienus
in a battle in the Taurus Mountains and recovered Asia Minor. Pacorus
returned to Syria in 38 BC but was killed in an attack on a Roman
camp
(end quotation Pacorus)


(quotation Gadianton BoM)


A man named Gadianton became the leader of Kishkumen's secret group.
He
arranged for Kishkumen to assassinate Chief Judge Helaman II,
promising
that if he, Gadianton, were made chief judge he would appoint the
other
members of the band to positions of authority. Kishkumen was
apprehended and killed by one of Helaman's servants, and Gadianton
and
his followers, fearing the same fate, fled into the wilderness. [The
Gobi dessert?]


(end quotation)


Helaman we recognized before as Hyrcanus II, the judge king of Judea.
The sudden appearance and disappearance of the Gadianton robbers
refers
to the so called "Wang Mang” Intermezzo in the Chinese Han Dynasty.


(quotation from the Columbia encyclopedia)
WANG MANG
45 BC - AD 23
Chinese Statesman
Wang Mang was the founder of a short-lived dynasty replacing the
Western Han dynasty.
After the expansive reign of Emperor Han Wu-ti the disparity between
the wealth of the landowners and poverty of the peasants grew.
Towards
the end of the 1st century BC a series of peasant revolts threatened
to
overthrow the state.
Wang Mang, born into a distinguished Chinese family, became regent to
the throne in 8 BC. He was soon dismissed but was able to out
maneuver
members of the Imperial Han family and ascended the throne himself in
AD 9. He is known in Chinese history as the 'Usurper' Wang Mang
realized that the greatest threat to security was the excessive power
of the landowners. To combat this, he claimed all land for the state,
and distributed it among the peasants, forbidding its sale or
purchase.
But the landowners resisted and as many civil servants were
themselves
landowners, there was no one to put the reforms into effect. The
peasants again revolted, the most dangerous that of the 'Red
Eyebrows',
so called because they colored their eyebrows red to mark their
membership in a secret society. Widespread destruction followed, but
the combined forces of landowners and supporters of the Han dynasty
suppressed the rebellion and restored the Han to power in AD 25.
(end quotation)


So the secret organization "the Gadianton robbers" of murderers seem
to
be the historical Chinese secret society "the Red Eyebrows" during,
the
"Wang Mang interlude"


(quotation BoM Gadianton Wiki)
The Gadiantons initially had the upper hand in the war, and in AD 16,
the Gadianton leader Giddianhi sent a letter to the Nephite governor
Lachoneus demanding surrender. This letter is reproduced in the Book
of
Mormon and provides a rare look at the Gadianton robbers as seen by
themselves. Giddianhi closes with these words: "I am the governor of
this the secret socie
ty of Gadianton; which society and the works thereof I know to be
good;
and they are of ancient date and they have been handed down unto
us" (3
Nephi 3:9). In AD 21, however, the Nephites defeated the Gadiantons,
killing both Giddianhi and his successor Zemnarihah, and the society
was destroyed for the second time.



> (end quotation)


This seems to be a reference to a historical official Chinese
delegation:
In 97 the Chinese general Ban Chao went as far west as the Caspian
Sea
with 70,000 men and established direct military contacts with the
Parthian Empire.

(quotation Wikipedia on Parthia-China
Contact with China


The 138-126 BC travels of Zhang Qian to the West, Mogao Caves,
618-712
AD mural. The Chinese explorer Zhang Qian, who visited the
neighboring
countries of Bactria and Sogdiana in 126 BC, made the first known
Chinese report on Parthia. In his accounts Parthia is named "Ānxī"
(Chinese: 安息), a transliteration of "Arsacid", the name of the
Parthian dynasty. Zhang Qian clearly identifies Parthia as an
advanced
urban civilization, which he equates to those of Dayuan (in Ferghana)
and Daxia (in Bactria).
"Anxi is situated several thousand li west of the region of the Great
Yuezhi (in Transoxonia). The people are settled on the land,
cultivating the fields and growing rice and wheat. They also make
wine
out of grapes. They have walled cities like the people of Dayuan
(Ferghana), the region contains several hundred cities of various
sizes. The coins of the country are made of silver and bear the face
of
the king. When the king dies, the currency is immediately changed and
new coins issued with the face of his successor. The people keep
records by writing on horizontal strips of leather. To the west lies
Tiaozhi (Mesopotamia) and to the north Yancai and Lixuan (Hyrcania)."
(Shiji, 123, Zhang Qian quote, trans. Burton Watson).
Following Zhang Qian's embassy and report, commercial relations
between


China, Central Asia, and Parthia flourished, as many Chinese missions
were sent throughout the 1st century BC: "The largest of these
embassies to foreign states numbered several hundred persons, while
even the smaller parties included over 100 members... In the course
of
one year anywhere from five to six to over ten parties would be sent
out." (Shiji, trans. Burton Watson).
The Parthians were apparently very intent on maintaining good
relations
with China and also sent their own embassies, starting around 110 BC:
"When the Han envoy first visited the kingdom of Anxi (Parthia), the
king of Anxi dispatched a party of 20,000 horsemen to meet them on
the
eastern border of the kingdom... When the Han envoys set out again to
return to China, the king of Anxi dispatched envoys of his own to
accompany them... The emperor was delighted at this." (Shiji, 123,
trans. Burton Watson).
In 97 the Chinese general Ban Chao went as far west as the Caspian
Sea
with 70,000 men and established direct military contacts with the
Parthian Empire.
Parthians also played a role in the Silk Road transmission of
Buddhism
from Central Asia to China. An Shih Kao, a Parthian nobleman and
Buddhist missionary, went to the Chinese capital Luoyang in 148 where
he established temples and became the first man to translate Buddhist
scriptures into Chinese.
(end quotation Wikipedia on Parthean-Chinese relations)