Spyke
lemmy.world

I wonder if the professor is really small, or are the guards giants?

51

One of the giants was 7’9” tall (2.36 m) while the “shorter” one was a mere 7’4” tall (2.23 m) and according to various sources they were indeed twin brothers. They created quite an impression at the Durbar as they literally stood heads and shoulders above the rest. The brothers were known as the Two Kashmir Giants and were elite riflemen in the service of the Maharaja. https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/kashmir-giants/

So ya they were pretty big.

100
Alchemyreply
lemmy.world

I think it is a little of column A and a little of column B. Wish one of them was holding a banana or something for scale.

30

I would say a lot of columb B. It makes sense for guards to be big, for intimidation alone. After all, the best case is that the guards don't need to fight at all, but keep people with their mere presence from doing something stupid. Being big and imposing is certainly a desirable trait.

8

According to this article the guards are 2.23m / 7'4" and 2.36m / 7'9" tall. The taller one on the right is standing a bit closer to the camera, so I'll use the other one to measure the prof. Allowing for a bit of imprecision since it's hard to tell exactly where the guard's heel and head are under his clothing, I get the prof being 80% of the guard's height. This puts him at a pretty ordinary 1.79m / 5'10"

20

Guards are huge. Both well over 7 foot, tallest men in Kashmir at the time, supposedly

7
lemmy.ca

They were probably eunuchs. Castration causes a delay in the fusion of the long bones in the legs, so they just keep growing.

21
adam_yreply
lemmy.world

It's not just leg bones though, is it?

The size of that hand in his shoulder.

Castration is an interesting theory, but it looks closer to a growth hormone cause. That said, there are around 3000 people alive today that are as tall without any such cause.

18

It could be natural for sure. The castration theory was just a possibility, considering the date and their profession.

10

I’m not convinced these aren’t 4dudes sitting on soldiers (sorry shoulders) especially dude on the left

6

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