...based of Southwest Asia and the Middle East?
I mean, the Air Nomads are based off of India and Nepal, the Earth Kingdom is based off of China, the Southern Water Tribe is based off of the Inuits, and, and I'm not too sure on the Northern Water Tribe, but it appear Asian, maybe Korea or Japan.
Now from what I heard the creators of the show wanted to distance the Fire Nation from the other tribes. It appears to be based on China, Korea, and erm… Iceland? I also heard that they were based on Japanese Imperialism. But the problem is that Japan didn't really become imperial until the 1900s and for 200 years until about the 1850s they were in a state of isolation. It doesn't seem to fit with this time period.
The Caliphates did have conflicts with China, and traded with them often, gaining supplies such as paper and gunpowder. The Mogul Empire extended into India, and did use similar tactics. Depending on the leader, the Hindus were forced into Submission, had their temples destroyed, and weresometimes executed. Although it was different than what the fire nation did to the Air Nomads, it shows a sense of Nationalism.
Plus the Islamic nations were pretty technoogically advanced. It would have been awesome to see an Elephant Clock.
The spirituality of the show seems to be based offShinto, the Taoic religions, and the Dharmic Religions. Submission could be considered a sort of a Dharmic religion if barely. (Hinduism--> Mazdaism~~> Christianity--> Submission)
Plus fire would make more sense since it was hot, had deserts, and the people believed in Phoenixes and Djinn.
Of course, there would be influences from other cultures in Asia, since none of the other nations are based on one singly nation at one time, but this seems pretty fitting.
Tell me your thoughts.
Here are some links on these issues
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mughal_Empire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timurid_dynasty
