An Indian Sikh Nihang (a traditional Sikh religious warrior) Baba 'Avtar' Singh wears an oversized giant traditional turban as he pay respects at the Golden temple in Amritsar on November 10, 2015 on the eve of the Indian festival of Diwali, the festival of lights. There will be no spectacular show of light and fireworks this Diwali at the Golden Temple as the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has decided not to celebrate the festival in the wake of series of incidents of alleged desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh holy book). (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)

The two Pulis Quastie and Gin-Gin run in the snow in their garden in Lautertal, southern Germany, Thursday, January 5, 2017. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

Okame Flowering Cherry tree blossoms are seen frozen on Valentine's Day in front of RX3 Compounding Pharmacy in Chester, Virginia, February 14, 2021. (Photo by Kristi K. Higgins/progress-index.com/USA Today Network via Reuters)

Puppet corgis created by Coventry based events production company Imagineer sit patiently on May 5, 2022 as the company prepares its contribution to The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Pageant next month. The corgis are part of the company's show “The Queen's Favourites”. (Photo by Peter Lopeman/Alamy Live News)

A Ukrainian servicewoman fires a 2S7 Pion self-propelled gun at a position, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, on a frontline in Kherson region, Ukraine on November 9, 2022. (Photo by Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters)

Do you think that history is a science? Well, not exactly. First, and foremost, history is the state's “legend of wars”, it’s official regalia. Of course, public historians are not interested in scientific truth – quite the opposite. In this respect, any attempt to present a state’s history as altruistic and benevolent as possible is welcomed and encouraged – as opposed to any revisionism attempts that may be more accurate. In this matter, Chinese have surpassed us all – they revised in highly creative manner (but rather shamelessly) the technology already invented by Europeans, a process that resulted in oldest state on the planet. Here is an interesting paradox: ask any sinologist about the Middle Kingdom during second century B.C., and he will describe it to you in such a vivid manner as if he has been living there all his life – but as soon as you will ask him to describe Chinese history in the 19-20th centuries… let's say, his eagerness will be greatly diminished. However, we will discuss China in a different article, and in the meantime we will try to understand how exactly historic “legend of wars” is formed and functions – based on a specific and well-known example. A great example is Ferdinand Magellan's first voyage around the world.

Indian Muslim children hold anti-US placards as they participate in a protest meeting against the film “Innocence of Muslims” in Kolkata on October 5, 2012. A low-budget, US-produced “Innocence of Muslims” movie has incited a wave of bloody anti-US violence in Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, Yemen and in several other countries across the Muslim world. (Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/AFP Photo)

A nurse consoles herself with a box of chocolates as she reads a paper-back thriller. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). Circa 1955