People are seen through a window as they attend the traditional wedding ceremony of Emir's 7 children in Abuja, Nigeria, December 26, 2020. (Photo by Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters)

Residents wearing masks to protect from the coronavirus cross a junction in Beijing on Wednesday, January 20, 2021. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

Artist Sayna Soleimanpour shaves her legs in a bathtub as she performs a photoshoot in protest against the mistreatment and alienation of Turkish women based on their clothing, during a two-day curfew amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on a street leading to the historical Galata Tower in Istanbul, Turkey, late December 25, 2020. (Photo by Umit Bektas/Reuters)

A stroller walks his dogs in an autumnally colored forest in Cuxhaven, nothern Germany on November 7, 2018. (Photo by Patrik Stollarz/AFP Photo)

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.

A health worker gives a polio vaccine to a girl on a street in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, June 27, 2022. Pakistan launched a new anti-polio drive on Monday, with the goal to vaccinate a million children across Pakistan. (Photo by K.M. Chaudary/AP Photo)

A Hindu devotee dressed as Potharaju, the brother of the Hindu goddess Mahakali, performs during the Bonalu festival procession at the Sri Ujjaini Mahakali Temple in Secunderabad, the twin city of Hyderabad on July 18, 2022. (Photo by Noah Seelam/AFP Photo)

Thai school girls pose for photographs with pythons during the 2022 Pet Expo Championship in Bangkok on September 8, 2022. (Photo by Manan Vatsyayana/AFP Photo)