Millions of years ago, long before humans existed, a
dramatic union between the Eurasian and Indian plate resulted in the birth of
the mighty Himalayas. From Himalayas came the great rivers of Indus, Saraswati and
Ganges, making Indian subcontinent rich and fertile. The fertile subcontinent
became the preferred home for the migrating human population from all parts of
the globe, starting 70,000 years ago from Africa. Indian subcontinent thus
became one of the most diverse countries the world has ever seen. While the
subcontinent evolved as new cultures mearged with the old, relicts of the past
somehow managed to linger on. The uniqueness of such a society lies in its
non-uniqueness. Some of these complexities are difficult for an outsider to
understand. This land thus mesmerizes and frustrates visitors at the same time.
To understand this mysterious land one has to know its past. Only when we
understand this land can we truly appreciate its beauty, and only then can we
understand its problems. The key to the solution of many of India’s problems
lies in its past, which is exactly what this book will attempt to unravel.
For long there existed a racist classification scheme for the
people of the subcontinent, a legacy of the British Raj. Recently an equally
bias classification trying to fit the ‘Out of India’ theory has been promoted. It
is time we understand our diversity in a better and unbiased way so that we can
really appreciate it. The diversity of Indians is evident in the study done by
Indian Genome Variation Initiative funded by Government of India in 2003-2008
[1]. Genetic studies have not only proved the diversity, but also showed that
no mixing of genes happened in the last 10000 years, and that there is no
genetic diference between the Aryan and Dravidian speaking Indians. This piece
of evidence was the key in disproving the Aryan Invasion theory. Indians can be
morphologically divided into four broad groups Caucasoid, Mongoloid,
Protoaustraloid and Negrito (figure 1). Lingustically it can be divided into
Aryan, Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman and Austroasiatic (figure 2). It is important
to mention here that word ‘Arya’ as used in ancient Indo-Iranian texts, has
nothing to do with race as many would like to believe. ‘Aryan’ race displacing
the ‘Dravidian’ race is nothing but a work of fiction. Though there is a broad
match, there is no perfect correlation between linguistic and morphologic
groups indicating a cultural effect of interaction between different groups
over a long period of time.
1 Morphological Division [1]
2 Linguistic Division [1]
Negrito, the broad headed people from Africa, are the
earliest known modern humans to colonize the subcontinent around 70 thousand
years ago. From here some of them moved to South-East Asia and Australia. These
hunters and gatherers were people who loved the sea, and they always sticked to
the coast. This event was thus named the Great Coastal Migration. They were
probably the first sailors as they colonized islands like Papua New Guinea and
Andaman, and possibly Australia [2]. These early migrators still exist in India
as the Jarawas, Onges, Sentelenese, the Great Andamanis, Irulas, Kodars,
Paniyans, Kurumbas, Baigas and Birhors [3]. The population of Baiga of central
India and the Birhor of eastern India not only share many cultural, linguistic,
physical and genetic features with the Australian aboriginals but also share a perfectly
matching DNA [4]. We probably owe our sailing skills to them. Thousands of
years later their successors will again come to the subcontinent. But this time
they would not come as free man, but as slaves of the Islamic invaders. They would
be known as Sheedi and live in modern Pakistan.
Protoaustraloids or Austrics were the next to land here.
From India they would spread to Myanmar and the South East Asian islands.
Austrics were farmers who cultivated rice, vegetables and made sugar from
sugarcanes [3]. We might owe a lot of our agricultural skills to these people.
Belonging to this group are Santhal, Munda, Lotha, Kol, Irulas, Oraon and Korku
tribes. There are many authors [5] who relate the Australian aboriginals with
Austrics instead of Negroids. Interestingly, most of the people who
linguistically fall into Dravidian and Austroasiatic group are Protoaustraloid.
There are some who believe that they have migrated from around the Mediterranean
region [3].
Mongoloids are very distinct group of people characterized
by yellowish-brown skin pigmentation, straight black hair, dark eyes with
pronounced epicanthic folds, and prominent cheekbones [6]. The Mongoloid group
of people migrated from South-East Asia and China and settled in the Himalayas.
The Mughals who ruled India in the Middle Ages were distant relative of the
Mongoloid people of Mongolia, the place from where the group takes its name.
They first went towards south west Asia in and around Turkey and got converted
to Islam and interbred with the local Caucasoid population before invading
India. The third phase of Mongoloids, albeit a very minor one, happened during
the British rule when the Chinese workers landed in Kolkata. Many Chinese even
received milliary training on Indian soil during the World Wars. Some of their
population still survives in Tangra, the best place to have Chinese food in
Kolkata, and perhaps India.
Caucasians are Indo-Europeans and Aryans are Caucasians.
From ancient Indo-Iranian texts one can infer that there came a time when Aryans
split into the Persian Zoroastians and Indian Vedic Hindus. It is still
difficult to understand their relation with Indus Valley Civilization, but
their initial influence has mostly been across Indus-Saraswati belt where Indus
Valley Civilization also flourished. There have been numerous migrations of
Caucasians in and out of the sub-continent through its western borders. There
had been a lot of intermixing, and if I may, interbreeding between the Greeks
and Indians during the time of Alexaneder. Post Mauryan Empire there had been a
brief Indo-Greek kingdom in India, and then Indo-Schythian and Indo-Kushans.
Then came the Christians in the 1st century. Christianity found its foot on
Indian soil for the first time with Saint Thomas's landing somewhere around
Kerla. This was much before Christianity spread in UK. Newer Caucasoid group came again as Parsee
and Jews when the Islamic rulers forced them out of their territory. The trend
of migration continued with the Islamic and European conquests.
Different groups of people entered and re-entered the
sub-continent over a period of 70,000 years. They sometimes got friendly and
mixed with each-other and at other times fought with each-other, and many times
they formed an alliance just to survive. While happy memories fade easily, the
scars of battles remain. The diversity ensures lack of common ground for the
people to unite. This is probably the biggest threat that India faces today,
much bigger than the threat of our neighbors. Studies provide strong evidence
that we all have migrated to the sub-continent at some point of time. But, what
is more intriguing is the fact that even after so many phases of invasion none
of the community has been totally erased. That’s the peculiarity of India, and
Indians. We all have left our marks, and we all have survived. We all
contributed to the growth of this wonderful land, and now we all must unite for
the growth of this country.
When we enjoy the samosa we must not forget that the concept
of samosa was brought by the Islamic invadors, and the potato stuffed inside the
aloo by the Europeans from Peru, and the spices that makes it so yummy from
South-East Asia. Variety is the spice of
life, and we would have missed it without all the intermixing. The vibrant colourful
India is a legacy of the divercity. We can either choose to remember the bitter
fractions of out past and fight, or celebrate the uniqueness of our non-uniqueness.
Our great diversity gives us this magnificent opportunity to show the world how
to live together in peace and harmony. Our unity can not only make India, but
the world, a much better place. The choice lies with us.
REFERENCE
[1] http://www.igvdb.res.in
[2] Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies;
Jared Diamond; 1997
[3]
http://www.preservearticles.com/2011101115155/short-essay-on-the-racial-classification-of-indian-people.html
[4]
http://spittoon.23andme.com/news/direct-genetic-link-between-australia-and-india-provides-new-insight-into-the-origins-of-australian-aborigines/
[5]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Neighbor-joining_Tree-2.png
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CONTENTS
JOURNEY OF
SURVIVORS: The History of the Sub-continent
CHAPTER
1: VARIETY
IS THE SPICE OF LIFE
PRE-HISTORIC [30,000-5000BC]
CHAPTER
2: THE
FLINTSTONES
ANCIENT [5000BC-300 CE]
CHAPTER
3: THE LEGEND OF INDUS [5000-2000BC]
CHAPTER 4: THE
VEDIC PEOPLE [2000-1000BC]
CHAPTER 5: THE
RENAISSANCE [1000-350BC]
CHAPTER 6: INDIA
RISES [350-150BC]
CHAPTER 7:
UNCERTAIN TIMES [100BC-300 CE]
CLASSICAL [300 – 1200 CE]
CHAPTER 8: THE
GREAT REVIVAL [300-550 CE]
CHAPTER 9: THE LAST STAND [550-1200 CE]
MEDIEVAL [1200 - 1700 CE]
CHAPTER
10: RISE OF ISLAM [1200-1500 CE]
CHAPTER
11: THE MUGHALS [1500-1700 CE]
MODERN [1700 - 2015 CE]
CHAPTER
12: EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM [1700-1857 CE]
CHAPTER
13: FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE [1857-1947]
CHAPTER
14: MODERN INDIA [1947-2014]
CHAPTER
15: WHAT LIES AHEAD
