The Incredible History of India's Geography

by Sanjeev Sanyal

  This is a very short and simplified account of what happened over tens of thousands of years. We’re talking about very small Stone Age bands of fifty to hundred people over vast expanses of time and space. Their movements would not have always been systematic. They might have wandered somewhere, come back, gone to places that didn’t lead anywhere and so on. Just as there were groups coming into the subcontinent, there were others that were going out. Scientists think that India may have been the source of a number of genetic lineages that can now be traced worldwide.

  Natural calamities, hunger, tribal wars and disease would have decided which of these groups survived and which of them didn’t. There are plenty of remains of these early humans in Stone Age sites scattered across India. Bhimbetka in central India is one of the most extensive sites in the world. The hilly terrain is littered with hundreds of caves and rock shelters that appear to have been inhabited almost continuously for 30,000 years! It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

  Did you know?

  There were once ostriches in the Indian subcontinent! Archaeologists have found beads and ornaments made from ostrich eggshells in Stone Age sites. Was it the Stone Age fashion industry that led to the disappearance of the bird?

  The last full-blown ice age started around 24,000 years ago, reached its peak around 18,000–20,000 years ago and then warmed up. Around14,000 years ago, the ice sheets began melting rapidly, the sea levels were rising around the world and weather patterns were changing. The Persian Gulf began to fill up 12,500 years ago. Around 7500–8000 years ago, the Gulf Oasis was completely flooded. Is this the event that is referred to as the Great Flood in Sumerian and Biblical accounts? It’s quite possible!

  Recent archaeology suggests that the people of the Persian Gulf moved to higher ground around 7500 years ago. They also seem to have learned how to travel by water. A small clay replica of a reed boat and a depiction of a sea-going boat with masts from this period have been found in Kuwait. By this time, people knew how to farm, domesticate animals and build boats. Some groups made their way into Central Asia, taking advantage of the warmer temperatures. Others might have made their way into Europe where earlier migrations had previously pushed out the Neanderthals. Groups from South East Asia had already established themselves in China and the warmer climate would have allowed them to expand.

  The Indian coastline moved several kilometres inland to roughly resemble what we would now recognize on the map. The sea moved inland all along the coast and there were two places where very large land masses were flooded. One was where we now have the Gulf of Khambat (Cambay), just south of the Saurashtra peninsula of Gujarat. The other land masses extended south from the Tamil coast and would have included Sri Lanka.

  In Indian mythology, one of the ten avatars of Vishnu, the Protector, is that of the fish. It is said that Vishnu took the form of a fish (Matsya) and warned Manu, the legendary king, about a great flood that would threaten all life. Manu built a large ship and filled it with seeds and animals. Matsya then towed the ship to safety. Doesn’t this remind of you of Noah’s Ark? Are these legends a memory of the ancient floods?

  In 2001, marine archaeologists found two underwater locations in the Gulf of Khambat. They seem to be the remains of large settlements that would have been flooded about 7500 years ago. Scholars are still finding out the exact nature of these discoveries, but if proved, they would be truly remarkable. Though we don’t know about these for sure yet, it is reasonable to say that the changes in weather patterns and the sharp rise in sea levels must have made people in those times move from one settlement to another.

  Earlier, it was thought that people from the Persian Gulf area carried the knowledge of farming to other regions. There is evidence to show that some of the crops that were farmed systematically in the subcontinent, around 7000 years ago in Mehrgarh, Baluchistan, were West Asian species such as wheat and barley. Did this mean that Indians learned to farm from West Asian migrants and only later managed to domesticate local plants such as eggplant, sugar cane and sesame? But recently, researchers have uncovered evidence that Indians may have independently developed farming, including the cultivation of rice. Did the knowledge of farming travel from one region to another or did different groups develop it independently in around the same time? The evidence now suggests parallel development.

  What we do know is that by the end of the Neolithic age, there was a fairly large population living in India. Who were these people? How are present-day Indians related to them?

  WHAT DO YA MEAN, GENE?

  Up to the early twentieth century, it was believed that India was inhabited by aboriginal Stone-Age tribes till around 1500 BCE when Indo-Europeans called ‘Aryans’ invaded the subcontinent, bringing with them horses and iron weapons. Indian civilization was seen as a direct result of this invasion. Though this theory didn’t have any solid evidence to back it, it became a popular explanation for why Indian and European languages have similarities. It was also politically convenient at that time because it made the British colonizers appear as if they were merely latter-day ‘Aryans’ who’d come to further ‘civilize’ the local population.

  The theory, however, took a beating when remains of the sophisticated Harappan civilization were discovered. These discoveries proved that Indian civilization was well underway even before 1500 BCE. But strangely, the ‘Aryan invasion’ theory was not thrown away. It was instead modified to suggest that a people called the Dravidians (supposed ancestors of modern-day Tamils) created these cities and that they were later destroyed by the invading Aryans. But this theory was also flawed because there is no archaeological or literary evidence of such a large-scale invasion. The Harappan cities did not suddenly collapse but suffered a slow decline because of environmental reasons.

  India is a country with a bewildering mix of castes, tribes and language groups. Some of these groups came to India in historical times—Jews, Parsis, Ahoms, Turks to name a few. But there are also many populations that have lived in the country for a very long time. Many groups migrated to different parts of the country and settled there over thousands of years. So where a group is found today may not be where it came from originally. Over the years, most groups have mingled and yet a few have retained their unique identity even now—some of the tribes in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the North-Eastern states, for example.

  What we have to remember when we study such a complex mix of people is that there are no ‘pure’ races. Indians come in all shapes, sizes and shades and these variations can be quite dramatic even within the same family! But there are some patterns of genetic distribution that we can see.

  What is a gene?

  A gene is the basic physical and functional unit of heredity. Do you have eyes like your mother? Is your nose like your father’s? All of this came to you through your genes! Genes are sections of long chains of molecules called DNA (deoxyribonucleic acids) that give instructions to make molecules called proteins, which then build our bodies. Every person inherits two copies of genes, one inherited from each parent. Over time these genes mutate or change slightly. The accumulation of these mutations over long periods is responsible for evolution.

  In 2006, there was a study that said India’s population mix has been broadly stable for a very long time and that there has been no major injection of Central Asian genes for over 10,000 years. This means that even if there had been a large-scale influx of ‘Aryans’, it would have taken place more than 10,000 years ago, long before iron weapons and the domestication of the horse. The study also suggested that the population of Dravidians had lived for a long time in southern India and that the so-called Dravidian genetic pool may have even originated there.

  Another study published in 2009 suggested that the Indian population can be explained by the mixture of two ancestral groups—the Ancestral South Indian (ASI) and the Ancestral North Indian (ANI). The ASIs are the older group and are not related to Europeans, East Asians or any group outside the subcontinent.
The ANIs are a somewhat more recent group and are related to Europeans. The ANI genes have a large share in North India and account for over 70 per cent of the genes of Kashmiri Pandits and Sindhis. But the ANI genes also have a large 40–50 per cent share in South India and among some of the tribal groups of central India.

  Is the ANI-ASI split same as the Aryan-Dravidian theory? Firstly, the ANI and ASI are not ‘pure’ races. They are just different genetic mixes, each of which contains many strands. The terms ‘Aryan’ and ‘Dravidian’, on the other hand, are not just about genetics; they also carry strong cultural connotations. For instance, the ‘Aryans’ are usually linked to the Vedic tradition while the ‘Dravidians’ are linked to the Sangam literary tradition. But we can’t conclude that this is the same as the ANI-ASI framework because these two groups emerged well before the Vedic tradition, Sangam literature, or the Harappan civilization. We are talking about small bands of hunter-gatherers and early farming communities rather than the thundering war chariots, iron weapons and fortified cities that are said to have been part of an ‘Aryan-Dravidian’ rivalry.

  Did you know?

  Manu, the Indian Noah, was said to have been the king of the Dravidians before the flood but is repeatedly mentioned in the Vedic tradition as an ancestor!

  As we shall see, climate change and the drying of a river caused these two groups to mix very rapidly from around 4200 years ago. Simply said, after thousands of years of mixing, Indians are very closely related to each other and it is pointless to try and find out who is more Aryan and who is more Dravidian. There are also many groups in India that don’t fit in within the ANI-ASI framework and which have influences from other parts of the world. Genetics has just confirmed what we can see for ourselves—Indians are a mongrel lot who come in all shapes, sizes and complexions!

  What about the genetic links of North Indians to Europeans? And how do we explain the linguistic similarities between Indian and European languages if we don’t accept the ‘Aryan-Dravidian’ theory? When we talk about a genetic link between North Indians and some Europeans and Iranians, what we’re usually referring to is a gene mutation called Rlal, and more specifically, a subgroup called Rlala. This gene is common in North India and among East Europeans such as the Czechs, Poles and Lithuanians. There are smaller concentrations in South Siberia, Tajikistan, north-eastern Iran and in Kurdistan (that is, the mountainous areas of northern Iraq and adjoining areas). Interestingly, the gene is rare among Western Europeans, western Iranians and through many parts of Central Asia. But how is it that this gene is present in the Indian subcontinent and Eastern Europe while skipping Central Asia and Western Europe?

  In 2010, it was discovered that the oldest strain of the Rlala branch was concentrated in the Gujarat-Sindh-Western Rajasthan area, suggesting that this was close to the origin of this genetic group. European carriers of Rlala also displayed a further mutation, M458, which is not found at all in their Asian cousins. Since the M458 mutation is estimated to be at least 8000 years old, the two populations must have separated before or during the Great Flood. Thus, the genetic linkages between North Indians and East Europeans are best explained by the sharing of a common ancestor, perhaps from just after the end of the last ice age. Does this also have to do with climate change? Maybe!

  The most common gene in Western Europe is R1b. This is related to R1a1 and possibly also originated in the Persian Gulf area but the two separated a long time ago—probably during or before the last ice age. India has a relatively low concentration of R1b. Could we be dealing with two major genetic dispersals occurring from the Persian Gulf-Makran-Gujarat region at different points in the climatic cycle? One occurring at the onset or during the last ice age with R1b carriers heading mostly west and another occurring around the time of the Flood involving R1a1 carriers?

  There is also reason to believe that some Indian tribes moved westward to Iran and beyond during the Bronze Age. We’ll read more about that in the next chapter. Cultural linkages could have also happened because of trade. The spread of Indian culture to South East Asia in ancient times and the popularity of the English language in the postcolonial period show that it is possible for cultural exchanges to happen even without war or large-scale migration.

  IS THERE A LITHUANIAN IN YOUR FAMILY?

  The caste system is not unique to India. Throughout history, we have seen different versions of the caste system in Japan, Iran and even in Classical Europe. What is remarkable about the Indian caste system is that it has survived over thousands of years despite changes in technology, political conditions and religion. Despite strong criticism and opposition within Hindu tradition itself, it has continued to exist.

  It was once thought that the caste system originated because of the Aryan influx and the imposition of a rigid racial hierarchy. However, genetic studies have shown a largely South Asian origin for Indian caste communities. They suggest that Indian castes are profoundly influenced by ‘founder events’. This means that castes are created by an ‘event’—when a group separates out for some reason and later turns itself into an endogamous tribe. That is, marriages are restricted to the ‘tribe’. Over time, this process leads to a varied social environment of groups and subgroups, sometimes combining and sometimes splitting off. Because of this, we don’t have a single unified population but a complex networks of clans. Recent studies suggest that intermarriage between different groups was fluid 1900–4000 years ago—coinciding with the mixing of the ANI and ASI. However, about 1900 years ago, intermarriage became less common and the castes became more exclusive.

  There is a difference between the genetic reality and the rigid and strictly hierarchical ‘varna’ system of castes described in the Manusmriti (Laws of Manu).

  Varna is the term for the four broad categories into which traditional Hindu society is divided. The four varnas, in descending order in the hierarchy, are:

  the Brahmins: priests, teachers and preachers

  the Kshatriyas: kings, governors, warriors and soldiers

  the Vaishyas: cattle herders, agriculturists, businessmen, artisans and merchants

  the Shudras: labourers and service providers

  The Manusmriti is often used by scholars as the framework to understand the caste system. It now appears that the description of this rigid system may have been a scholarly idea and it may have never really existed. Instead, what we have is a very flexible society where people from different castes adapted easily to changing times by altering their social roles. Till 1900 years ago, these groups also seem to have commonly intermarried but even after they became strictly endogamous, the status of different groups was fluid. For example, if a new group has to be accommodated, a new caste can be created. Similarly, a group can be promoted or demoted in status according to social conditions. This fits with what we know from historical experience, such as the emergence of the Rajputs in medieval times. In the past, it was advantageous for groups to move forward in the pecking order. But now, we have groups trying to be classified as ‘backward’ in order to benefit from affirmative action! The logic of both processes is the same.

  Affirmative action is the policy of creating special provisions for people who belong to groups that have suffered from discrimination in some form. The reservation policy in India for certain caste groups is one such example.

  2

  Hello, Harappans!

  Much of what we know about India’s early history comes from two very different sources, but archaeologists and historians are not quite sure how they fit together. On one hand, there is the archaeological evidence of the sophisticated cities of the Harappan Civilization. On the other hand, there is the literature of the Vedic tradition. Both are roughly from the same geography and timeline and we will listen to both the tales separately.

  Though the two sources are different, there is one thing that they both agree on: the drying of a great river that the Rig Veda calls the Saraswati. No matter which way we look at it, the drying of this river was an im
portant geographical event that defined early India.

  BLAST FROM THE PAST

  When the Lahore-Multan railway line was being built in the late nineteenth century, wagonloads of bricks for ballast were removed from some old mounds. The bricks were of very good quality and most people assumed that they must be from modern times. However, it was discovered that these bricks were, in fact, from a very old civilization, just like the Sumerians, the Minoans and the ancient Egyptians. This civilization was named the Indus Valley or Harappan Civilization.

  Soon, more and more such sites were discovered. It took so long to discover the Harappan Civilization because they did not have grand structures like the Pyramids of Giza or huge palaces and temples that immediately arrest attention. The Harappans did have large buildings but we don’t know what they were used for. However, the Harappan Civilization is truly remarkable because of its urban design and active municipal management. These discoveries challenged the old theory about ‘Aryan’ invasions introducing civilization to India.

  One of the large buildings from Mohenjodaro, a site in Sindh, has been identified as the Great Bath. But we don’t really know if the structure was used for religious rituals, as a bathing pool for the royal family, or for some other purpose altogether!

  We see meticulous town planning in every detail—standardized bricks, street grids, covered sewerage systems and so on. Similarly, a great deal of effort was put into managing water. Mohenjodaro alone may have had 600–700 wells! One of the bigger cities, it must have had a population of around 40,000– 50,000 people. Not all cities had the same solutions to the same problems. At Dholavira in Gujarat, water was diverted from two neighbouring streams into a series of dams and preserved in a complex system of reservoirs. Many houses, even the small ones, had their own bathrooms and toilets connected to a drainage network that emptied into soak jars and cesspits. The toilet commodes were made from big pots sunk into the floor.