Monday, April 15, 2019

Early Indians - Tony Joseph

It is a well-researched and well-written book on who the early Indians were and where they came from. The earliest homo sapiens have come from Africa. Then there are migrations from Iran. Then there is the Harappan civilisation. Tony Joseph also tries to answer questions about who the Harappans were, who the Aryans were and when did the caste system begin.

In the simplest form he compares it to a pizza - the foundation was laid 65000 years ago when Out of Africa migrants reached India. Then came the sauce when Zagrosian herders from Iran reached Balochistan after 7000 BCE, mixed with the first Indians and together built the Harappan civilisation. When the civilisation fell apart pieces of it fell all over the subcontinent. The Aryans came after 2000 BCE. All that came later have little effect on the pizza.

Joseph says genetically there is little or no difference between the castes and they belong to the same gene pool. He has several interesting arguments.

Interesting read. Got me interested to visit Bimbetka, Dholavira. Thanks Krishna Prasad garu. 

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