At every stage of the creation of this book, it has been a pleasure to work with Chiki Sarkar of Juggernaut, who combines professional acumen, unerring judgement and firmness of purpose with an easy charm. A message she sent me last year, after seeing one of my articles in a newspaper, is what set the ball rolling.
My thanks also to non-fiction editor Parth P. Mehrotra, whose judicious observations, patience and gracious professionalism have improved the telling of the story immeasurably.
I owe my thanks to managing editor Jaishree Ram Mohan for her intelligent interventions. Art director Gavin Morris deserves all the credit for the cover which made you buy this book. Copyeditor Cincy Jose’s careful eye has caught many errors and inconsistencies. Cartographer Mohammad Hassan has drawn interesting maps that should make it easier for the reader to follow the story.
Last, but not the least, my family.
It was my late father, Professor K.M. Joseph, who opened my eyes to the world of books and ideas.
Some parts of this book were written during a few months that I spent in Kerala. My mother, Chinnamma Joseph, and my sister, Professor Thankamma Emmanuel, made my stay pleasant and my writing effortless.
These acknowledgements would only be half-done if I did not mention my wife, Sheba. Over the decades, my writing has benefited immensely from her natural meticulousness and clarity of thought. Whenever she has gone through a draft of mine she has thrown light on corners I never knew existed, using just grammar and logic. It was her unflagging interest in the topic and her appreciation of its importance that kept the book going during the years when it seemed it would never be finished. I thank her for the endless hours she has put in, poring over the pages of my manuscript.
My daughter, Khemta, did her part by asking the difficult questions which I have tried to answer with this book.
Index
Abdur, Eritrean coast, 41n
Aboriginal Australians, 4
Abu Hureyra, 77
Achaemenid empire, 132
Acheulian style of toolmaking, 49
Afanasievo culture, 175, 184
Afghanistan, xi, 101, 168
Africa, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38, 41, 61, 62
fossil record, 18
Homo erectus, 31–32
human fossil, ix, 31
lineage, 26–27
migration from. See Out of Africa (OoA) migration
African origin of modern humans, 17–18, 26–27
Africans of today, 47
Agastya and Velir clans, 146, 149
Agni, 188, 192
agricultural productivity, Mature Harappan period, 126
agricultural revolution, 61, 155
India, 201
agricultural settlements, x–xi
agriculture, 65, 117, 184
Iranian agriculturist ancestry, x, 84, 93–97, 133. See also Zagros
in Mehrgarh, 65, 69, 74–75, 81–82, 87, 96–97, 99–100
in Mesopotamia, 136
west Asia, 74–77, 87
western Europe, 180
Ahar, 74
Ajatasatru, Magadha king, 210
Ajivikism, 210
Akkad, 102–03
Akkadian language, 131, 132, 135, 142
Al Wusta prehistoric lake, Saudi Arabia, 31, 36, 37
Alaska, x, 41, 45, 64
Alexander, 101, 200
Ali Kosh, Iran, 78, 82
Altai mountains, south Siberia, 175
Ambedkar, B.R., 213, 216
Americas, x, 8, 170, 185
first migrants, 39–41, 45, 52
modern humans, 46
three major migrations, 161–62
Amri, 74, 121, 122, 123
Amu Darya. See Oxus river
Anatolian ancestry, 94, 133, 181
Anatolian plateau, 78
Ancestral North Indian (ANI), 10, 89, 96n, 168, 169, 181, 187
Ancestral South Indian (ASI), 10, 89, 96n, 168, 169, 181, 187
ancient human settlements, 6
Ancient North Eurasians (ANE) of the Siberian region, 170
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 46, 154
Andronovo, 175, 177, 184
animal domestication. See domestication of plants and animals
animal husbandry, Harappan Civilization, 137
Anthony, David W., 177–79, 187, 198
Arabia, 31, 36, 37, 38, 46. See also Saudi Arabia
Arabian peninsula, 30, 41, 44–45, 46, 48
archaeology, 30–31, 53, 132, 136, 139
archaic humans, ix, 17, 18, 31, 43, 48–51, 51–57, 62
extinction, 62–63
Ardipithecus ramidus, 18
Argentina, 41
Arkaim, 177
Armorite language, 135
‘Aryans’, 9–11, 88, 95, 142, 143, 149, 159
genetic signature, 165–67
and Harappan Civilization, disconnect, 142, 143–45, 187–89, 191–93
the last migrants, 161–201
and the Vedas, 88, 142, 144, 162, 170, 177, 178, 188, 191, 192, 197, 212, 219, 223, 224
Aryavarta and Magadha, 205–13
ashmounds tradition, 150
Asian Steppe, 166–67
Asoka, 210
Assam, 154, 158, 159
astronomy, Harappan Civilization and Mesopotamian Civilization, 147–48
Asvins, 188, 192
Atramhasis, 125
Attirampakkam, Tamil Nadu, 50, 51, 52, 54
Australia, x, 37n, 38–39, 52
first migrants, 42–44
modern humans, 46
Austroasiatic languages, xii, 152–59, 203
Bab el Mandeb, ix, 33, 35–36
Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), 179–80
and Harappan Civilization, cultural relations, xiii–xiv, 93–95, 167–69, 180
Bajau, 47
Balochistan, x, 65, 68, 99, 101, 121–22, 126, 134, 136, 149, 180, 203
Baluchi, 130
Banawali, Pakistan, xi, 122
Bangladesh, 154
bangles, Harappan Civilization, 115
Basque, 182
Batadombalena caves, Sri Lanka, 42, 54
Baudhyana Dharma Sutra, 209
beachcombing, 36, 41n, 42
Behistun inscription, 139
Behistun Mount, Kermanshah, Iran, 132
Belfer-Cohen, Anna, 75, 76
Bell Beaker culture, 173, 181
Bengal, 158
Bengali, 163, 205
Beringia, x, 45, 64
Bhakti movement, 216
Bhimbetka, Madhya Pradesh, 13–16, 31, 52, 55, 204
Bhirrana, Fatehabad, Haryana, 121
Bhoja, King, 200
Bihari, 205
Bimbisara, Magadha king, 210
Bindusara, 210
Bisht, R.S., 119, 188–89, 191
Black Sea, 170
Black Youth, 199
Bokonyi, Sandor, 193–94
Bolan Hills, Balochistan, x, 65
Brahmanical society, Brahmins, 167, 209–10, 212–13
Brahui, 130, 136, 138
Brahuis, 122, 149
Bronkhorst, Johannes, 208, 209–10, 213
Bronze Age, 173, 181, 184
Late, 208
middle-to-late, 166
Buddha, 220
Buddhism, 45, 162, 209–10, 213, 214, 216, 219–20
Bundeli, 205
burials, 198–99
of the royals, 107–09
Burma, 154, 158, 162
Burushaski, 130, 197n
Caldwell, Robert, 139–40
Cambodia, 154, 162
cartwheels, Harappan Civilization, 118
Carvaka/Lokayata, 216
Caspian Sea, 170
caste system in India, 7, 204, 211, 212–13, 216, 219, 220
cattle breeding, 201
cattle herding, 121, 172
Caucasus, 10, 87, 89, 90, 170, 172
central Asia, 44–45, 61, 65, 87, 89, 90, 1
62
central Asians, 10, 89
ceramics, 72, 73, 82, 83, 199
Chalcolithic or Copper Age, 72–74
Chamar, 212
Champollion, Jean-François, 131–32
Chandragupta Maurya, 210
chariot-building, 178
Cheras, 146
Childe, Gordon, 117
chimpanzees, 2, 4
China, xii, 18, 43, 52, 65, 118, 155–56, 162, 186, 214, 219
Cholas, 146
Cholistan, 223, 227
chromosomes. See DNA analysis
city structure, Harappan Civilization, 147
Clarkson, Chris, 38
climate change, 30, 37, 74, 76, 81
climatic considerations, 28–30
coastal migration route, 41, 42–44
Constantini, Lorenzo, 69
continental shelf, 43–44
Coptic, 132
Corded Ware, 173, 175, 179, 181, 184, 197–200
cosmology, 5, 45–46
cotton thread, 71, 83
cultural
artefacts, Mesopotamia, 102–03
beliefs and practices, Harappan Civilization, 88, 122, 142, 144–45, 147, 186–87, 196–97, 221
diffusion, 84
heritage, 216
cuneiform script, 132, 134–35, 138
Cyprus, 79–80
Damb Sadaat, Balochistan (3500 BCE), 121
dancing girl, 60, 204
Darius I, 132
Darwin, Charles, 2, 17
debate poems, 125
Deccan plateau, 151, 207
Deh Luran, Iran, 82
demography
Americas, 161–62
Europe, 161, 184–85
India, 62, 65, 86–87, 200, 211
south Asia, 155
Demotic, 131, 132
Denisova caves, Altai mountains, Siberia, 50
Denisovans, 2, 4, 8, 32, 38, 50–51
dentistry, 71, 83
Dholavira, Gujarat, 8, 60, 97, 101, 111–12, 117, 118–19, 159, 188–91, 204
dice game, Harappan Civilization, 196
diversity in India, 61–62
Djibouti, ix
DNA analysis, DNA studies, 4, 6, 8, 11, 12, 18, 19–25, 26–27, 30, 50, 139, 142, 200
ancient DNA, 8, 11, 12, 30, 84, 90–92, 93–97, 132, 133–36, 139–40, 142, 154, 155, 158, 163, 165, 167–69, 173–74, 179–80, 182, 185, 219, 223
haplogroups, 23–24, 27, 84–85, 86–87, 90, 95, 97, 156, 165–66, 179–80
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), 17–22, 23–26, 53, 57, 58, 85–87, 90, 174, 181, 182, 198; M, 42, 53, 57, 59, 85, 164–65
Y-chromosome, 21–25, 27, 57, 58–59, 84, 85–86, 87, 97, 156, 181
whole genome data, 87–90
DNA evidence, 11, 18, 84, 97, 133–34, 158, 169, 185, 223
domestication of plants and animals, x, 67, 68–70, 72, 77–79, 82, 83–84, 135–36, 139, 150, 180, 201, 217
of goat, 139, 150
of rice, 157
Dravidian languages, 99, 147–54, 154, 156, 161, 182, 187, 197, 220
and Elamite, resemblance, 137–42
drift and selection, 47–48
drought and the decline of Harappan Civilization, 185–88, 201, 211, 230
east Asia, 1, 8, 16, 44, 45, 52, 63, 65, 82, 152, 155, 158, 161, 162, 220
Eastern Hunter-Gatherers (EHG) of the Steppe region, 170
Eblaite language, 135
Egypt, 33, 35, 65, 107, 118, 186
Elamite language, 132, 135, 161
endogamy, 170, 211, 213
English language in India, 154, 163
environmental challenges, 13
Euphrates, 77–80, 104n
Eurasia, ix, 17, 32–33, 35, 36, 165, 170, 184, 186, 218
Eurasian Steppes, 8, 9n, 223
west Eurasians, 87, 96
Europe, 37n, 45, 61, 63, 65, 87, 89–90, 164
languages, 164–65
modern human occupation, 44
Yamnaya, 173–74, 177, 198
European Middle Neolithic (Europe_MN), 175
Europeans, 8, 10, 89, 152, 154, 183
Neolithic farmers, 184
exchange networks, 122+
exogamy (marriage by abduction/force), 198–99
Fa Hien caves, Kalutara, Sri Lanka, 42, 43, 54
family tree or phylogeny, 84–85
farmers to city dwellers, 120–23
farming, xii, 74–75, 87, 149, 220
economy, Mehrgarh, 82–83, 134
First Farmers, 61–97
migrations from China, 156
Fertile Crescent, west Asia, 65, 77–80, 87, 94
First Indians, 203, 211
genetic lineage, 53, 57–60, 81, 86, 87, 88, 89–97, 133, 135, 136, 164, 168–69, 181, 187, 204, 219
food processing, 76
fossils, 6, 18, 37, 39, 50
of animals and plants, 69
human, ix, 31, 42, 44, 49
record of Africa, 18
Fraknoi, Andrew, 1
French, 163, 200
Fuller, Dorian, 91, 149–50, 157–59, 228
funeral rituals, 198
funerals for the royals, 107–08
Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand, 216
Ganga, 207, 225
and Yamuna, confluence, 208–09, 210
Ganga valley, 186
Ganj Dareh, 78, 82, 135–36, 139
Ganweriwala, Pakistan, 224
Garrod, Dorothy, 76
gender disparity in India, 181–82
genetic
code: A (adenine), C (cytosine), G (guanine) and T (thymine), 20
composition, Harappan population, 133
differences, 20, 215
diversity, 47–48, 62
genetic evidence, 42, 90, 133–34, 136, 139, 165, 174, 175, 198, 207
signature of Aryans, 165–67
structure of Indian Austroasiatic-language speakers, 154–55
studies, 22, 95, 136, 139, 142, 154, 155, 156, 164–65, 169, 179, 211, 212
trees, 22, 23, 25, 42
genetics, 9–11, 30, 42, 84, 97, 136, 143, 175, 187, 200, 205, 208, 215
logic of, 19–26
genome, 10, 19–20, 22–23, 38, 57, 62, 87, 174, 182, 204, 211, 213
analysis, 87, 92
sequencing, 25, 84, 87–88, 90, 95
geography and climate, 33
geologic time, 185
Germany, 173
Ghaggar–Hakra river system, x, 60, 74, 101, 122, 126, 159, 223–30
Gilgamesh, Sumerian king, 104, 117
Gimbutas, Marija, 173–74
Girawad, Haryana, 118
glacial age, 63, 75, 79, 80–81
glacial conditions, 53
global climate fluctuations, 28
goat domestication. See domestication of plants and animals
Gondi, 137
Gonur, Turkmenistan, 93, 94, 95, 97
Goring-Morris, A. Nigel, 75, 76
Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro, Sindh, 111–12, 188
Great Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, 118
Greeks, 203
Grierson, George, 205, 207–08, 209
Gujarat, x, 81, 101, 149
Dravidian place names, 150, 151
Gujarati, 130, 163
Gumla, 123
Gypsies, 164
hairstyle, 106, 110
Hallan Cemi, 78n
Han Chinese, 215
Harahvaiti, Afghanistan, 224–25
Harappan Civilization. See also Dholavira, Kalibangan; Mehrgarh; Mohenjo-daro
Ancestral North Indian (ANI), 10, 89, 96n, 168, 169
Ancestral South Indian (ASI), 10, 89, 96n, 168, 169
and the Aryans, 161, 164, 168, 169, 172, 180, 181, 184–89, 191, 195–97, 201
Corded Ware example, 197–200
decline, xii, 10, 120, 142, 146, 147, 149, 156, 180, 185, 203, 205, 209, 211
after the decline, 186–92
First Urbanites, 99–159
and Mes
opotamia, 192
pre-Aryan, 143–44
remnants of, 195–97
script, deciphering, 100, 131, 143–48
and the Vedas, disconnect, 144, 187–89, 191–93
Harappan Era
Early Food Producing Era (7000 –5500 BCE), 120, 121
Regionalization or Early (5500–2600 BCE), xi, 120, 122–23
(3700–1500 BCE), xi
Integration or Mature (2600–1900 BCE), xi, 6–9, 60, 65, 70, 73–74, 82, 88, 92n, 94–95, 97, 101, 203–05, 219, 220, 223–28
Late Harappan phase (1800 BCE), 180
Localization or Late (1900–1300 BCE), xii, 120, 185, 191
Haryana, 101, 151, 164, 185, 223, 228
Haslam, Michael, 43, 51, 56
Hathnora, Narmada riverbank, 49, 62
Hattic language, 135
Helmand, 224
herding economy, 198
hieroglyphic script of Egypt, 131–32, 147
Himalaya, 36, 208, 211
Hindi, 130, 163, 205
Hinduism, 45
Hittite language, 135
Ho, 154
Hoabinhian, 155–56
Holocene period, 64–65, 79, 80
Homo erectus, 2, 17, 18, 31–32, 50, 62–63
Homo habilis, 18
Homo heidelbergensis, 18, 50, 62
Homo neanderthalensis, 2, 18, 62
Homo sapiens, ix, 2, 4–6, 14–15, 18, 28, 33, 37n, 39, 43, 56, 62–63, 217
horse
sacrifice, 178
in Vedas, 172, 177, 191–95
housing Harappan Civilization, 74, 83, 97, 134, 196
human fossil. See fossil, human
human sacrifice, 110
Huns, 200, 203
Hunsgi–Baichbal valley, Karnataka, 50, 52
hunter-gatherers, 39, 41, 69–70, 74, 75, 104, 122, 155, 180–81, 182
Hurrian language, 135
hydroclimatic stress, 185
Iberia, Iberian peninsula, x, 174–75
ice ages, 28
India
and Elamite, Dravidian language connection, 137–38
incursions upon, 200
Indian climatic zones, 81
Indian staged dispersal, 52
indica, 157
Indo-Aryan
languages, two sociolinguistic regions, 205, 207
lineage, 207
speakers, 144–45, 151
traditions, 143
Indo-European languages, xii, 9n, 10, 11, 12, 88, 91, 135, 142–44, 147, 149, 151, 152–54, 161–67, 169, 172, 173–74, 175, 177–78, 181–82, 187–88, 197, 200, 205, 207–09, 213
out of India, 163–65
Indonesia, 16, 155, 162
Indra, 186, 188
‘Indus Periphery’, 92–93, 95, 133, 201
Indus, x, 45, 60, 65, 74, 95, 126, 207, 225, 228, 230
Indus–Sarasvati Civilization. See Harappan Civilization
Indus valley, 93, 101, 103, 134, 142
Indus Valley Civilization. See Harappan Civilization