Pragati No 27 | Jun 2009

The Indian
National Interest
Review

A sense of history
SPECIAL ISSUE

THE IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY

WHAT GENETIC STUDIES SAY
www.nationalinterest.in
ISSN 0973-8460
PORTS OF CALL
AN EAST SEA STORY
THROUGH FOREIGN EYES
 Pragati
Contents The Indian National Interest Review
No 27 | Jun 2009

Published by The Indian National Interest—an independent

community of individuals committed to increasing public awareness
PERSPECTIVE and education on strategic affairs, economic policy and governance.
2 Towards a shared understanding
And why it is important
Nitin Pai Advisory Panel
Mukul G Asher
3 Getting objective about it Sameer Jain
Historical narratives must be stress-tested before accep- Amey V Laud
tance V Anantha Nageswaran
Ram Narayanan
Jayakrishnan Nair Sameer Wagle

FEATURE
6 The peopling of India Editors
A genomic unity that goes back 50,000 years Nitin Pai
Michel Danino Ravikiran Rao

Contributing Editor
8 The Ghaggar and the Sarasvati Sushant K Singh
The scientific evidence is against their being one and the
same Guest Editor
Suvrat Kher Jayakrishnan Nair

10 Hubs of the medieval trade Editorial Support

During a previous round of globalisation Priya Kadam
Ullattil Manmadhan
Acknowledgements
13 Eastern sea, golden lands Bryce E Johnson (Cover Photo)
One day, a thousand years ago... The Modern Library
Anand Krishnamoorthi John Murray (Publishers)
Ranjith P
16 The tribal militias of the Frontier Rahul Siddharthan
The British had terrible luck purchasing their loyalty
Joshua Foust
Contact: [email protected]

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18 A Muslim traveller’s tales
Across the Dar-ul-Islam in the 14th century Neither Pragati nor The Indian National Interest website are affiliated
Jayakrishnan Nair to any political party or platform. The views expressed in this publi-
cation are personal opinions of the contributors and not those of
their employers.
20 Foreign observations
Excerpts from perspectives on India © 2009 The Indian National Interest. Some rights reserved.
Megasthenes, Xuanzang, Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, George
Nathaniel Curzon & Alice Albinia This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5
India License. To view a copy of this license, visit
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 FEATURE

INDIAN HISTORY
Towards a shared understanding
And why it is important
NITIN PAI

IN HIS introduction to The Shield of Achilles, Philip its choice of geopolitical strategy and domestic
Bobbitt argues that history “is the distinctive ele- public policies will be less than optimal. A state
ment in the ceaseless, restless dynamic by means that, for example, conjures up a historical narra-
of which strategy and law live out their necessary tive that fits ideology, not fact, very often ends up
relationship with each other. For law and strategy as a threat to its neighbours and almost always to
are not merely made in history—a sequence of its own people. Yet, in the end, it is ideology that
events and culminating effects—they are made of has to bow to history. Even the bloody depreda-
history. It is the self-portrayal of a society that en- tions of Mao Zedong’s many revolutions failed to
ables it to know its own identity. Without this erase China’s past and today his successors are
knowledge a society cannot establish its rule by promoting Confucius Institutes around the world.
law because every system of laws depends upon Pakistan tried to build a nation using a selective
the continuity of legitimacy, which is an attribute reading of its past—the project failed once in 1971,
of identity. Furthermore, without such a self- but its sponsors did not correct course, leading to
portrayal, no society can pursue a rational strat- it being on the crossroads when it is not actually
egy because it is the identity of the society that in crisis.
strategy seeks to promote, protect and preserve.
One might say that without its own history, its
self-understanding, no society can have either law
or strategy, because it cannot be constituted as an A shared understanding of history forms the
independent entity”. basis for social reconciliation and sets the
Mr Bobbitt then makes a profound conclusion:
that together, history, strategy and law make pos- stage for policies that pursue the national in-
sible legitimate governing institutions. He goes on terest.
to argue that “there is no state without strategy,
law and history, and, to complicate matters, these
are not merely interrelated elements,they are ele-
ments each composed at least partly of others. The On the other hand, a shared understanding of
precise nature of this composition defines a par- history forms the basis for social reconciliation
ticular state and is the result of many and sets the stage for policies that pursue the
choices...Law cannot come into being until the national interest—the happiness and well-being of
state achieves a monopoly on the legitimate use of the greatest number of its citizens. The more ho-
violence. Similarly, a society must have a single mogenous a society is, the easier it is to achieve
legitimate government for its strategic designs to such an understanding. Yet the less homogenous a
be laid; otherwise, the distinction between war society is, the more important it is to do so. In any
and civil war collapses, and strategy degenerates case, the scientific method—that relies on evi-
into banditry. Until the governing institutions of a dence and enquiry—is without doubt the best
society can claim for themselves the sole right to known way to achieve that common understand-
determine the legitimate use of force at home and ing.
abroad, there can be no state. Without law, strat- India’s rich civilisational history is a priceless
egy cannot claim to be a legitimate act of state. asset—for instance, it cannot be a mere accident
Only if law prevails can it confer legitimacy on that India is the only country in the vast expanse
strategic choices and give them a purpose. Yet the between between Europe and Japan that has
legitimacy necessary for law and for strategy de- managed to sustain a liberal democracy.
rives from history, the understanding of past prac- Unfortunately contending views of the past
tices that characterise a particular society.” have clouded contemporary national life. In poli-
It follows that to the extent a state lacks a tics, history is made an accomplice in the pursuit
shared, cohesive understanding of its own history, of increasingly violent ethnic and caste-based

PRAGATI - THE INDIAN NATIONAL INTEREST REVIEW 2

PERSPECTIVE

chauvinism. In public policy, economic freedom dian researchers recently challenged the conven-
lies hostage to the dubious demands of social jus- tional wisdom on the nature of the yet-
tice. In foreign affairs, the inability to completely undeciphered Indus script using relatively simple
jettison historical baggage impairs the pragmatic computational methods that had never before
pursuit of the national interest. This is not to say been applied in the discipline. The availability of
that achieving a broad consensus on the past will inexpensive images of the Earth has not only
miraculously solve the many problems India transformed the field, but has sprung an entire
faces, but rather, that it will help clear the decks. community of ‘armchair archaeologists’. Indeed,
Modern history books in India were first writ- the wider application of genetic studies means
ten under the influence of British colonialism. that there is now a “DNA test” for historical theo-
While it is wrong to indiscriminately disparage ries. Like in the case of criminal investigations,
historical narratives that were first thrown up in these tests are conclusive and can embarrass some
the colonial era, the fact that many survive with- people.
out critical examination—and worse, in spite of So there are exciting times ahead and the clear
being challenged by it—is unacceptable. Yet they stream of reason will eventually find its way out
do, not least because the Indian historical estab- of the dreary desert sand of dead habit. In the end,
lishment in the hands of an intellectual oligopoly, science will triumph over ideology
which in turn, is sustained by chronic under-
investment in the higher education system and
the lack of career opportunities for students of
social sciences.
The good news is that for the first time in dec-
ades, the intellectual oligopoly has begun to be
challenged—by developments in the world of sci- Nitin Pai is editor of Pragati and blogs at The Acorn
ence and technology. For instance, a group of In- (acorn.nationalinterest.in)

HISTORY AND SOCIETY

Getting objective about it

Historical narratives must be stress-tested before acceptance
JAYAKRISHNAN NAIR

IN JANUARY 2009, PBS, a US television network, hicles and mud-brick fire altars in Gonur Tepe,
ran a documentary titled The Story of India. Turkmenistan. According to Dr Sarianidi, the
Hosted by Michael Wood, this six-part series nar- Aryans arrived there around 2000 BC and left in
rated a compressed history of India from pre- 1800 BC towards Afghanistan.
historic times till Independence. The first epi- Third, Mr Wood mentioned a 1786 discovery
sode—Beginnings—discussed one of the most con- by the polyglot Sir William Jones on the similari-
troversial topics in Indian history: the origin of the ties between Sanskrit and various European lan-
Aryans. guages, due to which if a Sanskrit speaker men-
In this episode Mr Wood did three things. tioned the word ashva, a Lithuanian farmer would
Standing at Khyber Pass, looking down at the val- know exactly what he meant. All these indicated
ley of Kabul river, he quoted the translation of a that the ancestors of the Aryans were part of a
verse from Baudhayana Srautasutra which reads, language group which spread from the area be-
"some went east..but some stayed at home in the tween Caspian sea and Aral mountains 4000 years
west". This verse, Wood opined, suggests an Ar- ago. As per this theory, these Sanskrit speaking
yan migration from Afghanistan into India. newcomers subjugated the natives—Dravidians
Second, he went to Turkmenistan to meet Vik- and tribals—and established themselves at the top
tor Sarianidi, the legendary Russian archaeologist, of the caste hierarchy.
who besides unearthing the Bactrian gold in Sounds logical, but Mr Wood's claims are con-
northern Afghanistan, found horses, wheeled ve- trovertible. According to B B Lal, who was the

3 No 27 | Jun 2009
 PERSPECTIVE
Photo: Evan Osherow

director general of the Archaeological Survey of sity of Stirling, Scotland, is neither an Indian nor a
India, the correct translation of Baudhayana polemicist, but in his book Introduction to Hindu-
Srautasutra says that while some Aryan tribes ism, he mentions the Aryan migration theory, but
went east and the others went west from some also the alternate: the cultural transformation the-
intermediary point. This intermediary point for sis. According to this view, the Aryan culture was
Dr Lal is not the valley of the Kabul river, but that an indigenous development in the Indus valley,
of the Indus. uninfluenced by invaders or migrants. Thus Hin-
In a lecture given at the 19th International duism evolved with the Aryan culture interacting
Conference on South Asian Archaeology in July with non-Aryan and tribal cultures. This cultural
2007, Dr Lal analysed Dr Sarianidi's evidence— transformation thesis works well with the Out of
fire-worship, soma rituals, ashvamedha—and in the India theory according to which India is the Indo-
case of fire worship he proved that the direction of European homeland from where some groups
movement was from India to Central Asia. He migrated to Central and West Asia and Europe.
also showed that there was no soma in Gonur
Tepe, and the skeleton of the horse was unrelated The Debates and Consequences
to asvamedha. Fuelling the debate over Aryans and their origins
Now genetic studies too are challenging the are various schools—the Orientalist, the National-
Aryan migration theory, the successor of the dis- ist and the Marxist—with different positions. This
credited Aryan invasion theory. Some studies seems perfect since the bias of each of these
have revealed that Southern castes and tribes are schools will get corrected by opinions from other
similar to each other and their gene pool is related schools. Unfortunately in Indian historiography,
to the castes of North India. It was not possible to some schools are more equal than the other.
confirm any difference between the caste and Blessed by the Indian government and aided by a
tribal pools and find any clean delineation be- list of approved scholars, only certain versions of
tween the Dravidian and Indo-European speak- history get into school textbooks. Thus genetic
ers. Another study compared the genes of Brah- studies which overwhelmingly contradict the Ar-
mins and tribals and found that they shared the yan Migration Theory never see the light of the
same origins. Also, there was no evidence for a day. One state government—West Bengal—even
massive migration in the 1500-1200 BC period. goes so far as to publicly declare what is shuddho
If so where did the Aryans originate? In the and what is ashuddo. Thus depending on the cler-
accompanying book, Mr Wood mentions that isy running the Indian Council of Historical Stud-
many Indian scholars and polemicists believe that ies, the colour of history oscillates between saffron
Aryans were indigenous to India. Gavin Flood, and red.
senior lecturer in religious studies at the Univer- In such an atmosphere, when the government

PRAGATI - THE INDIAN NATIONAL INTEREST REVIEW 4

PERSPECTIVE

is a partner in identity politics, promoting one ism, Hindus, Muslims and Christians united in
version of history and silencing others, the chips opposition. The Opposition staged walkouts. Fi-
are not allowed to fall where they should. When a nally the curriculum committee agreed to modify
historian, who identifies himself with a label—O- the text.
rientalist, Marxist or Nationalist—controls the Such activism, from the media, from the par-
debate, history is a prisoner of dogma. Such la- ents, from opposition politicians, is missing when
belled historians silence unpopular ideas, keep it comes to balancing the distortions in existing
inconvenient facts in the dark and display intel- textbooks.
lectual cowardice. Lawsuits, protests, activism—these can be an
In this acerbic debate, any one who opposes effective tools, but there is also a need to popular-
the Aryan migration theory is branded a Hindu ise the discourse. Stephen Ambrose, David
nationalist out to eliminate other minorities from McCullough are masters of the popular history
India. But Edwin Bryant, in his book, The Quest for genre in the West. Barring a few honourable ex-
the origins of Vedic culture, notes that there are a ceptions, in the Indian context this genre consists
number of Western scholars too who don't believe of writing more biographies of Nehru and Gan-
in the external origins of Aryans. Among the In- dhi. There is a need to add more voices to this dis-
dian scholars who he met during his research, course—to explain how the invasion theory
"one prominent Indigenous Aryanist turned out to evolved to migration theory to Aryan trickle
be an atheist and very irreverent Marxist." down theory—because this Aryan-Dravidian race
The media can play an activist role in this de- theory still has serious social and political impli-
bate. In 1993, a decision by Mexico's education cations in India.
minister not to publish new history books as they In 1915, Justice Mahadeo Govind Ranade la-
mented that the Aryan Brahmins were few in
number to make any influence on the aboriginal
When the government is a partner in identity races in the South. Opponents claimed that abo-
riginals were robbed by the Aryan invaders of
politics, promoting one version of history their culture. Periyar E V Ramaswami Naicker,
and silencing others, the chips are not al- went one step further: he despised Hinduism,
asked Tamils to liberate themselves from the Ar-
lowed to fall where they should. Unpopu- yan yoke and claimed Ravana was the Dravidian
lar ideas are silenced and inconvenient hero, not Rama. Recently, Dravidar Kazhagam
leader K Veeramani called for people to reject
facts are kept in the dark. "Aryan" leaders. The politicians who promote a
ideology of caste hatred that should not be able to
did not conform to the "preferred version" re-
get away with their fundamentalist agenda.
sulted in considerable outrage. The Mexican me-
For this we need to evolve from Stalinised his-
dia pursued the story and critically evaluated the
tory and saffronised history to objective history—
text books the same way Indian media panned the
on Aryan theory, on Hindu-Muslim relations, on
Murli Manohar Joshi's revisions.
Independence struggle—by weeding out absurd
Parents too can be activists. In California, upset
'nationalist' claims and distortions written for re-
by the representation of Hinduism in school text-
ligious appeasement. Theories on the origins of
books, Indian-Americans filed a lawsuit against
Indian civilisation must correlate with archaeo-
the Board of Education demanding edits. One of
logical, linguistic and genetic evidence. The stan-
the disputes was about the Aryan theory and dur-
dard for acceptance of theories and hypotheses
ing the hearing, a California curriculum commis-
must not be government approval, religious sanc-
sioner, Stan Metzenberg, said "I've read the DNA
tion or secular ideological compliance, but rather
research and there was no Aryan migration. I be-
ability to withstand the scientific stress test on a
lieve the hard evidence of DNA more than I be-
level playing field.
lieve historians." We have to wait and see if the
text books will actually reflect the change.
Politicians too can be activists. In Kerala, there
was a controversy last year over text books which
highlighted communist struggles over the free-
dom struggle, ignored non-communist social
leaders, and used a picture of a frog instead of Jayakrishnan Nair blogs on history and other issues at
that of Mahatma Gandhi. When it was suspected Varnam (varnam.org/blog) and is guest editor of this
that the Communists were trying to teach athe- special issue of Pragati.

5 No 27 | Jun 2009
 FEATURE

GENETIC STUDIES

The peopling of India

A genomic unity that goes back 50,000 years
MICHEL DANINO

FROM A structuralist perspective, there is proba- were victims of the usual circularity, a priori ac-
bly no queerer theory than that of an invasion of cepting the invasionist scenario, then matching a
India by Aryans or Indo-Aryans in the second limited strand of genetic evidence to it. As the
millennium BC. In its nineteenth-century version, samples studied grew larger and more diverse,
it posited a subcontinent peopled by undefined and as the tools of the young science became more
autochthons (that is, the earliest known inhabi- refined, startling new results have emerged in the
tants) was suddenly submerged, in its northern last few years.
parts at least, by a wave or several waves of Ar-
yan invaders on the warpath. This view, with Basics of genetic studies
numerous variants, generally held until the 1960s, Before we briefly review those relevant to the in-
when US and Indian archaeologists began point- vasion debate, let us refresh our memories. To
ing out that such a phenomenon could hardly study the ancestry of human populations, geneti-
have taken place without leaving some traces in cists look at two types of DNA: the Y-DNA, con-
the archaeological record, which not only stub-
bornly refused to yield such evidence at site after
site, but increasingly stressed continuity rather If biologists had never been told anything
than disruption. The Hollywood-style Aryan
Long March soon mutated into a leisurely stroll about the Aryan migration, they would be
into India by bands of peaceful migrants in search incapable of inferring it from the DNA of
of greener pastures.
But one central question remained: whether an Indians, whether tribes or upper castes,
invasion or a migration—and leaving aside here
its assumed linguistic and cultural impact—not tained in the Y-chromosome of the cell’s nucleus
radically alter India’s demographic landscape? and transmitted from father to son; and the
The answer, clearly, could only be a matter of pro- mtDNA or mitochondrial DNA, found in the cell’s
portion. Either the newcomers arrived in large mitochondria and transmitted by the mother
numbers, or they just “trickled in,” yet somehow alone. DNA molecules undergo slight alterations
managed to trigger off a chain reaction, perhaps or “mutations” in the course of time, which act as
like the proverbial butterfly setting off a distant specific genetic markers: thus two persons sharing
hurricane, in the spirit of chaos theory. Most pro- an mtDNA with the same mutation must share a
ponents of the invasionist or migrationist scenario common ancestor somewhere in the maternal line.
continued to prefer the former view, insisting that Those genetic markers are then grouped in cate-
“the Indo-Aryan immigrants seem to have been gories called “haplotypes,” which are in turn or-
numerous and strong enough to continue and dis- ganised in “haplogroups,” each of which geneti-
seminate much of their culture.” Those who, of cally identifies a particular ethnic group. Within
late, have tried to trim down the numbers of Ar- such a framework, “genetic distances” between
yan tribes to the barest minimum have been com- several populations can be assessed, but it is im-
pelled to do so by two formidable obstacles: the portant to remember that haplogroups have noth-
archaeological stumbling block and the growing ing to do with the old racial classifications, which
objections raised from the 1990s by geneticists have no scientific validity whatsoever: it is impos-
studying Indian populations, whose voice uncan- sible to genetically define an “Aryan” race or a
nily sounded like that of archaeologists. Dravidian one.
Initially, a few genetic studies appeared to
confirm the arrival of a new population from Cen- Chief findings
tral Asia, matching the linguistic division between In India’s case, genetic studies are specially com-
Indo-Aryan and Dravidian speakers. But they plex, not only because of entrenched prejudices on

PRAGATI - THE INDIAN NATIONAL INTEREST REVIEW 6

 FEATURE

the original peopling of India by migrants from

Africa some 50,000 years ago.
• Quite a few Indian populations (including
tribal ones and Dravidian speakers) exhibit some
connection with Central Asian populations; how-
ever, this connection turns out to date back to the
migration from Africa, not to the second millen-
nium BC.
• Indeed the “deep, common ancestry between
the two regions” (India and Central Asia) is more
readily explained by northward migrations from
India’s Northwest some 40,000 years ago.

Invisible Aryans
The conclusion is inescapable: just as the putative
Aryan invasion/migration left no trace in Indian
Photo: Debraj Ghosh
literature, in the archaeological and the anthropo-
racial or linguistic divisions (and the consequent logical record, it is invisible at the genetic level. If
temptation to equate linguistic groups with ethnic biologists had never been told anything about
ones), but because of the high genetic diversity of such a migration, they would be incapable of in-
the subcontinent, next only to that of Africa. Yet a ferring it from the DNA of Indians, whether tribes
few important by-products have emerged from a or upper castes, from the South or North.
dozen studies conducted by teams of biologists in We can now view almost all Indian ethnic
Western and Indian universities: groups (except for known recent immigrants, in
• One study concluded that “high castes share the North-East for instance) as essentially indige-
more than 80 percent of their maternal lineages nous. Of course we are all ultimately descendants
with the lower castes and tribals” and some bi- from Africans, but a period of at least 40,000 years
ologists now speak of a “caste-tribe continuum.” should suffice to earn the label “indigenous.”
Another study found that “the Indian mtDNA Moreover, we may jocularly suggest that all non-
tree in general is not subdivided according to lin- African populations are basically descendants
guistic (Indo-European, Dravidian) or caste affilia- from Indians. As one study put it, “there are now
tions.” In other words, geography, not caste or enough reasons not only to question a ‘recent
language, tends to define Indian genetic groups, Indo-Aryan invasion’ into India some 4000 years
an important conclusion that runs counter to the ago, but alternatively to consider India as a part of
invasionist scenario. the common gene pool ancestral to the diversity
• It is worth stressing that “caste populations of human maternal lineages in Europe.
of ‘north’ and ‘south’ India are not particularly We must patiently await more advanced stud-
more closely related to each other than they are to ies with larger samples and finer analytic meth-
the tribal groups.” For instance, “Southern castes ods. But the genetic wind seems to have turned
and tribals are very similar to each other in their for good, just as the archaeological wind did some
Y-chromosomal haplogroup compositions.” forty years ago. If Indo-Aryans ever migrated to
Again, a 2009 study found Brahmins and the caste India, they only “trickled in.” But how could such
system to be of “autochthonous origin.” small numbers revolutionise India’s cultural and
• Also, studies found linguistic families to be linguistic landscape? That is another of the many
“all much younger” than genetic lineages, and it paradoxes on which the invasionist scenario rests,
would be “highly speculative,” at this stage to ever more shakily.
assume that a “linguistically defined group in In-
dia should be considered more ‘autochthonous’
than any other.” This knocks the bottom out of the
notion of adivasi propounded by the now discred-
ited nineteenth-century racial anthropology—and
still in use in India today despite its lack of scien- Michel Danino is a student of Indian civilisation and has
particularly researched its origins, including the Indus-
tific validity.
Sarasvati civilisation and its continuity with the classical
• Even with India’s genetic diversity, its popu- age. For a more detailed version of this article see
lations, whatever their linguistic areas or castes, “Genetics and the Aryan Debate”, Puratattva, No 36,
share a “fundamental genomic unity” traceable to 2005-06, pp146-154.

7 No 27 | Jun 2009
 FEATURE

GEOLOGICAL STUDIES
The Ghaggar and the Sarasvati
The scientific evidence is against their being one and the same
SUVRAT KHER

IN MAPS of North-west India, the River Ghaggar channels has spurred a lively industry of Sarasvati
appears as a small drainage system, flanked by mappers to trace a maze of paleo-channels sur-
the giant Sutlej to the north and the Yamuna to the rounding the Ghaggar and extending into the
south-east. The rivers and its tributaries originate Thar Desert. These traced maps are then used to
in the Siwalik Hills, meander through the plains claim that in the past the Ghaggar had a lot more
of Haryana and Rajasthan where it is called the water in it and that some of these channels repre-
Hakra and disappears in the sands of western sent the Sutlej River which according to them
Haryana-Rajasthan near Sirsa. There are claims used to flow into the Ghaggar but has changed
though made by various Hindu groups such as course and joined the Indus only in recent times.
the Sarasvati Nadi Shodh Sansthan and the Bharatiya A common element of all these claims is to em-
Itihasa Sankalan Samiti that this rather unremark- phasise that these paleo-channels are as wide as 8-
able river has had a much more impressive past. 10 km, an indication of a very large river.
These and other groups claim that the Ghaggar is There is some real data buried amongst these
in fact the Vedic Sarasvati. The Rig Veda describes exaggerations but it does not support the main
the Sarasvati as an important river along with the claim which is that the Sutlej was a tributary of
Indus, Sutlej, Ganga and Yamuna. the Ghaggar. No such large channel has been con-
For many years supporters of this view were vincingly demonstrated as the Sutlej. And the fig-
using a combination of the Rig Veda and archae- ures of 8-10 km wide channels are misleading.
ology as evidence that the Ghaggar is the Vedic What has been mapped are the flood plains and
Sarasvati. Lately though a different kind of evi- channel system. Flood plains of rivers are very
dence has been brought to bear on this prob- wide and appear dark in images because they
lem—the geological history of the Ghaggar. If geo- contain sediment with higher amounts of mois-
logical evidence shows that the Ghaggar was in ture. This does not mean that the active river
the past a mighty river and one that had a glacial channel at any one point in time was very wide.
source, it would fit descriptions in the Rig Veda of So the evidence from ancient drainage patterns
a large Sarasvati flowing from the mountains to show that the Ghaggar changed course several
the sea. More importantly it would allow Hindu times in the past and contained more water than it
religious groups to claim that the Vedic people does today. It doesn’t show that the Sutlej or for
were present in Northwest India much before the that matter the Yamuna were tributaries of the
Ghaggar dried up about 1800 BC. That would Ghaggar.
strengthen their claim that the Harappan civilisa- The second type of evidence for the Vedic
tion represents the beginning of Vedic civilisation Sarasvati is based on the sediment composition
in India. To that end a lot of effort has been under- found in the Markanda and Somb, tributaries of
taken to generate and collect geological data that the Ghaggar originating in the Siwaliks. A few
supports this view. This data comes in three fla- years ago V V Puri, a glaciologist who had been
vours: geomorphologic, petrologic and geochemi- working on the Markanda river sediments an-
cal. Supporters claim that taken together these nounced that he had found pebbles composed of
three types of data show beyond doubt that the high grade metamorphic rocks in some of the
Ghaggar is the Vedic Sarasvati. A more critical river terraces that were around 5,500 years old. He
viewing of the data does not inspire such confi- argued that since the Markanda river today flows
dence. only through the sedimentary rocks of the Si-
During their lifetime, rivers meander and cut waliks, the presence of metamorphic pebbles
new channels. The older abandoned channels can means that in the past the Markanda river was
be seen in satellite images as dark curvilinear fea- receiving sediments from streams draining a
tures. This technique of using images to delineate metamorphic terrain and that source was cut off

PRAGATI - THE INDIAN NATIONAL INTEREST REVIEW 8

FEATURE

sometime later. He identified this source meta- or more bizarrely claim the opposite. They also
morphic terrain as the Jutogh formation of the point out that these aquifers contain fresh water
high crystalline glacial Himalayas. This, he said is indicating a subterranean Sarasvati still connected
irrefutable evidence that the Ghaggar had a gla- to the Himalayas. This is debatable and does not
cial source in the past, fitting the description of answer the question whether the ancient Ghaggar
the Vedic Sarasvati. was sourced from the Siwaliks or from glaciers.
This analysis, however, ignores the complex Just how and when did the Ghaggar dry up?
sediment distribution patterns which are in play Here too a belief that the Sarasvati arose in the
in Himalayan style collisional basins. The Siwaliks glacial Himalayas has led to a preference for the
may be sedimentary but they are often composed tectonic theory of river desiccation over the better
of pebbles and boulders of metamorphic rocks. supported climate change theory. The tectonic
When sediments which would in the future be- theory says that the Sutlej and Yamuna—both gla-
come rocks of the Siwaliks hills were being depos- cially sourced—flowed into the Ghaggar and tec-
ited, streams eroding the metamorphic Jutogh tonic events diverted these channels away drying
formation transported and deposited metamor- up the Ghaggar/Sarasvati. To date there has been
phic pebbles and boulders in layers known as no serious study that has identified a specific loca-
conglomerates. Later as the Siwalik sediments tion where this deformation took place and no
were consolidated and uplifted as the Siwalik hills work that has timed any deformation event to
a new drainage developed. This drainage repre- show that it was recent enough to have affected
sented by the Markanda River started eroding the Harappan civilisation.
Siwalik conglomerates and received from them On the other hand climate data collected from
metamorphic pebbles and boulders. This way dried up lake sediments in the Thar, the deep sea
streams can contain metamorphic pebbles without Indus fan and pollen from Himalayan peat all
actually draining a metamorphic source rock. The point to an early Holocene wet phase ending
pebbles have been recycled into the recent streams around 3500 BC. North-west India began to dry
via an intermediate Siwalik sedimentary source. up although eastwards in the Siwaliks the mon-
The presence of metamorphic pebbles is not ir- soons were still strong. The Ghaggar would have
refutable evidence of a glacial source for the had enough water to support human habitation
Ghaggar. Yet Dr Puri and other Sarasvati support- due to a wetter source area. By 1800 BC the Thar
ers continue to present this data as a game had totally dried up, rainfall in the source region
clincher. also decreased and the Ghaggar became too dry to
The third type of evidence is based on the oxy- support human activity. Drying progressed from
gen isotope composition of ancient water in west to east, a trend tracked by shifting human
Ghaggar paleo-channels and the strontium and- settlements. Younger Harappan and Painted Grey
neodymium isotope composition of Ghaggar Ware sites (1800–400 BC) occur in eastern Thar
sediment. During precipitation, the lighter isotope and the Ganga Yamuna plains. These patterns
of oxygen will become preferentially enriched in cannot be explained by a tectonic theory of river
the vapour phase. As clouds lose moisture and desiccation.
rise from the foothills to high elevations they be- Attempts by Sarasvati revivalist groups to use
come progressively enriched in the lighter isotope. geological data to equate the Ghaggar with the
Glacial derived water therefore will be isotopi- Vedic Sarasvati have been compromised by the
cally lighter than water from Himalayan foothills. application of poor science and sins of exaggera-
The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has analysed tion and omission. The propaganda however con-
groundwater trapped in paleo-channels in Ra- tinues. A false geological narrative is being con-
jasthan identified as belonging to the Ghaggar- structed and disseminated. Whether the Vedic
Hakra system. The analysis shows that the water people were present on the plains of Haryana and
is ancient and is isotopically heavier than water Punjab before the Ghaggar dried up and whether
from known glacial sources. This indicates that they are the same people who built the Harappan
the Ghaggar was never fed by glaciers. civilisation is not a question that geology can an-
A similar conclusion has been drawn by a swer. That battle is for archaeologists and lin-
separate study using strontium and neodymium guists. One hopes it is settled by good science and
isotopes of Ghaggar sediment. Rocks from the not dogma.
high crystalline Himalayas have a typical signa-
ture that Ghaggar sediments lack. Again, this Suvrat Kher writes about geology, evolution and the
points to the ancient Ghaggar being a Siwalik fed environment at Reporting on a Revolution
river. Sarasvati supporters ignore these findings (suvratk.blogspot.com)

9 No 27 | Jun 2009
 FEATURE

THE MALABAR
Hubs of the medieval trade
During a previous round of globalisation
ULLATTIL MANMADHAN

A NUMBER of modern economists relate globali- brisk exchange between the shores of China,
sation as a phenomenon of the twentieth century. South-east Asia, India, Africa and the Middle East.
In reality, it has been with us for a long time. While many would point out that this was gener-
Hans-Henrik Holm and Georg Sorensen define ally known as the ‘spice trade’ or pepper trade,
globalisation, a term that is used very often today, the Indian Ocean trade system involving Indian,
as ‘intensification of economic, political, social Arab and Chinese traders in fact covered much
and cultural relations across borders.’ So is it more than spices and existed in an unorganised
really something new? Not really, but in order to fashion even before 1000 AD. Spices found great
reach that conclusion one must look at the past acceptance in Europe during this time and the
carefully. volume of and profit on these consignments were
Starting from the time of the Roman empire (or the catalyst to globalisation of that period, further
even earlier) through the Islamic period and the accelerating the larger Western interest into this
Mongol era, globalisation manifested itself in lucrative arena, otherwise termed the Indian
many ways—creating trade routes, shared food Ocean emporia. Interestingly, while it was be-
habits, changing culture, establishing new relig- tween 1250 to 1350 AD (the Mongol era) that East
ions, changing food habits and shaping fashion. Asian technology enriched backward Europe, af-
Religions such as Islam and Buddhism were ter 1500 AD it was the improved technology from
transported to new areas and places. The Silk European nations that started to flow back to-
Road was the means for trading between 2000BC wards Asia.
to 1000 AD where people, ideas and goods For trade to thrive amongst dissimilar com-
moved, albeit slowly over hazardous terrain—on munities, there has to be a certain order in aspects
camel- or horseback—and fraught with losses. such as currency and trade rules, an overall trust
The scene was set for an increase in the other and faith among people, existence of a methodol-
means of movement—sea trade. ogy of compensation or exchange (barter) and
It was during the period 1000 to 1500 AD that finally an administration in various ports of call
maritime networks in the Indian Ocean set up a that has to allow for arbitration and loss mitiga-
Photo: McKay Savage

PRAGATI - THE INDIAN NATIONAL INTEREST REVIEW 10

FEATURE

tion, should something go wrong. Unwritten rules influential trader of the 1100-1200 AD period, was
of trade have existed since time immemorial; they the nagid or trustee of the Jewish Aden traders.
were robust enough and did not depend on the His network covered the areas between Malabar
use of organised force or war, and were based on coasts in India and today’s Spain. Between these
the reputation of the seller and the buyer, the individuals and communities, and a cosmopolitan
reputation of the ruling authority and his honesty expatriate set-up in Calicut and Mangalore (com-
and were generally exemplified by a lack of exces- prising Muslim and Jewish agents), was built the
sive greed (The Lex Mercatoria trade rules were earliest example of globalised trade. As agents,
established much later). The problems which ex- people like Abraham Yiju settled down in Manga-
isted with this kind of trade were piracy, petty lore, married locally and conducted trade for
port theft or troubles arising due to bad weather. Madmun for some 14 years, corresponding over
Prominent amongst the Indian ports were Qui- letters sent back and forth in the ships that met
lon, Muziris, Calicut (Kozhikode), Mangalore and these shores.
Cambay (Khambhat) in Gujarat. This piece will India had the world's largest economy (around
refer mainly to the well documented port town of 33 percent of global GDP) in the first century AD.
Calicut in Malabar and certain Red sea ports such This dropped to around 25 percent by 1500 AD.
as Fustat (old Cairo) and Aden; to study ‘the in- China and Europe too contributed around a quar-
tensification of economic, political, social and cul- ter of the world’s GDP.
tural relations across borders’ which was made To get a perspective of the volume of business
effective by the trading communities comprising conducted, one must study examples of some of
Karimis, Maghribhis, Bohras, Chettis and Vanias the goods and their direction of flow and note that
to name a few. the traded commodity was just not merely spices.
Why was Calicut a confluence for all these dif- In addition, the export from Malabar comprised of
ferent types of people? It started out with an hon- iron ore, brass, bronze, dyes, silk and cotton tex-
est reputation of the port and town, its people, its tiles. It imported gold, silver, silk, dry fruits,
ruler and of course the local implementation of a horses, porcelain and aromatics. Calicut was also
tough legal system. Calicut—the city of truth—"is a trans-shipment point for paper, ink, spices and
a perfectly secured harbour, which, like that of much more. Chinese ships also ferried and traded
Ormuz, brings together merchants from every city commodities needed in Calicut such as rice from
and from every country" wrote Abdu Razzak in Bengal and Orissa during their voyages. Sugar,
1445, whereas Ma Huan writing at about the same and wheat found their way on these ships and
time (1450) noted—"The great country of the fought for space amidst other high-price low-bulk
Western ocean is precisely this country.” The neu- merchandise and sometimes even competed with
trality of port administration is evidenced by the people and horses for space. Much of the cargo
fact that Ibrahim Bandar, the port official was a that landed in Malabar found its way to wealthy
Bahraini. buyers in the rich kingdom of neighbouring Vi-
At the other end of the trade route in Fustat, jayanagar.
there were wealthy medieval Jewish traders of This description would be incomplete without
Tunisian descent dealing through Jewish and touching upon the Eastern shores of India. Arab
Muslim agents settled in Calicut and Mangalore. traders and seamen generally avoided the oceans
In the case of Aden, there were both Maghribi and on the Eastern side of India. Coromandel trade
Karimi traders, and many an Indian trader, con- was administered mainly by Marakkayars settled
ducting and directing the disbursement and load- in Malabar, Ceylon, and Kayalpatanam; the Chi-
ing of goods and issuing instructions. The goods nese sailing from Zeitoun; and the Gujarati com-
landed in Aden went on camel back to Alexandria munity trading out from Cambay via Pulicat with
where Venetian merchants transported them over the far eastern ports. Chinese junks linked ports
water to European ports. The Yemen Sultan col- on the South China Sea and the Malayan coast
lected port charges (Marco Polo calls them hefty with the Malabar.
charges). Chinese traders had been trading with Mala-
In Calicut, the Zamorin's port agents also col- bar since very early times, moving through ports
lected a fixed customs duty for profit and mainte- —Quilon, Muziris and finally Calicut—as these
nance of the harbour. Thus trade was not a state ports rose up and fell from grace. The Chinese
administered enterprise in these three distant lo- brought in gold, silver, silk, incense and pur-
cations but was in private hands, working with chased sandalwood and cotton. A major port of
state sponsorship. call for Zheng He’s treasure fleet during his seven
Madmun Ibn Bandar, the wealthiest and most voyages from 1405 to 1433 AD was Calicut.

11 No 27 | Jun 2009
 FEATURE

In order to understand the trading diaspora an agreement in Calicut is provided by Ma Huan

better, one must also take a quick look at the sail- in his book Ying-Yai Sheng-lan or ‘The Overall
ors, the ship-owners and their contracts. The ships Survey of the Oceans’ Shores’ which concludes
were primarily owned by Arab traders and cap- “whether the price be dear or cheap, we will
tained by seasoned Arab sailors. Many a dhow never repudiate it or change it.” With respect to
was owned by Indians of the trading caste, such coinage, the Zamorins ruled Malabar with the
as the Vanias of Cambay, the Chettis of the Coro- firm control over the mint.
mandel, Marakkar merchants and in one case So important was trade in Malabar that many
even a Nambiar from North Malabar. These wars between local principalities such as Calicut
dhows, which ferried goods from ports across the and Cochin were fought over trade and port
Red Sea to Malabar, were usually about 100 to 250 rights. The medieval trade scene changed with the
tonne in capacity and were loaded to the brim. arrival of Portuguese who used force to regulate
Sometimes these ships—many constructed in Cal- and control trade and to establish monopolies.
icut with Malabar teak—also carried pilgrims to With the arrival of the Portuguese, state-
Mecca on the Westerly trip. sponsored colonisation took root. But in the later
Major Chinese trade during the Zheng He pe- part of the sixteenth century, private enterprise
riod was state-sponsored whereas the Arab and rose to prominence once again with the Portu-
Indian traders were private individuals virtually guese Casados taking over state sponsored trade
born into that caste or trade. Imagine the trading in the late sixteenth century. It later continued
community in Calicut or Fustat or Aden: the mar-
kets would be teeming with Tamil Chettiars, Gu-
jarati Vanias, Tunisian Jews, Karimi traders,
Maghrabhi Arabs and Jews, Italians, Turks, Per-
Calicut—the city of truth—was at the forefront
sians, African slaves, Chinese, various half castes, of globalisation because of its honest reputa-
Malabar Moplahs, black Jews and Syrian Chris-
tians.
tion and tough implementation of the law.
In Calicut, accounts would be kept by learned
senior Chettis (who according to Ma Huan in 1430
did not use even an abacus to do calculations) and with the Dutch and the English East India compa-
armed escort was provided by the Nairs. A score nies. Trade became subjugation and globalisation
of languages and innumerable dialects may have became a form of colonisation; the two East India
been spoken in those narrow streets. Many relig- companies became the greatest examples of global
ions were practised without animosity, and a port corporations.
town like Calicut even provided separate areas for In time Malabar was incorporated into Kerala
living and worship for each community, all laid when India became an independent country and
out in strict accordance to the ancient Hindu its history was forgotten. Between 1500 and 2000
Vaastu system. AD, the bottom fell out of India’s economic bucket
It was as if nature itself had deemed that trade —from a quarter of the world economy to a small
had to be conducted where the winds stopped. fraction of it. The city of Calicut has changed as
No trader likes undue risks. Once risk was taken well. There is no port activity, though the city is
out of the trade equation or mitigated, trade con- still a bustling commodity trading centre and the
tinued smoothly with the periodic monsoon roads teem with activity. The Moplahs—descen-
winds that brought the ships in and took them out dants of Arab traders—are sometimes a discon-
of Malabar ports. Payment was assured by the tented lot, but maintain religious harmony and
appointed local agents (usually from the same are slowly integrating with the other communi-
community or nationality as the trader) and the ties. The Jews, Chettis and Gujaratis are gone, so
risk of loss and theft was well covered by the also all the other paradesis.
power and reputation of the local king. As far as Today’s resident of Malabar is a far weaker
business itself was concerned, trust was para- supporter of globalisation. But the state is slowly
mount and since it took many months for goods opening up and joining the rest of the nation. The
to reach the destination, with payment made us- famed Calico looms can no longer be found; pep-
ing bartered goods or even money going back the per is still produced but the flourishing trade
same way, the role of the agent and the ship's cap- networks are gone.
tain was vital.
Coinage, contracts, and commodity pricing Ullattil Manmadhan blogs at Historic Alleys
were also important. A good example of striking (historicalleys.blogspot.com).

PRAGATI - THE INDIAN NATIONAL INTEREST REVIEW 12

FEATURE

Photo: Luca Penati

THE BAY OF BENGAL

Eastern sea, golden lands

One day, around a thousand years ago...
ANAND KRISHNAMOORTHI

The Purvasamudhram was finally quiet after two Malay peninsula and Vikraman was sure that he
days of incessantly tossing the boat about. Sokkan would be given some messy administrative prob-
the old man still sat in his usual spot near the Ku- lems to fix in the new territories. The Srivijaya
dirai Chettis, the horse merchants. Here was an- capital was taken but the Sailendra army did not
other chance for him to brag about the strength of seem to be giving up that easily. Not that anyone
the vessel and the thoughtfulness of the crew. expected any different.
They had come through the storm mostly un- Sokkan claimed he used to be a merchant ad-
scathed and were just past Manakkavaram. The venturer. Now he was dressed in the garb of a
young officer had taken a liking to Sokkan despite hermit. As is custom, a hermit's origin is never
the blighter's ability to constantly disparage the sought. His old Prasasti proudly placed his ex-
Cholas. Vikramadityan was twenty-five and had guild's origin in Ayyavole. He was a Nandesi and
already proved himself an able soldier and com- he might as well have been from all the thousand
mander of men. He was from Uraiyur and came directions of their lore. He might have never ever
from a family that had for generations been ut- left their Pudukkottai base, but his stories were all
terly loyal to the Cholas. His ancestors had fought filled with exotic countries and ports. He had
at Takkolam. It was now 1026 AD. Rajendra Chola bought horses from the Arabs, sold perfume to the
was rapidly expanding the empire his father Ra- Chinese, fought pirates off Manakkavaram. He
jaraja had first taken out of the Indian main- even claimed to have once had a tryst with a Ya-
land—the Chola empire that began growing out vana woman at the Kodungallur lighthouse. This
of the narrow fertile zone around the Kaveri river man had all the cockiness, irreverence, and lewd
in the Tamil country. jokes of the typical sailor. He was a saffron-clad
The boat was on its way to Kadaram on the Shaivite hermit now. Proper sailors would have

13 No 27 | Jun 2009
 FEATURE

kept better birds with them. All he had was a tatty “I'm glad you find something good about the
old crow, probably as old as himself. Emperor. The General was telling me how we
A couple of days after they left Korkai, Vikra- would have to let the merchants do their job, and
man had found the old man entertaining his ser- how we need more Nagarams and specialised
vants. At that time Vikraman's thoughts were trading centres in all our new territories. We do
elsewhere. He was cursing his brother Parthiban love business and trade. But tell me old man” Vik-
for having booked him on this merchant fleet. He raman asked, “why are you not in your guild
would have much preferred to have travelled anymore and why do you not appreciate the em-
with his soldiers and fellow officers on those war- pire growing and expanding open trade under the
ships. Partiban had suggested that his first over- Tamil Crown?”
seas voyage should be spent in relative luxury. “Sometimes the Crown cannot see the differ-
But Vikraman's stomach was not in any position ence between trade and traders, business and
to appreciate any of it. The old man's smelly, sour, businessmen, nations and guilds. And who said I
herbal concoction was more than welcome relief. don't trade anymore? Except I now deal in a
So was his company. commodity that some businessmen and most poli-
Sokkan made it clear right from the start that ticians find no use in. And it is also tax free!”
he was not a big fan of the war and the conquest. “Wisdom and love” Vikraman said, repeating
His opinion of the ruling family was not too chari- the line his servants had picked up from Sokkan
table either. He kept talking about the time like a mantra.
Sundara Chola's crown prince Aditya was mur- “What is with you and foreigners” Vikraman
dered. He insisted it had something to do with continued. “That deal with the Chinese does not
Uttama Chola, Rajendra's grand uncle who had
ruled briefly before his father Rajaraja's reign. Vik-
raman, like most of his ilk kept his silence about Your emperor, is working hard at reviving
that incident. His grandfather, who had served
under Sundara Chola actually quit active duty trade with the Chinese. And that country is a
and went back to tend his farm when Uttama as- perfect example of how bad internal politics
cended the throne. That was until finally Rajaraja
became regent and called him back to Thanjavur. makes a nation insular and dysfunctional to
Only those with wild imaginations and wilder the outside world. In our country we at least
tongues were left to spew outrageous conspiracy
theories. Sokkan spoke about palace intrigue, fam- know how the king steals our money.
ily insiders, some Pandyan spies, a Sinhala prince,
and a mysterious woman. "But whatever is to be mean we love them. Just that we'd be better off
said" he continued, "They did figure out a way of not fighting them, but doing business with them
sorting out succession disputes. Masterstroke instead.”
really, making your son the co-regent. In China, “And Sangrama Vijayottunga Varman was not
fathers have their sons killed." a big fan of you directly dealing with the Chinese
Thankfully for Vikraman the topic of discus- was he?”
sion changed when Sokkan learned more about “Kadaram had to be conquered. Trade had to
his work. He did have some praise for the Cholas be freed up” the young man justified.
for having left local administration decentralised “Maybe it was just a rich country that also
and granting a great deal of autonomy to the happened to be in the way?”
Nagarams and the Nagarattars. “I have been to a “Maybe it is just another foreign nation that
few countries and everything happens around the needs to be taught some proper Tamil values and
capital, and you pay your taxes to the king who culture”
deigns to have that money redistributed at his “Ah!” the old man exclaimed. “Foreigners
will." Vikraman smiled briefly while Sokkan con- needing to be taught the Tamil way... This is
tinued. "Your emperor, like his father before him, where your pride fails you and makes you sound
is working hard at reviving trade with the Chi- like a slab of stone. A stone slab on a grand temple
nese. And that country is a perfect example of wall, filled with as much information and as much
how bad internal politics makes a nation insular polemic. But yet, a stone slab.”
and dysfunctional to the outside world. In our Vikraman was not amused.
country we at least know how the king steals our Many of the men on board truly believed that
money. Parakesari (Rajendra Chola) also exempts the old man held within him the spirits of sailors
characters like me from taxes" from the dawn of time, and that he could even

PRAGATI - THE INDIAN NATIONAL INTEREST REVIEW 14

FEATURE

predict the future. “Let me explain”, he said, piracy. You have fought them yourself. Aren't you
masterfully keeping the aura of a sage. “There glad that your emperor could do that for you
were merchant adventurers even before the Cho- now?”
las or the Pallavas...” “And he certainly gets paid in gold for his
He told their stories like they were his own. Of services” Sokkan promptly replied “He can have
the older boats that could only sail during the his capital city cross the river, yet there are perils
windy seasons. Of having stumbled onto strange in these seas which even the mighty Rajendra
lands with strange foreigners until they were bet- cannot surmount”
ter known as the Suvarnadvipam. And that was just before the storm hit.
“We had taken Tamil to the corners of the That fearful sea surge certainly dented, if not
world before you warriors even thought of subju- shattered Vikaraman's hubris and his already
gating those people with your swords. And you delicate digestive system. The sailors worked
think you are bringing Tamil to those lands? The through their practised routine. Techniques per-
people you have fought are your own kind, peo- fected over centuries. The boat survived in re-
ple who speak the same language and worship markably good condition. The only one with
the same gods. All thanks to years of trade and casualties were the navy's pilot vessel that veered
negotiation and deals and treaties which we man- off course and was found a day later with half its
aged to have in place. I would claim that your crew missing.
position is very convenient.” On that calm morning after the storm. Sok-
“Frankly old sir, despite what you say, by your kan's crow crept out of his box, flew out and came
own admission, our Empire is the better run than back with a throbbing fish in its beak. Clever bird.
most in this world. Do you want us to give up the The old man traded his catch with the Kudirai
world like you, don saffron robes and preach Chetti's handler for an extra ration of fresh water
love?” with which he boiled poor Vikraman more herbal
"Oh I would expect nothing of that sort. Stick medicine.
to your dharma. But you could at least abandon “In the old days, if a storm lasted more than a
your pride. Nothing lasts forever. The Cholas will few days. We would draw lots thrice, and the un-
not last forever." lucky sailor would be lowered down on a bamboo
Sokkan paused. He knew the young man was raft for having brought ill-luck upon us. We did
aware of the Sri Lankan situation. that to a Chinaman once. But that never works
"You thought Mahinda was defeated and the with the Arabs. And talking of Arabs, there will be
Tiger flag would fly over Lanka forever? Today, he a day when both sides weakened by your war
is the hunted, tomorrow things could entirely be would lose to those smart chaps who have been
the other way around. Mahinda will return and waiting for you to consolidate your conquests.
hunt your down. If not now, later, and do you They'll just pluck them out of your hands. Can
think he is going to love you for all that you have you imagine the trade on the Purvasamudhram and
done in his land. His loyal Pandyan allies too are the Aparasamudhram run under the banner of the
waiting for you to fall." Arab?”
Vikraman did not respond. “Rubbish” said Vikraman. “The Arabs con-
"Let your emperor decide", Sokkan continued quering Srivijaya because we have weakened it?
"What does he want to leave behind for someone You must be joking” But he knew it was no use
a thousand years later to see and learn. Marvels in arguing with the old man. In a tone as much
stone, or lessons in history? meant to humour the man as to mock him said.
All this came back to Vikraman as he sat in the “Maybe, just maybe if by some miracle, the Chi-
barracks at Kadaram a few months after that voy- nese can learn enough magic to put the Chola
age. Then Sokkan's pithy observations seemed to army to sleep, they too could also conquer us
be less caustic, and Vikraman would dare admit, huh?”
even true. That morning there was another am- “Hmm” Sokkan murmured theatrically “Now
bush outside the camp, and the week before, two you know why we lower Chinese men down to
ships were sunk. This war seemed to never end. the sea on bamboo rafts?”
Maybe like the old man said, Vikraman thought, it
might go on for a hundred years.
Back on the boat, that day Vikraman's slightly
Anand Krishnamoorthi is a sound engineer working in
wounded ego tried to salvage something from South Indian films, and blogs at mdeii.blogspot.com.
Sokkan's barrage. “Pride! Well I am proud to be in For an explanation of the Tamil terms and historical
the army that cleared this sea of the menace of place names refer to our website.

15 No 27 | Jun 2009
 FEATURE

THE NORTHWEST
The tribal militias of the Frontier
The British had terrible luck purchasing their loyalty
JOSHUA FOUST

ONE of the ideas recently circulating around By 1878, the Frontier Scouts, whose members
US.policy circles is utilising a tribal militia of were drawn directly from local tribes, entered
some sort to address otherwise intractable secu- service along the Northwest Frontier. Their pri-
rity issues. The “Sons of Iraq,” as the Anbar mary mission was policing the Khyber Pass, a job
Awakening came to be known in the US govern- the Scouts did with little fanfare, budget, or fire-
ment, seems to be a popular model for problems power. Part of this was born of necessity—the
everywhere: with the Pentagon, one can find British were wary of imposing too much change
“Sons of…” ideas for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and on a people they considered primitive—but part
even Somalia. was born of an ingrained distrust in the Scouts’
One western power in particular, however, has loyalty. This distrust kept them lightly armed and
a long history of using these tribal militias in pur- at arm’s length. The importance of this distance
suit of its interests. Perhaps most famously along came to matter a great deal during the Third
the Northwest Frontier in the late nineteenth and Anglo-Afghan War, when King Amanullah Khan
early twentieth centuries, the British empire em- capitalised on the growing weakness of British
ployed multiple types of militias and community rule along the Frontier and marched as far as the
defence organisations in an attempt to secure their city of Thal in Parachinar. During this war, many
border along Afghanistan. Examining their crea- Pashtuns in the Frontier Scouts deserted to fight
tion, successes, and failures, lends substantial les- alongside the Afghans.
sons for today. One of the most visible successes the British
Probably the earliest deliberate use of tribal had with tribal militias was in the war against the
elements in providing security along the North- Faqir of Ipi from 1936 to 1947, also known as the
west Frontier was the Queen’s Own Corps of Tori Khel Rebellion. Led by by a charismatic Is-
Guides, formed in Peshawar in 1846. Created by lamic fundamentalist leader named Haji Mirza Ali
Sir Henry Lawrence, the Corps of Guides was a Khan, or the Faqir of Ipi, all of Waziristan col-
mixed infantry and cavalry force that had a lapsed into violence. After a few months of sus-
Pashtun majority, though there were some other tained fighting, the Tori Khel came to a peace
ethnic groups involved in its early days—most jirga. Despite this, there remained a serious prob-
notably Sikhs. lem of cross-border tribal militancy from Afghani-
Very quickly, the Guides developed into an stan—militants continued to cross the Durand
elite force with a strong reputation in the Indian Line and launch attacks. This postponed the fight-
Army. In contrast with later militia groups, the ing until well into 1939, not fully petering out un-
Guides did not elevate their tribal or communal til the 1940s.
loyalties above that of their unit. During the Sec- In his diary-like account of an early period of
ond Anglo-Afghan War, a group of the Corps of the war, Geoffrey Moore, for example, noted that
Guides accompanied the British contingent and they could only threaten entire communities with
stood guard at the embassy they established in violent reprisals should attacks on British troops
Kabul. After the signing of the Treaty of Ganda- continue—a provision written into the very laws
mak, an angry mob attacked the embassy in Ka- of Pakistan’s tribal areas.
bul, killing all the Englishmen inside, including The Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), which
Sir Louis Cavagnari, the British Resident. After was first drafted in 1872 but made law in 1903,
their deaths, the remaining Corps of Guides were enshrines the role of Sharia in judicial settlements
offered safe passage back to India if they laid in FATA. This brought the areas under de facto
down their arms; all, however, refused, and British control, but exempted the area’s residents
fought to the death. This sort of devotion made from de jure British rule. A key enforcement
them legends in the British empire. clause of the FCR is the idea of collective or com-

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FEATURE

munal punishment, in which an entire community fought off the tribes, and though there remained
is held responsible for the actions of an individual holdouts in Upper Swat they never reprimanded.
or group of individuals. While Moore highlights Furthermore, the tribal militias were not guar-
one way this could be effective, today collective antors of security. HRC Pettigrew tells the story of
punishment could be classified as a crime against the Frontier Scouts’ aggressive push into Ladha,
humanity. “the highest of the Scouts’ posts.” It was deep into
The British found terrible luck, at least in the Mehsud territory, and relations with them were
long term, in purchasing the loyalty of tribal always restless.
groups. During the First Anglo-Afghan War, for While tribal issues in NWFP were not a signifi-
example, the loyalty of local Pashtuns from Raw- cant factor during the anti-Soviet jihad (most of
alpindi to Kabul was purchased in gold. When the the tribes’ energy, save some fighting amongst the
gold ran out in 1842, however, and the Pashtuns different warlord factions, was spent trying to kill
demanded even more than the British had paid Soviets), tribal issues again rose to prominence in
before, the result was the disaster at Gandamak. the 1990s. During this time, the Pakistani gov-
FW Johnston, who wrote the briefing paper for ernment actively encouraged militancy in many of
the NWFP and FATA districts as a deliberate
strategy to build up “fanatical” religious soldiers
to fight India in Jammu & Kashmir. These zealot-
tribals also took advantage of the relative law-
The Frontier Crimes Regulations penalises lessness and anarchy in Afghanistan and in-
creased their cross-border economic and military
an entire community for the actions of indi- activities, often doing tours fighting both for the
viduals or groups. While this is effective Taliban and in low-intensity conflicts in Kashmir.
sometimes, it could well be classified as a This was openly practised until just after Septem-
ber 11, 2001; since the US invasion of Afghanistan,
crime against humanity. such activity has become much more proscribed.
The recent calls within the US for a “Sons of
Pakistan” program—such as a late 2007 decision
to “partner” with renowned militant leader
future political agents to the area, noted that they Maulvi Nazir—reflect an unsettling ignorance of
promised the Ahmadzais vast tracts of land in the use of these militias in the tribal areas of Paki-
return for help in providing security. It is unclear stan. For its part, the Pakistani government has
the Pakistani government could bring about a steadfastly refused to arm or otherwise support
similarly appealing set of incentives for reduced home-grown tribal militias for reasons many
militancy. Americans find inexplicable. The answer lies bur-
Another challenge the British faced was the ied in history, one few westerners have ever much
periodic rise of charismatic figures that used explored.
prophesies and appeals to tribal and Islamic loyal-
ties to urge the local Pashtuns to rebel. In the Dir
district of the FATA in 1897, a man known only as
the Mad Mullah incited a series of violent attacks Joshua Foust is an American defence consultant. He
on the camps in Dir and western Swat. After a blogs about Central Asia and the Caucasus at
rapid movement of reinforcements, the British www.registan.net

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REVIEW

A Muslim traveller’s tales

Across the Dar-ul-Islam in the 14th century
JAYAKRISHNAN NAIR

THE FIRST thing that Prof other civilisations. It is

Review
Matthew Herbst asks stu- natural that for Indians, the
dents to do in the introduc- The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A centre of their world is In-
tory lecture of the series Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth dia, but when they read
New Ideas/Clash of Cul- Century about the Buddha, knowl-
tures at University of Cali- edge of the Axial age—
fornia, San Diego is to draw by Ross E Dunn when Socrates, the Jewish
University of California Press, 379 pages, 2004
a map of the world and la- prophets, and Confucius
bel as many countries as revolutionised think-
possible. A minute later they are asked to keep ing—gives better perspective. Such perspective
their pens down and name the country at the cen- provides awareness that the empiricism of John
tre of the map. Some have Italy, a few have North Locke and scepticism of David Hume could be
America, and some the Atlantic Ocean. derived from the dialogue between Indra and Pra-
This instinctive action, which illustrates the japati in Chandogya Upanishad. Proper context for
cultural bias of historians, is amplified if educa- local history will be obtained by taking an intro-
tion starts with the typical Western Civilisation till ductory course in World Civilisation instead of
1600 followed by the Western Civilisation since Western Civilisation, as well as by reading the
1600 course. A student could thus specialise in the works of ancient travellers like Ibn Battuta.
Ancient Near East with tangential knowledge
about India, China, Africa, or the Muslim empires. The Rihla
Affinity towards one's homeland is natural, In 1325, this twenty-one year old Moroccan left
but it should be balanced with knowledge about home to perform the haj. In fact he visited Mecca

PRAGATI - THE INDIAN NATIONAL INTEREST REVIEW 18

BOOKS

four times—first from Morocco via North Africa, some selling drugs and food items in Mecca, some
Egypt, Palestine and Syria, the second after visit- as pages accompanying Princess Bayalun of the
ing Iraq and Persia, the third after going down the Golden Horde, and some scholars in Oman. He
Swahili coast up to Tanzania and the final one af- knew that Indian ships sailed to Aden regularly.
ter visiting Anatolia, Delhi, Calicut, Maldives and He also knew that the Delhi sultanate welcomed
China. When he returned to Morocco, surviving foreigners and paid well.
the Black Plague that devastated Europe, he had It is interesting to contrast some of the places
visited about forty countries in the modern map Ibn Battuta visited with their current state. Moga-
covering a distance of 117,000 km. dishu, currently invokes the images of civil war,
Settling down in Tangier he collaborated with militias and poverty, but at the time of Ibn Bat-
a young literary scholar, Ibn Juzayy, to compose tuta's visit, it was one of the richest ports owing to
the rihla—a book of travels in Arabic litera- the connections with the Horn of Africa and
ture—about his impressions of all the countries Ethiopia. Ibn Battuta met the ruler, Abu Bakr, who
and his experience which included working as a wore a "robe of green Jerusalem stuff" above "fine
judge for Mohammed bin Tughluq, becoming loose robes of Egypt with a wrapper of silk." Dur-
penniless near the Doab, and attempting a coup in ing a meal of chicken, meat, fish, green ginger,
Maldives. mangoes and pickled lemon, he observed that a
Since Ibn Battuta wrote his rihla towards the single resident of Mogadishu ate more than a
end of his itinerant career, some details are incor- whole company of visitors.
rect and fuzzy; after visiting Constantinople, Ibn While the Mongols had reduced Baghdad to a
Battuta was impressed by the markets, monaster- small provincial town, Cairo was prospering un-
ies and the Genoese colony of Galata while in real- der the Mamluk sultanate—members of a slave
ity, by that time, it was a city on the decline. Also dynasty—due to the Red Sea trade. Jerusalem,
his book is not an encyclopaedia; he wrote about which was under Mamluk control, was a small
town of no great importance; Ibn Battuta spent a
week there meeting various scholars and Sufi
masters. By the time he arrived in Delhi, Mo-
Ibn Battuta's travels showcase the importance hammed bin Tughluq, who had succeeded the
of Muslim trade networks and the prosperity it Slave Dynasty, had finished his controversial ex-
periment in shifting capitals. A seven year
bought to the trading communities in India and drought and the first of the twenty-two rebellions
elsewhere. that would bring his downfall was about to start.
On his first visit, the sultan's mother gave Ibn
Battuta 2000 silver dinars. Even before he got the
things which fascinated him, like saints, life job of the judge, Tughluq ordered him to be paid
among the upper crust of society, and Muslim cul- 5000 silver dinars and the revenue from two vil-
ture. lages. On his appointment, he got 12,000 dinars as
So using the rihla as spine, Ross E Dunn has perquisite with an annual salary of 12,000 dinars.
fleshed out this book by providing the history of According to Dr Dunn, at that time an average
each city that Ibn Battuta visited. The chapter on Hindu family lived on 5 dinars per month; a sol-
Anatolia provides a brief history of the transfor- dier, 20.
mation of a country of Greek and Armenian Even though he was rich, the cost of living in
Christians into Turkey and the sections on Cairo Delhi was high. The hamster that kept the Delhi's
and Delhi provides background information on economic wheel turning, much like the present,
how they both rose to prominence, thanks to the was sycophancy. Nobles borrowed money to buy
Mongol empire. Since Ibn Battuta's objects of fas- expensive gifts for the sultan and other nobles,
cination were few, Dr Dunn juxtaposes the miss- who then reciprocated with gifts of higher value.
ing pieces from other history books and writings Soon Ibn Battuta amassed debts of more than
from other travellers like Simon Semeonis, Lu- 55,000 dinars to get out of which, quite interest-
dolph von Suchem, and Ibn Jubayr, making this ingly, he composed an ode to the Sultan.
book comprehensive. Also he faced first hand the job risks in work-
ing with a pixilated Sultan. Tughluq took um-
Ibn Battuta's World brage at Ibn Battuta's association with a Sufi as-
Some time after the first haj Ibn Battuta heard cetic who had fallen out of favour. Tughluq first
about India's riches and wanted to seek employ- got the ascetic's beard plucked hair by hair, then
ment there. He already had exposure to Indians; later tortured and beheaded him. Ibn Battuta was

19 No 27 | Jun 2009
 BOOKS

put under house arrest for nine days and expected lust could travel through Dar al-Islam staying in
to be executed. Surprisingly he was freed and en- mosques, or with the scholars, kings, and saints
trusted with a mission to China. receiving gifts of robes, horses and camels.
Arriving in Calicut and Quilon on his way to The relative peace during Ibn Battuta's time
China as the Mughal emissary to the Mongol soon changed. In China, Genghis Khan's heir fled
court carrying a gift of 200 Hindu slaves, he found with his entire court unable to halt the advance of
that the entire trade of the Malabar and Coro- the rebels. The Ottoman Turks captured Constan-
mandel coast was controlled by Muslims. He also tinople and turned the Hagia Sophia into a
found that the Hindu rulers of those provinces mosque. Timur invaded Delhi and by his own
allowed Muslims to worship as they pleased and account killed 10,000 infidels in an hour. The most
encouraged these trade communities. Also, simi- important event happened, a century later, in the
lar to the frequent battles between the countries Malabar coast with the arrival of Vasco da Gama's
on the African coast, battles among small prov- fleet. This was not just a great navigational feat,
inces along the Indian west coast was also com- but a major geo-political event by which Europe-
mon and Ibn Battuta participated in the battle by ans cut off the Muslim middlemen.
Honavar against Sandapur (Goa). Dr Dunn's book presents Ibn Battuta's world
Ibn Battuta's travels showcase the importance not in isolation, but in a global context helping us
of Muslim trade networks and the prosperity it better understand the world of 14th century. It is
bought to the trading communities in India and not surprising that this book was required reading
elsewhere. He travelled during a period of relative in Prof Herbst's class.
calm; the crusades were over, the Mongols were
Islamised and the Muslim caravan routes
throbbed with activity carrying not just mer- Jayakrishnan Nair writes about Indian history at Var-
chants, but scholars, craftsmen, Sufis and con- nam (varnam.org) and is the guest editor of this special
verts. Thus a Muslim grandee seized by wander- issue of Pragati.

IN EXTENSO

Foreign observations
Excerpts from perspectives on India

Megasthenes, c. 288 BC should one of the sowings prove more or less

(From Ancient India as described by Megasthenes and abortive they are always sure of the other crop.
Arrian, by J W McCrindle, Trubner & Co, 1877) But, farther, there are usages observed by the
Indians which contribute to prevent the occur-
The inhabitants, in like manner, having abundant rence of famine among them; for whereas among
means of subsistence, exceed in consequence the other nations it is usual, in the contests of war, to
ordinary stature, and are distinguished by their ravage the soil, and thus to reduce it to an uncul-
proud bearing. They are also found to be well tivated waste, among the Indians, on the contrary,
skilled in the arts, as might be expected of men by whom husbandmen are regarded as a class
who inhale a pure air and drink the very finest that is sacred and inviolable, the tillers of the soil,
water. even when battle is raging in their neighbour-
It is accordingly affirmed that famine has hood, are undisturbed by any sense of danger, for
never visited India, and that there has never the combatants on either side in waging the con-
been a general scarcity in the supply of nourishing flict make carnage of each other, but allow those
food. For, since there is a double rainfall in the engaged in husbandry to remain quite unmo-
course of each year,—one in the winter season, lested. Besides, they neither ravage an enemy's
when the sowing of wheat takes place as in other land with fire, nor cut down its trees.[The Ganges]
countries, and the second at the time of the sum- which at its source is 30 stadia broad, flows from
mer solstice—the inhabitants of India almost al- north to south, and empties its waters into the
ways gather in two harvests annually: and even ocean forming the eastern boundary of the Gan-

PRAGATI - THE INDIAN NATIONAL INTEREST REVIEW 20

 BOOKS

garidai, a nation which possesses a vast force of the second is for providing subsidies for the min-
the largest-sized elephants. Owing to this, their isters and chief officers of state; the third is for
country has never been conquered by any foreign, rewarding men of distinguished ability; and the
king : for all other nations dread the overwhelm- fourth is for charity to religious bodies, whereby
ing number and strength of these animals. [Thus the field of merit is cultivated. In this way the
Alexander the Makedonian, after conquering all taxes on the people are light, and the personal
Asia, did not make war upon the Gangaridai, as service required of them is moderate. Each one
he did on all others; for when he had arrived with keeps his own worldly goods in peace, and all till
all his troops at the river Ganges, and had sub- the ground for their subsistence.
dued all the other Indians, he abandoned as hope- These who cultivate the royal estates pay a
less an invasion of the Gangaridai when he sixth part of the produce as tribute. The merchants
learned that they possessed four thousand ele- who engage in commerce come and go in carrying
phants well trained and equipped for war.] out their transactions. The river-passages and the
It is said that India, being of enormous size road-barriers are open on payment of a small toll.
when taken as a whole, is peopled by races both When the public works require it, labour is ex-
numerous and diverse, of which not even one was acted but paid for. The payment is in strict pro-
originally of foreign descent, but all were evi- portion to the work done.
dently indigenous; and moreover that India nei-
ther received a colony from abroad, nor sent out a Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur, 932 AD
colony to any other nation. (From The Baburnama—Memoirs of Babur, prince
and emperor. Trans. by Wheeler M. Thackston, The
Xuanzang, c. 629 AD Modern Library, 2002. Copyright © 1996. The
(From Si-Yu-ki - Buddhist records of the Western Smithsonian Institution.)
world Hiuen Tsiang by Samuel Beal, Vol I, Book II,
Trubner & Co, 1884) Most of the provinces of Hindustan are located
on flat terrain. So many cities and so many prov-
On examination, we find that the names of India inces—yet there is no running water anywhere.
(T'ien-chu) are various and perplexing as to their The only running water is in the large rivers. Even
authority. It was anciently called Shin-tu, also in cities that have the capability of digging chan-
Hien-tau; but now, according to the right pronun- nels for running water do not do so.
ciation, it is called In-tu. The people of In-tu call The cities and provinces of Hindustan are all
their country by different names according to unpleasant. All cities, all locales are alike. The
their district. Each country has diverse customs. gardens have no walls, and most places are flat as
Aiming at a general name which is the best boards.
sounding, we will call the country In-tu. In Chi- In Hindustan the destruction and building of
nese this name signifies the Moon. villages and hamlets, even of cities, can be accom-
The countries embraced under this term of In- plished in an instant. Such large cities in which
dia are generally spoken of as the five Indies. The people have lived for years, if they are going to be
entire land is divided into seventy countries or so. abandoned, can be left in a day, even half a day, so
that no sign or trace remains. If they have a mind
to build a city, there is no necessity for digging
Arrian (c. 145 AD) wrote “A sense of justice irrigation canals or building dams. Their crops are
all unirrigated. There is no limit to the people. A
prevented any Indian king from attempting group gets together, makes a pond, or digs a well.
conquest beyond the limits of India”. In 1904 There is no making of houses or raising of walls.
They simply make huts from the plentiful straw
Curzon argued that it is short-sighted to merely and innumerable trees, and instantly a village or
man the ramparts of India and not look beyond. city is born.
Most of the people of Hindustan are infidels,
As the administration of the government is whom the people of India call Hindu. In our
founded on benign principles, the executive is country the people who move about the country-
simple. The families are not entered on registers, side have clan names, but in India even those who
and the people are not subject to conscription. The dwell in towns and villages have clan names.
private demesnes of the crown are divided into Every craft and trade is passed from father to son.
four principal parts; the first is for carrying out the Hindustan is a place of little charm. There is no
affairs of state and providing sacrificial offerings ; beauty in its people, no graceful social inter-

21 No 27 | Jun 2009
 BOOKS

course, no poetic talent or understanding, no eti- is enough for me to guard what we have without
quette, nobility or manliness. The arts and crafts hankering for more.
have no harmony or symmetry. There are no good
horses, meat, grapes, melons, or other fruit. There Alice Albinia, 2008
is no ice, cold water, good food or bread in the (From Empires of the Indus—The Story of a River, by
markets. There are no baths and no madrasas. Alice Albinia, John Murray, 2008. Copyright ©
There are no candles, torches or candlesticks. 2008. Alice Albinia)
The one nice aspect of Hindustan is that it is a
large country with lots of gold and money. An- In 2003, the oldest graves in the region were dis-
other nice thing is the unlimited numbers of covered in Chitral and Gilgit, the two far north-
craftsmen and practitioners of every trade. For western provinces of Pakistan. For Pakistani ar-
every labour and every product there is an estab- chaeologists, this discovery vindicated their Ar-
lished group who have been practicing that craft yan invasion hypothesis: the oldest graves were
or professing that trade for generations. furthest north, they say, because these people en-
tered the area from the north-west...’They came
Lord George Nathaniel Curzon, 1904 through the Baroghil and Darkot passes directly
(From Lord Curzon in India, a selection of his into Chitral and Gilgit’, I am told by Muhammad
speeches, compiled by Thomas Raleigh, Macmil- Zahir, a young archaeologist who led the excava-
lan, 1906) tions. Could this be the journey the Rig Veda ap-
pears to be hint at? India, it is written, has carried
(India) is like a fortress with the vast moat of the the tribes across ‘many rivers’ and ‘through nar-
sea on two of her faces, and with mountains for row passages’.
her walls on the remainder. But beyond those The Chitral graves have also reopened the de-
walls, which are sometimes of by no means insu- bate over the origins of the Kalash people—one
perable height and admit of being easily pene- ancient graveyard was found in the Kalash village
trated, extends a glacis of varying breadth and of Rumbur, and another on the site of a medieval
dimensions. We do not want to occupy it, but we Kalash fort. This, the archaeologists says, suggests
also cannot afford to see it occupied by our foes. that the Kalash are the long-lost Aryans, still liv-
We are quite content to let it remain in the hands ing where their ancestors had three millenia.
of our allies and friends; but if rival and un- There is a tempting neatness to this theory.
friendly influences creep up to it, and lodge them- Tradition is a fragile thing in a culture built
selves right under our walls, we are compelled to entirely on the memories of the elders. Neither
intervene, because a danger would thereby grow Muslim, Hindu nor Buddhist, the Kalash religion
up that might one day menace our security. This is is syncretic, involving a pantheon of gods, sacred
the secret of the whole position in Arabia, Persia, goats, and a reverence for river sources and
Afghanistan, Tibet, and as far eastwards as Siam. mountaintops.
He would be a short-sighted commander who The Kalash have no holy book, and hence ab-
merely manned his ramparts in India and did not sorb influences idiosyncratically and seemingly at
look out beyond; and the whole of our policy dur- random. Such is the pressure from Islam in Bum-
ing the past five years has been directed towards boret, few young Kalash seem proud of their pan-
maintaining our predominant influence and to theon, or even to know of its existence.
preventing the expansion of hostile agencies on The Kalash language, like that spoken in the
this area which I have described. It was for this rest of Chitral, is one of the most ancient of the
reason that I visited that old field of British energy Indo-European linguistic group—older than even
and influence in the Persian Gulf: and this also is the Rigvedic Sanskrit.
in part the explanation of our movement into Ti- I find that I am being seduced by the easy par-
bet at the present time; although the attitude of allels that can be drawn between Kalash and
the Tibetan Government, its persistent disregard Rigvedic culture. But there are, unsurprisingly,
of Treaty obligations, and its contemptuous retort serious gaps in the theory. The Kalash today have
to our extreme patience, would in any case have no special reverence for agni (fire), and the con-
compelled a more active vindication of our inter- sider the cow, sacred to the Rig Veda,
ests. unclean...bones dug up from the ‘Aryan’ graves
I have had no desire to push on anywhere, and [have been sent to] America for DNA testing—to
the history of the past five years has been one, not prove a genetic link between the dead Aryans and
of aggression, but of consolidation and restraint. It the living Kalash.

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