A new look at Vedic India
by Paul Kekai Manansala 

   The 'Aryan' invasion theory (AIT) has dominated Western Indology 
for the last few centuries. Nowadays the specialists in this field 
often modify the 'invasion' part of the theory into a 'migration' 
or 'diffusion.' 
   However, this change in terminology often appears superficial. The 
arguments and papers that continue to be churned out still betray a 
definite leading toward the idea of invasion rather than migration. 
   Thus, it is not uncommon for Indologists to disown the old 
invasion theory and then go straight into a discussion on the 
importance of 'Aryan' military superiority in the establishment of 
Sanskrit in the subcontinent. 
   After investigating this problem for many years, I have developed 
a theory that is quite unique, or at least, not something that I have 
come across. 
   Some Indologists of both the AIT and Out of India (OIT) school 
have suggested something that agrees in part with my own theory. They 
have noted the relationship between the Indian people and those 
*east* of India in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Some OIT 
proponents have even suggested that an important part in this 
relationship in the formation of Vedic culture, which is what I am 
also proposing here. 
   My theory on Vedic culture follows this relationship in depth and 
attempts to develop it into much more than just a suggestion. There 
is not invasion or mass migration postulated here. Migrations did 
occur back and forth and that will be discussed briefly. But what is 
proposed here is a long continuous cultural contact between two 
regions dating back to the earliest times. This contact continued 
rather uninterrupted until European colonizers placed strict limits 
on trade (see new article on spice trade) and other contacts between 
peoples in the region. 
   First of all, we must remember that India falls into a zone that 
links it biologically with the area I shall refer to as the Austric 
region. The Austric region covers areas presently inhabited by 
Austric speakers or which are thought to have been inhabited such 
people previously. 
   The flora and fauna of India and the Austric region are more 
similar for the most part to each other than they are to other areas. 
Thus, India, or its tropical and sub-tropical regions, really are 
part of the Austric area, or vice-a-versa. 
   Thus, you have wild animals like the water buffalo, elephant, 
rhino, tiger and a great number of tropical trees and plants in 
common. 
   While this natural relationship does not necessarily apply to 
human relationships, in this case, we will argue that indeed it does. 
   In many ways, the modern Aryan invasion/migration theory rests on 
the natural evidence in the form of domesticated animals. 
Specifically, the horse evidence has been cited in many works and 
discussion in which this issue has been approached recently. 
   However, we shall show that the horse and other natural evidence, 
in fact, strongly argues against this bulwark of the Western Aryan 
theory. Another domesticated animal, the zebu cow, or Bos indicus, is 
another form of evidence against the classic theory. 
   The reverence and importance of the cow is not limited to post-
Rgvedic literature. Even in the early sections of the Rgveda one 
could argue that cattle were highly considered by the Vedic people, 
whether they were sacrificed and/or eaten or not. 
   They were also one of the most important domesticated livestock 
from an economic standpoint if we take the book at face value. 
   Yet, the cow, Bos indicus, is not a Central Asian animal. In fact, 
the older theory that Bos indicus is a descendent of the Southeast 
Asian banteng now seems supported by recent genetic studies. 
   At one time, the older theory was replaced by one purporting that 
Bos indicus was a selective breed of the Central Asian Bos nomadicus, 
which sometimes possessed small fatty humps. The idea was that the 
fatty humps were useful to humans and that they eventually bred these 
into the larger humps of indicus. 
   There was one big problem that even existed before more recent 
biological studies, and which illustrates the often shoddy nature of 
early 'Aryan' scholarship. The hump on Bos indicus is muscular in 
nature while that of nomadicus is due to the length and curvature of 
the spine. 
   The original theory purported that since the hump allowed the 
cattle to take the yoke better, herders selectively bred them for 
larger humps. However, this would have produced a breed with a very 
prominent spine at the withers. In reality, the muscular hump on 
indicus is believed to have once acted as support for the shoulders, 
while now it no longer serves any purpose. 
   Given the importance of the cow as a religious and economic 
animal, second only to the horse in the Rgveda, and ascending to the 
top position in later Vedic literature, one must wonder at the 
absence of Bos taurus in India. 
   And there is not even a suggestion of a very high degree of 
hybridization of Bos indicus in India. In fact, Chinese cattle are 
far closer to a Bos indicus-Bos taurus hybrid than the Indian 
varieties. 
   

The Austric theory is supported by all types of evidence


   While the Austric theory proposed here is strongly confirmed by 
the natural evidence, it also receives support from all the fields 
normally used in analyzing prehistory. 
   From the linguistic point of view, I have already compared the 
Indic languages with Austric and the results can be found at the 
following webpages:
   

http://www.geocities.com/pinatubo.geo/austric.htm
   
http://www.geocities.com/pinatubo.geo/aust2.htm
   
http://www.geocities.com/pinatubo.geo/lang.htm
   
   The research is on going, but these will give the readers some 
background on the problem from the linguistic standpoint. 
   Also, in the fields of anthropology, genetics, archaeology, 
comparative mythology, cultural milieu, etc., I have been able to 
cull a substantial amount of evidence, although the research here 
also is still continuing. 
   Before starting, it is imperative to say that the Vedas are 
distinctly Indian documents taken from a definitely Indian milieu. 
There is no positive indication that some of the Vedas were composed 
in Afghanistan or elsewhere outside the subcontinent as often 
suggested. At the same time, India has never been an isolated region. 
At all times, there is evidence of contact and back-and-forth 
migration with other regions.
   What we are trying to do is analyze some of these ancient 
relationships with relation to the Vedic period and the regions east 
and southeast of India.
   The problem of Vedic origins has resulted in deep divisions among 
scholars and thinkers, particularly in India. There have been two 
main groups that have arisen in opposition to the traditional AI 
theory, or just generally to Eurocentric bias in Western Indology. 
These include the OIT school, which has often been linked with 
religious organizations, and a small, but growing number of 
traditional Western scholars, although often of Indian ethnic 
background. 
   Among the latter group is included Dilip Chakrabarti, a well-
respected, Western-educated Indian scholar who has questioned the 
Western approach to Indology. Chakrabarti is not an OIT proponent 
that I'm aware of, but he has very elegantly and effectively attacked 
many of ethnocentric methods used to analyze and present Indian 
history and prehistory. 
   The Austric theory offers something that has not been thoroughly 
analyzed previously, and is a continuation of earlier research for 
those willing to leap over the walls of Eurocentric scholarship.
   We will start off by analyzing the Rgveda. However, unlike the 
approach taken in Western circles we will not try to propose that the 
Rgveda contains more of Vedic history than all other sources 
combined. 
   The Rgveda is limited in scope as it is a book of hymns dedicated 
to certain gods, who might not even have comprised the entire 
pantheon of the people of Rgvedic times. To a great extent, the 
Rgveda seems preoccupied with the celestial forces of nature like 
rain, storms, the seasons, the diurnal day, etc. Furthermore, the 
Rgveda has limited scope geographically, if we take only those place 
names literally given in the work itself. 
   Nor is there really any good reason to think that the Rgveda gives 
more valid information on Vedic society than other Vedic works, or 
even post-Vedic writings. 
   The dating of the Rgveda is mainly accomplished by analyzing the 
language of the hymns themselves. Such methods involve a great deal 
of speculation as to the original form of the language, regional 
differences, rate of change, etc. Needless to say it is hardly an 
exact science nor one in which high confidence can be placed on the 
results. 
   Indeed, the AIT proponents don't even take the whole work into 
account while bolstering their claims. The date when the Rgveda 
was 'fixed' is highly speculative. Most agree that the entire corpus 
was developed over at least a few centuries. Yet, at the same time, 
there is a claim that the Vedic oral tradition was nearly perfect. 
   The perfect transmission argument lies on the premise that at the 
very beginning the Vedic bards were subject to unspeakable curses and 
social sanctions for incorrect transmission of any hymn. 
   Such sanctions in themselves are not at all limited to the Vedas 
among Indian scripture, or to India itself. What is hard to reconcile 
is how new material could be added to the Rgveda over long periods of 
time when, from the start, the hymns were supposedly inviolable. 
Generally it is after a particular corpus has been 'fixed' that such 
strict rules of transmission are applied. 
   One could not imagine that a person several thousand years ago 
would new be any more capable of adding new hymns to the Rgveda than 
would a Brahmin who tried to do the same today. 
   Another inconsistency arises when one examines Indological claims 
regarding other Vedic texts or post-Vedic scriptures. After claiming 
that the Vedic priests were nearly fanatical in maintaining the 
sanctity and integrity of the Rgveda, a complete turnaround occurs 
with the other writings including other Vedic literature. 
   In a sense the AIT argument revolves not around the Rgveda itself, 
but only certain books in the work. That which does not agree with 
the theory almost always seems explained away as borrowing from 
the "aboriginal" culture. In many cases, these suggestions are a 
priori. 
   One has to wonder how priests who so perfectly transmitted their 
sacred texts would so easily absorb the foreign religious elements 
not only into the most sacred works of the Vedas, but even into the 
most sacred of the Vedas (according to W. Indology): the Rgveda. 
   According even to many Indologists, deities such as Vishnu and 
legends such as the Emusa myth and Nasadiyasukta in the Rgveda are 
derived from the indigenous culture. And if we take one step beyond 
this work, yet still within the Vedic corpus, the 'aboriginal' 
deities and myths quickly take over. 
   What seems obvious is that the corpus of the Vedas must in some 
way relate to each other and to a particular time and set of events. 
Thus, all the four Vedas must have material that is equally old, and 
probably equally new. How could one maintain that the priests would 
be able to maintain such perfect uncorrupted transmission over 
thousands of years, and yet at the same time totally "absorb" a 
foreign culture? 
   In fact, this is often what is implied in the AI theory. Even the 
other Vedic texts are often portrayed as heavily influenced by 
indigenous, 'non-Aryan' influence. Such explanations are necessary 
because the milieu of the other Vedas is so undeniably connected with 
the subcontinent, and foreign to Central Asia.
   Our approach will be to treat all the Vedas as belonging to the 
Vedic culture and all having more or less equal bearing on the Vedic 
people. By the end of this essay, we hope that the reader will 
understand how this is justified.
    The setting of the Rgveda itself is again Indian. No directions 
are given indicating some far-off foreign homeland. On many 
occasions, native flora and fauna are mentioned and knowledge of the 
monsoon and of the rains coming from the sea is demonstrated. 
   One of the main approaches used in establishing the AI theory is 
to use the negative evidence contained in the supposedly older 
sections of the Rgveda. But the negative evidence again may be 
explained by the limited scope of the work. One could also use 
negative evidence the other way around. 
   For example, the Rgveda makes no mention of wheat. Yet, well 
before any of the dates suggested in "standard" sources for the 
migration of Indo-European peoples into India it is generally 
proposed that they were wheat and barley farmers. Incidentally, the 
Rgveda does mention rice in the form of odana, which usually refers 
to a dish of rice cooked in milk. In more recent historical times, 
rice is more often cooked with water buffalo milk. In the myth that 
mentions odana, water buffaloes are also mentioned. 
   The existence of a racial division is often suggested based on the 
descriptions of the enemy Dasa and Dasyu peoples 
as "dark," "noseless," or "goat-nosed." 
   The present author had also accepted these assertions based on the 
secondary sources while studying other aspects of Indian culture (see 
references below). However, after studying the Vedas themselves these 
claims seem very weak at best. 
   While such expressions could certainly denote something akin to 
racial division, it should be noted that they might be relative also. 
Many cultures tend to ostracize those who depart from the aesthetic 
norms of their society. But these norms are relative to each society. 
Thus, sub-Saharan Africans from a certain region may think that 
people with too light or too dark complexions are unattractive. But 
what is considered light and dark among them might differ from the 
same standards in another region. 
   More importantly, the supposed divisions of peoples into Arya and 
Dasyu in the Rgveda is highly exaggerated. The only people who seem 
consistently classed as Arya is the group referred to as the Five 
Peoples. Even here, the descent of the Five Peoples, and particularly 
Yadu and Turvasu, is often suggested as mixed. Certainly, the term 
Dasyu seems to refer on many occasions to spirits of darkness rather 
than actual people. 
   And the Five Peoples do not figure as the primary protagonists of 
the Rgveda. Their defeat on the battlefield is even lauded in the 
hymns. The true hero of the Vedas is Sudas. The hymns even include 
appeal for divine help in defeating both Dasas and Aryas. As early as 
the Satapatha Brahmana, the Purus are referred to as Asuras. There 
are also references to large numbers of Dasas who become Aryas 
(Rgveda VI 22-30). 
   All of this has lead some to claim that Sudas and the Bharatas 
represented orthodox Vedic society based on close adherence to the 
Indra cult, and their 'correct' speech. But there are many problems 
even here. By tradition, Sudas had ten sons reared on his wife by the 
priest Vasistha. This clearly seems related to a number of aboriginal 
sexual practices some of which still exist today. Certainly, this was 
not part of the social practices inherited from the ancient Indo-
Europeans. 
   Also, in the cult of Indra, it is mentioned in the Satapatha 
Brahmana that the proper offering to Brhaspati, the priest of the 
Devas, was a type of wild rice found around the Bay of Bengal. Again, 
it seems inconsistent that the supposedly highly-orthodox Vedic 
priests, so particular about Vedic recitation, would have allowed 
their divine ancient priest, after whom their own priesthood is 
modeled, to become 'indigenous.' 
   Even in the sense of geography, the racial divide theory doesn't 
seem to fit. According to some Indologists, the Rgveda represents 
partly the existence of the Vedic people outside of India (in 
Afghanistan according to Witzel) and shows gradually their movement 
into northwest India. 
   However, from the region of Kurukshetra in modern Haryana, where 
the Bharatas were based, one finds no clear geographical division of 
Aryans and Anarya. Indeed, many of the Dasa and Dasyu peoples appear 
located in the modern Punjab north or northwest of Haryana, or even 
farther into modern Pakistan. 
   Returning to the natural evidence, much weight is given by AIT 
proponents to the testimony supplied by two domestic animals -- the 
horse and the cow. Of these the horse is the much more important when 
referring to the Rgveda, but the cow ascends in other Vedic 
literature. Yet, we shall begin by analyzing the cow. 
   According to Aryan invasion/migration theory the Rgvedic people 
originally were pastoral folk who migrated from somewhere in 'Central 
Asia' to northwest India. As already stated, the literary portion of 
this argument is based primarily on select portions of the Rgveda. 
Thus, the AI theory is rather a complex rather than a straightforward 
one and should then require a high standard of evidence. 
   However, even most AIT proponents will admit that solid evidence 
of an 'Aryan' migration from Central Asia in the time periods usually 
considered is generally lacking. One of the most popular theories is 
that the Vedic people were related to the Kurgan culture. The most-
cited evidence of 'Aryans' in India is usually ascribed to a culture 
that used ceramics known as Painted Grey Wares (PGW). 
   However, there is very little similarity between the two cultures. 
Furthermore, the Kurgan people buried their dead in mounds with the 
corpse placed in a fetal position and covered with red ochre. There 
is no evidence of such burials among the PGW culture and neither do 
such practices jibe with Vedic cremation rituals. 
   Regardless of this, the AI theorists usually maintain that the 
Rgveda people were nomadic or semi-nomadic people who relied heavily 
on their horses and herds. And the most important component of the 
latter was cattle. 


Cattle and the AIT theory


The importance of cattle, at least, from an economic standpoint is 
apparent from the numerous references in the Rgveda. The strong 
dislike of the hymns for the Pani seems related largely to the 
propensity of the latter to steal cattle. The bull is used as an 
epitaph for Indra, the Sun and other gods on frequent occasions. 
   As the Rgveda paints a picture of the 'Aryans' as cattle herders, 
we must envision a scenario in which large herds of cattle were 
driven into the subcontinent by the invaders/migrants. We again must 
note that the invasion theory has by no means been discarded by AI 
theorists, even those who pay lip service to a 'migration' 
hypothesis. 
   If Aryans brought their herds of cattle and their horses with 
them, then one should expect an abundance of evidence in this area to 
support the AI theory. 
   This brings us then to the Indian cow, known as the zebu (Bos 
indicus). 
   When European natural scientists first studied the zebu, they 
believed it was a descendent of the wild banteng of Southeast Asia 
known as Bos javanicus or Bos banteng. 
   There were many good reasons for this belief. First, both were 
primarily tropical animals with excellent tolerance of heat and 
resistance to tropical diseases. Even compared to many other tropical 
animals, these two bovines were well adapted to the tropics. One 
could only imagine this was the product of long residence in the 
tropical regions of Asia. 
   In addition, the zebu and banteng shared similarities in skin, 
coat, horns and head shape, and sometimes in the shape of the dewlap. 
The natural range of both overlapped. 
   But most importantly, the banteng was also domesticated in 
Indonesia where it is often found in hybrid form with the zebu. Thus, 
the connection between wild and domestic forms. 
   Obviously, the descent of the zebu from the banteng was not very 
supportive of the Aryan invasion theory. Eventually there arose the 
theory of the zebu's Auroch descent from Bos nomadicus. It was 
postulated that both the zebu and the European/West Asian Bos taurus 
cattle were the product of a single domestication event. 
   The new theory was a windfall to the AI school as it almost 
completely obliterated any possible doubts concerning eastern 
origins. 
   However, newer evidence has turned things around sharply. Firstly, 
in 1994, an mtDNA study was published showing that Bos indicus and 
the Zebu were separated genetically by hundreds of thousands of 
years, if not over a million years. A more recent study in 1999 
estimated the separation at 600,000 years ago. Both studies came to 
the inevitable conclusion that the zebu and taurine cattle were 
domesticated separately in different regions of the world. 
   The first study suggested, although rather meekly, that Bos 
indicus progenitors might still be the wild auroch. In fact, many 
taxonomists even classified the zebu as Bos primgenius indicus in 
support of such a view. 
   However, even before the 1994 study, hemoglobin research indicated 
that the older banteng theories were not so far off the mark after 
all. The first study published in 1983 showed that a transitional 
form leading from beta A to beta B in domestic cattle was found in 
Bali cattle (Bos banteng). 
   Certain Bali cattle showed a substitution of lysine residue by 
histidine leading to beta B, which is the most important type found 
in the zebu. The change required two codon base substitutions so the 
researchers could confidently theorize that Bali cattle and cattle 
with beta B had the same ancestor. It thus concluded that Indian 
humped cattle must have had hybrid origins since they have very high 
frequency of beta B. 
   In fact, as the study also pointed out, earlier research involving 
protein polymorphisms had already suggested that the zebu at least 
had definite banteng ancestors and was probably hybrid in origin. 
   Then, in 1987 another study involving the banteng and African zebu 
cattle (ongole) led to another interesting discovery. The beta A 
chain in both the former types was compared to beta A in Herefords 
(Bos taurus). The researchers found that beta A in both the ongole 
and banteng differed from the Hereford based on a single 
substitution. The new type was labeled beta A zebu with the 
assumption that the substitution in the banteng was due to zebu 
admixture. 
   However, another explanation, which seems to be gaining ground 
fast, is that beta A zebu in bantengs comes from a deme that 
eventually led to both the domesticated banteng and the domesticated 
zebu. Indeed, many standard references such as Funk & Wagnalls now 
list the banteng as the probable ancestor of the zebu. 
   Many other standard sources, which used assign the same ancestor 
to both the taurine and indicus cattle, now state Bos primegenius as 
the ancestor of Bos taurus, but simply state that Bos indicus was 
domesticated separately in South Asia without suggesting a possible 
ancestor. 
   Even if aurochs played a part in the zebu's ancestry, the link 
appears to go back at least 600,000 years if not much more. 
   Evidence like this may be one reason AI theorists have shifted 
from an all-out invasion scenario to one involving a migration of 
only small numbers of people. Supposedly, these Indo-Europeans 
possessed superior organization and technology that allowed them to 
impose their language on the aboriginal population. 
   Such a shift may have been necessary since the biological evidence 
of large herds of livestock entering the subcontinent from Central 
Asia is lacking. Indeed, even from the standpoint of human biology, 
the old invasion scenario suffered severe shortcomings. 
   According to the old standard of cephalometry, or measurement of 
skulls, the situation in India had always presented problems to AIT 
proponents. The theory requires that the Vedic Aryans have some 
biological relationship with the old Persians of Iran. 
   However, the evidence available shows that Iranians are and were a 
markedly broad-headed people while the peoples in India including the 
northwest were strongly long-headed. 
   Broad-headed people appeared in pockets in western India around 
Maharastra and Gujarat and in eastern India, but the expected high 
frequency of such types in the northwest was not found. 
   The discrepancy led to AI theorists to claim that the earlier 
invasion had come from long-headed 'Nordics', the cousins of the 
broad-headed Iranians. The theory suffered some obvious weaknesses as 
the supposed separation of the two groups from the hypothetical 
Central Asian homeland was not that great. Certainly not great enough 
to allow divergence into broad and long head categories from a 
proposed proto-Indo-Iranian people. 
   The evidence is even more revealing when the skeletal remains are 
examined more thoroughly. Kenneth Kennedy, who has done extensive 
research on early Indian crania, has stated that the "Aryan" is 
missing from the early skeletal record. 
   By Aryan here we mean a group that would cluster with Central 
Asians believed to be Indo-Europeans. The skeletal record shows that 
in most ways the Indian population is quite unique. One thing that 
can quickly be dismissed, and which we will discuss more thoroughly 
later, is that Indians are primarily the result of recent (>4000 kya) 
gene flow from the north and west. 
   The relation of the zebu to the banteng helps point out the fact 
that India sits in a biological zone closely connected with Southeast 
Asia. The zebu is closely linked in the religious literature to the 
Brahmin, the caste often considered the most "Aryan" of them all. 
Yet, the zebu is an "eastern" species. When we delve more deeply into 
mythology later in this work, we will find that Indian tradition, 
preserved in the Puranas, epics and other works, assigns the origin 
of a great many things to the East. 
   In the story of the churning of the Milky Ocean, the divine cow 
Surabhi arises from the sea after it becomes milk. The Milky Ocean, 
as we will see, is located geographically to the east of Mt. Meru. 
Likewise, in the Satapatha Brahmana, the priesthood is also connected 
with the East, although here east could refer to eastern India. 
   

From the horse's mouth


   If the zebu evidence is telling, then that presented by the horse 
is even more confounding to the AI theory. Those familiar in this 
area of study may find this statement surprising, since the horse 
evidence is often thought of as the 'big guns' of AIT proponents. 
   According to the invasion theory, the Vedic Aryans were a nomadic 
people who depended greatly on the horse for whom they had very high 
regard. The Vedas portray the horse as the kin of the gods. 
   Generally, the AI theory puts much emphasis on the lack of horse 
remains in Harappan digs, and also the fact that the Harappans did 
not represent the horse in their art. If the horse was as important 
to the Vedic Aryans as the texts suggest, we should see Harappan 
evidence in both cases. 
   The first problem with this argument is that there is not 
unanimous agreement on the lack of horse remains associated with 
Harappan sites. Archaeologists have found bones identified as 
belonging to Equus caballus at Harappan sites. 
   AIT proponents argue that these remains cannot be clearly 
distinguished from the onager of India and that they were not 
recovered in stratified context. The identification of the bones is 
somewhat subjective, but it is not unusual for archaeologists to 
accept items that are not dated stratigraphically. This issue, then, 
is not that clear-cut. 
   As for the lack of the horse in the art representations, this is a 
type of negative evidence from which conclusions cannot be formed. 
For example, representations of the horse may have been restricted to 
wood or similar perishable materials. 
   Even if no remains or artistic evidence have yet been found, this 
would not mean that the Indian domesticated horse is derived from a 
Central Asian migrant. 
   Deep in the specialized literature on horse classification, we can 
find that Indian and other horses extending to insular Southeast Asia 
were peculiar from other breeds. All showed anatomical traces of 
admixture with the ancient equid known as Equus sivalensis. 
   Most standard works leave a question mark as to the extinction 
date of Equus sivalensis. However, like that equid, the horse of 
southeastern Asia has peculiar zebra-like dentition. Also, both were 
distinguished by a pre-orbital depression. The orbital region is 
important because it has been demonstrated as useful in classifying 
different species of equids. Finally, and most importantly in 
relation to Vedic literature, the Indian horse has, like Equus 
sivalensis, only 17 pairs of ribs. 
   In comparison, the horses of Central Asians, Europeans and 
Iranians had 18 pairs of ribs. That this is not a recent phenomenon 
in India is illustrated by the following Rgvedic passage (translated 
by Wilson): 

The axe penetrates the thirty-four ribs of the swift horse; the 
beloved of the gods, (the immolators), cut up (the horse) with skill, 
so that the limbs may be unperforated, and recapitulating joint by 
joint. 
    (Rgveda 1.162.18 ) 

   So the horse of India including, that of the asvamedha sacrifice 
in what is regarded as the oldest part of the Rgveda, is a distinct 
variety native to southeastern Asia. 
   The horse evidence is actually supportive of neither the AIT nor 
OIT versions. However, since the theory proposed here has no invasion 
or mass migration scenario, it fits in rather perfectly. 
   While the horse is lacking in Harappa, it also is not strongly 
represented in the proposed AIT archaeological record. If we accept 
the Painted Grey Ware (PGW) culture as belonging to the 
invading/migrating Aryans, the horse remains are again scarce. 
   Furthermore, there is a lack of evidence of the chariot, which is 
closely associated with the horse in the Rgveda. 
   In the churning of the Milky Ocean story, the divine horse 
Uccaihsravas arises out of the sea just like the cow Surabhi. There 
are different origin stories given in Hindu myth for both the horse 
and the cow. The Milky Ocean legend, though, is specific to the 
current age according to the Hindu cycles of time. 
   The Vedas may contain an allusion to this story when they state 
that the horse was born from the sea. Some have taken this as 
referring to the horse as a solar symbol, but another possibility is 
a direct connection with the Milky Ocean story. 
   Again, we must remember that the Rgveda would hardly be understood 
by modern scholars at all if not for the other Vedas and the post-
Vedic commentaries and traditions. Most modern works that analyze the 
Rgveda depend on these other sources to explain names, personalities, 
myths and other details that could not be understood by reading only 
the Rgveda. 
    As we have stated, some Indologists tend even to reject other 
Vedic sources as references on the Rgveda, unless the information 
contained therein agrees with their theories. In a sense, the 
evidence is made to conform to the theory. 
   The Milky Ocean story and the Vedic concept of the horse as sea-
born are not the only suggestions that give the horse a more 
easterly, but not necessarily extra-Indian, provenance. 
   Latter tradition assigned the domestication of the horse to the 
Asuras of Eastern India. In the Satapatha Brahmana, it is said that 
the Gandharvas were the first to yoke the horse. The Gandharvas were 
known as the musicians of the Devas, or Gods. In the Rgveda, 
Gandharva is the name of a solitary being that guards the Soma of the 
Devas. 
   Like the Devas, the Gandharvas were associated with the East. In 
the Rgveda, sacrifices are made toward the East, the home of the 
Gods. The Satapatha Brahmana repeatedly refers to the East as 
the "quarter of the Gods." 

    ...from the east is the quarter of the gods, and from the east 
westwards the gods approach men: that is why one offers to them while 
facing the east. 
    (Satapatha Brahmana 3.1.6, translated by Mueller) 
   
Aitareya Aranyaka 1.2 states: "Let them descend toward the east, for 
the seed of the gods was born in the east." Some believe the 
connection of the Devas with the East relates symbolically to forces 
of nature. But there are more reasons to believe that the orientation 
may also be linked to actual experience with peoples and beliefs from 
the East. 
   Later works such as the Asvasastra (Horse Science) state that 
sages acted as horse trainers, and that horses should be fed a rice 
diet. In this connection, we should note that early texts also link 
the priesthood with the East (SB 5.4.1.3). 
   As with the zebu, the horse evidence does not point toward the 
northwest or west as the AIT would suggest. If anything it fits into 
the same faunal relationships that exist in many other ways with the 
lands to the east. 
   The eastern direction, of course, does not necessarily mean 
Austric. It could refer to Sino-Tibetan or other ethnolinguistic 
groups. On the other hand, the southeast direction is more likely to 
refer to Austric speakers. 
A new theory


   What we will propose here is not an Aryan invasion from the east, 
but a long history of cross-cultural contacts predating the widely 
recognized period of Hindu-Buddhist influence. 
   The demographic history of modern humans seems to change 
constantly with new theories sprouting up continuously. However, one 
can say rather confidently now that modern humans had reached the 
easternmost parts of Asia by at least 50,000 years ago and Australia 
at least 40,000 kya. 
   The current prevailing theory has the ancestors of today's humans 
hugging the coast of southern Asia after leaving the African 
continent. The cold climate of the north may have dissuaded early 
humans from moving north until they had reached the eastern limits of 
southern Asia. 
   Eventually, in possible relation to warming weather patterns, 
humans began moving further north. Indeed, migrations took place from 
all regions in all directions. 
   In India it is generally suggested by Western Indologists that 
migrations from Southeast Asia influenced the region from Northeast 
India to the Vindhya range. This belief is mostly based on the 
presence of Munda and Mon-Khmer speaking peoples 
   However, a close look at the evidence in the various fields from 
genetics and anthropology to myth and culture suggest that the 
influence was more pervasive. This evidence shall be outlined in the 
remainder of this work. 
   

What does the literature say?


   The literature of all regions is embellished with myth and legend. 
Yet, even in some of the most outlandish stories there is often at 
least a kernel of historical fact involved in the tale. As a whole, 
the literature of India can and has been used by all sides to 
interpret the history and prehistory of the subcontinent. 
    So what does the literature say about India's ancient foreign 
relations? The oldest texts that give reasonably explicit views of 
extra-Indian geography are the epics. In the Ramayana and 
Mahabharata, we find the older four-fold division of the earth 
according to their orientation to Mt. Meru or to Bharata. 
   In the epics, Mt. Meru is a geographic reality located east of 
Jambudvipa (the Indian subcontinent). 
   The Mahabharata states that Sakadvipa, Svetadvipa and the Milky 
Ocean are located to the east of Meru. The location of Sakadvipa in 
the eastern quarter is also found in the astrological text, Brhat 
Parasara Horasastra. 
   The Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavatapurana, Laghubhagavatamrta and 
Varahamihira's Brhat Samhita agree in placing the Milky Ocean to the 
east. All of these works except the the Ramayana and Brhat Samhita, 
which do not mention Svetadvipa, also place that island in the 
eastern quarter. 
   In the Puranas, geography apparently is made to conform more to 
cosmographic and astronomical thinking. Mt. Meru becomes equated with 
the North Pole. The world is made into a series of seven concentric 
rings of continents surrounded by oceans. The ethnogeographic and 
biogeographic material, though, largely agrees with the epics. 
   All the Puranas that mention Sakadvipa agree that the Milky Ocean 
surrounds the island/continent. In the same way, those writings that 
mention Svetadvipa place it on the "north shores" of the Milky Ocean. 
This has lead some to suggest that Sakadvipa and Svetadvipa were 
interchangeable names for the same region. 
   Svetadvipa is mentioned as part of the geographic continents only 
in the Padma among the Puranas. The Yogavasistha also includes 
Svetadvipa as one of the seven island continents, but here Sakadvipa 
is also mentioned. Svetadvipa appears to take the place of 
Salmalidvipa in the Yogavasistha as compared to the Puranic accounts. 
   Possibly Sakadvipa refers to a region bounded by the Milky Ocean 
while Svetadvipa was a more specific location within the ocean 
itself. Another possibility is that Svetadvipa is a late name for 
Sakadvipa with the latter staying in usage because of tradition. 
   All the sources agree in explicitly giving Svetadvipa and the 
Milky Ocean a southerly as well as an eastern location. The 
astronomers Bhaskara and Lalla both agree that the Milky Ocean was 
south of the Salt Sea. The latter ocean is said to surround 
Jambudvipa. The Laghubhagavatamrta states: 


    "East of Sumeru (Mt. Meru) is the ocean of milk, in which there 
is a white city on a white island where the Lord can be seen sitting 
with his consort, Laksmiji on a throne of Sesa. That feature of Visnu 
also enjoys sleeping during the four months of the rainy season. The 
Svetadvipa in the milk ocean is situated south of the ocean of salt." 

Svetadvipa, like Mt Meru, the Milky Ocean and other locations have 
both earthly and heavenly forms as is stated explicitly in the 
Puranas. The heavenly form of Svetadvipa is depicted as a planet, 
while the earthly one as a geographical location. Both have the same 
type of orientation. For example, both the heavenly and earthly 
Svetadvipa are south of the Salt Sea and East of Meru. 
   The Ramayana gives a detailed description of the eastern regions 
in the story of the Vanaras search for Sita. The account gives first 
mention of geographic names that would later come to dominate Indian 
literature describing the same area. Yavadvipa and 
Suvararupyakadvipani are mentioned. The name Yavadvipa would persist, 
while Suvarnarupyakadvipani is almost certainly the land that would 
later be known as Suvarnadvipa (Gold Island). 
   Along with these and other locations, the Ramayana mentions the 
Ksiroda or Milky Ocean. By medieval times, nearly the entire area of 
insular and/or mainland Southeast Asia became known as Suvarnadvipa. 
The Bhagavatapurana mentions Suvarnadvipa extending over an area 
southeast of India, thus, in the same general location as Svetadvipa 
in the same text. 
   The stories linked with the Milky Ocean, Svetadvipa and Sakadvipa 
in the early literature are quite voluminous and important in the 
mythical context. An interesting work by Stephen Oppenheimer, a 
tropical physician and geneticist, examined the relationship of myth 
in Neolithic Southeast Asia with that of other regions. He believed 
many cosmological myths found in different parts of the 'Old World' 
may be connected with a mass migration from Sundaland at around the 
beginning of the Holocene. 
   Many scholars have found that the Milky Ocean stories of the 
Puranas and Epics are similar to myths found among the Austric 
peoples in India and to the East-Southeast. In this sense, 
comparative mythology would agree with the geographic notices in the 
literature placing the ocean of milk to the east of Meru and to the 
south of the Salt Sea. Since the idea of Gods taking avataras and 
particularly animal and sealife avataras such as Matsya, Kurma, 
Varaha and Narasimha is very common in the indigenous belief systems 
of Austric peoples, Indologists like S.K. Chatterji have already 
proposed an Austric background for these beliefs. 
   The Bhagavatapurana relates that all the avataras of Narayana 
(Visnu) originate ultimately from Svetadvipa in the Milky Ocean, 
which could refer to the origin of the belief. The first three 
avataras Matsya, Kurma and Varaha also have their setting at least 
partly in the latter location. 
   Most scholars surmise that there was a geographic reality to both 
Sakadvipa and Svetadvipa alongside the obviously mythical elements. 
The accounts of both contain highly descriptive data and in the case 
of Sakadvipa some historical matters. In agreement with the southern 
location, Sakadvipa is said to be particularly rich in Salmali, or 
silk cotton trees. The Salmali is a tropical variety found in 
southeastern Asia and the Pacific. Most of the Puranas also state 
that Sakadvipa gets its name from a particularly prominent Saka tree 
that was worshipped by the islanders. 
   The Saka tree is the teak another tropical eastern (including 
India) species. Also mentioned as particularly abundant on Sakadvipa 
are the Parijata, or coral tree, and the sandal tree, again both 
tropical eastern varieties. The Parijata is also said to be the most 
abundant species on Svetadvipa. 
   Given that the Indian authors were familiar with both dry and 
evergreen forest species, the mention of exclusively tropical and 
eastern trees gives a picture consistent with an area south of the 
Salt Sea and east of Meru. 
   Although the accounts of the Milky Ocean, Sakadvipa and Svetadvipa 
are hard to date they probably were found in the earliest classical 
literature since all the locations are consistently mentioned in 
every major work from that period. Also, the main core of the 
mythology contained in the references to these regions is older than 
the classical accounts themselves. 
   The Narayana theme is found in the Atharvaveda, the Upanishads and 
even in the Rgveda if one considers the Narayana-Milky Ocean motif as 
linked to the Hiranyagarbha myth of the latter. The Hiranyagarbha is 
the cosmic egg which floats on a sea of ether, and from which 
creation emerges. 
   In the classical literature, the Hiranyagarbha is sometimes 
equated with Brahma, sometimes with Narayana. In the Vedic 
literature, Prajapati emerges from the cosmic egg, but Prajapati and 
Narayana basically have the same functions of creation. The 
Atharvaveda gives the first instance of an imagery that can help tie 
all these myths together. In this work is mentioned a great Yaksa, or 
tree spirit, resting on the primordial sea. From the Yaksa's navel 
emerges a lotus and in the center of the lotus is the creator 
Prajapati. 
   In later literature, Narayana takes the place of the great Yaksa 
resting on the cosmic sea. Linking this with the older Vedic idea of 
Prajapati emerging from the cosmic egg, Narayana is equivalent to the 
Hiranyagarbha. 
   A cosmic egg myth exists in Greek literature but this may be a 
borrowing since the motif does not appear generally in European 
mythology. On the other hand, the cosmic egg motif is quite prevalent 
east of India especially among Pacific island peoples. The latter are 
believed to have the 'purest' forms of original Austric mythology 
since they were not exposed to the waves of influences that begin to 
flow to Southeast Asia around the beginning of this era. 
   Many scholars have claimed that the Prajapati myth is a late 
addition to the Rgveda. This, again, seems to contradict the general 
position of Indologists regarding the uncorrupted nature of the work. 
It seems unlikely that the most sacred corpus of the Vedic Aryans 
would adopt the creation myths of another culture given their 
supposed attitudes on purity of tradition. 
   We might add in this regard that the another primary creation myth 
of the Rgveda is linked with the Prajapati myth. The Rgveda tells of 
the Purusa, or Cosmic Man, who sacrifices himself so that his body 
parts can be used to create the physical world and living beings. 

Other Vedic literature, like the Satapatha Brahmana, state that both 
the Purusa and Prajapati are one and the same. Indo-Europeanists have 
linked the Purusasukta myth with the Norse tale of Ymir, the 
primordial frost giant who is slain by his sons led by Odin. They 
then proceeded to create the world from the parts of Ymir's body. 
This myth is not a recurring one in European or Iranian mythology. 
   However, the closest myth to the Purusasukta is undoubtedly the 
Pangu myth of China and Indochina. Pangu is a pantheistic deity who, 
like Prajapati, emerges from the cosmic egg floating on a primeval 
sea of nothingness. Within the egg, or within Pangu, is also the 
primordial yin and yang, the female and male principles. 
   After emerging from the egg, Pangu grows to immense size and after 
his death his body parts become the physical world while the 
parasites on his body become the living creatures. While the Pangu 
myth lacks the self-sacrifice motif, it shares the same pantheistic 
themes. 
   Oppenheimer believes the parent myth of this motif can be found in 
the Maori story of Rangi and Papa, or Heaven and Earth. Within the 
cosmic egg floating on a sea of nothingness are Rangi and Papa 
united, a concept comparable to the united yin and yang of the cosmic 
egg in the Pangu myth. 
   After emerging from the egg, the children of Rangi and Papa, who 
are sandwiched in between the two, push the pair apart -- the 
separation of yin-yang or in the Indian case, purusa and prakriti. 
Rangi becomes the heavens, and Papa the earth. The children then 
populate the earth. 
   This myth connects with the widespread Austric motif of the 
separation of earth and sky. Oppenheimer believed it may be the 
closest to the original since it contained most of the interrelated 
motifs now found scattered throughout the region of southeastern Asia 
and the Pacific. 
   

The 'cosmogonic dive'


   The Varaha avatara is a myth of the 'cosmogonic dive' variety and 
is first alluded to in the Satapatha Brahmana. However, there may be 
another reference found in the Emusa myth of the Rgveda. In that 
hymn, which refers to the birth of Indra, the god shoots through a 
mountain with a bow to obtain rice cooked in milk, and kills the 
celestial boar Emusa. The latter appears here to substitute for the 
dragon Vrtra, which symbolically represents the water-filled rain 
cloud. 
   Rudra is known in the Vedas as the "Boar of Heaven" representing 
the the storm cloud as a wild boar. The boar-storm cloud idea, or 
myths of boar gods that control rain and weather recurs commonly in 
Austric cultures. 
   The Rgveda is characterized by hymns describing the celestial 
forces of nature, especially rain, the seasons and agriculture. Indra 
slays Vrtra, the dragon containing the floods of heaven. The storm 
gods Rudra and the Maruts appear in numerous hymns and even Agni and 
the Asvins are portrayed strongly in connection with celestial forces 
(the sun and the solstices). 
   One might even say that the Rgveda is a monsoonal collection of 
hymns. The intimate knowledge of the monsoons is noted by Gautam 
Vajracharya in his work on Rgvedic descriptions of frogs after the 
first monsoon rains. Vajracharya notes that this comes from what is 
generally considered a later composition of the Rgveda. 
   However, there are other indications of such knowledge throughout 
the work. The rains are recognized as coming from the ocean. The 
rainy season is in summer (Rgveda 6.32-5) and the year is divided 
into three seasons (later spit into six in Taittiriya Samhita). The 
rainy season causes torrents of water to flow down the mountains into 
the rivers and eventually to the ocean -- a fitting description of 
what happens when the monsoons hit the Himalayas. 
   The classical literature states that Indra collects the moisture 
of the monsoons on a mountain in the east. Usually this mountain is 
known as Jaladhara on Sakadvipa. Sometimes it is mentioned as 
Gandhamadana, east of Meru, where the eagle Garuda brought the amrta 
stolen from the gods. The Rgveda at least confirms Indra's 
association with the east when it states that the deity measured the 
eastern quarter (Rgveda 2.15.3).
   The rains from the southeast appear to refer to the summer lows 
that move from the southeast over the Bay of Bengal during the summer 
and bring abundant moisture to the eastern Himalayas and to the whole 
area east of 78 degrees East and north of 25 degrees North. 
    Interestingly, the idea of rain coming from the east is strong in 
Vedic literature and indicates a Gangetic orientation. 
   While the Milky Ocean, Sakadvipa, Svetadvipa and the most 
important regions in the early literature, other areas are also 
connected with the east. Pushkaradvipa is explicitly placed in this 
direction. Later, the name Suvarnadvipa comes into importance for the 
whole region of Southeast Asia, but particularly the Malay 
Archipelago. In Buddhist literature, mainland Southeast Asia may be 
referred to as Suvarnabhumi in contrast to insular Suvarnadvipa. 
   The literature gives specific and at times startling evidence of 
intimate knowledge of these regions. They are consistent in 
describing the islands as lush in coral, silk cotton, teak, sandal, 
mango, banyan and other trees of tropical and eastern (in relation to 
Eurasia) provenance. 
   The description of the ocean in the Mahabharata's account of the 
Garuda-Amrta story is full of vivid detail. The classical literature 
gives many accounts of a submarine fire known alternately as the 
Vadavamukha, Vadavanala and Hayamukha. 
   The all-consuming fire located in the midst of the ocean is 
located unanimously by these works as in the east and quite far to 
the south. In the concentric continent world view, the Vadavamukha 
becomes the South Pole as opposed to Meru as the North Pole. 
   Does the concept of the Vadavamukha, the ocean-fire that consumes 
the earth at the end of the cycle, betray a knowledge of underwater 
volcanoes and the Ring of Fire? 
   Even in the Rgveda, we find numerous references to Agni as living 
in the midst of the sea or as dwelling in the waters. The story of 
Aurva, the oldest explanation for the submarine fire, is also found 
in the Rgvedic hymns. 
   One hymn tells of how the rivers collect rain to unite them for 
the propitiation of the ocean-fire (Rgveda 2.35.3). 
   The idea of volcanic activity might also be found in the Churning 
of the Milky Ocean story. Like the Milky Ocean, the Vadavamukha is 
found to the southeast of Meru, the mountain found to the east of 
Jambudvipa. 
   Some have concentrated on the quest for amrta, the nectar of 
immortality, in the myth as an explanation or allegory for soma or 
the churning of butter. Another possibility is that, like the Vrtra 
myth, the Churning of the Milky Ocean seeks to give a divine 
explanation to some natural phenomenon. 
   Given the nature of other two 'oceanic' avataras, Matsya, dealing 
with catastrophic ocean flooding, and Varaha, with the emergence of 
land from such flooding, the natural phenomena explanation 
is...natural. 
   The epic versions of the myth clearly describe something that is 
hard to explain other than in terms of volcanic activity (if one 
takes the natural route). 


    "...as Vasuki was forcefully pulled up and down by the Gods, 
puffs of fire and smoke belched forth from his mouth. The clouds of 
smoke became massive clouds with lightning flashes and rained down on 
the troops of Gods, who were weakening with the heat and 
fatigue...All kinds of creatures that inhabit the deep were crushed 
asunder by the big mountain ...and the mountain drove sea animals of 
all sorts, such as dwell in the submarine abysses, to their 
destruction...The friction of the trees started fire after fire, 
covering the mountain with flames like a black monsoon cloud with 
lightening streaks...many juices of herbs and manifold resins of the 
trees flowed into the water of the ocean. And with the milk of these 
juices that had the power of the Elixir, and with the exudation of 
the molten gold, the God attained immortality. The water of the ocean 
now turned into milk, and from this milk butter floated up, mingled 
with the finest of essences." 
    (Mahabharata, translated by J.A.B. Van Buitenen, vol. I, pp. 73-
74) 
   
Given the geographical descriptions placing both the Milky Ocean and 
the Vadavamukha southeast of Mt. Meru, one is rather forced to look 
at the Ring of Fire when faced with accounts like that in the 
Mahabharata. 
   In Hindu eschatology, the Vadavamukha, or the cosmic version of 
it, reduces the entire universe after a fiery conflagration into one 
cosmic ocean. The great flood of the Matsya avatara is often seen as 
mirroring this event in microcosm. Oppenheimer believed that this 
belief was related to similar Munda, Dravidian and Mon-Khmer myths 
involving a firestorm linked to a massive ocean flood. 
   While some have assigned the great array of flood myths in the 
Pacific and other Austric regions to Christian missionary influence, 
Oppenheimer has cast doubt on these assertions. Generally, there is a 
wide distribution of common motifs which discount the idea of 
Christian influence. Among the most important factors to consider: 

* The Austric myths almost all involve sea flooding. 
* Most do not involve rain or storms at all. 
* Many include a 'super sea-wave' motif. 
* Many involve a serpent motif. 
* Most of those on the mainland have a fire storm motif. 
* Widely-scattered myths in the region provide details of permanent 
coastal loss. 
* Many include a mountain topping motif. 
* Although Pacific island myths are considered the most suspect for 
missionary influence, nearly all of these contain no reference to the 
building or use of a boat to survive the flood. Southeast Asian myths 
vary in the use of boat, gourd or other device to survive the flood, 
although many are similar to Pacific Island myths involving taking 
refuge on high mountains. 

   One doesn't have to go far to find a plausible explanation for 
these myths. The submergence of Sundaland was the most 
demographically significant 'flood' event in recent earth history. 
When one factors in the role of volcanoes as an often parallel 
stimulus to migration, a sound basis for the wide propagation of this 
related lore arises. The difference in the nature in which the flood 
was survived is consistent with varying experiences with rising sea 
levels at different locations. 
   
Common spiritual and religious beliefs


   A number of studies have been conducted exploring the connections 
in spiritual belief between India and the Austric region. A number of 
linkages have been suggested. For example, the concept of 
transmigration of the soul recurs frequently in the indigenous 
beliefs of Austric speakers including those living in isolated 
regions of the Pacific. 
   Specialists like Kosambi and Pargiter have suggested that 
brahminism has indigenous, mostly Dravidian roots. I have examined 
the problem from a more Austric viewpoint in "The Austric Origin of 
the Brahmana and Rishi Traditions" (International Journal of 
Dravidian Linguistics, vol. XXIV, Jun. 1995). The work examines the 
Austric links without denying the Dravidian contribution. Indeed, it 
is often difficult to separate the two currents of culture. 
   Among some of the more important links in this respect are: 


* In relation to caste, the existence of the mana concept 
* The protection of mana, particularly for religious castes, through 
restrictions on interdining and intermarriage 
* The socio-religious importance of fermented or herbal beverages and 
their role in increasing vitality or in attaining immortality among 
Pacific peoples and the indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia. 
The "drink of the Gods" concept. 
* The idea of rebirth to different levels of existence based upon 
conduct in the previous life. 
* A general concept of atman in the sense of the coexistence of 
personal and universal self, closely linked with pantheistic beliefs. 
* The idea of transmigration between species and related totemism. 
* The importance of "ascending to Heaven" as a lifetime journey. 
   
The hard evidence 


   We have already discussed the horse and cow evidence, and briefly 
mentioned some aspects of bioanthropology. A more in-depth look at 
scientific evidence gives strong support to the basis of the theory 
suggested in this work. 
   Genetic studies have often focused more on establishing the 
validity of Western theories concerning the subcontinent such as the 
AI and West Asiatic demic diffusion theories. However, these same 
studies often provide evidence that supports our own theory. 
   Many of these genetic studies can be found at my Austronesian 
website in the section on South Asian relationships (see 
http://www.geocities.com/pinatubo.geo/austro.htm). 
   Studies of mtDNA and Y chromosome data have suggested close 
relationship between South Asian and East/Southeast Asia populations. 
In a global study by Hammer et al. of global Y chromosome haplotypes, 
South and Southeast Asians formed a single cluster. A number of mtDNA 
studies including those of Bamshad et al., showed close relationship 
between South Asians and East Asians. 
   Oppenheimer's work is relevant in this regard as he has been 
involved in genetic research concerning Indo-Pacific prehistory. In 
Eden in the East, the author identifies a number of hemoglobin 
variants extending across southern Asia which indicate east to west 
migrations from Southeast Asia. An HLA study by Narinder Mehra found 
close relationship between North Indians and East Asians. Oppenheimer 
explains this all in relation to Sundaland migrations. 
   In his theory, migrants from Sundaland spread in all directions 
with some going north before turning west. He bases this on the 
presence of Austric substratum and related mythology in more northern 
parts of Asia. 
   If we accept this view, the Y chromosome haplotypes might give 
evidence of at least the northern migration. The YAP+ haplotype of 
the Y chromosome is believed by many specialists to have an Asian 
origin. This haplotype originated from a unique and probably latter 
migration out of Africa of Hammer et al.'s haplotype 2 subtype. 
   Unfortunately, haplotype 2 has completely disappeared from Asia, 
so we have little idea of its former distribution. If the haplotype 
can be connected with the southern migration hypothesis of the Out of 
Africa theory, then it should have hugged the coast of southern Asia 
before going north. 
   Eventually, the YAP+ haplotype arose out of haplotype 2 and 
migrated from northern or central Asia back to Africa. However, this 
migration left no traces in western Asia itself. The subtype appears 
again in Africa before variants spread out at a later period into 
West Asia and Europe. 
   The mtDNA evidence in the form of what is known as the 9-bp 
deletion has left hard traces in India. Some types of 9-bp deletion 
show direct relationship with the same gene in Southeast Asia and the 
Pacific. Other types show local variation, but still might ultimately 
be related to the Asian type. The YAP+ and haplotype 2 examples show 
that not much can be ascertained through genetic frequencies alone of 
any particular genotype because of factors like genetic drift and 
gene extinction. One has to look at the 'big picture.' 
   The other mtDNA evidence does suggest strong Asian linkages that 
support the 9-bp distribution. The hemoglobin and HLA evidence give 
further support. 
   The overall genetic picture indicates a very old biological 
relationship probably extending in part at least to the original 
migration out of Africa. This may account largely for some of the 
older Y chromosome and mtDNA clusters.
   The mtDNA 9-bp and hemoglobin evidence would suggest later 
migrations probably after the beginning of the Holocene. 
   On the contrary, there is little evidence of any particularly 
protracted period of genetic isolation between the two regions as 
compared to their respective contact with other areas. 
   A study of all collected skeletal data published in the government-
sponsored Indian Gazetteer found that the living population of India 
was on average of medium to short stature, mesorrhine (medium broad-
nosed), rather dark-skinned and dolichocephalic (long-headed) with a 
tendency toward hyperdolichocephaly (extreme long-headedness). 
   K.A. Kennedy's work on ancient crania series from India produced 
similar results regarding skull measurements. The Indian Gazetteer 
describes the basic physical element in the Indian population 
as "Austric." 
   

The archaeological trail


   As mentioned previously, archaeologists tend to look at Austric 
influence in India as extending to about the Vindhya range as 
evidenced by the Aeneolithic culture of Northeast India and Copper 
Hoard culture of Eastern India. The Aeneolithic shares morphological 
similarity with the contemporary culture of Southeast Asia, while the 
tools of the Copper Hoard culture, while metal, bear close 
resemblance to the stone tools of the Aeneolithic and to copper tools 
of Southeast Asia. The distribution of the Copper Hoard culture 
overlaps much of the present distribution of Munda peoples in India 
and it shared many similarities with modern Munda culture (hoe 
agriculture, for instance). 
   Evidence exists of geographically more pervasive contacts however. 
Much of this is in the form of jewelry and common motifs. Even during 
the intense cultural contacts of the Hindu-Buddhist period, the 
material cultures of the two regions were linked archaeologically 
mostly through jewelry. During this period, there seems to have been 
a trade in beads and similar jewelry. 
   There never seems to have been much movement in the sense of 
pottery between the two regions even at the height of cultural 
transmission of Hindu-Buddhist or Islamic influence. Indeed, China 
was the most important supplier of ceramic trade items to both 
countries. 
   During the earliest periods, one finds the unusual practice of ear 
extension in use in both South and Southeast Asia as evidenced by the 
existence of associated earplugs. Disc-like pottery and shell 
earplugs that are inserted into extended lower earlobes are found in 
Neolithic and Harappan sites in West and Northwest India. Similar 
earplugs made of the same materials and often displaying similar 
motifs were also found at Ban Chiang, Non Nok Tha and numerous other 
early Southeast Asian sites. 
   This peculiar practice of ear elongation, so commonly displayed on 
Hindu, Buddhist and Jain art, is not found in Central or West Asia 
according to relevant studies. Like the related practice of 
stretching the lower earlobe with heavy rings (as still practiced in 
Borneo today), the use of earplugs was distributed throughout ancient 
South and Southeast Asia. In latter times, the practice was also 
found scattered in the Pacific islands and in the Western hemisphere. 
   In addition to earplugs, early Neolithic and Metal Age 
archaeological sites in both regions have yielded pottery and metal 
bangles used for the arms and legs. In Southeast Asia, burials in 
which the bodies were still wearing multiple arm and/or leg bangles 
have been uncovered. At a latter period, possibly as early as 1000 
BCE, beads of South Indian manufacture begin turning up in the 
archaeological record of Southeast Asia. 
   A number of interesting common motifs appear on the jewelry, 
ceramics and other artifacts of both regions. These include the 
spiral, the sun wheel, and the "Mt. Meru" pattern of concentric 
circles. 
   

Agricultural links


   Studies indicate that the distribution respectively of the Aus 
type of broadcast rice, the Asiatic zebu, the coix cereal, and an 
ancient type of 'maize,' thought to be a cross of coix and sorghum, 
coincide closely. Further the central area from which these items 
branch off also overlap for the most part. 
   The area of divergence extends from about Assam east into the 
Yunnan area and south through Indochina and the Malay Peninsula into 
western Indonesia. In this region, hill peoples still today grow rice 
as a main crop with coix or the ancient maize as a primary 
alternating crop. Sorghum and millet are also grown over this 
distribution. 
   The Vedic people were a 'rice people.' In this sense, we are 
referring to the people described in the Vedas in general and not 
just in the Rgveda. However, as mentioned before the rare mention of 
rice (as odana) in the Rgveda does not necessarily reflect on the 
material culture of the people. The Rgveda offers only limited 
evidence in this regard. One entire mandala deals mainly with the 
Soma drink. The hymns also do not mention wheat, yet this is not seen 
as a problem to the AIT school for obvious reasons. Our approach, 
again, is to take Vedic culture as that consistently described in the 
Vedic corpus as a whole. 
   In the Yajurveda and Satapatha Brahmana, we have a clear picture 
of the importance of rice as food and as a ritual item. Indeed, rice 
appears as the most important item of sacrifice. Wild rice is the 
offering for Brhaspati, the priest of the gods and the prototype for 
the Brahmin priesthood. Rice is the offering for the ancestors and is 
the only grain that can be used as a substitute for all other 
sacrifices. 
   The OIT school sometimes suggests rice as an "Aryan" (read Indo-
European) grain that was not transmitted to the west (of India) 
because of climatic reasons. The arguments here though are rather 
weak. Rice appears associated with peoples of a cultural milieu that 
finds its strongest representation in eastern Indian and Southeast 
Asia. There is no evidence of any Indo-European influence even 
indirectly in the diffusion of rice into eastern parts of Asia. 
   The Satapatha Brahmana mentions gavendhuka, or coix, as an 
offering for Rudra. Gavendhuka is an important grain for cow herders 
and is used as cow fodder through much of its distribution. 
   Early inhumation burials at Non Nok Tha contained cattle bones of 
mostly young females indicating a religious significance. This theory 
is bolstered by the common occurrence at early Southeast Asian sites 
of zebu figurines. One artifact from South China displayed an 
undeniable ritual significance in the form of a zebu sacrificial 
table. 
   Also found in this type of burial was the placement of a socketed 
copper instrument on the chest region of the skeleton. If we theorize 
a religious significance of cattle and copper, some interesting 
possibilities arise. The religious importance of cattle in South Asia 
has already been discussed. Copper is associated in the early 
literature with the Brahmin priesthood and their rituals. 
   Returning to agricultural links, the distribution and branching of 
the other types of Indica and Japonica varieties of rice indicate 
that their likely place of origin was not much different than that of 
Aus Japonica. The Indica variety branches off into Aman, Hsien and 
Tjereh subtypes in northern Indochina. The Japonica type branches off 
into Aus and Bulu subtypes a bit northwest in northern Thailand or 
northern Burma. 
   Thus, an area extending from the eastern Himalayan foothills to 
Indochina and the corresponding area south of this region would be 
the likely homeland for all these types. Given the age of 
domestication this would indicate a connection with Austric peoples, 
although Tibeto-Burmese influence is also a possibility. 
   The Aus variety could be associated with Austro-Asiatic peoples 
and its presence in Japan may substantiate theories of such influence 
in this region. The Bulu variety may have been carried by 
Austronesians to Bali or by an Austro-Asiatic deme that adopted the 
local language. The same theory would apply to the Tjereh variety. 
   Of course, grains and other aspects of material culture don't need 
to be "carried" from one region to another in the sense of 
demographic migrations. The 'Marco Polo' and many other similar 
scenarios may account for such diffusion. However, we can surmise 
that these events would indicate significant cultural contact. 
   We can postulate that related peoples who assigned significance to 
cattle and copper, and who grew rice along with coix, maize, sorghum 
and millet, moved back and forth between South and Southeast Asia. 
The beliefs of these peoples seemed to have played an important role 
in forming the core of early brahminism. 
   Not only does the Vedic literature associate the Brahmin 
priesthood with the East, but most of the early clan founders tend to 
be located rather eastward in India. Brhaspati, again, is offered 
wild rice, which grows in East India. Vasistha is placed 
traditionally with the solar kings of eastern India. That brahminism 
eventually became centered at Varanasi may not be at all 
coincidental. 
   Dilip Chakrabarti has shown that the coming of the Iron Age in 
India involves sites more to the east rather than in Pakistan or 
Northwest India. The earliest iron and the majority of the earliest 
iron sites are found across a range that would suggest Austric and/or 
Dravidian influence. Many of these early iron sites are located 
squarely in Munda territory. 
   Chakrabarti theorizes that iron in India is independent of West 
Asian or Central Asian influence. Could there be a link though 
between iron in South Asia and Southeast Asia? Chakrabarti thinks so. 
In both areas, iron is linked with pig and rice cultures. These 
cultures like the earlier ones using copper probably also employed 
the domestic water buffalo as evidenced by their art forms. 
   

Conclusion


   Our examination has found that Rgvedic India should not be 
considered as a completely separate entity from the India of the rest 
of the Vedas (or the rest of the Rgveda). The importance throughout 
the Rgveda of tropical darbha grass in sacrifice and religious 
ceremony alone indicates a strongly Indian milieu. Certainly it does 
not point to people coming from Central Asia. The evidence of the 
horse and cow also point strongly to southeastern Asia.
   The natural biosphere of greater parts of India fall into a 
tropical/sub-tropical pattern that links with Southeast Asia. The 
similar climate and biological environment would be conducive to 
human migrations as it would not require adaptation of new crops, 
livestock, supply materials, etc. 
   The Vedic and other early Indian literature indicate a strong 
orientation and familiarity with the east. The knowledge of the 
monsoons is intimate. The storms that cross from the Bay of Bengal 
and pass over the Gangetic region from east to west also seem to have 
early importance. 
   In the classical literature we hear of the Milky Ocean, Sakadvipa 
and Svetadvipa along with Suvarnadvipa/Suvarnarupyakadvipa, Yavadvipa 
and similar locations. The strong cultural contacts that existed 
during the Hindu-Buddhist period and during the period of 
Islamization seem likely to have existed prior to these times also. 
   The genetic and osteological signatures indicate close 
relationships and recent genetic flow through the mtDNA 9-bp and 
hemoglobin markers. 
   We know that during the Hindu-Buddhist period, there was mutual 
contact between the two areas although it is difficult to confidently 
detail the nature of this contact. Chinese and Muslim literature tell 
of travelers going in both directions. A number of grants from 
Suvarnadvipa kings have been recovered in India. 
   But classical texts indicate that the region was known long before 
this period. A detailed study of the notices of the Milky Ocean, 
Sakadvipa and Svetadvipa in latter times (the Samba story, Sakadvipi 
Brahmanas, etc.) would likely increase our knowledge on this subject. 
   The evidence put forth here indicates that the cultural contact of 
India with Southeast Asia and 'Austronesia' during Vedic times was 
much greater than normally assumed. Suggestions like this have been 
made previously, particularly in regard to the Nasadiyasukta and 
other aspects of mythology. The sum of linguistic, biological, 
archaeological, literary, geographical, cultural and other evidence 
indicate that more research in this area will likely be very 
fruitful. 
   

List of cultural correspondences between South and Southeast Asia


   The following list is meant as a convenient reference for 
archaeological and cultural correspondences between the two regions 
studied in this work. However, it is not an exhaustive list on this 
matter. 
   Correspondences either occur early in the archaeological record or 
are found widely distributed among indigenous or isolated groups at 
present or in recent times. However, not all are suggested as 
necessarily dating back to 'Vedic' times. 
   

Toolkits and artifacts


   * Shouldered copper and stone celts with hard rounded edges used 
as hoes in both regions.
   * Flat copper bar celts with trapeze form
   * Hoe and digging stick
   * Plough based on hoe
   * Disc earplugs
   * Multiple bangles worn on arms and legs
   * Shell and stone beads
   * Flake copper technology with forge finishing. Copper hoard 
culture is associated with Munda areas and culture.
   * Copper Hoard anthropomorphic figures and Harappan female 
representations with hands on hips resemble similar "Mother Goddess" 
representations of the Jomon (a Stone Age Japanese culture with 
suggested southern Austric affinities) and Dong Son (Bronze Age 
Vietnamese) and Dong Son-related cultures. 
   * Iron technology? Earliest iron sites are associated with Vindhya 
region and otherwise south and east of Northwest India. These early 
sites tend to be linked to a rice and pig culture and usually overlap 
with present or former areas of Austric influence (latest Copper 
Hoard sites extend to Madhya Pradesh and western Uttar Pradesh). 
   * Ziggurat-like stone platforms or temples. The ziggurat-like 
marae of Polynesia and similar smaller platforms scattered through 
the Pacific islands and SE Asia. Also, it is suggested that the base 
ziggurat platforms of Borobudor and Angkor Wat predate Hindu-Buddhist 
influence.
   * Similar megalithic structures (also among Dravidians) associated 
with the same cultural milieu
   * Apical and lateral shell trumpets
   * Nose flute
   * Gourd whistle
   * Musical bow with stick or bone rasp, bow with centrally attached 
resonators
   * Bent copper rings, probably used as money, among Copper Hoard 
Culture and also in early Cambodia, Philippines and other SE Asian 
areas.
   * Miniature animal figurines with disproportionate representation 
of bovines (zebu, water buffalo, etc.) as in Harappa and Somrong Sen.
   * Tree and plank oil press
   * Cotton cleaning bow
   * Pellet bow
   * Scissors trap
   * Canoe outriggers
   * Similar motifs on artifacts including spiral, gammadion, sun 
wheel and 'Mt. Meru' motif of concentric circles. 
   

Agriculture and livestock


   * Rice farming, probably in early times with alternating crops of 
coix (gavendhuka), coix-sorghum hybrid, sorghum and millet. 
* Coconut, betel, areca, yam, banana, dhal, mung, tumeric, gourd, 
brinjal and sugarcane cultivation. 
* Common cultivated or wild spices include cinnamon, black and white 
pepper, ginger, tumeric, nutmeg and mace?, cassia, bamboo. 
* Related cattle, horse, water buffalo, pig, chicken and canine 
domesticated species. 
* Elephants trained for service 
* Irrigated terrace agriculture 
   

Religion, mythology and social aspects


* Similar pantheistic concepts (Pangu/Purusa/Rangi-Papa, cosmic egg, 
etc.) 
* Physical universe and living beings formed out of being from cosmic 
egg. 
* Transmigration of the soul. Usually related to deeds in former 
life. 
* Totemistic beliefs such as Naga incarnations, animal avataras, 
belief in common biological descent of animals and humans from 
Kasyapa, horse as kin of Devas, etc. 
* Similar animistic beliefs regarding trees, stones, pots, mountains, 
rivers, ocean, etc. 
* Gourd birth or salvation from world flood through gourd. 
* Great sea flood often associated directly or indiretly with 
firestorm. 
* Generative wind/breath/prana. 
* Intermarriage, interdining and other taboos, especially for 
religious castes/classes, based on protection of mana 
* Similar atman concept of personal and universal self. 
* Reverence of many of the same animals: zebu, serpent, monkey, etc. 
* Separation of heaven-earth, yin-yang, purusa-prakriti, siva-sakti, 
etc. usually after emergence from cosmic egg. 
* Place of women in society. Matrilinear alongside patrilinear lines 
of descent. Mother right. Female inheritance of property. 
* Sacred view of sex. Ritual sex accepted. 
* Ascent into heavens during one's lifetime as a spiritual goal. 
* Use in religious and social rituals of rice, durva grass, coconut, 
betel, areca, banana, tumeric, vermillion, bamboo, pippal tree, etc. 
* Use of loincloth wrapped in a similar manner. 
* Eating with hands. (compare wooden spoons of early Teutons, shells 
of early Mediterraneans, metal and other spoons of Greeks and Romans) 
   

Flora, fauna and climate zone


   
* Most of the subcontinent falls in the tropics or sub-tropical 
region with a monsoon weather pattern 
* Among the common flora include the pippal, coconut, banana, silk 
cotton, teak, bamboo, sandal, banyan, coral, betel, areca, wild rice 
and mango. 
* Some of unusual common wildlife species include the Asian elephant, 
rhinoceros, wild water buffalo, tiger, gaur, freshwater and saltwater 
crocodile, cobra, peacock and junglefowl. 
   

Recommended Reading


   

Works with similar or relevant theme


JUMSAI, Sumet, Naga: cultural origins in Siam and the West Pacific, 
1988, Singapore. 
OPPENHEIMER, Stephen, Eden in the East : the drowned continent of 
Southeast Asia, 1998, London. 
MANANSALA, Paul K., "Austric Influence in the Brahmana and Rishi 
Traditions," International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics, vol. 
XXIV, Jun. 1995. 
__,The Naga Race, 1994, Calcutta. 
CHATTERJI, S.K, "India & Polynesia: Austric Bases of Indian 
Civilisation and Thought," Bharata-Kaumudi, 193-208, 1945, Allahabad. 
BAGCHI, P.C., Pre-Aryan and Pre-Dravidian in India, 1929, Calcutta. 
   

Ancient Indian geography


ALI, Syed Muzafer, The geography of the Puranas, 1966, New Delhi. 
SURYAVANSHI, Bhagwan Singh, Geography of the Mahabharata, 1986, New 
Delhi. 
   
   

On indigenous origin of early brahminism


KOSAMBI, D. D., Ancient India : a history of its culture and 
civilization, 1969, New York. 
___, Myth and reality : studies in the formation of Indian culture, 
1983, London. 
PARGITER, F. E., Ancient Indian historical tradition, 1922, London. 
MANANSALA, Paul K., "Austric Influence in the Brahmana and Rishi 
Traditions," International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics, vol. 
XXIV, Jun. 1995. 
   

Skeletal anthropology in ancient and modern India


KENNEDY, Kenneth A. R., "Biological Anthropology of Human Skeletons 
from Harappa: 1928 to 1988," The Eastern anthropologist, v. 45, Jan. 
1992. 
___, "Racial identification in the context of pre-historic-historic 
biological continua: examples from South Asia, Social science & 
medicine, v. 34, 1992. 
___ and Kailash Chandra Malhotra, Human skeletal remains from 
Chalcolithic and Indo-Roman levels from Nevasa: an anthropometric and 
comparative analysis, 1966, Poona. 
Government of India, The Gazetteer of India : Indian Union, 1973-
1978, Delhi. 
   

Genetic history of region



OPPENHEIMER, Stephen, Eden in the East : the drowned continent of 
Southeast Asia, 1998, London. 
BARNABAS S, Joshi B, Suresh CG, "Indian-Asian relationship: mtDNA 
reveals more," Naturwissenschaften 87(4), Apr. 2000. 
QUINTANA-MURCI L, Semino O, Bandelt HJ, Passarino G, McElreavey K, 
Santachiara-Benerecetti AS, "Genetic evidence of an early exit of 
Homo sapiens sapiens from Africa through eastern Africa," Nat Genet. 
23(4), 1999. 
MEHRA, Narinder, "India looks farther east for its ancestors," New 
Scientist 2072, 8 March 1997. 
HAMMER, MF, "The geographic distribution of human Y chromosome 
variation," Genetics, v. 145, 1997. 
   

On zebu


NAMIKAWA, T, Nagai A, Takenaka O, Takenaka A., "Bovine haemoglobin 
beta A Zebu, beta A43(CD3)Ser----Thr: an intermediate globin type 
between the beta A and beta D Zambia is present in Indian zebu 
cattle," Anim Genet. 18, 1987. 
NAMIKAWA, Takenaka O, Takahashi K., "Hemoglobin Bali (bovine): beta A 
18(Bl)Lys leads to His: one of the "missing links' between beta A and 
beta B of domestic cattle exists in the Bali cattle (Bovinae, Box 
banteng)," Biochem Genet. 21, 1983. 
LAGZIEL, Ayala, Morris Soller, Myriads of sequence differences 
between Bos indicus and Bos taurus," paper presented at Plant & 
Animal Genome VI Conference, 1998. 
LOFTUS RT, MacHugh DE, Bradley DG, Sharp PM, Cunningham P., "Evidence 
for two independent domestications of cattle," Proc Natl Acad Sci 
U.S.A., 29;91(7) 1994. 
   
   

On horse


KOZAWA Y, Mishima H, Sakae T, "Evolution of tooth structure in the 
Equoidea," J Nihon Univ Sch Dent 30, 1988. 
MARKLUND S, Chaudhary R, Marklund L, Sandberg K, Andersson 
L., "Extensive mtDNA diversity in horses revealed by PCR-SSCP 
analysis," Anim Genet. 26(3), Jun 1995. 
PATERNO, Judith, "The Indigenous Horse," Filipinas Journal of Science 
and Culture 4, 1981. 
ALBA, Elenita, "Archaeological evidences of animals as trade goods: A 
preliminary survey," National Museum Papers v. 4, 1994. 
FALCONER H. and Cautley, Fauna Antiqua Sivalensis, Being the Fossil 
Zoology of the Siwalik Highlands in the North of India, 1849, London. 
   

Key original sources bearing on this theory 


   Samaveda
   Rgveda
   Yajurveda
   Satapatha Brahmana
   Atharvaveda
   Aitareya Aranyaka
   Taittiriya Samhita
   Mundaka Upanishad
   Ramayana
   Mahabharata
   Visnu Purana
   Kurma Purana
   Bhagavatapurana
   Bhavishya Purana
   Padma Purana
   Matsya Purana
   Skanda Purana
   Varaha Purana
   Laghubhagavatamrta
   Brhat Samhita
   Siddhanta Siromani
   Brhat Parasara Horasastra
   Asvasastra
   Magavyakti
   Samba Purana 

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