Fiction in history
One of the histories of my family, written by a cousin
of mine, traces the roots of the Matheikals to one Namboothiri family that was
converted to Christianity by none other than Saint Thomas, disciple of Jesus.
When I pointed out to the writer that there was no clear historical evidence of
Namboothiri presence in Kerala until about the 8th century CE, his
answer was that available family legends formed the basis of his claim.
There are many Christians in Kerala who
make similar claims: that their ancient ancestors were Namboothiris (Brahmins)
converted by Thomas. There is a faint possibility of Thomas, disciple of Jesus,
having come to Kerala. There was active trade between Kerala and Rome in those
days. Pliny the Elder (1st century CE), Roman historian, mentions
Kerala’s spices, pearls, and ivory, in his work Natural History. He was
actually complaining about Rome’s loss of wealth due to its imports from India.
There are travelogues that describe
trade routes between Europe and India. Periplus, for instance, highlights
Muziris (today’s Kodungallur, Kerala) as a major trading port and archaeological
excavations in Kodungallur prove him right. Sangam literature of Tamil dating between
300 BCE and 300 CE describe the presence of Greeks and Romans (‘Yavanas’) in
South Indian ports and their trade in gold, wine, glassware, and ceramics. It
is possible that Saint Thomas embarked on one of those trade ships and landed
in Kerala. A possibility, of course.
But, in all probability, he didn’t
convert any Namboothiri to Christianity for the simple reason that Namboothiris
are thought to have landed in Kerala much later. [Please read my recent post, The
irresistible mating of languages, for some linguistic sidelights on
that.]
Recently,
the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M K Stalin, offered a prize of $1 million to
anyone who can decode the available Harappan script. Stalin’s contention is
that the Indus Valley civilisation of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro was Dravidian
and that the Dravidians were forced to flee to the South by the arrival of
Aryans.
The Outlook magazine (and
earlier The Caravan too) has brought out an issue dedicated to
this theme. There is much evidence that justifies Stalin’s claim, as shown the
magazines’ articles written by eminent scholars and academicians. It won’t be
possible for me to summarise all those arguments in a short blog post.
The issue seems to have caught the
fancy of a lot of publications as well as others. Today’s The New Indian
Express carries a catchy headline: ‘A Reminder
of the Indus Valley civilisation in Thiruvananthapuram city’. A temple in
Peyad, Thiruvananthapuram, carries remnants of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, it
seems.
Let there be more excavations on this
instead of only digging up Muslim mosques to find Hindu relics in North India.
Stalin’s ire was aroused particularly because the Archaeological Survey of
India (ASI) is highly biased in its studies. For example, when the ASI, under
the leadership of Amarnath Ramakrishna, discovered evidence of the Harappans
having fled to Keezhadi in Tamil Nadu, the Modi government ordered a stop to
the research and transferred Ramakrishna from the place. Stalin got the court
to allow his state archaeology department to take over the research.
Let the research go on. After all, it’s
not fair to let fiction dominate history though, more often than not, fiction
is truer than history.
x
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteHow often has history been rewritten, one wonders... perhaps we must take all that has gone before as a form of fiction, and know that looking forward can only be fiction... it is but the moment in which we exist that has any reality. The moment in which we can strup upon our stage... YAM xx
There's much fictionality when we look back. The present keeps reshaping the past. How my memory of my childhood has evolved over the years is astounding. But when governments try to fabricate new histories using archaeologists and academics, it can be a menace
DeleteIt's funny how people hang their whole identities on family stories. Sometimes these turn out to be true. But often, not.
ReplyDeleteSelf-glorifcation has its comforts 😊
DeleteMaybe it is time to leave the past behind and look ahead...It is going to be techie's and non-techies rather than brahmins and non-brahmins.
ReplyDeleteIndia is obsessed with its ancient glory!
DeleteOh, I truly believed that was the case. The way people emphasize caste hasn’t spared Christianity either. But I once visited St. Mary’s Church in Kuravilangad, one of the oldest Christian pilgrimage centers in Kerala. Thechurch claims to have been built as early as 105 AD. It is said that Kuravilangad was the site of the first apparition of Mother Mary in India. and According to legend, she appeared before a group of children and instructed them to build a church at the spot where a miraculous spring emerged, Well i guess the story went on to classify the children as BRAHMIN children
ReplyDeleteKuravilangad and a lot of other churches in Kerala, like Malayattoor, have dubious histories. We can't touch religious sentiments in this country. So any history becomes holy.
Delete