Caldwell, who is considered as the founder of Dravidian Linguistic Theory had another fantastic idea in his quiver - Sudra Invasion Theory. Using that, he explains why South Indians are not that much suffering as compared to the North Indian Sudras - because they represented different invasion waves.
One of the saddest part of Indian history is the mainstreaming of unadulterated nonsense without an iota of scientific proof and the continued acceptance of such history, with Aryan Invasion Theory holding a prominent such position. The legend of Kumari Kandam is another, which, in reality, declared Tamils are not from Tamil Nadu and are nothing more than refugees from a sunken supercontinent, that too in the lands where Tamils inhabited from the start of history.
Another interesting theory which never evoked mainstream curiosity is Caldwell’s Dasyu/Sudra Invasion Theory. The standard version of Indian history, though, goes thus.
Aryans, some Central Asian or European Steppe, barbaric hordes attacked the glorious Indus Valley Civilization and destroyed it. These Aryans subjugated those original inhabitants of the land and placed them at the bottom of the Aryan caste structure, calling them Dasyus whose duty was to serve the Aryan castes of Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaisya.
All of this is based on the supposed philological similarities between Indian and European languages leading the philologists to propose an ancient race which spread in all directions and having a language from which all other languages evolved. In conception, the theory is very good. But, where it fails? Proofs. Neither is an archaeological trace of Aryan migrations or of the languages, and whatever proofs that were proposed(like the bodies on the roads of Mohenjodaro) were disproved at a later date. On the other hand, there are more exceptions than norms to this theory, a few of them being,
But, the theory continues to live.
Caldwell, on the other hand, proposes a different theory – not exactly a different theory, but another invasion before the Aryan Invasion Theory. He summarizes his argument as
Were the Dravidians identical with the Dasyus, by whom the progress of the Aryans was disputed, and who were finally subdued and incorporated with the Aryan, race as their serfs and dependents ? or were they a race unknown to the Aryans of the first age, which had already left, or been expelled from, Northern India, and migrated southwards towards the extremity of the peninsula before the Aryans arrived? This question of the relation of the Dravidians to the Aryanised aborigines of Northern India is confessedly involved in obscurity, and can be settled only by a more thorough investigation than any that has yet been made of the relation of the Dravidian languages to Sanskrit, the Prakrits , and the northern vernaculars. We may, indeed, with tolerable safety regard the Dravidians as the earliest inhabitants of India, or at least as the earliest race that entered from the North-West ; but it is not so easy to determine whether they were the people whom the Aryans found in possession and conquered, or whether they had already, before the arrival of the Aryans, moved on southwards out of the northern provinces, or been expelled from those provinces by the prehistoric irruption of another race.
Building upon what Caldwell hinted, one would notice that there are not two, but at least three waves of migration into India – Dravidians, the North Indian tribes and the Aryans. The Dravidians were the original inhabitants of the lands and were pushed south by the advancing hordes. These tribes were later subjugated by the invading Aryans and were treated as Dasyus. In fact, one would find a resonance of this in Rig Veda itself,
अकर्मा दस्युरभि नो अमन्तुरन्यव्रतो अमानुषः ।
त्वं तस्यामित्रहन्वधर्दासस्य दम्भय ॥८॥
Around us is the Dasyu, riteless, void of sense, inhuman, keeping alien laws.
Baffle, thou Slayer of the foe, the weapon which this Dasa wields.
This talks more about a recalcitrant in the society or a barbaric, alien race but not of an advanced civilization. Caldwell justifies this by saying
I feel convinced that the Dravidians never had any relations with the primitive Aryans but those of a peaceable and friendly character ; and that if they were expelled from Northern India, and forced to take refuge in Gondvana and Dandakaranya — the great Dravidian forest — prior to the dawn of their civilisation, the tribes that subdued and thrust them southwards must have been pre-Aryans.
Again, he says that these tribes are not the Indian tribes like Kols, Santals, Bhils or Doms but someone else – possibly that someone was assimilated into the mainstream society as Dasyus or Sudras.
Caldwell goes on.
I admit that there is a difficulty in supposing that the Dravidians, who have proved themselves superior to the Aryanised Sudras of Northern India in mental power, independence, and patriotic feeling, should have been expelled from their original possessions by an irruption of the ancestors of those very Sudras. It is to be remembered, however, that the lapse of time may have effected a great change in the warlike, hungry, Scythian hordes that rushed down upon the first Dravidian settlements. It is also to be remembered that the dependent and almost servile position to which this secondary race of Scythians was early reduced by the Aryans, whilst the more distant Dravidians were enjoying freedom and independence, may have materially altered their original character. It is not therefore so improbable as it might at first sight appear, that after the Dravidians had been driven across the Vindhyas into the Dekhan by a newer race of Scythians, this new race, conquered in its turn by the Aryans and reduced to a dependent position, soon sank beneath the level of the tribes which it had expelled ; whilst the Dravidians, retaining their independence in the southern forests into which they were driven, and submitting eventually to the Aryans, not as conquerors, but as colonists and instructors, gradually rose in the social scale, and formed communities and states in the extreme South, rivalling those of the Aryans in the North.
Building upon this, one can frame a theory as thus.
India was populated by two different kinds of people the tribes deep in the forest like the Santhals and Kols, and the Dravidians. These Dravidians were on par with the great civilizations of the era and built great cities. But, end is to come one day or the other. Waves after waves of barbarian hordes attacking them from the West ultimately crumbled their resistance and they had to flee South across the Vindhyas and continued their civilizational pursuits there. These barbarian hordes which ejected them out, in due time gave way to the more civilized Aryans who followed them and in turn, subjugated them. They were not ejected, but were assimilated into the existing Aryan caste hierarchy, they being placed at the bottom and being called as Dasyus or Sudras who persist till today. Thus, one would see that the Sudras who invaded India, in a twist of irony themselves became the subjugated.
What happened to the Dravidians? They escaped to inaccessible lands in the South and rebuilt their civilization there. By the time Aryans encountered them, they were already as sophisticated as the Aryans and that was the start of Aryan percolation into South, with assimilation of their religious ideas with that of the Dravidians. That’s a major reason why you would see the Dravidian traditions much different from that of Aryan – because they joined the Aryan fold as equals, not as subjugated.
All these mental acrobatics which hold no serious merit remind me of a theory I came across.
When Kumari sank into water, people scattered everywhere. While most of them migrated just north to Tamilakkam, some remnants migrated into Africa and Arabia. Noah’s Ark talks about that thing only. Moses came from one such family. He revived the old tradition and started preaching how people lived in Kumari. The people then settled happily in Israel. Nebuchadnezzar attacked Israel after some centuries. Israelis run away everywhere. Because Tamilakkam is a famous trade destination, most people went there also. Already, there are some Jews in that area and they helped them settle there. From there, they spread over whole of Tamilakkam. There, they found the local religion which is very similar to the one they are following. They didn’t know that most of Kumari settled in Tamilakkam. Around 150 BC, Aryans invade South India. Massive depopulation happened because of that and many people ran away by sea people towards Israel and towards Malaysia. Mary is born into one of those families. Jesus is born in the Tamil tradition where father is not known. Jesus notices what is followed in his house is different from others. He found out that he is from a pure and unadulterated Jewish tradition uncorrupted by Roman influences and decides to learn more about that religion. He came to India. But he finds his religion is crushed by the Aryans. He learns as much as possible from the remnants of the non Aryan religion which sadly is corrupted by Aryan influences. The Aryans notice him and chase him out. He takes shelter in Kashmir among a fringe group practicing the old religion before going back home. Rest of the story we know regarding Jesus. This is why Tamilians feel they are more close to Jesus and Moses than Aryan gods Rama or Krishna. Christians came back only to teach us what is originally ours – to help us unlearn the Aryan religion and replace it with pure Tamil religion
All of this point to what Eusebius wrote about hiding the shame of the Early Church –
I shall include in my overall account only those things by which first we ourselves, then later generations, may benefit.
Other words, there is no history. History is what you promote.
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