48. Early Tulu: Stage II 2000-800 BC

The major evidence for existence and residence of Tulu tribes in the northwestern Indian subcontinent is the existence of a fossil or relict word namely ‘Pirak’ in the present Tulu language. Incidentally, Pirak is name of the area in Baluchistan where the phase of post-Indus civilization was developed between 1800 and 800 BC. Beside there are a number of other evidences like exchange of words with Vedic Indo Aryans, adoption of the Bermer worship
One of the artifacts obtained in Indus civilization resembles boar (see photograph above). In Indus valley civilization, whether this ‘boar’ like artifact could be taken as evidence for the existence of boar worship (Panjurli/Varaha) which was a hallmark of the Tulu tribes needs further verifications. If it is confirmed it may indicate the presence of Tulu tribes in the late phase of Indus Valley civilization.
The civilization in the north western Indian subcontinent is divided into three phases namely:
(a) Mehrgarh (7000-2600 BC),
(b) Indus Valley (2600-1800 BC) and
(c) Pirak(1800-800 BC)

Mehrgarh Civilization phase 7000-2600 BC
Mehrgarh township, located at the foot of the Baluchistan hills (now in Pakistan), is the earliest known farming settlement in South Asia, established circa 7000 B.C. Several villages developed in the hills of Baluchistan and further (ca.3500BC onwards) along the western edge of the Indus plain. The people cultivated wheat and barley and raised sheep, goats and cattle, all traditions that paved the way to civilization. Stone sickles are found that provide evidence of cultivation. Besides, painted pottery, ornaments and terracotta figurines representing both humans and animals have been found.
Settlements on the Indus plain laid the foundation for the Indus Civilization. Cattle yokes and sophisticated copper/bronze implements recovered during the archeological excavations suggest growth of agricultural society in the area and the seals indicate trade with neighbors in the region. Graphic motifs on the pottery such as men with headdresses of buffalo horns may be the beginning of religious beliefs that continued into the later Indus Civilization.

Indus Valley Civilization phase 2600-1800 BC
More than 1,500 archeological sites have been discovered along the Indus (Sindhu) and Sarasvati (Ghaggar –Hakra) River valley/ catchment area by ca. 2600 BC, of which about ten known to be are well planned cities or towns. Among these, Harapa and Mohenjodaro (in Pakistan and Dholavira (Gujarat, India) are the famous sites. The towns, consisting of well planned streets and buildings, were divided into public/administrative and residential section. The use of baked bricks in architecture evolved before and during the Indus Civilization. The towns were linked with each others through rivers, which possibly served as water supply and transportation networks. The town had developed trade relationships with Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia.
Art works recovered during the archeological excavations such as human and animal terracotta figurines, gold ornaments, toys, decorative motifs painted on pottery and other objects made from copper/bronze, shell and semi-precious stones, carnelian beads with bleached white designs (etched with alkaline solution) indicate the affluent urban style of life enjoyed by the citizens of the Valley.
Buffalo horns and pipal trees were regarded as sacred. Depictions on some seals and tablets of men wearing horned headdresses decorated with pipal leaves may have represented religious as well as secular leaders. One of the published artifacts looks like the boar Varaha or the Panjurli, popular spirit in Tulu culture. Fish symbols abound in these areas that have been variously interpreted by scholars like Iravattam Mahadevan and Asko Purpola. Mahadevan suggested Indus to be a proto-Dravidian culture. Asko Purpola suggested that fish pictograms represented religious beliefs. Purpola’s suggestion appears meaningful since in later aprt of the history around 300 BC legend of fish worship was adopted as Matsyavatar, the first incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
Traditions involving the worship of nature and possibly even the "Mother Goddess" were integrated into the traditions of the Indo-Aryan speakers in the form of a reverence for cows, pipal trees, rivers and water.
Most of the cities of the Indus Civilization were abandoned by circa 1800 B.C possibly due to shifting of rivers or famine. Possibly most of these settlements were relocated to the Pirak region.
Pirak civilization phase 1800 to 800 BC
The Pirak Culture evolved consequent upon the decline of the Indus Civilization. It was near the older Mehrgarh sites on the Kachi plain and characterized by geometric polychrome pottery. Here horses and camels were domesticated for the first time in South Asia, and the riding of horses is clearly attested. Sorghum and rice were added as summer crops to the existing winter crop assemblage of wheat and barley. This saw-toothed stone sickle was probably used to harvest cereals. Early Tulu and Early Dravidian tribes picked up the cultivation and consumption of rice in this region. Possibly, the custom of making boiled rice was also initiated in this region, as mentioned in some Greek accounts of the time ca 300 BC. Several other points regarding the Pirak phase of Tulu tribes has been described in previous posts.
Evidences such as urns containing cremated bones and ashes have been recovered, suggestive of development of new tradition burning of dead bodies evolved in the Cemetery H. Horses and camels were utilized for common domestic chores.
®

43. Evolution of Tulu Language

I propose a three stage evolution of Tulu language. Other Dravidian languages also share this global heritage.
Stage I: ca.4000-2000 BC - Proto Tulu
Proto Tulu originated in Ethiopia. It contained lot of words derived from Sumerian languages and African languages. Some of these words still survive in our language. Other Proto-Dravidian languages also were originated in the region.
Around 2000 BC severe desertification of northern Africa occurred with formation of Sahara desert. The adverse environmental conditions forced many human tribes to leave Africa and migrate to greener areas with basic amenities. Tulu and other Proto Dravidian tribes left Africa and migrated.
Stage II: ca.2000-500 BC - Early Tulu
Migrating Tulu tribes and proto-Dravidians settled in the Pirak region in Central Asia, now part of Pakistan. Pirak region had a native language: Early Prakrit. They interacted with Indo-Aryans that came from Eastern Iran. A group of Indo-Aryan sages were engaged in the oral composition of Vedas. Early Tulu and Dravidians tribes learnt rice cultivation in this area. Again unfavorable environmental conditions enticed these Tulu/Dravidian tribes to migrate into greener pastures of India.
Stage III: ca.500-300 BC - Tulu
Early Tulu and Dravidian tribes migrated into India. They traveled and settled for some time in different regions of northwestern India, interacted with local language groups and further migrated to West coast of India. Interaction of Dravidian tribes with Marathi tribes contributed exchange of words between Dravidian and Marathi. Marathi language is an evolved form of Early Prakrit.
Tulu tribes settled in Karavali region that is popularly known as Tulunadu. Early Kannada tribes settled in plains of Karnataka. (The names Kannada and Karnataka may have evolved later.) Early Malayalees traveled further south and settled in Malabar. Tamils moved further and settled in Early-Madhurai, somewhere in the southern coast of India. The Early-Madhurai was destroyed by the transgression of the Sea and Tamils resettled in inland townships designated again as Madhurai.
At that time Munda group of languages and culture prevailed all over southern India. Munda tribes were adept in agriculture.They were growing a variety of crops like wheat, barley, jowar, ragi, cow pea (kadale), black gram (urd), green gram (padengi), horse gram (kudu), togari etc. The incoming tribes interacted with Munda tribes leading to assimilation of Munda language and culture in Tulu and other Dravidian languages and culture. Dravidian groups introduced rice cultivation methods acquired from their earlier settlements.
®

42. Origin of the word Tulu -II

The word ‘Tulu’ itself is of remote antiquity. Online search shall convince you that the word Tulu is more global in dimension than we can imagine.It appears that the word 'Tulu' originally meant 'water and water related aspects' in the language of its origin, but might have acquired additional meanings subsequently due to changes in environmental situations.
In the ancient Sumerian language“tu” morpheme represented ‘water spring or well’ or ‘water connected activities like bathing or washing’ and the morpheme “lu” was indicative of quantity or abundance, people etc. There was another Sumerian word “tulu” or “tule” that meant ‘soft or placid’. (Compare similarity of the latter meaning with our ‘tuluve’ jack fruit.).Tulu is found in the list of African personal names and the word means ‘spread out in different directions’, possibly implying migratory character of the Tulu tribes. Another vocally analogous African word ‘Zulu’ also means water.
I believe that the word ‘Tulu’ existed since Sumerian period of early civilization (ca. 6000-4000 BC) in north African-Mediterranean region, where from these original ancient Tulu tribes migrated. The ancient Sumerian and related languages form the basis for the evolution of many of the Afro-Asiatic languages of present day. The word 'Tulu' originally meant (1) water or activities connected with water (2) placid and soft.These ancient meanings still survive today in spite of the passage of several millenia in the time scale. These Sumerian meanings are analogous to those interpreted by Sediyapu Krishna Bhat and Manjeswar Govinda Pai in the context of present Tulu in Tulunad.
The Ethiopia can be described as cradle of human race, since the earliest human fossils (Homo sapiens) Omo I and Omo II dated back to 165,000 years were found in Ethiopia. As reconstructed by the genome studies complemented with archeology and paleontology, human migrations started out of Ethiopia and Africa in several phases.
Tulu place names
Tulu is the name of several Ethiopian towns and settlements. ‘Tulu’ is also a surname or part of the name among the Ethiopian people. For example, Derartu Tulu is an Ethiopian female athlete. There are at least four places (towns, settlements) called ‘Tulu’ in Ethiopia, at least one each in the other neighboring African countries like Kenya, Sudan, Nigeria and Zaire. In Ethiopia there are more than 12 places in the online maps with ‘Tulu’ as prefix, such as Tulu Bolo, Tulu Bora, Tulu Ferda, Tulu Guracha etc.
Tulu Migrations
On the basis of these data I suggest that the original Tulu tribes originated in Ethiopia in northern Africa and migrated out of Africa under adverse environmental conditions.Based on environmental geological data scientists have interpreted that around 2000 BC, wide spread desertification of northern Africa prompted many tribes to migrate out of Africa. Tulu place names in other African countries are suggestive of migration of early Tulu tribes in different directions. The present African meaning of ‘spread in different direction’ for the word ‘Tulu’ could have been the result of migrations.
The exact nature of the language of the primary Tulu tribes hailing from Ethiopia is difficult to conjecture now but we can presume some of the original words are still preserved as fossils in present Tulu language.
The Tulu language has grown or evolved independently of African languages during the last 6000 years in such a way that they have entirely separate identities and characteristics. A lot of things change as a result of divergent evolutionary trends. But some fossil root words may exist still!
Outside the African continent, Tulu place names can also be found in Pakistan (‘Thulu’), Afghanistan, Mynamar, China, Bolivia, Brazil, Papua New Guinea and Phillipines.
The Afghan Television channel, at present, is called ‘Tulu TV’, the word ‘Tulu’ in the present Afghan language means something like ‘the rising’ or ‘the dawn’. Note that Afghan meaning of ‘Tulu” is different from the African roots. Afghanistan is close to Pirak where many of the tribes settled during the period ca.2000 to 500 BC. The Pirak episode of Tulu tribes has been discussed in several earlier posts in this blog.
The Tulu tribes settled and lived in the Pirak area for some 1500 years, then again migrated (ca 500-300 BC) to their present homeland in Tulunad.

The original ‘Tulu’ may have been the name of the mother who migrated from Africa to Pirak along with her family. The original ‘Tulu’ family carried several root words along with them during the migration from their early homeland. A few such Tulu families or clans were active in the last millennium also around Kundapur, Honavar and Banavasi region.
And Krishnadevaraya who ruled Vijayanagar was product of one such family that called itself Tulu clan.

31. Tulu tribes - Migration from Pirak : 1000-600 BC

The Tulu identity and civilization as it exists now in Tulunad is a composite culture developed chronologically over not less than the last four thousand years. Like numerous rivers and streams flowing into the sea, several individual cultural streams have merged with the Tulu culture at different periods during the long historical past. One of the recognizable major events in the evolution of Tulu language and culture is the contribution of Tulu tribes that migrated to this Tulunad in the remote historical past dating back to the period 1000 to 600 years BC. [I quote the broad period of 400 years – i.e. 1000 to 600 BC- because I am not able to sharpen it more at present. With availability of more historical data, hopefully, we can narrow down this period.]
Iravattam Mahadevan suggested that the Indus valley civilization was an early form of Dravidian culture. Further after the decline of Indus valley civilization, possibly due to migration of rivers and abrupt floods, ca.1900 BC, Dravidians apparently moved out of the Indus valley region and lived in the north and northwest parts of the Indian subcontinent, before the advent of the Aryans. Brahui, a Dravidian language still spoken in Baluchistan, parts of Iran and adjoining areas is evidence in favour of the existence of Dravidians in those parts.
Among those who lived in the northwestern part of Indian subcontinent around Pirak, Mehrgarh, Multan and surrounding areas (now a part of Pakistan) ca.1900 to 1500 BC are Tulu and other Dravidian tribes. Aryans, migrated from Indo-European homelands also settled in these areas and composed the famous Vedas, initially in the oral tradition prevalent at that time.
That Tulu tribes were one of the groups of settlers in this area during the period cited above can be deduced by Atleast four lines of evidences recapitulated here below:
1. Presence of distinct Tulu words in Rigveda like : okha, aaNi, pala/ pela etc. These cited words have been considered by Michael Witzel as words borrowed into the early Sanskrit, since they do not conform to the linguistic word structure of Indo-European language in which the Vedas were composed. Rigveda, in original oral form, has been dated ca.1700-1500 BC. There may be more such words, for example like the suffix -aaN in braahmaN. [cf: previous posts 20,25,28 ]
2. The absorption of the legend of Abraham, into Tulu tradition as Bermer (Brahma) in the original form as a horse mounted hero.
Abraham, a popular leader of masses (legendary prophet for Jews, Christians and Muslims,) lived approximately 2000 BC in the NW Indian subcontinent-Asia Minor-Central Asia region. After his death in the tradition of spirit worship he became the “Bermer(u)” for Tulu tribes. Vedic Aryans converted the Abraham legend into the Brahman, the supreme cosmic creative power. Gradually with time Brahman evolved into the God Brahma with ten or four heads in different Purana epics, by the time of composition of the Ramayana ca. 800-500 BC. The dominance of Lord Brahma in Ramayana has been analysed in detail by SSN Murthy.
Since Tulu tribes carried their original horse mounted “Bermer” image with them to Tulunad before the evolution of the Brahma concept into ten or four headed God of creation, in northern India, the time of Tulu tribe migration can be fixed as pre 500 BC. [cf: previous posts 4, 5, 26,28 ]
3. The presence of ample Prakrit words in Tulu language, speaks of the heritage from their erstwhile homeland in Northwest Indian subcontinent. Especially the word Pirak is interesting. “Pirak” in Tulu language means ‘anything related to remote past’. Incidentally Pirak was the area of early civilization ca. 1700-800 BC. [cf: previous posts 3,6].
4. The basic “moolasthana”( literally means ‘primary inhabitation’ or ‘original homeland’) concept of Tulu tribes settled in Karavali Tulunad homeland is derived from the original concept of the tribes in their former homeland of northwest Indian subcontinent. Even today, Multan is a town in the Punjab province of Pakistan. [cf: previous posts: 9.18.19 30].There is a temple devoted to Prahlada at Multan.The legend of Prahlada,Hiranyakashipu and Narahari might have originated around this place.Incidentally,as pointed out by Manjunath,Prahlada is the grandfather of King Bali(also known as Baliyendra) who is reverred by Tulu and Malayali people since remote historical times.

®

29.The Rice: Vrihi and Arih

The relics of rice grains recovered from the archeological sites of Pirak area, Baluchistan suggest that the area was known for rice cultivation around 1700 BC. The mixed civilization at that time period composed of Vedic scholars and proto-Tulu, proto- Tamil and Dravidian communites at Pirak, as has been dealt in earlier posts here before.
Origin of the Sanskrit word ‘Vrihi’ that means rice (Oriza sativa) and sometimes other cereals like wheat and barley, has been discussed by Indological experts like Asko Purpola. The word is generally said to be not directly influenced by or related to the Dravidian words ‘arih’ (Tulu) and ‘arisi’ (Tamil) that represent the rice. On the other hand it has been fairly accepted that the Tamil word ‘arisi’ was adopted by Greek, Latin and also English as ‘rice’.
Sankaran Nair (2003) suggested that ‘Vrihi’ is a modified form of the word ‘varahi’. He cited that there are several varieties of rice designated as Graishmic, Hemanti, Varshic, Sharada, Salini etc described in ancient Sanskrit texts. Varahi is the female form of mythological Varaha, the boar incarnation of Lord Vishnu. (Varahi, is also the name of a river in Western Karnataka).
The word ‘Varahi’ has further ramifications. First connotation is that the Varaha was worshipped at that time by communities and cultures prevalent then at Pirak area. Spirits worshipped by the Tulu communities, even to date, include ‘Panjurli’ which is the Tulu form of Varaha. Appaently, the Panjurli or the Varaha was worshipped more widely at that time. The Varaha concept, later in the history, was absorbed as one of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu.
Thus the word ‘vrihi’ might have brought into Sanskrit usage as rice was predominantly grown and consumed by those who worshipped the Varaha or Panjurli. Besides, there is certain degree of similarity in pronunciation of the words ‘vrihi’ and ‘arih’.

ß

28.Significance of the Brahma

One well-wisher who read my post on Brahma commented that I erred in equating the Brahma with Brāhman (pronounced ‘BraahmaN’).
It is not that I equated the two but expressed that the word Brahma gave rise to the word BraahmaN. The latter word came into represent ‘the one who knew about Brahma’. Here the ‘Brahma’ or the ‘Brahman’ (pronounced ‘brahman’) meant the refined theological / metaphysical and esoteric concept of Brahma, the cosmic power that created the universe as well as the supreme power that pervades the universe. Subsequently, the word ‘brahma’ also meant large and gigantic (‘bruhat’). Words like Brahmanda ( literally means ‘the gigantic egg’ =universe), brahma-rakshsha, brahma-ratha, naga-brahma etc came into usage.
My objective of reconstructing the original legend and further the concept of Brahma is to understand the evolution of our religious beliefs from the historical and sociological viewpoint. I am not elaborating the theological aspects that are reasonably well known since it has been dealt extensively by others so far.
A historic heroic person, a leader of masses, Abraham, who claimed to be the creator of tribes, became a legend during his life time and also after his death. He is cited in the Bible and is revered as a leader by the Jews and as a prophet (Ibrahim) by Muslims. The Vedic scholars accepted him as the creator and the ultimate cosmic power. The legend of Abraham/Brahma was spread throughout the connected geographic region of West Asia-Asia Minor-and Central Asia.
The Vedic people and contemporaneous Jews had deep-seated rivalry, in spite of both communities sharing many common concepts and beliefs. Whatever words starting with A the Jews used, Vedics used it without initial A. (It may be the other way round also.) So Ahura or Asura of Jews became Sura for Vedics. (Recall the Sura-Asura wars described in Puranic legends.) Avesta became Veda. Abraham became Brahma and so on.
Some more discussion on the word ‘braahmaN’: The word is composed of ‘brahma + aN’. The word ‘aaN’ is a Tulu word meaning a male person. AaN+ jovu (literally ‘male being’ refers to man) in Tulu. Interestingly, the word ‘jovu’, currently used in Brahmin Tulu to refer to the girl child, is also related to the Sanskrit word ‘jeeva’.
It appears to me that the word ‘aaN’ was borrowed into early Sanskrit from Tulu like some of other words discussed in earlier postings. So the word braahmaN originally meant young male who studied scriptures relating to the knowledge of Brahma, the cosmic power. Perhaps, Prof Michael Witzel may throw better light on the status of the suffix /word ‘aaN’ in Brahman and also ‘jovu’ to ‘jeeva’ conversion or vice versa.
On the whole, these discussions further affirm my theory that atleast some Tulu ancestors dwelled in the Pirak civilized habitation in Sind, Baluchistan during the early historical period when Vedas were composed. The Tulu ancestors that migrated carried the worship of Brahma in the form of ‘Bermer(u)’ to Tulunad their subsequent homeland.
The image of Tulu Bermer (Brahma) was akin to the original form of Abraham, the horse riding hero. In a way these Tulu ancestors were following the ancient cult of hero worship that became the spirit worship after the death of the Abraham. The cult of hero worship (example: Koti- Chennaya, Kanthabare- Boodabare etc) and spirit worship (example Panjurli, Kalurti, Kodamanthaya etc) have continued to persist in Tulu culture even to date.
On second thinking, it appears that cult of Brahma worship was more widespread in India in the past till the ascent and domination of Shaivism. Along with the Tulu people, migrating other Dravidian like Kannada and Tamil ancestors carried the Brahma cult to different parts of southern India as evidenced by the relics of Brahma temples and Brahma name tags like Brahmaiah, Bommaya, Brahmasandra etc. The Jainism absorbed many features of the Brahma cult.

Therefore, the legend of Brahma stands testimony to trace the evolution and transition of our theological faiths from the primitive hero/spirit worship to the concept abstract cosmic powers at higher philosophic metaphysical levels on one hand and that of Hindu Gods in human forms at the other popular level.

®

26 Origin of the concept of Brahma

The story of Brahma, the deified hero who is considered as the creator and one of the Trinity (Trimurthy) and ultimately the generally forgotten God, is a very interesting episode in the origin and evolution of culture and religious beliefs in the Indian subcontinent as well as Asia Minor and Africa.

Brahma is also one of the earliest Gods in India. Early Vedics who initially worshipped natural forms like mitra (sun), agni (fire), varuna (sea) and indra (atmosphere) switched over to the brahman, the invisible and absolute force. The Brahma worship is an initial step in the evolution of religious concepts and transition from the primitive spirit/hero worship to the concept of divine worship.

The Brahma worship initiated in the present northwestern India and the concept migrated and spread wide in southern India, possibly along with the migration of tribes in the early historical period. In north India, the only Brahma temple remaining is at Pushkar in Rajasthan. However, in Tulunad (southwestern coastal Karnataka) and in Konkan coast (northwestern coastal Karnataka), the remnants of ancient Brahma worship remain even today as Bermer and Bommaya devaru respectively. Coastal townships by names like Brahmavara, Brahmagiri etc remain fossils of Brahmas erstwhile popularity. Brahmasthanas (=Brahma temple) and garodis (=ancient style gymnasia) of Tulunad still worship Bermer, the Tulu form of Brahma. In the Kannada mainland, some of the ancient names like Brahmasandra, Bommasandra, Bommadevarahalli etc carry the long forgotten relics of Brahma worship. There is a Brahma temple at Uttamar Koyil, Tamilnadu, indicating the span and spread of the Brahma concept in southern India.

The Tulu Bermer (e in bermer is pronounced as initial e in ‘eligible’) [‘berme’(< brahma) is the singular form and ‘bermer’ is the plural or respective form of address] is a dialectical corruption of the Vedic word Brahma. This leads to the suggestion that Tulu tribes then living with Vedic scholars were mostly ‘illiterate’ folks, who modified the high sounding Vedic words to suit their preferred pronunciation styles. The possible coexistence of Tulu tribes with Vedic scholars at Pirak during Rigvedic times is suggested in the previous posting (No. 25) on Pala and antiquity of Tulu words.

We go back in the timeline to about 1900 BC in search of the origin of Brahma. Then Indus valley civilization at Mohenjodaro and Harappa came to an end almost abruptly because sudden changes in the course of Rivers Indus, Saraswati and its tributaries. River Saraswati dried up or changed its morphology and was partly captured by River Yamuna due to tectonic earth movements. The rivers migrated and changed their courses abruptly in tune with earth movements and the appalled inhabitants were forced to abandon their carefully built townships in favour of safer habitation. They migrated to Pirak and surrounding areas, which form parts of the present day Baloochistan State in Pakistan. At Pirak, the human society at that time was a mixed one consisted of proto-Dravidian, Proto-Tulu and proto-Kannada and Vedic tribes who were all migrants from different surrounding areas or States. They spoke all proto-Dravidian languages, Prakrit, (possibly the official language of Pirak area) and Indo-Aryan language. The proto Dravidian languages, Tulu, Kannada and Tamil borrowed heavily from Prakrit and also lent many words and enriched the Prakrit language. The general population was not educated and the few educated ones, may be about a dozen rishis, orally composed Vedic hymns, estimated around 1700-1500 BC, that became parts of the Rigveda. Writing was not properly developed at that time. The Tulu tribes probably composed their own paD-dana, (oral folk songs). Similarity of many Tulu and Tamil words and their presence in Vedas suggest coexistence of Tulu-Tamil tribes in the area. Iruvattam Mahadevan suggested that Indus valley civilization was proto-Dravidian in nature.

The educated few (Vedic tribes) initially composed hymns of Veda in their native Indo-Aryan language. Similarity of Indo-Aryan Vedic hymns and hymns of Iranian Avesta have lead experts like Michael Witzel to suggest that Indo Aryans might have migrated from Iran area ca.1700 BC. Subsequently they borrowed words from proximal languages and also refined the native Prakrit and introduced the Sanskrit language for composing the Vedic hymns.

The character of Abraham has been described in the Bible (Genesis) and later retold in the Anacalypsis. Abraham (or the Brahma) was actually a mass hero, an uncommon leader of early tribes, born ca. 1900 BC, more or less during the chaotic time of earth movements, migration of major rivers and mass exodus of tribes from the Indus Valley civilization.

Abraham is said to have been lived for a period of 175 years. (The cited lifespan appears to be an exaggerated figure, characteristic of hero worship societies, nevertheless may imply that Abraham was a strong, dynamic character and had considerably long healthy lifespan.) Different tribes called him slightly differently depending upon the style of pronunciation native to them. He was called Abraham by Jews and subsequently by Christians. Arabs called him ‘Ibrahim’ whereas IndoAryans referred to him as Brahma. His father, ‘Terah’ originally came from a place known as Ur of Chaldees or Culdees, a part of Asia Minor.

Terah had a beautiful daughter called ‘Sara’ (or ‘Saraswati’ for Indo- Aryans and cohabitants of Pirak and northwest India) born to another wife who was not Abraham’s mother. Abraham or the Brahma fell in love with Sara and married her. For this or other reasons the Abraham and Sara left Ur and settled in Mesopotamia. There he organized Jews and became a venerated hero figure. Abraham has been considered as the founder of Jews. Similarly, Muslims believe ‘Ibrahim’ to be one of their early leader or founder. The original Kaba temple (later a mosque) at Mecca is said to have been built in honour of Abraham or the Ibrahim.

At that time, the present day Asia minor-Indian subcontinent region consisting of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (though had different individual provincial names at that time) were all contiguous states where communications and concepts freely exchanged among diverse townships. The Abraham (or the Brahma) was a dynamic leader of the masses and the ordinary people believed that he was the creator of the tribes. The legend of Abraham continued after his death and continued to inspire or haunt memories of the tribes living in the Asia minor-Indian subcontinent region. The legend of Abraham inspired Vedic tribes and others alike. This is the initiation the concept of Lord Brahma the creator of universe in Hindu mythology. Abraham became the Brahma the supreme God after couple of centuries following his demise. In the primitive cultures accustomed to spirit worship, the legendary Brahma, who organized tribes, represented a supreme hero capable of creation of tribes and later the universe itself. Legends turned into myths and Brahma was deified and considered supreme God.

The people of Pirak worshipped him as a hero, the creator of the tribes. Thus original Brahma as worshipped by Tulu tribes was a hero straddling on a horse. This leads me to suggest that Abraham was a horse rider. The original concept of horse seated Brahma was transported by migrant proto-Tulu tribes from Pirak to Tulunad. (see postings 4 and 5).The Bermer idol in garodis of Tulunad even today consist of idol of brahma (abraham>berme) in the form of soldier seated on a horse. The garodis, the ancient institutions of Tulunad, established to propagate the art of body building, physical development and techniques of warfare, continue to have brahma as worshipping idols. The legendary Tulu heroes Koti and Channayya worshipped the Bermer according to the paD-dana folklore. There were many brahmasthans in Tulunad in olden days that have been dilapidated or destroyed on the wake of people changing over to Shiva, Shakti or Krishna worships in later times. The primitive form of brahma worship among Tulu people suggest that these tribes migrated southward into Tulunad, before the Brahma the God was transformed into a ten-headed or four-headed concept in the post Vedic Ramayan period.

Vedic tribes venerated his legends as Brahma, the almighty, the creator of universe and incorporated the concept into Vedas. The word ‘Brahma’ gave rise to ‘braahman’(=educated person), ‘brahmaanDa’ (=universe), ‘brahma kalasha (=the holy pot used in the installation of temples and also the connected ceremony)’, brahma-ratha (=large temple chariot), brahma-rakshsa (= a huge demon), brahma-sthana (=temple of brahma) etc. The words root ‘brih’ to mean big or great was developed as a consequence of Brahma worship.

Brahma worship was at its peak during the composition and writing of Ramayana (ca.300 BC to 200AD). Then Brahma became a fusion of a creator deity with the impersonal absolute Brahman in a more popular and personalized form according to indology experts. S.S.N.Murthy (2003) of J.N. University of New Delhi, analyses that Ramayana is composed in praise of Brahma the God. Brahma is eulogized as a ten headed or four headed deity. Then onwards Brahma was worshipped as four headed God.

However, the subsequent ascent of Shiva and later Vishnu worships sent the initial God Brahma into the background.

Thus the Tulu concept of horse riding Brahma may be older than the ten or four headed Brahma depicted in Ramayana and the Tulu tribes were not aware of the transformation of initial horse riding Brahma into four headed God. In that case, it appears that Tulu tribes migrated from Pirak and northern India into coastal Tulunad before composition of the Ramayana.

20. Earliest popular fruit in the Indian subcontinent

Which is the earliest popular fruit in the Indian subcontinent? In my opinion, it is the humble jack fruit which was the most popular and possibly earliest used fruit in the Indian subcontinent. The fruit was called the ‘pela’ in Tulu, ‘palas’ in Kannada or simply the ‘phala’ in Sanskrit. Micheal Wizel (1999) who made a detailed analyses of the words used in Rigveda, the earliest Veda dated around 1700 BCE (early part of Rigveda), concluded that it contains several extraneous words that do not belong to the word structure of Sanskrit sensu stricto. Sanskrit words derived from Indo-european roots have a specific structure. His list of extraneous words includes the term ‘phala’.

Obviously, the extraneous Sanskrit word ‘phala’ in Rigveda must have been derived from the Tulu words ‘pela’ or ‘pala’ or the early Kannada word ‘palas’. Since the borrowed Sanskrit word ‘phala’ (=fruit) itself stands for the jack fruit, it should have been the most common fruit in those days and in those areas.

In Tulu language, both the ‘pela’ and ‘pala’ word versions are there. The Tulu word ‘palai’ (=wooden plank) is derived from ‘pala’ or ‘pela’ (=jack tree). The jack tree trunk was used for making wooden planks that were called ‘palai’.

The borrowing of Tulu/ Kannada/Dravida words into Rigveda by early scholars of Vedic tribes suggest that all these (Vedic, Tulu and other Dravida) tribes were living together (coexisting) in the Pirak region ca.1700 BCE, where early Vedas are considered to have been composed orally.

8. Bantu, bant′ II

Manjunath has disagreed with me on bantu > bant′ derivation. I wrote an explanation to him on the comment box but due to my distraction with a phone call, I could not properly save it in time in the blog. Instead of rewriting the whole response again, on second thoughts, I decided to post additional explanation on the aspect.

Bant′ (Tulu), banta (Kannada) and bantu (Telugu) all these words basically imply the same meaning that is a reliable assistant and/or bodyguard. The Telugu meaning of Bantu, a suicide squad, is only expansion of the basic meaning. In early days, Bantu meant a professional bodyguard who can be relied upon. Possibly, this profession was practiced by some Bantu persons who migrated from their original homeland due to adverse living conditions. Subsequently, the word Bantu meant any reliable bodyguard. Thus the word Bantu became an indicator of a profession.(This is something like our practice to call any Jeep- like rugged field vehicle as jeep , often forgetting that Jeep is a specific brand name and not a type of vehicle.)

Manjunath feels that the Tulu/Kannada word banta came through Prakrit from the Sanskrit term bhata. We have tacitly assumed since school days that many of our words are derived from Sanskrit, the tatbhavas. However, my inferences suggest that Prakrit was one of the languages of the people of Pirak during early Vedic times of ca. 1700 BC. The words Prak and Prakrit appear to have been derived from the place name Pirak (cf. my posting 3.Pirak). Pirak was a multicultural, polylingual society where proto-Tulu, proto-Dravida and early Vedic societies coexisted. The term Sanskrit itself means refined and cultured language; it was refined from the preexisting prakrit and related languages.

So the Sanskrit word bhata could have been derived from the word bantu/ bant. The Sanskrit bhata means a soldier or guard; without connotation of any of the reliability, bodyguard tags implied in the said South Indian languages.

Presence of random African tribes in India is not a new discovery. Siddi tribes of African origin in the Western Ghats area of Karnataka may be relatively recent additions to our diversity. Manjunath opines that population genetics do not support any African genetic affinity for south Indian groups. I am not sure if any detailed genetic studies have been carried out in India. But a recent heterozygosity study confessed that they were unable to get adequate Indian samples.

It is said that the Nadava are mentioned in a 13^th century inscription for the first time in Tulunad area. It was the period when Tulunad was under the suzerainty of Vijayanagar kingdom. Possibly, Vijayanagar administrators referred to local cultivating community as as nadava to distinguish from the soldiers brought along with them from Vijayanagar mainland. Presently, Nadava are a Kannada speaking community widespread in Uttara Kannada. According to the Nadava sources, about five centuries ago, five Nadava families migrated from Kundapur area and settled around Ankola and Gokarna in Uttara Kannada district. This probably serves as an example for the number of population/tribes that migrated in the history.

4 . Brahma worship: Brahma and Bermer

The place name Pirak, where several early Indian tribes, including Vedic and Tulu tribes lived formed words pirak in Tulu, prak in Prakrit and Sanskrit that carries the meaning ‘ancient’. Probably, the words were formed after these tribes migrated from the pirak area into present Indian lands.

All these tribes possibly worshipped Brahma or the Brahman (referred to in Vedas and Upanishads). Tulu people called their early God, Bermer (the respectful word for the Brahma, pronounced as berm’er). The –er is a plural indicative or respect indicative suffix in Tulu. The migrating Tulu tribes later carried Bermer concept to their Tulunad homeland. The Bermer was the prominent God for Tulu people for centuries. Bermere gunda or Brahmasthana (=Brahmas shrine) were existing in many Tulunad villages till seventies or eighties. There may still be some relics of them in remote villages.The lyrical folk literature of Tulu people, pad-dhana, describe Tulu heros Koti and Chennaya worshipping the God Bermer. The Garodis (traditional gymnasiums of Tulunad ) had idols of the God Bermer. Interestingly, the idols of Bermer, in most cases I know, were represented by a human male figure mounted on horse. Italian tourist Della Valle who visited Queen Abbakka Devi at Ullal, a small coastal town south of Mangalore, Karnataka, during AD 1623, also described a similar idol of Bermer, within a small shrine in the area.

With the ascent of Shiva and Durga worships in Tulunad the Bermer concept is slowly vanishing. However, the word bermer was further extended as suffix denoting God to Naga bermer (=Naga /serpent God) also devotedly worshipped by Tulu people.

There is a Brahma temple in Pushkar, Rajasthan and this has been described as the only Brahma temple in India. However, the discussions above clarify that Brahma or Bermer was a prominent God for several early Indian tribes.

It appears that the concept of Brahma or Bermer worship has evolved with the passage of time. The relics of early clay horse statues found in the Pirak region by archeological excavation teams (ca.1700 BC), possibly represent the Bermer as worshipped by Tulu people until recently. The original Brahma, a human male figure straddled on a horse, might have been worshipped as the Creator or Almighty by early Indian (Tulu and Vedic) tribes. Subsequently, as a consequence of domination of Shiva and Vishnu cults, the original horse-seated Brahma might have been evolved into a four faced, Chaturmukha Brahma, with passage of time. Thus we can distinguish the early horse riding Bermer and the subsequent four faced neo-Brahma stages in Brahma worship in Indian subcontinent.

The Pushkar region is a place of ancient civilization where early Brahma/ Bermer was being worshipped. With passage of time, the appearance of Brahma has also underwent change in Pushkar. The Brahma temple in Pushkar now presents a four faced Brahma idol.

Even with evolution of his appearance, the Brahma has retained his position as creator of the world in Indian mythology. However, with dominance of Shaiva, Shaktha and Vaishnava philosophies, the concept of the original creator Brahma as supreme God has taken a back seat.

The migrant Tulu tribes carried Bermer concept with them to Tulunad, before the Shaivism made major impact in southern India. Shiva worship in Tulunad, as suggested by dating of linga/shiva idols, were initiated in the early part of Christian era.

3. Pirak, Prak and Prakrit

Pirak village in present day Baluchistan province of Pakistan is a place known for relicts of ancient settlements and civilization, estimated to about 1700 BC. Remains of statues of horses are specially reported from this region. The place is geographically proximal to the Sumeria or the southern Iraq (refer, post 2 below).

Some of the early Tulu, Kannada and other Dravidian tribes that migrated from the Sumerian region as a consequence of natural calamities or famine there, possibly settled in the Pirak area. This was an important place where several cultural groups or tribes coexisted. It appears that migrant tribes from Sumeria, Africa and Caucasian regions settled in this flourishing cultural centre.

It can be emphatically proposed that the Tulu tribes were distinctly there. A solid evidence in favour of this argument is that the word Pirak has been retained even today in the Tulu language. In Tulu pirak stands for something of ancient days (For ex: Avu baari pirakdaya! (=It is of very ancient days!), Pirakda kaladavu (=of ancient times).

Secondly, there were other tribes (Vedic Aryans?), who spoke a language known as pirak or prak in other areas. Later Prak language was further refined and adapted for writing and thus Sanskrit came into being. The Prak language, probably after the evolution of Sanskrit, was known as Prakrit.

The influence of Prak language (prakrit) on Tulu language is very strong. Many Tulu and Kannada words have been derived from prakrit. Similarly, it is also possible that words of early Tulu/Kannada language may have influenced formation of many words in prakrit.