மரபணு ஆய்வு காட்டும் சாதிப் பிரிவிகளின் வரலாறு
தேமொழி
When did caste become the dominant norm for ethnic communities of a region? 70 generations ago, or nearly 1,500 years ago.
The twisting strands of DNA tell tales, not just of the strengths and weaknesses that make us human, but of the consolidation of the caste system.
A study by researchers from the National Institute of BioMedical Genomics (NIBMG) in West Bengal has looked at the genes of various communities to answer questions that have often been suggested in history books: when did caste become the dominant norm for ethnic communities of the region.
For most upper-caste communities, endogamy (that is marrying within one’s caste) started nearly 70 generations ago, or around the time of the Hindu Gupta period around 1,500 years ago, says the study published in the latest issue of the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America).
“A lot of social transformation took place during the Gupta period. Notable among these was the enforcement of social strictures against marriage between castes, as enshrined in the Dharmasastra. This reveals that some social norms leave imprints on the DNA, which can be reconstructed by careful genetic studies,” says Partha P. Majumder, Director, NIBMG, who, along with Analabha Basu and Neeta Sarkar Roy, authored the study.
By looking at the block lengths of ancestral genes, the team could pinpoint the era when mixing of castes ended. In the case of West Bengal Brahmins, marriages with the northeastern communities continued until the arrival of the 8th century Pala dynasty which cut off these regions.
Genetic inputs show upper caste dominance
The study team could pinpoint the era when mixing of castes ended. For the Marathas, it was during Chalukyas and Rashtrakutas (nearly 1,100 years ago) when warriors (Kshatriyas) were drawn from the peasantry class and eventually, the mixing of the population with tribes and Dravidian communities halted.
Unsurprisingly, it was mixing between tribes of various ancestries that ended the last.
Mixing of population
However, the researchers have noted that “mixing” of genetic populations continued in an “asymmetric” trickle after this. Upper caste populations continued to give genetic inputs to lower caste and tribal populations — but not vice-versa.
This is “consistent with elite dominance and patriarchy” of the upper caste, notes the study.
“Male members of upper caste communities have had off-spring with other communities, but the reverse is not seen. This is possible by an elite group [sharing the similar genes] dominating non-elite groups,” says Partha P. Majumder, Director, NIBMG, who, along with Analabha Basu and Neeta Sarkar Roy, authored the study.
Researchers analysed “high quality” genotype data of 367 individuals drawn from 20 ethnic populations.
The samples ranged in caste, linguistic as well as geographic variations: from “upper caste” — Gujarati, Manipuri, West Bengal Brahmins and Marathas — to Dravidian communities — Pallan, Irula, among others — to Central and Eastern Indian tribes — Ho, Santhal, Birhor.
From Andaman and Nicobar islands, the Jarawa and Onge tribes were chosen for the study — and these tribes were found to have ancestries closer to the Pacific Islanders than those in mainland India.
Complex ancestries
Apart from the historical linkages shown, the study also shows the complex ancestries that now make up the Indian population.
While a previous study published in Nature in 2009 by Harvard geneticist David Reich and his team, showed that most Indians could trace their roots in Ancestral North Indians (ANI) and Ancestral South Indians (ASI) genes; the NIBMG team shows a significant presence of the Ancestral Tibeto-Burman (ATB) genes in communities in the North-East as well as Ancestral Austro-Asiatic (AAA) genes among the tribal populations of east and central India.
தேமொழி
செல்வன்
தேமொழி
செல்வன்
இப்பொழுது புரியும் கலப்பு மணம் இதையெல்லாம் ஒழிக்கும் என்பதையும், பெரியார் கலப்பு மணத்தை ஆதரித்ததன் முக்கியத்துவமும்.
தேமொழி
'காதல் திருமணம், விவாகரத்து போன்ற பிரச்னைகள் உள்ளவர்களுக்கு, ஆசிரியர் பணி இல்லை' என, தனியார் கல்வி நிறுவனங்கள் நிபந்தனை விதிக்க துவங்கி உள்ளன.
காதல் விவகாரங்களால், மாணவ, மாணவியர் பாதிக்கக் கூடாது; பள்ளிக்கும் அவப்பெயர் வரக்கூடாது என்பதற்காக, பல தனியார் பள்ளிகள் முன்னெச்சரிக்கை நடவடிக்கையில் இறங்கி உள்ளன. மாணவ, மாணவியருக்கு ஒழுக்கம், குருகுல கல்வி முறை, கண்டிப்பான விதிகளை போதித்து, முறைப்படுத்தவும் முடிவு செய்துள்ளன.
இதன் ஒரு கட்டமாக, குடும்ப பிரச்னைகள் உள்ள பட்டதாரிகள், காதல் திருமணம் செய்தவர்கள், விவாகரத்து செய்த பட்டதாரிகள், கலப்பு திருமணம் செய்தவர்ககளுக்கு, ஆசிரியர் வேலை வழங்கவேண்டாம் என, முடிவெடுத்து உள்ளன.
பல தனியார் மற்றும் அரசு உதவிபெறும் பள்ளிகள், இந்த முடிவை எடுத்துள்ளதால், காதல் திருமணம் செய்த பட்டதாரிகள் அதிர்ச்சியடைந்து உள்ளனர்.
சென்னையில் உள்ள பிரபல கல்வி மற்றும் சமூக அறக்கட்டளை நிறுவனத்தின், குரோம்பேட்டை மற்றும் ஆலப்பாக்கம் பள்ளிகளுக்கு, ஆசிரியர் தேர்வு துவங்கிஉள்ளது.
அதில், வேலைவாய்ப்புக்கான நிபந்தனைகளில், 'விண்ணப்பிக்கும் பட்டதாரிகள், துணையை பிரிந்து வாழ்பவராகவோ, காதல் திருமணம் செய்தவராகவோ, குடும்பத்தில் ஒற்றுமை இல்லாதவராகவோ இருக்கக் கூடாது' என, தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டு உள்ளது.
சென்னை, ராயபுரம் அரசு உதவிபெறும் பள்ளியில், தமிழ் ஆசிரியர் ஒருவர், அங்கே பணியாற்றிய ஆசிரியையை காதல் திருமணம் செய்தார். அதனால், அவருக்கு, ஆறு மாதமாக சம்பளம் வழங்க மறுத்ததுடன், அவரை பணியில் இருந்தும் நீக்கினர். இதை எதிர்த்து நடந்த போராட்டத்துக்கு பின், மீண்டும் அவர் பணியில் சேர்க்கப்பட்டார்.
http://www.dinamalar.com/news_detail.asp?id=1442983
தேமொழி
Red earth and pouring rain: Powerful imagery
SINCE June this year, an English translation of a Tamil poem from the Sangam anthology is on display in the trains in the London Underground. The original poem, in Tamil script, is also featured along with the English version.
The London Tube, as the underground metro train service is known, was started in 1863 and now covers 408 km. It is the lifeline of the city. When the transport authorities began paying attention to the interior of the coaches, they instituted prizes for the best advertisement posters. In 1986, encouraged by the Poetry Society, short poems of five or six lines were displayed in a special show. It proved so popular that poetry display has since become a permanent feature in the trains. Funded by the Arts Council of England, the poems are printed in uniform sized enamel plates and displayed inside the coaches. Copies of these displays are sold as posters and are sought after as souvenirs. The collection of these poems, published under the title Poems on the Underground has just gone into its ninth edition. This practice has been adopted by public transport systems in New York, Moscow and other metros and the display of poems has become part of the urban landscape.
The Tamil poem that is exhibited now, the oldest to be featured, is from Kurunthogai, a collection of 400 poems on love, ascribed to the first three centuries A.D.. This is the most popular and off-quoted of the Sangam anthology. When the team of selectors for Poems on the Underground started looking for the original text, Nalini Prasad, curator of the South Indian Languages section of the British Library stepped in. The library has in its holdings, a Kurunthogai text, published in 1915 by Vithyarathnagara Press at Vellore. Tirumaligai Sowriperumalarangam of Tirukannapuram had written the annotation. (There were later editions with annotation by U. Ve. Swaminatha Ayyer. It was my delight to see and handle this edition at the British library. A calico-bound imprint, in good condition, it had been bought from a certain Saraswathi Book Stores in Vellore, as evidenced by a rubber stamp impression on the title page.
The poem, as it appears in this book, was photocopied and reproduced in the display. The English fonts were slightly altered to match with the Tamil characters. And the display board, designed by Tom Davidson, with a kolam design on the left margin, looks elegant and exudes a period flavour.
The English version, by A. K. Ramanujan, has been taken from his book Poems of Love and War (1985). The credit of introducing the splendours of Sangam literature to the English-speaking world in our times goes largely to Ramanujan. He seems to be able to capture with ease the quiddity and the texture of these poems and contextualise them. One has only to read the Interior Landscape, a translation of Kurunthogai, to get an idea of his abilities as a translator. His "Afterward" at the end of this book is the best introduction to Sangam literature I have read.
The poem is titled "Red Earth and Pouring Rain". In the background of authors of many works remaining anonymous, in Tamil literary tradition there is this practice of identifying a poet by a phrase or word from his poem. Thus the author of this poem is Sembulapeyaneerar, literally "The poet of red earth and pouring rain".
The poem is about two lovers uniting and the man reassuring her of his love.
The powerful imagery in the words "red earth and pouring rain" is so evocative, standing at once for the union in love and also for a geographical context. Evidently, it is this line that inspired the title of Vikram Chandra's recent English novel, Red Earth and Pouring Rain.
In Interior Landscape, Ramanujan explains his philosophy of translation. "The effort is to try and make a non-Tamil reader experience in English something of what a native experiences when he reads classical Tamil poems. Anyone translating a poem into foreign language is, at the same time, trying to translate a foreign reader into a native one."
Ramanujan once told me a st story about a leading English publisher in India approaching him for a translation of Tirukural. Enthusiastic about the idea, Ramanujan asked for at least two years' time. He needed that period, as he did not want the translation to read like a list of aphorisms such as "Honesty is the best policy". The publisher, in a hurry, wanted it in six months and approached another translator who agreed to abide by the deadline. Thus the world lost an opportunity to get what probably would have been the best ever English translation of Tirukural.
S. THEODORE BASKARAN
தேமொழி
Genetic Research Suggests Indian Caste System Began 1,900 Years Ago
when did the caste system actually begin? One team of researchers believes the country’s genetic history holds the key. In a recent paper published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, researchers from Harvard, MIT, and the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad assembled what they call the “most comprehensive sampling of Indian genetic variation to date,” using samples collected from 571 individuals belonging to 73 “well-defined ethno-linguistic groups.” The data allowed the authors to trace not just the genetic mixture between these groups but how long ago this mixture occurred.
Five thousand years ago, the ancestors of modern Indians were comprised primarily of two groups: ancestral North Indians, who related to people of Central Asia, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Europe, and ancestral South Indians, who are not closely related to groups outside the subcontinent. The mixture between these two groups and their many subcategories happened mostly between 4,200 and 1,900 years ago, according to the study. The authors note that this period is significant as it was a "time of profound change in India, characterized by the deurbanization of the Indus civilization, increasing population density in the central and downstream portions of the Gangetic system, shifts in burial practices, and the likely first appearance of Indo-European languages and Vedic religion in the subcontinent.”
Around 1,900 years ago, the mixture largely stopped, as Indian society moved toward endogamy—the practice of avoiding intermarriage or close relationships between ethnic groups—which reached its most extreme form in the creation of the caste system.
[...]
Suba.T.
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Suba.T.
சென்னை, ராயபுரம் அரசு உதவிபெறும் பள்ளியில், தமிழ் ஆசிரியர் ஒருவர், அங்கே பணியாற்றிய ஆசிரியையை காதல் திருமணம் செய்தார். அதனால், அவருக்கு, ஆறு மாதமாக சம்பளம் வழங்க மறுத்ததுடன், அவரை பணியில் இருந்தும் நீக்கினர். இதை எதிர்த்து நடந்த போராட்டத்துக்கு பின், மீண்டும் அவர் பணியில் சேர்க்கப்பட்டார்.