I got introduced to Rahul Sankrityayan’s books recently and this is the second book reading after his book on travel. I picked this thinking to be his travel experience from and to these places. But this turned out to be an interesting book on history and he has written for causal readers in the form of stories. This means there is fiction added to it but most of the facts about people, culture, food are his research data. And i am reading the tamil transalation version by G. Muthaiya (Volgavilirundhu Gangai Varai).
Books starts in 6000 BC, depicting Volga River basin in Russia. People living here belong to Indo-European race and they live as nomads. They hunt animals for food, eat the meat raw or cooked in fire. They keep moving from one place to another as the animals they eat as food move. Animals move to another place due to climatic change or their food source depletion.
Middle aged woman lead the troop and as a troop they hunt, eat, love and live. This woman lead the troop with the goal of having the kinship grown and safeguard them. She decides the place to live, gene to grow and whom to safe guard at danger. She is the deciding authority for that troop for anything and everything. This seems to be 20 to 30 members troop.
Moving to 3500 BC, here is the people of Indo-Slavic race living in Volga mid coast. People are still nomads, they get food from the surrounding. Keep moving as the food depletes. Here also woman lead the troop, and protection of the troop takes priority than the individual preferences. Honey is consumed for pleasure and this basin is a rich honey source. People engage in entertainment like singing, dancing.
As the food depletes, they invade nearby places where similar troops live. They fight each other with stone knifes, bow/arrow and naturally available soft/hard objects. Winning troop kills everyone in the invading place including kids and elders. As they conquer places, troop’s land boundary increases. Women continue to leader this troop and they live with in the boundary they invaded.
-to be continued…
Reading the origin of human history answers some of our questions on culture, raises more questions on our beingness and most of all makes me grounded that we are only speck in the universe!
நான்.. இன்று.. என் பார்வையில்... 