The Spanish invasion of America started in A. D. 1521 and its rich cultural heritage was recorded by many Spanish chroniclers including Gomara in 1552 at a time when the conquest was still fresh. Its rich culture and highly developed civilization stunned the conquerors. They were expecting a land bereft of any marked civilization. Whereas on the contrary what they witnessed in the New World was a cultural heritage which can be compared with any of the progressive civilization obtaining in the Eastern Hemisphere of that time. What was baffling was to place them in the appropriate ethnic group. The overwhelming cultural tradition pointed undeniably to the influence of India, Polenasla and Cambodia. From early 15th century to the present day every aspect of the civilization was the subject of eminent archaeologists and their conclusion was that the New World received a detachment of people of Indian origin. They were simple, docile people, peace-loving who brought with them from their motherland the fire drill, stone chipping and polishing, twisting of string. the bow-throwing stick the harpoon, simple basketry and nets, cooking with stones in vessels of wood, body painting. These cultural attributes can still be found among the Untouchables of India and among no other people & hence it can be safely predicted that the early settlers of the American continent were no other than the persecuted Indian Untouchables, its original inhabitants, seeking a sanctuary to avoid extermination. The question is (1) whether they had the means and prowess to cross and the (2) stimuli for the further cultural diffusion from the same source.
Before answering these questions it is necessary to demolish the Hindu theory that the pre-Spanish America was an extension of a greater Hindu Raj. It speaks volumes on the mental comprehension of a section of Hindu society desperately trying to tinker with historical and archaeological evidences for its narrow parochial ends. The aim is to project the Aryan invaders as indigenous group and to establish them as “Indians” in origin. To understand this it is necessary to understand the cultural and social fabric of its warp and woof thoroughly. India is a land which witnessed successive onslaughts of invaders. Of all, the most important invaders are the Aryans. What havoc they have wrought on this country can never be narrated. But the most astonishing fact is their proportion with regard to the local population (indigenous). Astonishingly it has remain- ed constant during hundreds of centuries of their existence it was and it remains at 15% of the total population. These Aryans are never noted for any particular cultural trait or civilization but became notorious throughout their existence as usurpers of cultural heritage of the conquered people. Aryans when they invaded India had to face very nominal resistance at the hands of the local inhabitants. They devoured the land, occupied their temples, tampered with their religion, adopted the gods of the conquered & thus established their hegemony on a huge peace-loving, docile population and reduced them to serfdom. Some of the kingdoms and principalities of the South had already established their cultural links with Eastern island from Burma, Cambodia to Indonesia as far as Indies and these seafaring people left the land as was done by their predecessors long back but this time they sought a sea route & in their long march touched the soil of America. The reaction to the persecution perpetrated by the Aryan hordes on the simple people reacted and thus Buddhism in contrast to the oppressive Brahminism took birth. Millions sought refuge in this new-found heaven People were so enthusiastic over this that each one of the convert became a missionary and the zeal brought forth an astonishing result that it became the overwhelming religion of China, Japan, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia in a short time Then came the ‘Golden Period” of the Guptas & with it conspiracies to exterminate Buddhism. Scriptures were manufactured, stories weaved, a Sudra (Krishna) was deified & Brahminism with all its naked glories was victorious once for all over Buddhism. Buddhist monks took refuge from persecution in Ajanta and Eilora. And elsewhere in the South most noteworthy is the appearance under the aegis of Buddhism the Indian deities Ganesha, the elephant god. Garuda, the eagle god. and Hanuman, the monkey god, while the cult of Siva was introduced through Buddhist literature. Sex perversion became temple art. Thus Brahminism became transmitted as far as Japan (also America) by the agency of its deadliest enemy. The history of the diffusion of Buddhism is full of such ironies (Elliot Smith). The reaction of Brahmin- ism was similar to the reaction of Confucianism towards Buddhism in China. Some of them followed forefathers & reached the borders of the New World. Hence it can be concluded that the pre-Spanish America was in fact the sanctuary of successive people fleeing persecution and torture. What adds credence to this is the total absence of Sanskritised culture and post-Aryan influence in the cultural heritage and social fabric of this society. As to whether they had the means and prowess, the answer is yes. The pressure for the first migration or push came from North-East, hence the migration took place via Bearing Strait to Central America. It should be borne in mind that at the dawn of civilization two groups were inhabiting the land one the food gatherers and the other food producers. The first phase which migrated were the docile food gatherers. Later due to successive migration by more cultured and civilized groups mostly derived from the Dravidian Kingdoms dominating the South and Eastern Islands as far as Indonesia. This Dravidian or pre-Aryan culture is erroneously termed by archaeologists either Indian or Hindu & in fact it is neither. As to the stimuli for the further cultural diffusion the same has been discussed fully in the previous paragraph. For further evidence of these people being of a pre-Aryan race is the finding of the lime with coca seeds or betel nut chewing The habit is peculiar only to the Untouchables and the Dravidians It was not an Aryan trait as pan chewing is peculiar to Dravidians. Coming on to the di- vision of time and calendars it is nearer to the Tibetan system and the analogy is that it has been introduced by Buddhist migrants. Hence all evidences point that the settlers of the pre-Spanish America were the remnants of the fleeing people from India to avoid extermination who have now been reduced as Untouchables, Dravidians and the persecuted fleeing Buddhiste. It is up to the Indians (Untouchables) living in America to further expound this theory and make a through study of the social fabric of the pre-Spanish America and to compare them with the living condition of the Untouchables in India (as the condition of Untouchables is even now the same as was obtaining thousands of years hence. After making this study I am sure they will be proud to say that these pioneers were once their great ancestors who were responsible for this dazziing civilization. (In the preparation of the above article the stimuli came from the Book, “Hindu America” and a funny article by Dr. Raghavachar. I have borrowed heavily from Elliot Smith’s book, Diffusion of Culture, Robertson, Dr. Websters, Jackson and others.)
