A map showing migration patterns: No rscape from genes A map showing migration patterns: No rscape from genes

The great-grandfather of the famous Pharaoh Tutankhamen was a Dravidian from south India. Absurd? Perhaps not, in the light of an increasing body of evidence which suggests that waves of Dravidian migrations westward culminated in the establishment of the great Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilisations, and later, the Indus Valley culture.

According to some scholars, quite a few truths support this theory. These include the mathematical precision, the directional orientation, and the use of stone in the pyramids of Gizeh, skills unknown in the Egypt of those times; the ancient Egyptian belief in rebirth; the adaptation of the dhoti worn by male figures in Egyptian drawings: the illustrations of irrigation methods in Egyptian panels, similar to those known to have been practised by the Dravidians of south India; the conspicuously large holes pierced in the ear-lobes of the Pharaohs and other members of the nobility; and the ruins of Luxor in Egypt, which bear a striking resemblance to ancient ruins in south India.

Disease Map: Now, to reinforce the theory of historical affinity between the Dravidian and the Mediterranean peoples, comes medical science. Professor S. Kameswaran, director of the Institute of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology at the Government General Hospital, Madras, mapped the occurrence of certain hereditarily transmitted diseases and determined their geographical distribution. Spread over four years, the studies show that no fewer than five such diseases are exclusive to the Mediterranean people, the people of south India, and the inhabitants of some Arabian Sea islands. These are:

Sickle-cell anaemia, in which the patient's red blood corpuscles tend to break into sickle-shaped cells and lose their function. This is a potentially fatal condition.

Otosclerosis, a condition leading to gradual loss of hearing. It occurs mostly among adolescents, and is caused by a progressive ossification of the middle ear.

Submucous fibrosis of the palate and cheek, which manifests itself as a gradual formation of cartilage in the tissues of the mouth, sometimes making it difficult for the person even to open his mouth.

Nasopharyngeal angiofibroma, a benign but potentially cancerous growth behind and under the nose which gradually grows and even distorts the features. Operational procedures for this condition have been described by surgeons from Egypt where it is widely prevalent.

Retinitis pigmentosa, a congenital condition of the retina which results in partial or total blindness among young people.



Dr Kameswaran Dr Kameswaran

All these diseases are virtually unknown in the Negroid, Mongoloid and Australoid races, and the analysis suggests that one of Tutankhamen's ancestors would, indeed, have been a Dravidian.

What makes such revealing comparative studies possible are genes. Carriers of heredity as these are, they hold the clue to the ethnic history of various peoples. "You can bury yourself in the deepest cave or thickest forest," affirms a geneticist, "you can change your life-style or even your features, thanks to plastic surgery, but you can never escape your genes." However, delving into the ethnic past is fruitful only when, in any given community, characteristic traits have been reinforced by successive in-breeding, making it possible to draw historical conclusions from medical data.

In south India, people have lived in closed communities for millions of years, and consanguineous marriages have been the rule. These conditions have also been true of the inhabitants of the Mediterranean sea lands, at least until recently. As such, both are fertile hunting grounds for an archaeologist using biological tools, and the studies suggest that the East and the West sprang from the same ethnic roots.

Successes: Along with genetic analysis blood type studies have also helped in deciding controversies. Asserts Kameswaran; "For instance, some historians and research scholars have postulated that the Tamils of south India have racial affinity with the aborigines of Australia. But this can be categorically disproved through blood tests." The aborigines blood, it turns out, is different from that of true Dravidians, though it bears a great resemblance to that of certain non-Dravidian hill tribes of south India known as Paniyans.

Blood sample showing sickle-cell anaemia Blood sample showing sickle-cell anaemia

Despite such successes, "medical archaeology", as Kameswaran dubs it. is very much in its infancy. He admits that in the course of his studies, he has had to take several "intuitive leaps" to complete his theories. "But so many pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are fitting so neatly into place," he says, "that I am convinced that an interesting picture is in the making." Meanwhile, more analysis on a wider scale may help establish ethnic patterns on a more scientific footing.

However, while the new archaeological tool comes into its own, the tested methods of 'digs' will continue, as the traditional archaeologists pore over muddy artefacts and dusty parchment in an effort to unravel the dead past. The past is not all dead, though, but lives on in the miniscule genes, which, in times to come, could give up their long-hidden secrets.