History of Kerala of 3000 years unfolds at Muziris - present day Kodungalloor ..

Indian History is replete with all great articles about the Mughals and Kings who invaded North India. Very less is written of south Indian history except the Cheras, Cholas etc .. I was really bored reading about them ..

Recent archaeological excavations at Kodungalloor reveal history of 3000 years, where old Roman earthenware 200 BC and Drachma coins of 100 AD were found in Muziris, the present day Kodungalloor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muziris   . The flooding of Muziris in 1341 AD led to the growing importance of places north like Calicut and South like Kochi, Alleppey etc.. Wonder why this grand history of Kerala lay hidden for so long when all evidence points to the rich and vibrant trade it enjoyed with Greek, Roman and Arab empires about 2000-3000 years back.

Feeling proud of my state that our forefathers were all so enterprising, industrious, active, rich and influential .. And feeling doubly good that I have not severed links with my homeland .....

Was reading some time back an article in Frontline magazine (feb 16, 2012) on Indian history ( http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2902/stories/20120210290208900.htm ) which said a very startling fact - India is a country of immigrants who came to this land for almost 10,000 years.
Quote : The original inhabitants of India, as it is believed now, were the pre-Dravidian tribal people such as the Bhils, the Santhals, the Gonds and the Todas. Called Adivasis or Scheduled Tribes, they form hardly 8 per cent of the population today. ; unquote.
In the whole history of India only at two points of time have natives left their homeland. The first was in 19 th century when poor Indian peasants were sent to Fiji, Mauritius and West Indies as plantation labourers and the second was the diaspora of highly qualified engineers and doctors migrating over the last 30-40 years to all parts of the world (because of limited opportunities back home). At no other point have native Indians,( the fair skinned Aryans and the dark skinned Dravidians who have come to this land over 10,000 years) ever left their homeland !! All through India has only attracted people from all over !!

i.e. even our forefathers in Kerala have migrated from other parts of the world, though as Dravidians we claim to be the real inhabitants of the land - a theory which is being disproved now.. Maybe our roots go back to Arabs / negroids from Africa and so on ..

Hope the history from Kodungalloor will open up new perspectives of how the peoples of the world traversed the oceans, traded and communicated with each other and civilizations evolved over the last 5000 years ...

Click here for the article in manorama ( in malayalam) to read in detail ..



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