Afro-centrists talk about Ethiopians "migrating" to India and "creating" Indus and other Indians civilisations. However, no credible sources are given to back up their claims. Though it is not necessary to "debunk" what they have not even proven, I feel it is necessary to address this issue and settle it once and for all.
Afro-centrists claim that Indus Valley Inhabitants were somehow "African" or "Negroid". But, as detailed skeletal examinations showed, the vast majority of Indus Valley sites contained "proto-Mediterranean" types (Source: Journal of Indo-European Studies. (1973) Volume 1.). Proto-Mediterraneans are gracile, small toothed, and caucasoid, while Negroids are robust and large toothed, or mega-dont (Source: Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Great Britain and Ireland 14:183-186.).
In fact, the average Harappan Total Crown Area(TCA) was amazingly small, i.e. the TCA was around 1,080mm2 (Source: Anthropologischer Anzeiger 41(1):1-19), which is even smaller than the European average of 1,161mm2 (Source: Asian Perspectives 19:203-252).
Combined with the dental evidence and the detailed skeletal examination, it can be concluded that Indus Valley Inhabitants had nothing to do with large-toothed and robust Negroid Africans, but with gracile-boned and small-toothed local Indians of that time.
Lets move on to the next Afro-centrist claim. Afrocentrists claim the name Indus itself comes from "Ethiopia". Again, no sources are given, just hollow claims. To debunk the ridiculous notion, lets look at the original Sanskrit RgVeda where "Indus" is Sindhu (meaning "the mass of water", or the river or sea). There are at least a hundred mentions of Sindhu river(which was the original name for westernised term - Indus) in over 10 RgVedic books.
RgVeda.1.11.6
tavAhaM shUra rAtibhiH pratyAyaM sindhumAvadan
upAtiSThanta girvaNo viduS Te tasya kAravaH
RgVeda.10.66.11
samudraH sindhU rajo antarikSamaja ekapAt tanayitnurarNavaH
ahirbudhnyaH shRNavad vacAMsi me vishve devAsauta sUrayo mama
RgVedic "Sindhu" became "Hindu" in Persian and later "Indus" in Greek and Latin.
Now, since the idea that "Indus" was "an Ethiopian term" has been debunked, lets go offensive on the Afro-centrists.
It is known from archaeological findings such as the remains of ancient Indian ships in east Africa, that there was presence of Indians in Ethiopia(or East Africa in general):
Source: Kobishchanov, Y.M. 1979. Axum. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Considerable South Arabian influence is evident in Ethiopia and early as the 5th Century BC and the ships from India and the Far East were known to have put in to African Red Sea ports for trading purposes before the 2nd Century BC.
Not only the archaeological discoveries, but also genetics prove it that modern Ethiopians have Indian DNA on them:
Source: Hum Genet 2001 Sep;109(3):339-50.
...our data raise the possibility that this haplogroup arose in India and was later carried to East Africa from India.
In order to postulate a large scale Indian migration towards Ethiopia and east Africa, Human genes are not adequate. Since Indians are known to raise cattle, lets look at Indian cattle and Ethiopian/east African cattle to find whether or not there exists some connection.
Source: Domestication's family tree, Economist, 04/28/2001-05/04/2001, Vol. 359 Issue 8219, p81, 2p, 1 diagram, 1bw
Zebu-like cattle in Africa did, indeed, turn out to have Indian genes in them. ... That explains the mixture of characteristics, and also why the female-linked DNA looks Middle Eastern and the male-linked DNA looks Indian.
How would Ethiopian cattle have "Indian cattle genes"? One obvious answer would be that ancient Indians migrated to Ethiopia, with their cattle, and interbreed the different cattle breeds. Another study re-inforces theargumentt:
Source: Current Anthropology, Vol. 30, No. 2. (Apr., 1989), pp. 235-240.
B. Indicus genes must have been introduced to Eastern Africa substantially earlier than the 9th century AD.
Lets recap what we've discussed so far:
- Harappans were small-toothed and gracile unlike African Negroids.
- The term "Indus" comes from Sanskrit RgVeda, not "Ethiopia".
- Evidence of ancient Indian ships in Ethiopia.
- Evidence of Indian genes in Ethiopians.
- Evidence of Indian cattle breeds in Ethiopia.
Now, it is pretty clear from the evidence that Indians did indeed migrate to east Africa. But, did Indians ever "set up" empires or kingdoms, or even the civilisation in Africa? The following may be helpful to better understand the history:
Source: Buechi, Ernst "Rassengeschichte des Indopakistanischen Subkontinentes" in Rassengesch d. Menscheit, I, 1968
When E. Buechi saw the statue of Egyptian prince Re-Hotep (2600BC) he noted "This man with his brown skin and black wavy hair could no doubt be thought as an Indian"
