[tamil] Re: [meykandar] More on Dr. Cyril Hromnik
Dear Raveen and Vijay
You are most welcome to publish such materials in Meykandars. Dr Arvanan
has written on Tree and Snake Worship because there are interesting
parallels between the Africans and Tamils in these matters. In addition
to media watch, there is a need on our part to expose the historical
lies the Brahmins and many European scholars have spread consistently
through out Indian history. Just one example while Sarva Drasana
Sangkaraham of Viththiyaranya (15th cent?) includes a chapter on
Paniniyam there is NO MENTION at all of Tholkappiyam. This despite the
fact that he lived in S. India( Karnataka). Why this neglect?
All such matters need to be exposed to recover what rightfuly belongs to
the Dravidian folks.
Please continue your efforts. All the meykandars will be solidly behind
you. The TRUTHS regarding Dravidian history needs to told as well
Loga
Raveen Nathan wrote:
>
> Gudrun Dahl of Stockholm university requested information and
> indication of interest on the Western Indian Ocean as cultural
> corridor. Incase others on the list are interested in cultural
> history of this particular sort, I'll post it on the list.
> I have found this topic fascinating for years. My Ph.D. research
> was in Tanzania, and I speak Swahili since i had lived in East Africa
> for years before that, and have been interested in the history of
> the language. Before that I lived in India, and went ot school there
> for some time, so I have some experience on the other side of the
> Indian Ocean as well, and have been aware of the fact that there are
> people of African origin in India, and that some of the Ind. Ocean
> Islands are inhabited by African people speaking Swahili-like
> langauges, or even Swahili. I have not been able to travel or do
> research in the area myself, however.
> There is one researcher that is unlikely to have been heard of by
> Dahl and her colleagues. He has an extremely indiosyncratic view of
> the region, but I know of no one who has done more extensive
> research, or who has a better command of the languages involved. His
> name is Cyril Hromnik. He lives in Cape Town, and works on a sort of
> full-time amateur basis, altho he has a PhD from Syracuse U on Goan-
> Mozambiquan contact. He speaks/reads Portuguese, Tamil, Swahili,
> English, with some Dutch, German and French, not to mention his
> native Slovak, and a bit of Russian! He can 'sound out' material in
> Hebrew and Arabic scripts as well, although he does not read these
> langauges.
> He has been possessed for the past 15 years with the idea that
> there was a significant Indian presence in southern Africa, people
> who were mainly speakers of Dravidian langauges and early Shivites by
> religion. His 'hypothesis' is that they were a significant enough
> presence to have been responsible for the construction and workings
> of many of the ancient gold mines in SA, Moz. and Zimbabwe retion,
> and that they also were responsible for some of the stone work as
> well. They were traders and miners, primarily, and were responsble
> for the early gold workin in Africa that supplied India and the far
> East, as well as Arabia. When the trade in the Indian Ocean
> collapsed after early European intervention, some stayed in Africa
> and blending in eventuallywith the locals, and some returned, by then
> looking rather more African than Indian. There is a certain cultural
> logic, since he argues that they traded animals and animal products
> from India for gold and ivory from Africa. Since one can not get
> married in India without gold, nor in Africa without cattle, there is
> certainly strong motive on both side. It is clear that there were
> people recognised as 'Indian" in the southern AFrican region when
> Europeans first appeared (1460s-1700s), and it has always been a
> vexed question why they were there, if they were 'really there' or
> just figments of Portuguese imaginings (but Portuguese and Dutch were
> pretty clear about these thinkgs in all other instances we know
> about).
> In any case, Hromnik has 15 years of notes, and has done extensive
> archaeological survey work, but published vbery little. There is one
> book that might be interesting"
>
> Cyril A. Hromnik, Indo-Africa:towards a new understanding of the
> history of sub-saharan africa. Cape Town: Juta and co. ltd., 1981.
>
> He has published quite a few articles, but mostly as ephemera. The
> methodology is quirky, and the whole undertaking rather nineteenth
> century-ish, but it is fascinating.
> Hope this might help Gudrun Dahl and her associates. I will send
> your email notice to him (he is in the bush for a couple of months
> now however), and will make a note of it for myself. I would like to
> be kept informed.
>
> =====Professor Robert Thornton, Department of Social Anthropology====
> University of the Witwatersrand, PO Wits, 2050 Johannesburg
> South Africa
> Office tel. : (011) 716-2900
> Secretary, fax and answering machine: (011) 716-2766
> Home tel: (011) 646-2578
>
> ________________________________________________________________________
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