Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Alexander the Great and Ladakh...





A Drokpa girl...?
Photo credit :
jaipalsingh





Down the Indus before Shyok-Indus confluence,in Ladakh live a people, called Dropkas or Brokpas (…high landers) who have many interesting tales about their origin...


Some consider them to be descendents of Dards of Dardistan who migrated here from Gilgit
centuries ago.(There language is said to be akin to that spoken in Gilgit)
A couple of thousands in number, they are thought to be survivors of pure Aryan race, whatever that may mean...Ethnically they have no relation with Mongoloid-tibetan strains.
The local folklore also hints of their being descendents of soldiers who came along with Alexander the Great on their famous march...
Also tossed about are stories of they being a 'lost' Israeli tribe...!
Both men and women always wear flowers on their head.
They don't marry outside of there clan...Probably thats why a concept of their relative racial purity....
They live in five villages , two of these, Dah and Biama...we passed through this August...

3 comments:

readerswords said...

Good to see you met Alexander's descendants, I have only heard about them.

A minor quibble- an "Aryan race" was a mistaken notion propagated by Max Mueller (who himself disowned it in his later years), the Aryans are a linguistic group, not a race.

Rajesh said...

Bhupinder:As is generally the case,the word 'Aryan' when used earlier might not have racial overtones but acquired on the way a political and racial baggage culminating in Hitlerism or perhaps off late some strand of Hindutva...
I hope the Dropkas,who always seem to have smile on their faces remain unperturbed by all this...!

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