The Personality of India: Pre- and Proto-historic Foundation of India and Pakistan c14.s1.t7.1

c14.s1.t7.1

As already stated, the occurrence of the black-and-red ware in the so-called non-megalithic areas of Western and Central India has high-lighted this problem, which up to now was taken as pertaining only to South India. But a slight treatment of this problem in its historical aspect is not superfluous. Firstly, South India has been a hunting ground for these so-called 'Scythic' or *Druidal* remains for well over a century and till 1947, no attempt was made to fix up a relative chronology and relate these burials to the people who built them and their material culture. Hence we cannot complain against the older writers who described them as Prehistoric. Secondly, the history of Southern India, based on literary sources cannot take us to a period earlier than the Mauryan at any rate, and is mostly better documented from about the Christian Era. Hence the cultural history of the preceding periods, and particularly the Megalithic phase depends to a greater extent on archaeology. So this lopsided development has to be compensated by large scale excavations at the habitation sites of these Megalithic folk. Thirdly, a lively controversy was started by Prof. Haimendorf when he identified the Dravidians with the Megalith builders.