A History of the Mahrattas v1.c5.s3.14

v1.c5.s3.14

Sir Herbert Risley ¹ suggested a few years ago that the Marāthās are the descendants of Saka or Scythian invaders of India, who after occupying the grazing country of the western Panjab, and finding their progress eastward blocked by the Indo-Aryans, turned southwards and mingled with the Dravidian or aboriginal population of the Deccan. The modern Marāthās were thus of Scytho-Dravidian origin. The theory was based partly upon anthropometric data of a decidedly unconvincing character, and partly upon the proficiency of the Marāthā as a light cavalryman—a trait which Risley too readily accepted as evidence of their supposed Scythian ancestry. Dr. W. Crooke ² has successfully exploded Risley’s suggestion, pointing out that skill in horsemanship is equally a characteristic of the Rājpūts and of the despised Jāts, and that the Marāthās’ success as cavalrymen ‘was mainly the result of local conditions in the Deccan, where the indigenous pony, an admirable beast, had been improved by the introduction of Arab blood from the Persian Gulf. This trade flourished in the days of Marco Polo, and probably dates from a very early period.’