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Indian meena club

Contents

• 1The oral history
• 2MATSYA or MEENA THE KSHATRIYA TRIBE
• 3ANCIENT INDUS VALLEY & MATSYA
  • 3.1Sign of matsya in indus valley civilization
  • 3.2Oldest Janpad Matsya janpad
  • 3.3MEENA'S STILL TALK THE DRAVIDIAN ?
    • 3.3.1Bhil Meenas of Rajasthan are dravidian!
• 4DNA OF TRIBES ANCIENT TILL NOW
  • 4.1Abstract
    • 4.1.1Discussion
    • 4.1.2Conclusion
    • 5References

The oral history.

Alwar was a part of the Matsya Kingdom, one of the sixteen ancient Mahājanapadas

The oral history preserved in the traditional folktales and folklores of this tribe affirm the kingdom of Meena (Mindesh) with its capital at Amber.”Meena history spread over eleventh (11th) and twelfth (12th) century AD.^[1]

Oral History- tells the heroic tales of violent clashes between Meena and Rajput chiefs are centered around Dhundhar- the ancient kingdom of the Meenas. The name Dhundhar is derived from a celebrated sacrificial mount on the western frontiers near Jobner.^[2]

At the beginning of the eleventh century, the Kachchhwahs (turtles) from Narwar snatched the territory from the Meenas (fish) of the Matsya region and established the mighty Kachhwaha kingdom of Amber.

MATSYA or MEENA THE KSHATRIYA TRIBE

The Rig Veda mentions Pure Kshatriya tribes of ancient India which includes Bhāratas, Meenas, etc.

Matsya: (RV Vll/18/6). A tribe opposing Sudas in the famous Battle of the Ten Kings. They are to be identified with Machar dan of the Jats on the ground that the Sanskrit Matsya becomes Mach in Prakrit and -ar is a suffix. Mahabharata  records the name of king Virata of the Matsya people, as Machela^[3][4]

Dasharajnya – The Battle of Ten Kings source

The book by Alfred Comyn Lyall covers the early formations of Meena cast, their adventures, outlaws, outcast, and refugees generally. The book highlights on the fact of Meenas groups having Bharman and Scythian ancestors. Where most of the Meenas preserve the name of the higher clan or Cast from which founder emigrated and joined Meenas. Some names denote only the founder’s original habitation, while other circle bears the names of notorious ancestors.^[5]

The Meena kings were the early rulers of Rajasthan including Amber (early capital of Jaipur).

The book “Culture and Integration of India Tribes” by R.S.Mann mentions that Meenas are considered as a Kshatriya caste equally as Rajputs, and having higher social status in the society. They are well integrated with other higher castes like Brahmins, Gurjaras etc. Brahmins perform all rituals from birth, marriage and death for Meenas like for any other higher Hindu caste.^[6]

ANCIENT INDUS VALLEY & MATSYA

The find from this site belong to the mature Harappan phase as well as later-era PGW phase (Vedic period). The Painted Grey Ware culture (PGW) probably corresponds to the middle and late Vedic period, i.e., the Kuru–Panchala kingdom, the first large state in South Asia after the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC).^[7] Painted Grey Ware culture (PGW) chiefdoms in the region were succeeded by Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW).

From c. 700-500 BCE, associated with the rise of the great mahajanapada states (mahajanapada states Kuru, Panchala, Matsya, Surasena and Vatsa)^[8]

Matsya the great  mahajanapada

Sign of matsya in indus valley civilization

Indus Fish symbol and Vishnu Another interesting coincidence is ‘Vishnu Sahasra nama ‘ describes Vishnu as a Fish –‘Rohithaya’ (name 364). More over Lord Vishnu’s first incarnation was a Fish ( Matsya Avatar) and many Indus scholars agree that the Indus fish symbol denotes god. Fish is drawn on many seals and objects in the Indus valley. This animals are worshipped by the Hindus for thousands of years.

Intaglio seal (H97-3433/7617-01) with script and unicorn motif with FISH sign (matsya ) found in Trench 41NE in 1997. This seal dates to approximately 2200 BCE, at the transition between Harappa Periods 3B and 3C

^source

Seal from indus valley , we can saw the FISH sign in many seals and it may refers to an ancient kingdom (matsya kingdom)^[9]

“fish” symbol  (Matsya)

The first symbol identified by me was “fish” symbol  (Matsya), which stood for “Ma” sound. Interpretation of this symbol is quite easy and simple.^[10]

In conclusion we see Lord Vishnu in the Fish (matsya) symbol, in the tree symbol and in the animal seal symbol of Indus valley.

Oldest Janpad Matsya janpad[edit]

As per Britannica:- The Meena are possibly of inner Asiatic origin, and tradition suggests that they migrated to India in the 7th century . According to evidences and scholars, Meena tribe is one of the oldest tribal community,residing since 30,000 years. Around 7000 BCE, the first known Neolithic settlements appeared on the subcontinent in Mehrgarh.These gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation, the first urban culture in South Asia . It flourished during 2500–1900 BCE in western India. Centred around cities such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Dholavira, and Kalibangan, and relying on varied forms of subsistence, the civilisation engaged robustly in crafts production. During the period 2000–500 BCE, in terms of culture, many regions of the subcontinent transitioned from the Chalcolithic to the Iron Age. In the Vedic period, around the 5th century BCE, the chiefdoms of the Ganges Plain and the north-western regions had consolidated into 16 major oligarchies and monarchies that were known as the mahajanapadas, in which Matsya janpad of Meena tribe established their kingdom in Rajasthan.^[11]

MEENA’S STILL TALK THE DRAVIDIAN ?

Bhil Meenas of Rajasthan are dravidian!

In the ancient times Rajasthan was ruled by a dynasty of Meenas which had the emblem of Fish like the Pandyan kingdom of the south. The Meena kingdom ruled the east of the river Jamuna roughly corresponding to the modern Jaipur and Alwar (ruler) areas. The meena kingdom (Fish kingdom) was called Matsya Kingdom in Sanskrit was mentioned in the Rig Veda. The Bhil Meenas could correspond to the Dravidian Villavar (Chera) and Meenavar (Pandya Kingdom)respectively and may descend from indigenous Dravidian rulers (Alwars) originally. Most of the Bhil Meenavas were aryanised even during the Vedic Period (1500 BC) and were considered as Vedic Tribes and had adopted Indo Aryan languages but a minority of the Bhil (tribal) Meenas still talk Dravidian as their mother tongue..^[12][13]

DNA OF TRIBES ANCIENT TILL NOW

THE MINA/MEENA AND RAJPUT HAVE A CLOSE GENETIC RELATION ?

Abstract

Rajasthan lies on the northwest border of India, and has acted as a major route for human movements since prehistoric and historic times. The present study was conducted to gain an insight into inter- and intrapopulation affinities or variations among the six population groups of Rajasthan.Figure 2. Neighbour joining tree depicting genomic affinities

Comparison of the six groups of Rajasthan using a neighbor-joining tree shows that the Rajputs and Minas form a group(Figure 2).

Ethnically, it has also been reported that the Minas share several clan names with the Rajputs, whereas the Damaria, Saharias, Bhils, and Garasias all form separate branches which may be attributed to their diverse origins.^[14]

The Mina population sample taken in the research article is from Banswara district (core tribal region). Still, Minas are found to be genetically close with Rajputs than other tribal groups of the area. Wondering if Mina tribe samples were taken from North-East (Jaipur, Tonk, Alwar, Dausa ) Rajasthan, it may not be a surprise that, Mina and Rajputs in Rajasthan are akin.^[15][16]

Discussion

Figure 3. Neighbour joining tree depicting genomic affinities among six ethnic populations of Rajasthan and tribes of South India based on six Alu markers.^[17]

In order to assess the ethnolinguistic affiliations of the Rajasthan populations with other Indian populations, and also to understand the influence of proto-Dravidian genes on the populations of Rajasthan, a separate neighbour joining tree was constructed using similar data sets for south Indian populations for six Alu InDel markers. (Figure 3).

The Badaga, Kurumba, Irula, and Kota are the important tribal groups of the Tamil Nadu, speaking Dravidian languages.

In this analysis, the Rajputs cluster with the Minas, whereas the Bhils cluster with the Nayakpods; all the other populations considered were found to be scattered with other south Indian population groups.

Thus, the present study suggests that the population groups of Rajasthan are genetically diverse and also reflect some Dravidian genetic background.

Conclusion

The present study reveals a high genetic heterogeneity of the Rajasthan populations with respect to 12 autosomal loci. By and large, the caste and tribal groups have a close genetic relation. The major inference from the populations studied in this paper is the existence of an inflow of Eurasian genes into already existing gene pools, i.e. probably proto-Australoid, which was reported to have a Dravidian linguistic lineage.^[18]

References click here^[19] for Original Article and references PDF

References

1. _{^ Misra, Pramod; Kapoor, A. K. (March 2002). “Ecology, Economy and Culture : An anthropological profile of the Meena, a Scheduled Tribe of Rajasthan”. Social Change. 32(1–2): 1–26. doi:10.1177/004908570203200201. ISSN 0049-0857.}
2. _{^ “An Anthropological Study of Meena Tribe of Rajasthan”.}
3. _{^ “Sabha Parva, Mahabharata – Jatland Wiki”. http://www.jatland.com. Retrieved 2020-09-07.}
4. _{^ Dahiya, Bhim Singh (1991). Aryan Tribes and the Rigveda: A Search for Identity. Dahinam Publishers.}
5. _{^ Lyall, Alfred C. (1899). Asiatic studies, religious snd social : 1: New ed. OCLC 1175710362.}
6. _{^ Mann, R.S. (1993). Culture and Integration of India Tribes. M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd.}
7. _{^ Sarbacker, Stuart Ray; Patton, Laurie L.; Bronkhorst, Johannes; Chapple, Christopher Key; Wallace, Vesna (2011). Samuel, Geoffrey (ed.). “Contextualizing the History of Yoga in Geoffrey Samuel’s “The Origins of Yoga and Tantra”: A Review Symposium”. International Journal of Hindu Studies. 15 (3): 303–357. ISSN 1022-4556.}
8. _{^ Bhan, Suraj (2006-12-01). “North Indian Protohistory and Vedic Aryans”. Ancient Asia. 1(0): 173–178. doi:10.5334/aa.06115. ISSN 2042-5937.}
9. _{^ Karmarkar, A. P. (1943). “THE FISH IN INDIAN FOLKLORE AND THE AGE OF THE ATHARVAVEDA”. Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 24 (3/4): 191–206. ISSN 0378-1143.}
10. _{^ “Sanskrit Theory Full Version -14 | Epigraphy | Sacrifice”. Scribd. Retrieved 2020-09-07.}
11. _{^ “Mina | South Asian people”. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-09-07.}
12. _{^ “SreeNarayanaGuru • VILLAVARS-EZHAVARS-BILLAVAS : Post your General Questions, Queries and information here”. http://www.gurudevan.info. Retrieved 2020-09-07.}
13. _{^ “Nada r History – [DOCX Document]”. fdocuments.in. Retrieved 2020-09-07.}
14. _{^ Bhasin, M. K. (2006-09-01). “Genetics of Castes and Tribes of India: Indian Population Milieu”. International Journal of Human Genetics. 6 (3): 233–274. doi:10.1080/09723757.2006.11885969. ISSN 0972-3757.}
15. _{^ DADA, RIMA; SARASWATHY, KALLUR NAVA; MEITEI, KHANGEMBAM SOMIBABU; MONDAL, PRAKASH RANJAN; KAUR, HARPREET; KUCHERIA, KIRAN; BHARDWAJ, SEEMA; IDRIS, GAZNAVI (2011). “Genetic sketch of the six population groups of Rajasthan: a study based on 12 autosomal loci”. Anthropological Science. 119 (3): 259–264. doi:10.1537/ase.100826. ISSN 1348-8570.}
16. _{^ Nava Saraswathy, Kallur; Pal Sachdeva, Mohinder; Mukhopadhyay, Rupak; Shukla, Deepti; Kiranmala Devi, N.; Rawat, Shweta; Rao, A. P.; Kumar Kalla, Aloke (January 2008). “Diversified genomic contribution among south Indian populations–A study on four endogamous groups of Andhra Pradesh”. Annals of Human Biology. 35 (5): 499–508. doi:10.1080/03014460802252258. ISSN 0301-4460.}
17. _{^ Misra, Pramod; Kapoor, A. K. (March 2002). “Ecology, Economy and Culture : An anthropological profile of the Meena, a Scheduled Tribe of Rajasthan”. Social Change. 32(1–2): 1–26. doi:10.1177/004908570203200201. ISSN 0049-0857.}
18. _{^ DADA, RIMA; SARASWATHY, KALLUR NAVA; MEITEI, KHANGEMBAM SOMIBABU; MONDAL, PRAKASH RANJAN; KAUR, HARPREET; KUCHERIA, KIRAN; BHARDWAJ, SEEMA; IDRIS, GAZNAVI (2011). “Genetic sketch of the six population groups of Rajasthan: a study based on 12 autosomal loci”. Anthropological Science. 119 (3): 259–264. doi:10.1537/ase.100826. ISSN 1348-8570.}
19. _{^ DADA, RIMA; SARASWATHY, KALLUR NAVA; MEITEI, KHANGEMBAM SOMIBABU; MONDAL, PRAKASH RANJAN; KAUR, HARPREET; KUCHERIA, KIRAN; BHARDWAJ, SEEMA; IDRIS, GAZNAVI (2011). “Genetic sketch of the six population groups of Rajasthan: a study based on 12 autosomal loci”. Anthropological Science. 119 (3): 259–264. doi:10.1537/ase.100826. ISSN 1348-8570.}