Recently we learnt how India moved from Africa. What about its population? Where did it come from? As you probably already know, our ancestors, just like the landmass, came from Africa. Pranay Lal, in his book Indica: A Deep Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent recounts the story of how first humans came to India from Africa. So come, let’s travel back in history and learn about our origins.
Around 200,000 years ago, many other Homo species existed, apart from Sapiens. As their population grew, competition for food and shelter intensified. To make matters worse, seasonal rains started to become erratic and began a process of drying up East Africa. Soon, bands of Sapiens began to leave East Africa in search of new lands.
Some of them moved south and inched onwards till they reached Southern Africa around 145,000 years ago. A few travelled west to reach Central and West Africa where they settled in the tropical forests. Over time, many of these migrated communities became isolated and did not advance further technologically. Besides, there was little diffusion of new genes within these populations. A few bands also ventured north across a Saharn landscape, which was green back then, but which was going to turn into a desert over the next 12,000 years. This happened because Earth had entered a phase of alternate cool and mildly warm periods. By around 110,000 years ago, Sapiens had reached the far corners of Africa but survived only in places where the climate was favourable.
Life was not easy for Sapiens, our direct ancestors. Without natural weapons like claws or canines they were more or less defenceless against powerful predators. Their eyes, like those of other apes, were adapted to see only during the day, making them vulnerable at night. Of course, both Homo Sapiens and Homo Erectus had made decent stone tools and spears (fire as was there too), still they were not effective to ward off stealthy predators who could ambush a sleeping huddle. Evolution, however, had bestowed Sapiens with certain assets, some of which we possess to this day. Due to their muscular, rotund buttocks and good heels, attached to the ends of long leg bones, they could walk and run for long distances efficiently. They could also climb and run across difficult terrains.
All this helped them hunt as well as escape their own hunting quite efficiently. In addition, there was one crucial contributing factor to their hunting capabilities. Their brains developed a language based on ‘clicks’. Click languages, unlike the languages we speak today, consists of lower frequency sounds that are inaudible to most herbivores. While cats and dogs can sometimes hear these sounds, many herd grazers like buffaloes and antelopes can’t. The language kept evolving and so did their tools, making Sapiens even better hunters with the subsequent generations.
Then, around 80,000 years ago, the Ice Age arrived. The ice sheets grew and sea levels dropped, thereby bringing more changes to the climate. Around 75,000 years ago, when some Sapiens were trying to leave Africa, a catastrophic event took place in North Sumatra. Toba, a volcanic island, exploded in a cataclysmic outburst that was among the most violent volcanic eruptions ever known. Erectus, who were then living in India, were directly harmed because of it and much of their population was wiped out. For the remaining, it would have been difficult to cope with life after the event. Their population dwindled and never recovered. The last Erectus probably lived around 70,000 years ago, by which time Sapiens had taken their first steps which would propel them further than Erectus in claiming new territory.
Sapiens took many routes in search of their new home. One group, which perhaps tasted the most success, used the tried-and-tested coastal route that Erectus had taken before them. Thanks to the Ice Age, the polar ice had been spreading, causing the sea levels to plummet, thereby making their travel easier. This made island hopping possible and Sapiens travelled further along the southern Arabian coast, cutting through the Yemen highlands, the Dhofar region and Oman Mountains, to reach the Strait of Hormuz. Unfortunately, this too was turning into a desert because of climate change and they had to travel further.
So they ventured onwards and travelled along the highlands of Arabia, the coast of the Arabian Sea and crossed the neck of land in the Gulf of Oman. As they walked further, they reached the modern day Iran and Pakistan, before making their way to the river Indus. Then, they went on to populate different parts of India and even further East to China, and from China to America.
PS: Did you know that in Andaman (a cluster of islands in the Bay of Bengal), there exist a group of people who are the direct descendants of the first humans who came to India around 70,000 years ago? Read about them here.
Kalampedia 