It was rainy season in the month of September in the year 1963 in a hospital in the city of Hyderabad where a new-born baby was the cynosure of all eyes. The parents were full of ecstasy for their first child was born..... that was me! My father, Late

-  Dr Ausaf Sayeed*

The region of Hijaz is a repository of rich Islamic heritage and site of Islam’s two holiest cities -- Makkah Al-Mukarramah and Madinah Al-Munnawara. Al-Hijaz is a witness to many religious and politically significant events in the history of Islam and is, thus, an object of great fascination for Muslims all over the world, including those from India.

The prominence of the Jeddah Port, as the Gateway to Makkah and as the leading port for maritime trade through the Red Sea, attracted merchants and pilgrims alike in large numbers every year. The people of Hijaz were also fascinated by India’s spices, pearls, precious stones, silk, sandalwood, oudh and perfumes and looked forward to the arrival of Indian ships.

The earliest visit by Indians to Makkah for Haj pilgrimage is a matter of conjecture but it is very likely that such visits pre-date the Muslim conquests of Sindh (664-712 AD).

During Mughal times and until the eighteenth century, pilgrims from India had the option of travelling to Makkah either by overland caravans or by sailing ships. The land route via the northwest of India was long, difficult and hazardous and also involved crossing the hostile Shia territories controlled by the Safavids. The Indian pilgrims, most of whom were Sunnis, preferred to go by the sea routes, primarily through the Red Sea, and occasionally through the Persian Gulf.  However, rampant piracy and the strict Portuguese control over the Indian Ocean in the sixteenth century made passage through the Red Sea an onerous task. Most ships travelling from India to the Red Sea were forced to carry a Portuguese cartaz or pass. In fact the conditions at one point of time became so un-conducive for Haj that religious scholars at the Mughal court even declared pilgrimage to Makkah as non-binding under the circumstances.

The Mughal rulers had patronised the Haj and sent several ships to undertake the voyage, providing free passage and provisions for the pilgrims.  The ancient port of Surat in Gujarat, described as Bab-ul-Mecca, was one of the leading ports of embarkation for Indian pilgrims. Akbar was the first ruler to organise Haj pilgrimage at state expense and provide subsidy to pilgrims. He also founded a hospice for pilgrims in Makkah. In the 1570s, he appointed a senior noble as a Mir Haj (leader of pilgrims) and also directed his top noble Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan to set aside three of his ships the Rahimi, the Karimi and the Salari for the free transportation of pilgrims to Jeddah.

-- by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , IFS

India or Bharat, the fifth largest and the second most populated country in the world, is one of the few countries which can boast of an ancient, deep-rooted and diverse culture, which stretches back to 5000 years.  There is an endless diversity in India starting from its physical features to Geologic structure, fauna and flora, demographic structure, races, languages, religions, arts and crafts and customs and traditions. India has been variously described as "the Mini World", the "epitome of the world" and an "ethnological museum". One such diversity pertains to the existence of people from different anthropological stocks in India.

The people of India belong to different anthropological stocks and are divided into six main ethnic groups:  (1) The Negritos or the brachycephalic (broad headed) people from Africa were the earliest people to inhabit India. They are survived in their original habitat in the Andaman Islands. The Jarawas, Onges, Sentelenese and Great Andamanis tribes are the main Negritoid tribes of India. (2) The Pro-Australoids or Austrics was the next group to come to India after the Negritos, which soon spread over the whole of India, Myanmar and the islands of South East Asia. They are said to "form the bedrock of the people", as they were the main builders of the Indus Valley Civilisation. (3) The Mongoloids have features that are common to those of the people of Mongolia, China and Tibet.  These tribal groups are located in the Northeastern part of India in states like Assam, Nagaland, Meghalya and Sikkim and also in the Ladakh region of Jammu & Kashmir as well as the Nicobar Islands. (4) The Mediterranean or Dravidian group came to India from the Southwest Asia and appear to be people of the same stock as the peoples of Asia Minor and Crete and the pre-Hellenic Aegeans of Greece. (5) The Western Brachycephals include the Alpinoids, Dinaries and Armenois.  The Coorgis and Parsis fall into this category. (6) The Nordics or Indo-Aryans are the last immigrants into India, who must have come into India between 2000 and 1500 B.C. The Nordic Aryans were a branch of Indo-Iranians, who had originally left their homes in Central Asia, some 5000 years ago, and had settled in Mesopotamia for some centuries. These tribes are now mainly found in the Northwest and the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP).

When I was in India in August 1999 for my annual leave, I decided to take a holiday to the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, popularly known as the Emerald Islands, which are rated as one of the most beautiful, virgin and eco-friendly islands in the world. One thing that fascinated me most about the Andaman & Nicobar Islands was the existence of several primitive tribes, many of them represent the earliest inhabitants into India.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India are the treasure houses of several primitive tribes, many of which are facing extinction.  The tribes are primarily of two stocks: Mongoloid and the Negroid.  The Great Andamanese, Onges, Jarawas and Sentinelese are dominant among the Negroid tribes and are concentrated in the Andaman District.  Their background and origin is unclear and continues to be a subject of speculation among scholars and anthropologists. Studies have indicated that the Onges tribes have been living in the Andamans for the last 60,000 years. The Andaman communities, divided into eramtaga (jungle-dwellers), and ar-yuato (coast dwellers), subsist on fish, turtles, turtle eggs, pigs, fruits, honey and roots.  The Nicobarese and Shompens are the Mongoloid tribes that are concentrated in the Nicobar District. The Nicobarese, who claim descent from a Burmese prince, were identified as lokenje (naked people) by the renowned Chinese traveler I-Tsing.

The forest-dwelling Jarawas are perhaps the most easily accessible among the Negritoid tribes of Andaman. The Jarawas have remained in isolation for aeons, living in the rain forests at peace with nature for centuries The Jarawas have traditionally greeted outsiders aggressively, firing arrows at settlers whose cattle and fields encroach upon the vital resources and occasionally robbing the passengers of their food.  No wonder these tribes were classified as "hostile" by the District Administration.

One incident that took place in October 1997 completely changed the Jarawa  vision about the outside world.  A boy named Enmay, who had fractured his leg after getting caught in an animal trap, was rescued by the district authorities and admitted into a hospital in Port Blair. This was for the first time ever that any member from the extremely hostile Jarawas came out from the forests to interact with the settler populations. When the boy was left back into the forests after his recovery, he carried with him good memories of his interaction with the mainlanders, which opened the door for interaction with the Jarawas.  Later, facing an acute shortage of food in their territory, many Jarawas came out of deep forests to more open areas. With the increasing interactions between the Jarawas and the district authorities, their classification also changed from "hostile" to "friendly". The interactions have been so much intensified that some Jarawas have even managed to pick up a few Hindi words and memorize popular Hindi songs. This remarkable incident has been termed as the "Enmay Revolution".

The book "Trends in Objective Geology for Civil Services" by the author Dr Ausaf Sayeed, IFS, was first published in 1990 by CBS Publishers, New Delhi. The Second Edition of the book was brought out in 1995. The Third Edition (ISBN : 8123908024) was published in 2003. The book contains short notes on all the subjects in Geology and over 3000 solved objective questions. It also has the previous papers of Civil Services  (Preliminary) Examination from 1987-1998. Copies of the book can be obtained from: The CBS Publishers, Darya Ganj, New Delhi-110006 Fax No: 091-11-3276712. The price of each copy is Rs 165/- in India. Extracts of the Third Edition in the form of questions and answers are put on this web page for the benefit of Geology students. Any responses pertaining to the text can be sent to Dr Ausaf Sayeed.

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India has a long and rich tradition in theatre going back to at least 5000 years. According to legend the very first play was performed in the heaven when the gods, having defeated the demons, enacted their victory.  The origin of Indian theatre is closely related to ancient rituals and seasonal festivities of the country. It is difficult to determine the precise origins of the Sanskrit drama. Fragments of the earliest known plays have been traced to the 1st century AD.  Bharata Muni's Natya Shastra (2000 BC to 4 AD) was the earliest and most elaborate treatise on dramaturgy, which forms the basis of the classical theatre styles of India.

One of the earliest plays written was Sariputraprakarana by Asvaghosa, who was part of Kanishka's court from 78-144 AD. Bhasa (Swapanavasavadatta), Sudraka (Mrcchakatika), Kalidasa (Malavikagnimitra, Vikramurvashi and Shakuntalam) and Bhavabhuti (Uttaramcharitra) are regarded as the best dramatists of their time. The great Epics --Ramayana and Mahabharata -- Puranas and popular semi-historical tales provided the themes for most of these Sanskrit plays.

However, by the 10th century the glorious tradition of Sanskrit drama went into oblivion all over the country except in South India, where it survives even today in the form of Koodiyattam in Kerala.

Koodiyattam is derived from the Sanskrit word Kurd, meaning to "to play", and is considered to have been introduced in India by the Aryans. Koodiyattam is the oldest existing classical theatre form in the entire world, having originated much before Kathakali and most other theatrical forms. It is considered to be at least 2000 years old.  This theatre form originated in Kerala but the exact date of its inception is not known. It is widely believed that Kulasekhara Varma Cheraman Perumal, an ancient King of Kerala, was the creator of Koodiyattam in the present form. His book 'Aattaprakaram' is considered as the most authoritative work on the art form till date. The 10th century chronicles of the Varman dynasty record the art form in its advanced stages, pointing to its much earlier origin.  The dance also finds a mention in Ilangovan's 1500-year old Tamil Classic Chilappathikaram as 'Kerala Chakkian Sivanadanam'.