Anthropology Aspects

Gedrosia / Maka :

As Gnoli showed (1987: 512–18), Gedrosia denoted a geographical area within which were populations

who deemed themselves Arya, without any political or administrative implications. Several scholars have argued that the Persian satrapy Maka (DB I 17; cf. DSaa 18–31, DPe 10–18, DS3 21–30, DNa 22–30, Darius Statue, XPh 19–28; Herodotus, Hist. 3.90–94, 7.61–96) was identical to Gedrosia, emphasizing the similarity of the name Maka and modern Makran (Holdich 1896; Pozdena 1975), the southeasternmost coastal region of Iran and southwestern Pakistan. However, it is more likely that Maka is to be sought in modern Oman, the northern part of which was called Maketa in antiquity (Potts 1985). In southeastern Iran and Baluchistan there is a general lack of water, and this situation, judging from the Alexander’s difficult cross- ing of Gedrosia, cannot have been much different in ancient times. It is therefore not surprising that Gedrosia is never mentioned in the Achaemenid sources and that its capital, Pura, cannot be located with certainty, though it is clear from the Alexander biographies that it lay west of the main Gedrosian deserts (Stein 1931, 1943). It should therefore be placed in Persian Baluchistan, possibly in the Bampūr oasis (Potts 1989; Vogelsang 2000). [1]

Gedrosia was a historical region in Asia, corresponding roughly to the Makran region of modern-day Pakistan and Iran. It was a dry, mountainous region along the northwestern shores of the Indian Ocean. The name Gedrosia is thought to be derived from the Old Persian word "gardu-shusha", meaning "mountain-guarded".

Gedrosia was first mentioned in the 6th century BC by the Greek historian Herodotus. He described it as a land of "sand and crocodiles". The region was inhabited by a number of different tribes, including the Ichthyophagi, or "fish-eaters", who lived on the coast.

In 325 BC, Alexander the Great led his army through Gedrosia on his way back to Babylon. The journey was a difficult one, and many of Alexander's soldiers died of thirst and heat.

After Alexander's death, Gedrosia became part of the Seleucid Empire. It was later ruled by the Parthians and the Sassanids. In the 7th century AD, the region was conquered by the Arabs.

Today, Gedrosia is part of the Balochistan region of Pakistan. The region is still a remote and sparsely populated area.

Here are some additional facts about Gedrosia:

• The capital of Gedrosia was Pura, which is located in the modern-day city of Gwadar, Pakistan.

• Gedrosia was known for its production of pearls.

• The region was also home to a number of important trade routes.

• Gedrosia was a strategic location for the control of the Indian Ocean. [2]

Mehrgarh Civilisation :

Perhaps, the most studied farming community in South Asia is Mehrgarh. The settlement of Mehrgarh

is located in the fertile Kacchi Plain of Balochistan in central western Pakistan. The area is on

the western rim of the Indus Basin by the eastern foothills of the Suleiman Range (Fig. 7.3).

Mehrgarh is one of the earliest agricultural centers in South Asia dating back to 9500 ya. The site

is of particular importance because it exhibits a continuous progression of stages from

domestication and agriculture to developed civilizations. In addition, Mehrgarh is thought to be a

forerunner of a number of Bronze Age urban centers, such as the Indus Valley Civilization, which

first appeared in the northwestern regions of South Asia approximately 5000 ya and then spread

throughout the subcontinent. Mehrgarh had its beginnings as a small farming and herding

community. Since its discovery in 1974, about 32,000 artifacts have been unearthed (Figs. 7.17 and

7.18). Habitation in the area extended to 4000 ya, the start of the Bronze Age.64 Although it has

been argued that Mehrgarh represents an in situ development of agriculture and domestication,

evidence from various fields points to a connection with the Near East and the genesis of farming

in the Fertile Crescent. One line of evidence stems from studies on lactose tolerance in the subcontinent mentioned in the previous paragraph. [3]

The Indus Cultural Tradition dates back to around 7000 BC and the foothills and valleys of Baluchistan. At the site of Mehrgarh (site 20 on map Fig. 1), early food pro- duction was dated to 6500 BC [3]; already early villages exhibit a planned layout, and houses were built of mud bricks. Pottery appears in the Burj period (after 5000 BC), as well as a wide array of tools, domesticates, and first cop- per artifacts [11, 12]. The occupation area, which had been initially concentrated in Baluchistan, the Makran coast, and the western borderlands of the Indus, expands north- and westward into Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (K. P.), Gujarat and the Punjab plains [9, 10]. Use of ornamental pottery and gold emerges, along with the manufacture of compartmented seals, glazed steatite, and beads. Standardized weights indicates that trade was important for the pre-Harappan economy. [4]

References:

1. The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran. Edited by: D. T. POTTS, p 626

2. Bard Google AI (Update ver 2023.07.13)

3. Ancestral DNA, Human Origins, and Migrations. Rene J. Herrera & Ralph Garcia-Bertrand, p 251

4. Bricks and urbanism in the Indus Valley rise and decline. Aurangzeb Khan & Carsten Lemmen, P 2

Genomics Research Studies

These are some articles and figures screenshots which highlight the Gedrosian genetic results:

References:

1. The genetic structure of the world’s first farmers. Iosif Lazaridis et al. (2016)

2. The genetics of an early Neolithic pastoralist from the Zagros, Iran. M. Gallego-Llorente et al. (2016)

3. Early Neolithic genomes from the eastern Fertile Crescent. Farnaz Broushaki et al. (2016)