This again
conforms nicely to our well-developed conjecture of the global bronze age
Atlantean civilization that ended abruptly in 1159 BC but lingered for
centuries through successor societies such as the Hellenes in particular. In this case we have an extensive Atlantean
presence on the Indus – we knew that already – confirmed through the craft of
this tribe of surely skilled suppliers to the Atlantean.
It also answers
another key mystery which is what is the provenance of the ancient iron pillars
whose purity allowed preservation. The
supply was never particularly large, but enough to at least produce those
artifacts.
It is lovely how
a remote local anomaly disposes of other distant anomalies. The Atlantean Age was all about seamen
combing the globe for novelties. Their
appearance triggered many similar efforts.
Technically
Advanced Ancient Tribe Built Indus Valley Civilization
The ancient tribe of asurs had excellent iron
extracting skills, researchers say
Researchers believe that what is now one of the most
vulnerable tribes in central India built the ancient Indus Valley Civilization
using unique metallurgical knowledge.
The Asurs (which in Sanskrit means “the demons”) is
the only tribe in the world today with knowledge of how to extract iron from
laterite rocks, while everywhere else it is extracted from hematite and
magnetite. This tribe, with a total population of 8,000 today, is believed to
be the great builders of the ancient era.
Ashis Sinha, a research scholar and local
journalist, stated that the Asurs recognize three varieties of iron ore: Pola
(magnetite), Bichi (hematite), and Gota (laterite). “By observation and
experience, Asurs were able to locate a site for ores,” he said.
Geologist and researcher Nitish Priyadarshi shared a
brief monograph series from 1993 by the Tribal Research Institute located at
Ranchi with the Epoch Times, which mentions that the Asurs were originally
from Illyria (ancient Greece), had adopted the culture of Babylon and
Egyptian civilization, and gave this knowledge to Iran and India.
The report, originally written in Hindi, highlighted
that the origin of the Asurs is indicated in many places in ancient Indian
literature, like the Rigveda and Upanishads.
“The Asurs of 12 B.C. were the greatest. They
established the Mohenjodaro and Harappan Civilizations. They were tall and
Herculean in their builds,” the report said.
Yet another research work, “Iron Smelting by Asur
Tribe: A Thing of the Past,” by Priyadarshi mentions that by the 16th
century B.C., Asurs had conquered the Mediterranean coastal areas, were
feared as sea-people, and had advanced up to the Indus river.
“A research report also speculates that it
was the Asurs who built the famous Ashoka Iron pillar currently at Delhi,” said
Priyadarshi said. The iron pillar is famous for its purity, which exceeds even
that of modern smelting methods. It also shows few signs of corrosion,
despite being almost completely pure iron.
Sinha explained that many other famous ancient iron
monuments, like the iron pillar at Dhar and Iron beam at Konark, as well as
Damascus steel, are attributed to Asur metallurgical skills. Sinha has
written many articles on the Asurs under the Jharkhand Media Fellowship 2012.
While there are many studies on Asur technology of
smelting iron and the extinction of their indigenous knowledge, very few
researches report on their origin and about why they are called Asurs.
The research by the Tribal Research Institute says,
“According to Banerjee and Shastry [researchers], Asurs were those powerful
people who had godly powers in the Vedic period. A long fight broke out between
Asurs and Aryans. The Asurs who declined to become Aryans were called Asurs.
Thus the word ‘Asur,’ which was initially a symbol of Gods, became a symbol
of demons.”
The word “Asur” originates from the Sanskrit word
“Sura” which means God; “Asur” makes it the opposite of gods. “The word Asura
in the Nirukta [etymology treatise] of Yaaska [an ancient Sanskrit language
scholar] means those who are ousted from their positions,” said K.K.
Yatheendran, a Sanskrit scholar from Kerala.
According to Yatheendran, in the Amarakosa (a
Sanskrit dictionary by ancient Buddhist scholar Amarasimbha) one of the synonyms
for the word Asura is “Purvadeva,” or ex-gods.
However, anthropologists say that this name doesn’t
stand in lieu with the current identity of the Asurs. Ranchi-based
anthropologist Ganga Nath Jha said, “They are morphologically very dark
[chocolate] in color and have flattened noses. It’s because of this that others
might have named them Asurs.”
Priyadarshi also says that some researchers believe
that the Asurs were called so because “sur” in the local language means
“sound,” and since they didn’t make any sound or noise while hunting in the
forests, thus they were called “Asur” (those who don’t make noise).
The Asurs in India in recent centuries have been
residing at Netarhat Plateau in Jharkahand state; this plateau is rich in
laterite rocks. However, most of them have today taken to agriculture and the
mining industry for livelihood.
“The region they live in is also greatly infested by
Naxalism [armed Maoists],” said Jha.
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