India’s Influence on Pacific Races
pp. 10-21 · Read in the full issue
Scientist’s Jottings on Indian Immigration in Fiji, and Elsewhere
Written for the Pacific Islands Monthly by A. J. Vogan, F.R.G.S., etc.
NOTHING is clearer to the student of such matters than the fact that our original ancestry, the pre historic Great Race of what is now the Gobo desert and Altai Mountains of Central Asia (which gave the first civil isation to a semi-human world) was also the blood-fount from which sprang the Hindu —originally a fair skinned race.
As the Ant or Bee can produce the highly specialised Queen from the same insignificant maggot—that, un der ordinary condi tions, would have been a lowly “work er” through the medium of certain exotic foods and “massages,” so the early immigrants from Asia devel oped differently under the stern vicissitudes of the Baltic sea-lands or
in those “Isles of Eden,” the beauti fully dangerous, coral isolations of the Pacific.
Two main characteristics of the Great Race (as I have termed it in my writings, for this prehistoric people still remain amongst the innomenata of Science) stand out differentiating them from other “breeds without the law.” They are born navigators; and they have a pushing, pioneering genius for business—sometimes combined with piracy, as dear old Herodotus had already noticed over 400 years before our era!
This business rapacity, driven at all costs against opposition, has been the cause of most of the trouble in Bur mah, where Hindu traders and minor officials swarmed in, owing to the backwardness of the Burman to qualify himself for government. One could point out similar cases nearer home, but for fear of the editorial blue pencil: for, as all anthropologists know full well, many of our so-called “white men” have less of this Great Race in their make-up than have other equally wrong designated “Black” or “Brown” folk—take the black Berbers, who are Arabs, really.
The reason for the friction between Hindus and Mussalmans in India is at bottom, also just that. The latter were attracted to India by that root cause of all human movements: Hunger. The Mussalmans, disciplined for war, pre served, throughout the days of then rule, a purely military outlook, until Auranzeb found it necessary to trans form the personnel of the civil govern ment, declaring that “The Hindus are the axle-tree of the administration.”
With the advent of their distant cou
sins, the British, the Hindus came once more into power, as being pre-eminent in trade. “Men are seldom so well em ployed as when making money!” wrote the great Dr. Johnson 200 years ago.
The Pacific Monthly reader who goes to see the large “home-circle” of Mr. Le Soeuf, at Taronga Park, may find there evidence of his own connection with this Great Race of ancient Asia; and, through it, with the Hindus. Here, amongst the most interesting of all the poor creatures “in for life,” and “cribbed, cabin’d and confined,” are the sturdy, pointed-tailed, rather quick tempered Prejavalski ponies who would be greater favourites, per haps, than they are with the horse-lov
ing young Australian, but for their troublesome name. We are glad to simplify this for them. It is approxi mately pronounced: “Chevalski”; and means “Cavalier.”
When the writer was a boy, the vastly ancient cave-drawing of Spain and France were just attracting the notice of science. But the artists (who drew and painted about 5000 years be fore the Great Pyramid was planned) were criticised. “Who ever saw a horse like that?” Their other sketches of pre-historic rhinoceros, etc., were therefore discounted. But, later, in 1870, Lieut.-Colonel Prejavalski, the great Russian explorer, brought down from Mongolia specimens such as you see to-day in Taronga which were bred from the originals in the New York Zoo. These archaic drawings are very faithfully exact; and we know now that our ancestors brought these ponies with them when they reached the Baltic and Danube.
I remember that in 1900, we were supplied with Hungarian-bred re mounts during the Boer War, which are almost exact replicas. And in Stockholm, and in many places along the German littoral, similar steeds called in northern India “Yarkandis” —are still occasionally to be seen.
Again, when we examine the old Baltic Pantheon, we find it founded upon legends and mysteries identical with those of the Nature-worshippers of ancient Central Asia as Mrs.
Murray-Aynsley (aunt of our own Mrs.
Western of Hornsby), the great archae ologist of India, General Sir G. M.
Birdwood, and other authorities, have shown conclusively.
The experience of a lifetime has shown us that it is generally safe to look upon any “popular” belief as erroneous though some certainly originated in truths, long since twisted by ignorance beyond recognition. One such is the popular idea about “the mild Hindu” that he is invariably unwarlike. It was the Warrior caste of this People, the Rajputs, or Moun tain people, who held back the Mo guls—the ancestors of those moderns who have been made the vehicle for foisting Communism upon an unwilling world; and who have crept into posi
Continued on page 18.
Mr. A. J. Vogan.
Types of Indians who have settled in Fiji: Girls from a Methodist Orphanage in Fiji.
Photo by courtesy of Missionary Review.
tions of harmful power in our trades halls, and even into our democratic parliaments.
The Hindu “Jati” (Sanscrit for a “human-group”) is then descended from a very ancient white race like ourselves: and this has recently been confirmed by the discovery of 3,000 years-old skulls near Delhi that most ancient of world-cities, which was destroyed and rebuilt again so many times, that it received its pre historic name which means “loose,” or “undetermined.”
The Great Race, from whom we and the Hindus sprang, produced not only the first forms of religion which en tered Europe (Scandinavia was not Christianised until late in the 12th century) but, also, that wonderful con ception of a Supreme and Spiritual Power outside our mundane sphere of which, in later days, the Rig Sama and Yajut Vedas were the fruit. In Asia, it intermarried, on the one hand, with the Dravidian (Indo-African) peoples; and probably (as our Pacific Islands saw) with the pre-Dravidian - Australoid and Melanesian-Negrittos; and, on the other hand, with the Mon gol-Alpine Sakas and Mongol-Turki Huns in historic times. They form to day the great mass of the Hindu maha jati.
The four great periods of ancient India are the Vedic. the Upanishadic, the Vedantic, and the Buddhist- Hindu; but space will only allow of our mentioning them so as to impress upon our readers the vast eons of time during which that wonderful race, with which we are dealing so sketchily, held the premier place in the world’s burgeoning civilisation.
It is an axiom in anthropology that the older the characteristics of a race, the more permanent these become; and the readier they are re-gained, should altering surroundings have eclipsed them for a time. This explains the quickness of Japan’s marvellous rejuv
enation as regards modem civilisation; it came from a civilised race originally.
Our Pacific “brown” folk are surpris ingly able to pick up all we can teach them (at least, the “Te Ariki,” or “Gouyau,” are the aristocrats) for similar reasons.
In Fiji, so surprisingly has better food, liberty, and an enlarged mental environment improved the descendants of the original, wretched Hindu labour ers, that they are to-day, without any exaggeration, as fine a sample of hu
mans as are to be found anywhere in our Empire.
It was during the Second of these four great periods that our Melanesian Pacific was visited by traders from the nautical Jat tribes, at the mouth of the Sindhu (now Indus) River, who had been pressed southwards by the conquerors of northern India. This river also gave Europe the Phoenicians and the Gypsies; and Madagascar (“Malaygascar” as it was spelled orig inally, and correctly) its first civilisa tion, and connection with Egypt.
Under the legendary Hanuman, the Aryan civilisation was carried over the Pacific; and even our own Cumberland triassic sandstones bear on them the cryptolyphs and “carvings” that tell their tale to the initiated.
Only four months since, I found fresh proofs of this immigration; and saw carvings at the village of Boitalu, in that most interesting Trobriand group of islands, 200 miles north of Samarai, that were clearly of the same school of art as those of the Shang period, B.C. 1766-1122—vide Strechl neek’s “Chinese Pictorial Art.” I had come north, hoping to find folk of purer Indian descent than on the mainland; and here they were, for all to see!
One very curious feature stands out when we read the history of the Hindu Yati. It should warn us. But it won’t!
For, as the great American writer Shaw said: “Every generation seems by some inscrutable law to have to learn its les sons by experience.”
In the Third period we see a time of the greatest expansion, and greater
Indian Peasant Farmers in Fiji.
synthesis still. Then was born that extraordinary science of spiritualism which is not of any particular creed, or dogma; but which contains that analy sis of the path of mind-discipline which is applicable as much to Islam and Christianity, as to Buddhism and Hinduism. It is contained in the unique four-chaptered Vedas. The Sankhya, Patanjala, and other systems of philosophy, as well as the astron omy, mathematics, medicine, chemis
try, literature of that period all testify to the genius of the Hindus.
It was then, centreing round the vast conquests of the Pandavas, that many races on the outskirts of India got their first admission into the Hindu fold.
One part of the Aryans had constantly to take care that the limited handful of their Race did not get themselves lost amidst the countless non-Aryans.
This is our object lesson. Are we not seeing this very process at work within our own homeland —here in Australia, for instance, since democracy went “luny” over the “something for no thing” promises of paid professional politicians, who are proposing to bring about a millennium for millions of pa tient workers, toiling under slave con ditions —as in Russia, with an overlord ship of a few hundred New York Cen tre high financiers.
The pendulum always swings too far!
Pretend to ignore religion as we may, the fact remains that it still remains the greatest force, second only to hun ger, in the World. Those vast multi tudes in ancient India held their faith in the higher and more intellectual religions; but later we find them grad ually sinking, and settling down into the swamps of ritualistic forms, leaving to a higher, professional-caste all direction of their methods of worship.
Thus, when Buddha appeared on the stage of Indian history, about 2,500 years ago, the misery of India was shown in decadent forms of belief— full of animal, and even human sac rifices, and countless numbers of deit ies, and bewildering sacerdotalisms which now hid the older, more under standable, and simpler faiths.
As Christianity came to Europe, so Buddhism came as a cleansing wave to India; and the progress of the whole continent was marvellous. Then ap peared the great teacher Sankar acharya; and by the force of logic and the renowned hopes he raised in the minds of miserable men, he disposed of decadent Buddhism, which was often frightfully indecent another lesson for us moderns. Indecency is ever the child of disease and decad ence, as General Ulysses Grant used to proclaim. A little before the birth of Sanka, which took place in 778 of our era, and 200 years after that of Mu hammad, the Mohammadans attacked Sind; and later conquered Northern India.
This brief history of that great birthplace of religions will serve our purpose: but a satisfying one has yet to be written. It should take external events as the expression of the inner, finer and spiritual ideas of the time.
The Indians (mostly Hindus) in Fiji number about 70,000, as against 90,000 Fijians, and 4,500 Europeans: a total of 176,000.
Emigration from India for the pur pose of providing plantation labourers dates from the beginning of the 19th century; but the first officially re corded instance of such occurred in 1830, when a French merchant impor ted 150 East Indians (Hindus) to the Island of Bourbon. Between the years of 1860 and 1877, Solomon Islanders were introduced into Fiji; and I have seen their little settlements, which still remain in places. In 1879 East In dians were first brought to Fiji—from New Caledonia. But the real immigra tion began from 1884, when an exten sion of the sugar industry took place.
“Where the carcase is, there will the vultures be gathered together.” Vari
ous attempts by American and other anti-British agitators have been made to combine these Fijian-Indian lab ourers and immigrants into trades unions and “clubs,” that bear a strik ing family likeness to Communist affairs. There is one now which has some 10,000 members.
But, having had to report to Lon don upon Australian Communism in 1919 and 1924, and having superficially investigated the Suva affair, and read the “Vriddhi.” whose editor is Dr. I.
H. Beattie, M.A., I do not anticipate that the highly intellectual Hindus will succumb to what is so tempting to the automatism of the Mongol and Slav mind —and to a certain “foreign” type of alleged “white-man” in our trades unions. The Mohammadans certainly will not fall victims to these agents of the New York Center. It was in 1927 that Sayyid Abdallah Mukhlis, a mem ber of the Arabic Academy of Damas cus, in a lecture entitled “Muslims and Christians,” in which a number of texts from the Koran sayings by the Prophet, and anecdotes were quoted, showing the friendly relations that have always obtained between the two communities, deplored the fact that this ideal state of affairs should have been spoiled by European intervention.
There has been a revival of interest in the fate of Henry Jacobson, a re tired Islands planter, who disappeared mysteriously from his bungalow on Dangar Island, in the Hawkesbury River, north of Sydney, on August 1, 1929. It will be remembered that Jacobson left the adjoining postal township in a rowboat on his way home and was never seen again, and that there were persistent reports of foul play. The Sydney police have now received a letter-card in a woman’s handwriting, and a sketch plan, and were told to search at a spot marked “X.” Two constables consequently spent a strenuous few days digging in the broiling sun, but they discovered nothing to throw any light on Jacob son’s fate.