THE PEOPLES OF ASIA

Euro-Asia has been mainly populated by people, in families and tribes, gradually moving outwards from Central Asia. As they moved they came under different climatic and other geographical conditions, and so developed different character- istics of colour, hair, facial features, etc., thus beginning the white, yellow, and black races. We shall find examples of all in Asia. This is one theory, the Dispersal Theory, but other authorities consider that the various races of men developed independently of each other in widely scattered parts of the earth.

By far the most widespread and numerous of the Asiatics are the Mongols or peoples of the yellow race. Their racial home is the semi-desert upland of Mongolia. They are slant- eyed, have high cheekbones, straight black hair, yellow skin, and are, in general, beardless. In the grassland and semi- desert areas of their homeland they are horsemen from a very early age so that they become bow-legged. At intervals during prolonged droughts, or when the population has increased to a greater extent than the country can support, hordes of these Mongols have moved out in all directions.

Some have passed through the Dzungarian Gate to the west and making their way along the belt of steppes, have passed through the Ural-Caspian Gate into Europe (e.g. the Huns, Cossacks) or have settled in South-West Asia (e.g. the Uzbeks). Others travelled down the Wei-Ho and Hwang-Ho valley into China to become the “Farmers of Forty Centuries” as F. H. King has called the Chinese. Others ventured over- seas to the Japanese festoon of islands where they mingled with other peoples who had made their way northwards along the other island groups. Some climbed the Central Asiatic Highlands and made their way into Burma and Thailand and even into the mountains of Nepal (the Ghurkas).

Others ventured through the belt of forests until they reached the Arctic, when they ranged along the shores to develop into Lapps, Finns, Samoyeds, and Chukches, or after crossing into America, Eskimos and American Indians who penetrated as far south as the island of Tierra del Fuego.

All these groups have retained their main physical characteristics of complexion, hair, eyes, but in other ways their appearance has changed. The Japanese are short and wiry because of the hard struggle on an over-populated group of islands. The northern tribesmen are short and fat, for they, too, have a hard life, but they eat as much fatty food as possible to protect themselves from the cold.
The white race is supposed to have originated in South-

The Ural-Caspian Gate. (II) The Khyber Pass. (III) The Dzungarian Gate. (IV) The Wei-Ho-Hwang-Ho Valley. (V) The Pei Ping Gate. (I) and (III) were used by Mongols at various times to enter Europe, (II) by the Hindus and Moslems to enter India, and (IV) by the Mongols and (V) by the Manchus to enter China.

West Asia and to have moved outwards. Some, of course, spread across Europe to become in the north-west what has often been termed the “Pink Race.” Others moved across Persia and settled there, and a third group moved in two waves into India via the Khyber Pass. After many genera- tions, their complexions have become very dark so that they are sometimes referred to as of the brown race, but actually they exhibit many of the features of the white race, e.g. their fine nostrils and thin lips which distinguish them so much from the negroes.

The latter are represented in India by the Aborigines of the mountainous areas along the northern edge of the Deccan, in Ceylon by the Veddas, by the Sakias of the mountain spine of the Malay Peninsula, and by various tribes in the moun- tains of Indo-China as well as the people of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. They were all driven into inaccessible areas by the white race in the case of India and by the yellow race in South-East Asia. The Dravidians were also pushed into Southern India and Ceylon by the Hindus, who in their turn had been forced southwards by the Moslems. The Dra- vidians are a separate people whose origin is unknown, but they arrived in their present homelands after the Aborigines.

At various times there have been considerable movements of Europeans into Asia, e.g. the Russian colonisers along the route of the Trans-Siberian Railway. The armies of Alexander the Great left many colonies, e.g. in Persia, and even now one comes across Persians with fair complexions, blue eyes, and long heads as contrasted with the black haired, brown eyed, and round-headed majority. The West Euro- peans sent many traders and administrators to South- Eastern Asia and mixed marriages produced many Eurasian children. In India these are known as Anglo-Indians (they number about 150,000), and until recently found themselves in an invidious position, although most unfairly, being unac- cepted by the British and despised by the Indians. In Bom- bay they even had their special bathing place. Lately, with the spread of toleration amongst the Hindus, they have been accepted by all grades of society which is a good thing because they should have an important part to play in the develop- ment of a country for which they have profound loyalty.

Asia has been the birthplace of all the world’s great religions, but, even so, vast areas of the north-east are popu- lated by pagans who follow Shamanism or spirit worship. There are many pagans, too, in the isolated parts of India, China, and the East Indies, especially Borneo. The chief cradle of religion has been the Arabian peninsula for it is from here that Christianity, Judaism, and Muhammadanism (Islam) has spread. It has been said that shepherds, “watch- ing their flocks by night,” and caravan leaders who travel by night to escape the heat, have much time to notice the mysteries of the skies and so it is not surprising that they should speculate on nature and evolve ideas of a supreme creator. A study of the Old Testament will bring this out clearly.

The two other great religions, Brahmanism, or Hinduism, and Buddhism, both originated in India. The former was a logical development from nature worship and retained the idea of a Sun God and the worship of a river, Mother Ganges. This was natural because the inhabitants of the Ganges Valley knew full well that they had to rely on the warmth of the sun and the moisture from the river to grow their crops. The main characteristic of the Hindu religion is the Caste system which is based on the ideas that the soul does not die but enters the body of another creature, and that one must follow the vocation of the caste into which one is born, so as not to interfere with destiny.

It has led to aversion to taking life even of animals and to a variety of rules forbidding association of peoples of different castes. Modern conditions of travel and industry will rapidly break this system down. Thus already there have been modifications in the attitude of caste Hindus towards the Untouchables or Outcasts, who live mainly in South-East India and who are now allowed to worship at Hindu temples but at separate times. In November, 1948, the Government of India proclaimed that in future caste should not prevent anybody from following any occupation.
The second great religion to originate in India was Buddhism. Buddha evolved a philosophy of life which was on a much higher plane than that of the Hindus. This horrified the highest-caste Hindus, the Brahmins or Priests, of which he was a representative. Consequently, Buddhism made little progress in India but gained many adherents in Ceylon and amongst the whole of the yellow race of Eastern and South-Eastern Asia. Few of the Chinese or Japanese, however, are pure Buddhists. Buddhism and its variants, like Japanese Zen, have aroused much Western interest in recent years.

NEXT >>>