The History of Westernisation

Warning: This page contains ideas and beliefs that may hurt the religious and cultural sentiments  of some people. Reader discretion is adviced. Grand parental guidance suggested.


The benefits and ill-effects of westernisation is a topic of hot debate. The advantages include technological advances, though some are not western in origin, and an easier way of life. To its disadvantage, a significant population is subject to a cultural shock and sudden change in ideals. This is not just a phenomenon of the current day. It has been observed from over 2,500 years ago.


Going by the Aryan invasion theory this is the time when Aryans from the middle east were gradually moving towards the Indus valley. The Aryans, to their credit, did not actively try to change the existing civilisation but retained their own and even absorbed some of the local culture. But it was a time when Aryans were gaining superiority. It was a time when vedas flourished.


Among the vedas, atharvanaveda has always been regarded as the dark-veda and sometimes as purely evil. This is where the cultural clash of that age is very apparent. The aryan-hinduism was being established as the superior way of life. At the same time the Dravidian culture was at its peak too. The Dravidian empire was flourishing from the modern day South India to the Harappa & Mohenjedaro. They had technological advancements, some of which surpassed the Aryans. However, the Aryans started with many advantages. Being a nomadic tribe they had learnt the importance of language and had soon developed a strong language with a rigour that the scientific advancements demanded while other cultures still had languages following other advances. The nomadic nature also led to the widespread use of the language, very similar to the spread of English in the current day.

Note that atharvanaveda was a complete scripture in itself unlike the other vedas which specialised on individual topics. Atharvanaveda was somewhat seen as experimental science that also included warfare (unlike a separate dhanurveda included under Yajurveda). This was set at the dawn of the metal ages, at a time when metallurgy and allied advances were seen as sorcery or dark practices in the western world. This also flowed down to the view of atharvanaveda. However, it must be noted that atharvanaveda did deal with warfare quite extensively including a detailed classification of poisons that could be used with weapons. The Aryan propoganda portrayed them in bad light that an evil touch is still associated with it.

Naturally, those with the knowledge of this language were at an advantage due to the large numbers. The Aryans are also not known to have formed empires, but settled in small clans. Given the growth of empires in that era, no empire saw them as a threat and let them freely mix with their own. However, the Aryans had begun to grow and unite during this period and showed lesser acceptance and tolerance towards other cultures. The Dravidians either converted to the Aryan culture or moved away. This caused some clashes that has continued to this day. However, in the absence of a proper war, the Aryans could not be described as hostile and attacked. There was healthy competition too, but the tensions were increasing.


The atharvanaveda did not have occupation based hirearchy and there were no separate class of Brahmanas, although there were priests. To this day there is no concept of upanayanam in atharvanaveda, or a reference to the gayatri mantra that is held sacred amongst the brahmanas. Most of atharvanaveda has been lost after the oral rendition tradition was broken and only two texts survive. There are countably few priests who follow atharvanaveda and are found in some old Dravidian temples.


The Dravidians now being a minority had begun to adopt Sanskrit as formal language even as the Aryans were moving from Pali to Sanskrit completely. This set common grounds to battle their wits. The united Aryans had a largely accepted religion with associated Gods and myths. The Dravidians who were not exposed to as much flux had a strong religion and beliefs but with lesser myths owing to their size and spread. The Aryans tried to establish their way of life over a minority and were almost assured of success like they'd seen in their advances so far. Until they met the legendary Dravidian emperor - Visravasa.


Visravasa was a Danava ruler who'd come to be known as the greatest emperor on earth and had unified most of what we know today as the modern India. The Aryans had used their superiority over language to out throw the dominant Dravidian dynasties in North India by simply presenting them in bad light in all their scriptures. The Dravidians who were dark skinned were always described as being dark in spririts too and were soon made synonymous with evil. Not surprisingly people associate Rakshasas as evil beings while they were once a Dravidian tribe known as protectors (Raksha sas). Increasingly the Aryan vedic texts replaced asuras with Rakshasas, Nagas* and Danavas representing their own fight with these Dravidian tribes as the fight of good against evil. The Aryans almost suceeded until the great Danava king challenged them.
*Nagas still exist today in Eastern most India.


Sumalaya was a Danava king who realised the intentions of the Aryans only too clearly. He knew he could not counter them except by mastering their methods. Instead of adopting shrewd methods like the Aryans did, he decided to overpower the Aryans by sheer brilliance. He decided that the next king of Danavas should become the supreme ruler on Earth who could master any art. To this end, he married his only daughter to a Aryan scholar. Vishravasa learnt the vedas - the three Aryan vedas and one Dravidian veda from his father. Sumalaya himself undertook to task of teaching him the various shastras involving political science, economics, ethics, music, medicine, culture etc.


It must also be noted that the Aryans and Dravidians worshiped different Gods and had different religious practices. Shiva was a distinct Dravidian all-powerful God whose contemporary in the Aryan mythology was Vishnu. The cold battle between Aryan and Dravidian people also extended to their religious beliefs.


Visravasa has mastered both Aryan and Dravidian vedas. He ruled as a Dravidian king based on the principles he was taught by Sumalaya. He quickly re-grouped all Dravidians and was known as a force to reckon with. Many Aryan kingdoms were soon conquered and subject to his rule. His empire was known to be prosperous. He was devout and believed in Shiva. His aim to make his empire culturally rich can be seen from the fact that he adopted the symbol of Veena in his flag (he was known to be adept at playing Veena). This was a major setback for the Aryans who were now threatened severely. The Aryans withdrew, in the sense that they accepted Shiva as an equal God and atharvanaveda as the fourth veda.


However, the Danavas did not last long after Visravasa. Visravasa himself set forth expanding his empire after having put a stop to the Aryan advancement. Sumalaya's death also saw Visravasa getting more reckless and did not plan his successor. But he had undoubtedly established the Dravidian superiority over the Aryans during his reign that was hard for the Aryans to reverse.


Following the death of Visravasa, the Aryans did attempt a fightback in their usual way - portraying the Dravidians as evil. However, having accepted Shiva as a God, this was now a daunty task. They didn't succeed. However, many new myths were born and in each Shiva was portrayed as a foolish and reckless God whose actions had to be set right by Vishnu. They succeeded to a large extent in popularising Vishnu.


The lynchpin that ensured that Aryans were not opposed again by the likes of Visravasa was through the epic Ramayana. Throughout Ramayana Visravasa is represented as Ravana (after his name was mutilated to visravana or visha ravana). However they denote this name as being given by Shiva himself to mean that Visravasa had a roar like thunder. However, it was probably only changed to make it sound coarse. Ravana is also portrayed as one with low morals while Visravasa's prosperity has somewhat been ignored and led to be inferred as being inherited rather than built. Ravana is still worshiped along with Shiva in some temples in South India and Sri Lanka.


However great unrest followed, and Aryans succumbed to accepting Shiva and merging cultures with the Dravidians which had become imminent by then. It is interesting to note that the next incarnation of Vishnu was dark skinned and was a ruler of Yadavas, the region (of modern day Gujarat) from where Visravasa had begun his expansion, that extended east till Cambodia.