Video | Chronicling 15,000 years of history: The Rock Art of Djulirri – Australia

The Rock Art of DjulirriIn a remote corner of Arnhem Land in central northern Australia, the Aborigines left paintings chronicling 15,000 years of their history. One site in particular, Djulirri, the subject of “Reading the Rocks” in the January/February 2011 issue of ARCHAEOLOGY, contains thousands of individual paintings in 20 discernable layers. In this video … Read more

Member of Siddi community nominated to the Karnataka Legislative Council: A community with African ancestry – Karnataka

Shantharam Budna Siddi, from the Siddi [Sidhi] community of Karnataka which traces its roots to Africa, has been nominated to the Karnataka Legislative Council by Governor Vajubhai Vala. This is the first time that the community will be represented in the legislature. […] According to him, the Siddi community traces its roots to Africa, somewhere … Read more

Members of the Kaani (Kani) community “guardian angels” of the Karamana river (Western Ghats) – Kerala

Achuthsankar S. Nair | To read the full story, click here >> Unlike city residents who pollute the water, tribal communities upstream revere the river History is often the story of kings, ministers, chieftains and landlords. The story of ordinary human beings who also lived around them at the same time is very often not … Read more

The last frontier of Firkal martial art of Chotanagpur area – Jharkhand

Unique: ‘Firkal’ performanceNo mention has been made of it in ancient treatises, history books, traveller’s account or even in archaelogical records. | Read more >> Older than Kalaripayattu, and even those martial art forms that trace its origins to China and Japan, Firkal is still very much a living martial art-based dance form, performed mainly … Read more

eBook | Representations of Birsa Munda: Leader of the 1890 Munda rebellion – Jharkhand

Imagine a 25-year-old who took on an empire, left an indelible mark on tribal rights across the country and was seen as a mystic and folk hero for hundreds of thousands. Few would have achieved so much in so short a time and it’s not surprising then that Birsa Munda’s portrait hangs proudly in India’s parliament. | … Read more