Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From

Briiliant Book by an Indian Author
Generally, Indian authors don’t write books based on huge volume of research. Research by them, in general, is hollow. Very few Indian authors have achieved the feat of writing a book which settles questions backed by solid research. Tony Joseph is the latest addition to this.He answers the uncomfortable question about who Indians are backed by genetics and archaeology and doesn’t worry about backlash which could have been generated.I was amazed that a person who has spent his lifetime in journalism can dive into genetics and archaeology and write decisively about a question which has plagued all of us – WHO WE ACTUALLY ARE?This book is a fascinating account of a painstaking work of putting together a lot of evidences to answer the basic question.

The ancestry of Indians in the light of Genetic findings
As the author had pointed out in the beginning, this book is bound to be controversial and would not be acceptable to most Aryan invasion/migration (AIT/AMT) theory denialists. However, if one takes an open mind approach,the genetic evidence along with linguistic and archaeological evidence strongly brings out a very convincing explanation of what and how things panned out during a period covering a period from 7000 BCE to 1 CE. It is really a good thing to know that almost all Indians have inherited their genealogy from the Harappan and earlier settlers of this land. While we have been subjected to waves of migration, we still can trace our ancestors to the modern man out of Africa some 65000 years ago. In a work of this kind it is impossible to conclusively establish one line of thinking and the author has done an extremely good job tracing our ancestry and presenting good evidence to believe his line of analysis and history. His analogy of the Indian ancestry to a pizza is exceedingly well suited. It is a must read book for every student of Indian history as well to the general public who are genuinely interested in answering the question of-“who our ancestors were,in the light of modern genetic research?” The epilogue of the book has covered most of the major arguments presented to disprove the AIT/AMT and analysed the same in the presence of genetic evidence.The book has been written in a simple English without too much of scientific terms and terminology. Even the terms used have been well explained. I do hope more supportive and conclusive evidence come about in the coming years as more and more ancient human remains are found and genetically analysed.

Fantastic
Every Indian must read. Facts are presented with authentic sources. Kudos to author for his painstaking effort. A master class work.

Much needed telling of the story of how we got here
Given what times are like and how Hindutva is peddling lies about our history, this is a must-read. Don’t go in assuming you already know what it will say – there is a lot of fascinating stuff to learn in this book.

It is a very well researched book on a complex subject that is also well written. It summarizes results in several research papers and books on population genetics, archaeology, and linguistics pertaining to prehistory, early settlement, and civilization in the Indian subcontinent. A current of common sense and objectivity underlies the entire book. The final chapters in the book are especially valuable and consists of a detailed summary, an epilogue, and a set of frequently asked questions that are answered.

Very interesting and easy to read.

A good book to read to understand the human prehistory of early Indians with DNA and other evidences.