Biblical Nations - Indians

Indians

Key Scripture: Esther 1:1

Figures: none

This year, India overtook China as the most populous nation in the world.  With an estimated 1.45 billion individuals, India can claim nearly 1 out of 5 humans currently alive.  But did you know that this nation, with a history whose years span a time frame that approaches the length of Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations, plays a role in the Bible?  Let's learn a bit about this fascinating country and why it shows up in Scripture. 

Trying to determine the ethnic background of the inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent presents some unique challenges and has led to some dispute, specifically as it pertains to the sons of Noah.  There are two primary groups, called the Dravidians and the Aryans, who have separate genetic origins but eventually came to settle together in India.  Some evidence suggests the Dravidians descended from Ham through the African lands of Cush and Put before migrating east to southern Asia.  The support for this view is found not only in the darker skin pigment found in both regions but also in the Dravidian language similarities that are believed to have formed in Africa.  The Aryans, however, have been attributed to both of the other two sons of Noah.  Some experts insist that Shem is the father of Elam according to the Table of Nations in Genesis 10, a region in what is now southwest Iran, and that these were the Aryan people who traveled into India.  Others insist it was through Japheth's son, Madai, that these Aryans actually descended.  A third option is that Shem's great-great-grandson, named Joktan, was the father of the Indian people, but that is likely based on an assumption that Ophir is in India - we'll discuss that soon enough.  In reality, the people of India may well represent a mixture of all three descendants of Noah.

Within the pages of the Bible, there is only one book that specifically names India, using the word Hodu which is the region drained by the Indus River and is where the word Hindu originates.  The tale of Esther, the Hebrew girl who became the queen of Persia's Ahasuerus (or Xerxes I), states that the king's dominion stretched over 127 provinces from Cush to India.  The history of the Persians suggests that both Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great invaded northwest India during the 6th century BC and claimed territory for the Achaemenid Empire.  Therefore it is likely referencing only the land at the edge of the south Asian peninsula even though the remaining area to the south and east was closely related by race, language, and culture.  If the Persians extended their control to India, and we know that Jewish individuals such as Mordecai were in government positions, then it may be logical that descendants of Israel were also among those who reached these eastern regions.

One non-biblical note is that Darius the Great had a collection of seals that identified royalty and other significant individuals from throughout his kingdom, and one has been claimed to represent a family known as Gautama, who was the royal family of the Saka kingdom.  The Persian king claims to have been given the throne by his Zoroastrian god, Ahura Mazda, in favor of a usurper named "Gaumata" (possibly a variant of the same family name) who was a Magi and stargazer that had claimed the Babylonian throne.  Although he was benevolent, intent on freeing slaves and promoting liberty and human rights, he did not have the right or authority to maintain such leadership and was threatened with death.  The idea that this Mesopotamian writing could be referencing Siddhartha Gautama, the crown prince of the Saka who would eventually renounce his position to start the Buddhist faith (becoming known to history as the first Buddha), has intrigued religious scholars about what it means but is largely speculative and beyond the scope of this post.

There are other references in Scripture, as mentioned earlier, about the land of Ophir that may be pertinent to this study as well.  Some 400 years before Esther, 1 Kings records that Solomon had ships that sailed from Ezion-geber, a port on the Gulf of Aqaba, on 3-year voyages to bring back a variety of goods.  Those valuable items were listed as gold, silver, ivory, apes, peacocks, almug wood, and precious stones.  Gold, silver, and gems are found in many geographic locations, and both ivory and apes could be found in either Africa or India.  But among the regions accessible by sea within distance of a 3-year time frame, peacocks and almug wood (also called sandalwood) could only be found in India.  Both Josephus and Jerome were of the opinion that Ophir, therefore, was found in India before it held that specific name.  There are currently at least three distinct groups of Jewish people within India, including one centered in the southern city of Cochin (or Kochi) that claims to have existed there since the days of Solomon.

In the New Testament book of Acts, Jews of several nations are said to have heard the sermon at Pentacost, and it may be that India was represented.  A non-canonical book detailing the missionary work of the apostle Thomas suggests that he traveled to India in the years following the resurrection of Jesus, and that he was eventually martyred there.  That evidence is supported by local tradition, as well as a tomb that bears his name in the major city of Chennai.  Many modern Christians in India claim a direct spiritual lineage to the apostle once known primarily for his lack of belief.  A final possible reference to India appears in Revelation when an army from the east is unbound at the Euphrates River.  Given the astounding number of mounted troops, scholars assume it must either represent a supernatural force or an impressive alliance of multiple nations.  Currently, China and India have the largest standing armies in the world, leading some to think they would have to be the primary members of such a group, but even their numbers would require significant enhancements to reach those mentioned.