"original" Buddhists -- Brahuis?

[Miroslav Rozehnal]

At 10:13 PM 1998/6/4 +0400, you wrote:>
>        As for their general FORM, Brahui "Cheda pillars" look very much like
>constructions called by Mongols and related peoples "oboo" or "obon" - and
>spread across vast territories in South Siberia, Mongolia and Tibet (mayby
>even wider in mountainous regions of Central Asia). In the same way as
"chedas",
>oboo are "neatly built of loose stones closely set in a cylindrical form"
>(Bellew). Oboos are smaller in height than chedas, they may reach 8-9, but
never,
>as far as I now,  12 feet. They are erected usually on mountain passes (where
>travellers use to make some small offerings to them) and "on slight
eminence on
>the plain" (Bellew on "chedas") - hence probably an occasional meaning of
>a "tumulus", "burial mound" (in Buryat-Mongol and Kalmyck). But the original
>semantics of oboo seems to be connected with the cult of mountain-spirits.
>Their origin may probably be referred to the same Neolithic culture of
>Central Asian mountaineers which left in Sayan-Altai-Pamir-Hindukush mountain
>belt petroglyphs of a specific style (studied, in particular, by K.Jettmar).
>       But as for their FUNCTION (and some details of form, too), the
"chedas"
>certainly resemble stuupas, or, to be exact, the hypothetical proto-stuupas
>made of stones (cairn-like, as opposed to earthen memorial or burial
>constructions, like Vedic zmazaana or proto-stuupas excavated in the
>beginning of this century at Lauriya, Bihar).
>        The Brahui "chedas" can be explained, perhaps, as a result of the
>convergence of the two areal traditions: a Central Asian and a South Asian
>one.
>        Best wishes to all
>                                        Yaroslav Vassilkov
>

That would mean linking Brahuis (Dravidians) to the Central Asian cultures.
That's another interesting point that has been never much discussed here
(at least I can not remember) - the origin of Dravidians. I remember
reading somewhere (alas, I do not know where) the hypothesis of original
Dravidian homeland in Central Asia. Do venerable shi.s.tas have any opinion
on this?

Regards,

Miroslav Rozehnal
Center for Buddhist Studies
National Taiwan University
Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw