In my Valentine’s Day message, I discussed how the tradition of secret love (களவு) marriages in India was gradually corrupted into arranged marriages due to the influx of Aryans into South Asia between 1000 BC and 1000 AD. In this blog, I will explore how the Dravidian society in the Levant region was similarly influenced by Aryan customs, leading to the adoption of arranged marriages and the dowry system.

By now, many of you may already be aware that after the Ice Age and the Great Deluge, one of Noah’s grandsons by name Ashur established a city in what is now Kazakhstan. This city, built accommodated the migrating Aryans who were moving southward from the Arctic region. The Aryans referred to this city as ‘Arjika’ in the Rig Veda.

Following their defeat in the ‘Dev-Ashur-Sangram,’ the descendants of Ashur were forced to leave Arjika. They migrated with their urban infrastructure, including irrigation systems, and settled in various places. The Vedic Aryans, who were primarily nomadic pastoralists, lacked the knowledge to maintain these advanced settlements. As a result, they referred the migratory cities of the Dravidian Ashurs as “Flying Cities.”

The Aryans, unable to sustain Arjika’s infrastructure, such as the dam across the Ili River, eventually abandoned the city. They then migrated to the banks of the Amu Darya River (‘Rig Veda,’ M-1, S-62, R-5), which flows into the Aral Sea in present-day Uzbekistan (see the 1St picture). It was here that they first domesticated horses for warfare and invented spooked-wheel chariots, giving them a significant military advantage and enabling them to establish settlements.

Meanwhile, the descendants of Ashur founded cities such as Nineveh (modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq), Rehoboth, Calah, and Resen in the Levant, along the Tigris–Euphrates river system. Seeing the prosperity of these Dravidian cities, the warring Vedic Aryans began to conquer several regions in the Levant. This brief historical overview provides context for the discussion that follows.

Love Marriages in Ancient Times

One of the earliest recorded love marriages was that of Ya’aqov (Jacob) and Rāḥēl (Rachel). Ya’aqov, who lived between approximately 1836 BC and 1689 BC, fell in love with his first cousin Rāḥēl at first sight. However, his maternal uncle, Lavan, took advantage of his deep love and made him work for seven years to earn Rāḥēl’s hand in marriage. At the end of this period, instead of giving him Rāḥēl, Lavan deceived him by sending her sister, Le’ah, to his bed. Thus, Ya’aqov was forced to work another seven years to marry Rāḥēl.

Another notable case was Moshe (Moses), who lived in the 14th or 13th century BC. He was the first among the descendants of Ya’aqov to marry outside his kinship, choosing a woman from another Dravidian group—the Midianites. The Midianites were descendants of Midian, a son of Avraham (Abraham) and his wife Qəṭūrā. The modern-day Ethiopians and Arab tribes living south of Israel are believed to be descendants of Avraham through Qəṭūrā. Moshe married Sīppōrā, a Midianite woman, whom he met at a well while she and her sisters were watering their father’s flock. When other shepherds tried to drive them away, Moshe intervened, defended them, and helped water their flocks. Their father, Yīṯrō (Jethro), invited Moshe to his home, offered him hospitality, and later gave him Sīppōrā in marriage. Her love for Moshe was so profound that she did not oppose his departure when he experienced a realization to liberate the Israelites from Egyptian bondage.

A third example is Shimshon (Samson), who lived between 1119 BC and 1079 BC. By this time, Aryans had occupied the southern coast of Canaan, which later became Philistia. These Aryans had migrated from the Aegean region. Shimshon fell deeply in love with Dəlīlā (Delilah), a Philistine woman he met in Gaza market selling eggs and knick-knacks. *Infatuated with her, he performed feats of strength in the marketplace to impress her. However, unknown to him, Dəlīlā was an Aryan spy, tasked with discovering the secret of his strength. The Tamils have a saying, “யாதும் ஊரே யாவரும் கேளிர்” (Every place is my homeland, and all people are my kin.), which suggests that Shimshon did not distinguish between Philistines and Israelites when he fell in love. Tragically, his trust was misplaced—Dəlīlā betrayed him, revealing the secret of his strength to the Aryan Philistines, who then blinded and imprisoned him.

The Shift from Love Marriages to Arranged Marriages

The Neo-Assyrian army invaded and destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel around 722 BC. The Aryan king Sargon II captured Samaria after a three-year siege. An inscription found in the ruins of Sargon’s palace at Nineveh states that 27,290 people from Samaria were taken into captivity. Over time, as these Israelites lived among the Aryans, their marital customs changed, leading to the introduction of the dowry system.

One such example is the story of Toviyah (Tobit), a wealthy Israelite who was among those deported to Nineveh in 722 / 721 BC. Before his exile, Toviyah entrusted half of his wealth to a relative named Gaval (Gabael) for safekeeping. In Nineveh, he married Hannah, and they had a son, Tobijah. As an act of defiance against the cruel treatment of Israelite prisoners, Toviyah secretly buried the bodies of those who had died from forced labor. Unfortunately, due to a botched treatment, he became blind.

Toviyah later sent his son Tobijah to retrieve the money from Gaval. At Ecbatana (modern Hamadān, Iran), Tobijah met Rəʿūʾēl (Raguel) and his wife Edna, one of his relatives. Upon learning that they had a daughter named Sara, Tobijah’s companion suggested that he marry her. Rəʿūʾēl, overhearing their conversation, agreed to the match. *When Tobijah bid farewell to his parents-in-law with his wife, Rəʿūʾēl gifted Tobijah half of his possessions, including servants, oxen, sheep, donkeys, camels, clothing, silver, and other valuables.

This marked a significant transition in Dravidian society—from a tradition that once upheld love marriages to one that embraced arranged marriages and introduced the dowry system.

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Published under International Cooperation with "Sindh Courier"