💥Join UPSC 2027,2028 Mentorship (August Batch) + XFactor Notes & Microthemes PDF
Talk to Mentor

Civilsdaily

Login

GS Paper: GS1

  • What is the Anthropause Period?

    Researchers in the UK are set to study the “Anthropause”, a term they have coined to refer to the coronavirus-induced lockdown period and its impact on other species.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q. What is the significance of declaring Anthropocene epoch? Discuss how it is different from any geological events. Discuss the Anthropause Period.

    Anthropause Period

    • Researchers have suggested the lockdown period, which is also being referred to as the “Great Pause”, be referred to with a more precise term.
    • It is referred specifically to a considerable global slowing of modern human activities, notably travel.
    • The unprecedented curbs imposed on millions of people around the world, mainly due to restrictions in travel, led to reports of unusual animal behaviour.
    • For instance, there were pumas sighted in Chile’s Santiago, jackals in the parks of Tel Aviv in Israel, dolphins in the waters of Italy and even a monkey fight on the streets of Thailand.
    • The researchers believe studying this period will provide valuable insights into the relationship between human-wildlife interactions in the 21st century.

    What do the researchers hope to find?

    • As a result of the lockdown, nature appears to have changed, especially in urban environments, since not only are there now more animals, but also some “unexpected visitors.”
    • In their outline, researchers mention how the scientific community can use these “extraordinary circumstance” provided by global lockdowns to understand how human activity affects wildlife.
    • On the other hand, there are some animals for which the lockdown may have made things more challenging.
    • For instance, for various urban-dwelling animals, such as rats, gulls and monkeys who depend on food provided or discarded by humans, the lockdown would have made life more difficult.

    Why is studying the lockdown important?

    • Expanding human populations continue to transform their environments at unprecedented rates.
    • Further, because the reduction in human activity during the lockdown on both land and sea has been “unparalleled” in recent history, the effects have been “drastic, sudden and widespread”.
    • Essentially, this gives them a chance to study the extent to which modern human mobility affects wildlife.
    • The study can be linked can help provide insights that may be useful in preserving global biodiversity, maintaining the integrity of ecosystems and predicting global zoonoses and environmental changes.

    Back2Basics

    https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/anthropocene-as-earths-new-epoch/

  • The spirit of ‘Lal-Bal-Pal’ in Indian History

    To commemorate the death centenary of Tilak, a Pune based NGO is set to revive the Independence-era spirit of the ‘Lal-Bal-Pal’, named after nationalists Lala Lajpat Rai, ‘Lokmanya’ Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2010:

    Q. What was the immediate cause for the launch of the Swadeshi movement?

    (a) The partition of Bengal done by Lord Curzon.

    (b) A sentence of 18 months of rigorous imprisonment imposed on Lokmanya Tilak.

    (c) The arrest and deportation of Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh; and passing of the Punjab ColonizationBill.

    (d) Death sentence pronounced on the Chapekarbrothers.

    About Lal-Bal-Pal

    • Lal Bal Pal was a triumvirate of assertive nationalists in British-ruled India in the early 20th century, from 1906 to 1918.
    • They advocated the Swadeshi movement involving the boycott of all imported items and the use of Indian-made goods in 1907 during the anti-Partition agitation in Bengal which began in 1905.
    • The final years of the nineteenth century saw a radical sensibility emerge among some Indian intellectuals.
    • This position burst onto the national all-India scene in 1905 with the Swadeshi movement – the term is usually rendered as “self-reliance” or “self-sufficiency”.

    Their Legacy

    • Lal-Bal-Pal mobilized Indians across the country against the Bengal partition, and the demonstrations, strikes and boycotts of British goods that began in Bengal soon spread to other regions in a broader protest against the Raj.
    • The nationalist movement gradually faded with the arrest of its main leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak and retirement of Bipin Chandra Pal and Aurobindo Ghosh from active politics.
    • While Lala Lajpat Rai suffered from injuries, due to British police superintendent, James A. Scott, ordered the British Indian police to lathi charge and personally assaulted Rai; he died on 17 November 1928.

    Back2Basics:

    Lala Lajpat Rai

    • Born in undivided Punjab on 28 January 1865, Lala Lajpat Rai grew up in a family that allowed the freedom of faith.
    • Even before he focused his efforts towards a self-sufficient India, Rai believed in the principle.
    • In 1895, he started the Punjab National Bank—the first Indian bank to begin solely with Indian capital, and that continues to function till date.
    • Rai had travelled to America in 1907 and immediately caught up similarities between the ‘colour-caste’ practised there and the caste system prevalent in India.
    • In 1917, he even founded the Indian Home Rule League of America there.
    • His proactive, brave participation in the protest earned him the title of the Lion of Punjab or Punjab Kesari.

    Bal Gangadhar Tilak

    • Bal Gangadhar Tilak (23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920) was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence activist
    • In 1884, he founded the Deccan Education Society in Pune, and under the banner, opened the New English School for primary studies and Fergusson College for higher education.
    • His involvement in the educational institutions was to emphasise on the cultural revival of young Indian minds.
    • For the British, Tilak was the “Father of the Indian Unrest.”
    • When the Indian National Congress was divided among moderates and extremes—the stand that each member took against the British government—there was no doubt which side Tilak supported.
    • Literary works: Kesari and Maratha newspapers

    Bipin Chandra Pal

    • The father of revolutionary thoughts, Bipin Chandra Pal, was born to a wealthy family in Sylhet, Bengal Presidency (now in Bangladesh).
    • Pal was a journalist by profession and often contributed to several newspapers.
    • He used his literary expertise to write against the use of British goods, advocating Indians to start using Swadeshi goods instead.
    • He was of a strong opinion that a mass reliance on Swadeshi goods would help people get rid of their poverty.

  • Why Russia celebrates WWII triumph on a different date?

    Raksha Mantri is on a three-day trip to Russia to attend the 75th Victory Day. India has sent a tri-services contingent to participate in the Victory Day Parade.

    Try these questions from CS Mains:

    Q.To what extent can Germany be held responsible for causing the two World Wars? Discuss critically. (CSM 2015)

     

    Q.The New Economic Policy – 1921 of Lenin had influenced the policies adopted by India soon after independence. Evaluate. (CSM 2014)

    What is Victory Day?

    • Victory Day marks the end of World War II and the victory of the Allied Forces in 1945.
    • Adolf Hitler had shot himself on April 30. On May 7, German troops surrendered, which was formally accepted the next day and came into effect on May 9.
    • In most European countries, it is celebrated on May 8 and is called the Victory in Europe Day.

    Why does Russia not celebrate Victory Day on the same date?

    • The erstwhile Soviet Union had not wanted the surrender to take place in the west and wanted that such a significant event should reflect the contribution of the Red Army and the Soviet population.
    • According to historians, Joseph Stalin, premier of the Soviet Union, wanted Germany to also sign surrender in Berlin.
    • Since crowds were already gathering in London to celebrate, Victory in Europe Day celebration in Britain would take place on 8 May, as they did in the United States.
    • This did not convince Stalin, who argued that Soviet troops were still fighting the German forces in many areas.
    • German soldiers did not surrender in East Prussia, Courland Peninsula, Czechoslovakia till later. Hence victory celebration could therefore not begin in the Soviet Union even after May 9.

    If May 9 is Victory Day, why is it being celebrated on June 24?

    • This year, the celebrations this year were pushed to June because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
    • After winning the war and having its own Victory Day on May 9, Stalin wanted to commemorate the victory with a military parade.
    • On June 22, 1945, he ordered the commemoration of the victory over Germany to hold the victory parade on June 24, 1945, in Moscow’s Red Square.
    • Hence the first Victory Day Parade took place on June 24 in Moscow. However, since then, the Parades have taken place on May 9.

  • What is the Arctic Heatwave warming up Siberia?

    The Arctic Circle has recorded temperatures reaching over 38 degrees Celsius in the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk, likely an all-time high. The temperatures seem to have been 18 degree Celsius higher than normal in June a/c to the BBC.

    Try this question from CS Mains 2017:

    Q.How does the Cryosphere affect global climate?

    What is happening in the Arctic?

    • Since the past month, the most above-average temperatures were recorded in Siberia, where they were about 10 degrees Celsius above normal.
    • Siberia has been recording higher-than-average surface air temperatures since January.

    Are Arctic heatwaves common?

    • This is not the first time that rising temperatures in the Arctic have created alarm.
    • The rising temperatures are attributed to large-scale wind patterns that blasted the Arctic with heat, the absence of sea ice, and human-induced climate change, among other reasons.
    • There has been an increase of heatwave occurrences over the terrestrial Arctic. These frequent occurrences have already started to threaten local vegetation, ecology, human health and economy.

    A cause of worry for all

    • Warming in the Arctic is leading to the thawing of once permanently frozen permafrost below ground.
    • This is alarming scientists because as permafrost thaws, carbon dioxide and methane previously locked up below ground is released.
    • These greenhouse gases can cause further warming, and further thawing of the permafrost, in a vicious cycle known as positive feedback.
    • The higher temperatures also cause land ice in the Arctic to melt at a faster rate, leading to greater run-off into the ocean where it contributes to sea-level rise.

  • Seabed 2030 Project

    The Seabed 2030 Project has finished mapping nearly one-fifth of the world’s ocean floor.

    The ocean relief can be divided into various parts such as Continental Shelf, Continental Slope, Continental Rise or Foot, Deep Ocean basins, Abyssal plains & Abyssal Hills, Oceanic Trenches, Seamounts and Guyots.

    Revise these ocean bottom relief features from your basic references.

    Also revise India’s Deep Ocean Mission.

    The Seabed 2030 Project

    • The global initiative is a collaboration between Japan’s non-profit Nippon Foundation and the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO).
    • It is the only intergovernmental organisation with a mandate to map the entire ocean floor and traces its origins to the GEBCO chart series initiated in 1903 by Prince Albert I of Monaco.
    • The project was launched at the UN Ocean Conference in 2017, and coordinates and oversees the sourcing and compilation of bathymetric data from different parts of the world’s ocean.

    What’s so special about this project?

    • In the past, satellites and planes carrying altimeter instruments have been able to provide large swathes of data about the ocean floor.
    • The Seabed 2030 Project, however, aims to obtain higher quality information that has a minimum resolution of 100 m at all spots.
    • It is using equipment such as deepwater hull-mounted sonar systems, and more advanced options such as Underwater Vehicles (AUVs).
    • For this, the project aims to rope in governments, private companies, and international organisations to acquire data.

    Progress of the project

    • Since the launch of the project in 2017, the surveying of the ocean bed as per modern standards has gone up from around 6 per cent to 19 per cent.
    • The project has added 1.45 crore square kilometres of new bathymetric data to its latest grid.

    Why is the study of the ocean floor important?

    • Ocean topography: The knowledge of bathymetry — the measurement of the shape and depth of the ocean floor, is instrumental in understanding several natural phenomena, including ocean circulation, tides, and biological hotspots.
    • Navigation: It also provides key inputs for navigation, forecasting tsunamis, exploration for oil and gas projects, building offshore wind turbines, fishing resources, and for laying cables and pipelines. This data becomes highly valuable during disaster situations.
    • Climate Change study: Importantly, the maps would also ensure a better understanding of climate change, since floor features including canyons and underwater volcanoes influence phenomena ocean currents. These ocean currents act as conveyor belts of warm and cold water, thus influencing the weather and climate.
    • Marine conservation: A map of the entire global ocean floor would also help further achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal to conserve and sustainably use oceans, seas and marine resources.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2012:

    Q.Consider the following factors:

    1. Rotation of the Earth
    2. Air pressure and wind
    3. Density of ocean water
    4. Revolution of the Earth

    Which of the above factors influence the ocean currents?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 1, 2 and 3

    (c) 1 and 4

    (d) 2, 3 and 4

  • 100 Years of Malabar Rebellion

    With the 1921 Malabar Rebellion turning 100 next year, several movies have been announced back-to-back.

    Try this question from CSP 2015:

    Q. Which amongst the following provided a common factor for tribal insurrection in India in the 19th century?

    (a.) Introduction of a new system of land revenue and taxation- of tribal products

    (b.) Influence of foreign religious missionaries in tribal areas

    (c.) Rise of a large number of money lenders, traders and revenue farmers as middlemen in tribal areas

    (d.) The complete disruption of the old agrarian order of the tribal communities

    What is the Malabar Rebellion?

    • The Malabar Rebellion in 1921 started as resistance against the British colonial rule and the feudal system in southern Malabar but ended in communal violence between Hindus and Muslims.
    • There were a series of clashes between Mappila peasantry and their landlords, supported by the British, throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries.
    • It began as a reaction against a heavy-handed crackdown on the Khilafat Movement, a campaign in defence of the Ottoman Caliphate by the British authorities in the Eranad and Valluvanad taluks of Malabar.
    • The Mappilas attacked and took control of police stations, British government offices, courts and government treasuries.

    Also in news:

    Variyankunna Kunjahammed Haji

    • He was one of the leaders of the Malabar Rebellion of 1921.
    • He raised 75000 natives, seized control of large territory from the British rule and set up a parallel government.
    • In January 1922, under the guise of a treaty, the British betrayed Haji through his close friend Unyan Musaliyar, arresting him from his hideout and producing him before a British judge.
    • He was sentenced to death along with his compatriots.

  • Sukapha: The founder of Ahom kingdom

    Recently, Assam CM ordered the arrest of a political commentator who had described Chaolung Sukapha as a “Chinese invader”.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q. Who are the Ahoms? Describe the role of Ahom Kingdom in cultural assimilation of modern-day Assam.

    Who was Chaolung Sukapha?

    • Sukapha was a 13th-century ruler who founded the Ahom kingdom that ruled Assam for six centuries. Contemporary scholars trace his roots to Burma.
    • He reached Brahmaputra valley in Assam from upper Burma in the 13th century with around 9,000 followers.
    • Sukapha is said to have left a place called Maulung ( in Yunnan, China ) in AD 1215 with eight nobles and 9,000 men, women and children — mostly men.
    • In 1235, Sukapha and his people settled in Charaideo in upper Assam after wandering about for years, defeating those who protested his advance and temporarily staying at different locations.
    • It was in Charaideo (in Assam) that Sukapha established his first small principality, sowing the seeds of further expansion of the Ahom kingdom.

    Who are the Ahoms today?

    • The founders of the Ahom kingdom had their own language and followed their own religion.
    • Over the centuries, the Ahoms accepted the Hindu religion and the Assamese language, scholars say.
    • The Ahoms embraced the language, religion and rituals of the communities living here — they did not impose theirs on those living here.
    • Today, the Ahom community is estimated to number between 4 million and 5 million.

    Why is Sukapha important in Assamese culture?

    • Sukapha’s significance — especially in today’s Assam — lies in his successful efforts towards the assimilation of different communities and tribes.
    • He developed very amicable relationships with the tribal communities living here — especially the Sutias, the Morans and the Kacharis.
    • Intermarriage also increased assimilation processes. He is widely referred to as the architect of “Bor Asom” or “greater Assam”.

  • ‘Ring of Fire’ Solar Eclipse

    A rare celestial event, an annular solar eclipse popularly called as the ‘ring of fire’ eclipse, will be visible on June 21, 2020 from some parts of Northern India. The first solar eclipse of this year takes place on the summer solstice, which is the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere.

    Try this question from CSP 2019:

    Q. On 21st June, the Sun

    (a) Does not set below the horizon at the Arctic Circle

    (b) Does not set below the horizon at Antarctic Circle

    (c) Shines vertically overhead at noon on the Equator

    (d) Shines vertically overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn

    What is the Solar Eclipse?

    • A Solar Eclipse happens when the moon while orbiting the Earth comes in between the sun and the Earth, due to which the moon blocks the sun’s light from reaching the Earth, causing an eclipse of the sun or a solar eclipse.
    • According to NASA, people who are able to view the total solar eclipse are in the centre of the moon’s shadow as and when it hits the Earth.
    • There are three types of eclipses: one is a total solar eclipse, which is visible only from a small area on Earth. A total solar eclipse happens when the sun, moon and Earth are in a direct line.
    • The second type of a solar eclipse is a partial solar, in which the shadow of the moon appears on a small part of the sun.

    Annular Solar Eclipse

    • The third kind is an annular solar eclipse, which happens when the moon is farthest from the Earth, which is why it seems smaller.
    • In this type of an eclipse, the moon does not block the sun completely, but looks like a “dark disk on top of a larger sun-coloured disk” forming a “ring of fire”.
    • Furthermore, during a solar eclipse, the moon casts two shadows on the Earth; the first one is called the umbra, which gets smaller as it reaches the Earth.
    • The second one is called the penumbra, which gets larger as it reaches the Earth.
    • According to NASA, people standing in the umbra see a total eclipse and those standing in the penumbra see a partial eclipse.

    Why the study of solar eclipse is crucial?

    • One of the reasons that NASA studies solar eclipses is to study the top layer of the sun called the corona.
    • During an annular eclipse, NASA uses ground and space instruments to view this top layer when the sun’s glare is blocked by the moon.

    Back2Basics: Summer Solstice

    • The summer solstice occurs when one of the Earth’s poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun.
    • It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern).
    • For that hemisphere, the summer solstice is when the Sun reaches its highest position in the sky and is the day with the longest period of daylight.
    • Within the Arctic circle (for the northern hemisphere) or Antarctic circle (for the southern hemisphere), there is continuous daylight around the summer solstice.
    • On the summer solstice, Earth’s maximum axial tilt toward the Sun is 23.44°. Likewise, the Sun’s declination from the celestial equator is 23.44°.

  • Revealing the secrets Arctic holds

    This article is about Polarstern, is an icebreaker, which traversed the Arctic Ocean to study the aspects related to ice there. Here, we will look at some of these aspects. These aspects are-monitoring of the ice, difficulty in measuring the thickness, rate of melting of ice and relations with cloud formation.

    Arctic: A recorder and driver of climate change

    How is it a recorder of climate change?

    • It is a recorder because of two co-related factors, these are-
    • 1) The visible difference between ice and water.
    • 2) The obvious relationship between global temperatures and the amount of ice around.
    • Two factors together shows in an easily graspable way how things are changing.
    • The extent of the Arctic sea ice in summer has declined by 30% in the past 30 years, and that loss is accelerating (see chart).

    How is it a driver of climate change?

    • The Arctic is also a driver of climate change, because the whiteness of ice means it reflects sunlight back into space, thus cooling Earth.
    • Whereas the darkness of open water means it absorbs that light.
    • The less of the reflection of sunlight and the more absorption of light will result in a faster rise in global temperatures.

    Monitoring the Arctic’s ice

    • At the moment this is monitored mainly by satellite.
    • Measuring the extent of the Arctic’s ice from space is easy.
    • Measuring its thickness is trickier.
    • From orbit, this is done by a mixture of radar and laser beam.
    • Icesat 2, an American craft, provides laser-altimeter data that record the height above sea level of the top of the snow that overlies the ice.
    •  Cryosat 2, a European one, uses radar to penetrate the snow and measure the height of the top of the ice itself.
    • The thickness of the ice in a particular place can then be calculated by applying Archimedes’ principle of floating bodies to the mixture of ice and snow, and subtracting the thickness of the snow.
    • But there is a view that the data collected by these two satellites may be inaccurate, leading to an overestimation of the ice’s thickness.

    Let’s understand why the data about thickness could be inaccurate

    • When all is working perfectly, the return signal for Cryosat 2 comes exactly from the boundary between the ice and any overlying snow.
    • But, that this is not always what happens.
    • Variables such as layering within the snow, along with its temperature and salinity, might affect the returning radar signal by changing the snow’s structure and density.
    • This could cause the signal to be reflected from inside the snow layer, rather than from the boundary where it meets the ice.
    • If that were happening, it would create the illusion that the ice beneath the snow is thicker than is actually the case.

    How topography of Arctic ice matters

    • Though sea ice is solid, it is not rigid.
    • It forms but a thin skin on the ocean—varying in depth from around 30cm in summer to a couple of metres in winter—so is readily moved by wind and current.
    • As the ice moves it stretches and cracks in some places.
    • Large cracks formed in this way are called leads, because they are wide enough to “lead” a ship.
    • In other places, by contrast, movement makes the ice thicker.
    • As individual panes of ice butt up against each other, they create ridges that can be metres high.
    •  But even from the ship’s deck one can watch leads opening and ridges forming around the vessel.
    • Observations suggest that winter the ice has been particularly mobile—and has thus become particularly rough, with a surprising number of ridges.

    So, how these ridges affect the rate at which ice melts?

    • These ridges may affect the rate at which the ice melts—but to complicate matters, this could happen in two opposing ways.
    • Ridges make ice thicker, and thicker ice melts more slowly.
    • On the other hand, a ridge projects down into the sea as well as up into the air (Archimedes, again), so it may stir up water from below the surface.
    • Deep water is warmer than the surface layer, so this stirring would serve to increase melt rates.
    • Moreover, to add to the confusion, ridges are prone to having pieces of ice fall off them into the sea, to form small blocks known as brash.
    • This brash, having more surface area per unit volume than unbroken ice, melts faster.

    How cloud formation is affected by cracks in Arctic ice

    • On most parts of Earth clouds form as droplets of water condense around “seeds” of dust or organic molecules.
    • In the Arctic, there is little dust.
    • Biological activity, too, is in short supply compared with elsewhere—and is, moreover, conducted mainly below the barrier of the sea ice.
    • It might, therefore, be expected that there would be few seeds present for clouds to form around.
    • And yet, clouds are present.
    • Cloud seeds there tended to be compounds containing sulphur, nitrogen, chlorine, bromine or iodine.
    • Presence of these molecules suggests their link with cracks in the ice sheets.
    • This means that more cracks in the ice sheet could lead to more clouds in the Arctic.
    • What overall effect that might have on the climate is unclear.
    • Summer clouds would reflect sunlight back into space, cooling the planet.
    • Those formed in winter, when the sun is below the horizon, would serve as insulation, warming it.
    •  Two opposite outcomes are possible—or perhaps the net effect will be that they cancel each other out.

    Conclusion

    Properly disentangling the interactions between Arctic ice, atmosphere and ocean life will require data collected across a full year—for the contrast between winter and summer at the poles is greater than anywhere else on the planet.

  • Kodumanal Megalithic Burial Site

    The Kodumanal excavation in Erode Dist. of Tamil Nadu has threw light on burial rituals and the concept of afterlife in megalithic culture.

    Must read:

    Chapter 1 | Stone Age – Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic

    About these sites

    • The researchers have identified 250 cairn-circles at the village in Erode district.
    • Earlier excavations revealed that the site served as a trade-cum-industrial centre from 5th century BCE to 1st century BCE.
    • The rectangular chambered cists, each two metres long and six metres wide, are made of stone slabs, and the entire grave is surrounded by boulders that form a circle.
    • The grave could be of a village head or the head of the community as the size of two boulders, each facing east and west, are bigger than other boulders.
    • Believing that the deceased person will get a new life after death, pots and bowls filled with grains were placed outside the chambers.

    What are Megaliths?

    • Megaliths are the earliest surviving man-made monuments we know of—derived from the Latin mega (large) and lith (stone).
    • Megaliths were constructed either as burial sites or commemorative (non-sepulchral) memorials.
    • The former are sites with actual burial remains, such as dolmenoid cists (box-shaped stone burial chambers), cairn circles (stone circles with defined peripheries) and capstones (distinctive mushroom-shaped burial chambers found mainly in Kerala).
    • The urn or the sarcophagus containing the mortal remains was usually made of terracotta.
    • Non-sepulchral megaliths include memorial sites such as menhirs. (The line separating the two is a bit blurry, since remains have been discovered underneath otherwise non-sepulchral sites, and vice versa.)
    • In India, archaeologists trace the majority of the megaliths to the Iron Age (1500 BC to 500 BC), though some sites precede the Iron Age, extending up to 2000 BC.

    Megaliths in India

    • Megaliths are spread across the Indian subcontinent, though the bulk of them are found in peninsular India, concentrated in the states of Maharashtra (mainly in Vidarbha), Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
    • According to archaeologists around 2,200 megalithic sites can be found in peninsular India itself, most of them unexcavated.
    • Even today, a living megalithic culture endures among some tribes such as the Gonds of central India and the Khasis of Meghalaya.

    Literary sources

    • Megalithic culture finds several references in ancient Tamil Sangam literature. For instance, menhirs are referred to as nadukal.
    • Ancient Sangam texts lay out, in detail, a step-by-step procedure for laying a memorial stone or nadukal in honour of a fallen hero.
    • Manimekalai (5th century AD), the famous Sangam epic, refers to the various kinds of burials namely cremation (cuṭuvōr), post excarnation burial (iṭuvōr), burying the deceased in a pit (toṭukuḻip paṭuvōr), rock chamber or cist burial (tāḻvāyiṉ aṭaippōr), urn burial encapped with lid (tāḻiyiṟ kavippōr).
    • Even in the Sangam age (when kingship and a well-ordained society had emerged) the above modes of burials survived.