A herder on foot could look after maybe a dozen animals. One on horseback could look after scores. Moreover, wagons broke down the barrier that was the steppe, opening up a massive source of food for these herds.
Earlier, venturing out into the arid, harsh both bitterly cold and blisteringly hot and endless steppe was basically a slow form of suicide. Now with wagons, humans could carry tents, water and food. On a diet of meat, milk, yogurt, cheese from their animals and foraged vegetation, they could become completely mobile.
This prehistoric culture of super pastoralists is called the Yamnaya by noted archeologist David Anthony. Cow, the basis of steppe life In this socio-economic system, the very basis of life on the steppe for these speakers of Proto-Indo-European was the cow. The Yamnaya did not farm, so they lived on the milk and meat of their cattle. Cowhide gave them their clothes and blankets, dung their fuel and bones their tools.
In settled agricultural societies, wealth and status is measured by land but in the pastoral society of the steppe, wealth was measured by head of cattle.
The cow was, in fact, so important for these people that they literally mutated to adapt themselves to their cattle: they developed the ability to digest milk as adults. Man is the only mammal than can digest milk even after being weaned. Moreover, this is an ability developed very recently as a result of a gene mutation in the Yamnaya, as research shows. In all probability, pastoralists first starting herding cows for their meat and only then, after this propitious mutation, developed the ability to digest milk — a significant evolutionary advantage since the cow is an extremely efficient machine for converting grass into calories in the form of dairy.
States like Uttar Pradesh have decided to invest in radium bands for stray cows, making it easier for pedestrians and other traffic users to spot the beasts. Read more: Should we bring extinct species back from the dead?
Experts like Sheoran, however, are sceptical of such measures. But for the authorities, cows seem to be a more pressing matter than humans. Recently, a police officer in Uttar Pradesh was killed while investigating an incident of alleged cow slaughter, as the local government continued to focus on preventing the killing of cows.
Until a few months back, states like Haryana had 16 members in its "Gau Seva Ayog," or cow service committee Sheoran says, adding, "The state human rights commission had none.
Visit the new DW website Take a look at the beta version of dw. Go to the new dw. More info OK. Wrong language? Change it here DW. COM has chosen English as your language setting. COM in 30 languages. Deutsche Welle. Cow urine is sometimes included in a purifying mixture used in some religious rituals. Cow dung is used as a fertiliser and fuel. Collected, shaped and dried, it is used for cooking food. Like beef, pork is also forbidden in Hinduism.
However, unlike the sacred cow, the pig represents impurity and filth , because it eats our wasted food. This is considered to be particularly impure and soiled as, for example, it has been touched or come into contact with saliva. Mahias, Marie-Claude, Le barattage du monde.
Home The sacred cow. The sacred cow Hinduism favours a vegetarian diet and protects the cow as a sacred animal and source of prosperity. This is not the first time the cow has become mixed up with politics.
The first organised Hindu cow protection movement was launched by a Sikh sect in Punjab in about In , Hindu religious leader Dayananda Saraswati founded the first cow protection committee. Conflicts over cow slaughter often sparked religious riots that led to the killing of more than people in alone. In , at least eight people died in riots outside the parliament in Delhi while demanding a national ban on cow slaughter.
And in , Acharya Vinoba Bhave, considered by many as a spiritual heir of Mahatma Gandhi, went on a hunger strike to ban cow slaughter. The "holiness of the cow" is also a myth, argues Dr Jha.
In his masterly work The Myth of the Holy Cow , Dr Jha cites religious scriptures and ancient texts to show that Hindus did consume beef in ancient India. This flew against the Hindu right-wing assertion that beef-eating arrived in India with the coming of Islam.
Not surprisingly, he was threatened after the book was published in India. And American academic Wendy Doniger correctly argues that Hindus "do not always treat cows with respect or kindness; cows are sometimes beaten and frequently half starved".
India's most revered leader Mahatma Gandhi may also have been responsible for the Hindu veneration of the cow.
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