Her new book speaks of how Indian languages evolved via generations of migratory patterns
Migration has shaped the arc of Indian history in myriad ways, from the day the Vedic Aryans first alighted from their chariots to the arrival of Namboothiri Brahmins in Kerala to the Persianised Turkic conquerors of the Middle Ages.
For linguist Peggy Mohan, all this finds a strong echo in the evolution of the subcontinent’s languages. In her new book, Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India Through Its Languages, she delves into the often surprising sounds and structures of what we conventionally call Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages, and relates these to the deep pasts of their speakers.