It Takes Endless Amount Of History To Make
A Tradition.
The past is malleable and flexible, changing as our recollection interprets and re-explains what has happened.
History of ‘DERMATOGLYPHICS’
Fingerprints are the most infallible means of identification of a person and the science of ‘Dermatoglyphics’ has now proven that the grooves on the fingertips mirror the innate talents that accompany a person right from before they are even born. This science of identifying the true nature of a person based on their fingerprint patterns originated in India. Today, fingerprint individuality is accepted and taken into consideration all over the world, but the Indians knew about the relevance and significance of fingerprinting before any other civilization.
Since the dawn of recorded history, till the present times, Indians have consistently studied and researched this branch of knowledge, traversing from initial speculation, through its development into the most perfect system of character identification. Fingerprinting has remained intertwined with Indian culture since ancient times. An Indian scripture, ‘Samudrika Shastra’, compiled by a sage named Samudra Rishi in 3102 BC, tells us a great deal about fingerprinting.
A) Arches 5 to 10%
(seep)
B) Loops 60 to 65%
(Sankha)
C) Whorls 30 to 35%
(Chakra)
Modern fingerprint examiners broadly classify fingerprints in Three Basic patterns. (A) Arches (B) Loops & (C) Whorls.
Considering the fingers of the entire world population it has been noted that statistically, 5 to 10 % of fingerprints have the Arch pattern, 60 to 65 % are Loops and around 30 to 35 % have whorl patterns. ‘Samudrika Shastra’ too identifies three types of fingerprints. It describes that there are two common types i.e. Sankha (corresponding to Loops), and Chakra (corresponding to Whorls), while the third type, Seep (corresponding to Arches) is rare. It is not surprising that the fingerprint examiners of the modern era and Samudra Rishi of the ancient era reached the same conclusion. The astonishing fact is that what the experts inferred merely one hundred years ago, Samudra Rishi could ratiocinate more than 5000 years ago! There is no written record on the description of fingerprints before ‘Samudrika Shastra’.
AN INTERESTING FACT
The modern science of fingerprinting asserts that parallel ridges on fingertips are interrupted by seven common types of irregularities, known as fingerprint characters or ‘minutiae’. It is relatively easy to discern the outer pattern of a fingerprint with the naked eye, but for locating the ‘minutiae’, one has to use a magnifying glass. Samudra Rishi and his disciples were able to decipher the ridge characters, some with perfection and others with the blemish, without the aid of a magnifier. They must have developed a method to record the finger impressions on a suitable surface. This also means that they would have designed a version of a modern-day stamp pad.
The fingerprint characters or 'minutiae' as per modern science compared to characters as depicted in Samudrika Shastra:
(a) Ridge termination– when the ridge flow abruptly ends.
(b) Bifurcation– when the ridge splits into two, making a ‘Y’.
(c) Lake– The enclosed area in between the ridge.
(d) Independent ridge– Relatively small ridge within a pattern.
(e) Island– A small dot or circle within the overall pattern.
(f) Hook/spur– Small curved ridge is attached to a regular ridge.
(g) Crossover- Two parallel ridges are joined by a small ridge.
APURAN JAVA, PURAN JAVA, PADAM & AAX are concurrent to bifurcation, Lake, Hook & Island respectively, of modern fingerprint discipline. NIRPAAX & KUNDLA are close to Island, while KAMAL is close to the lake. TORAN appears similar to crossover.
Timeline of History
