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8/3/2019 Aryan Invasion Myth - Lal
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OSTRICH-LIKE ATTITUDEIS PERPETUATING THEARYAN INVASION MYTH
ByB. B. LAL
Director General (Retd.)
Archaeological Survey of India
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THE BACKGROUND OF THEMYTH In 19th Cent. Max Muller dated Vedas to
1200 BCE on an ad hoc basis
Objections by scholars
Max Muller surrenders (Physical Religion,
1890): Whether the Vedic hymns were
composed in 1000 or 1500 or 2000 or
3000 BC, no power on earth will everdetermine.
Pity, some scholars still cling to 1200 BCE
and dare not cross this Lakshamana
Rekha
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. In 1920s Harappan Civilization was
discovered and dated to 3rd mill. BCE on
the basis of its contacts with West Asiancivilization
Since the Vedas had already been dated,be it wrongly, to 1200 BCE, the HarappanCivilization was declared to be Non-Vedic.And since the only other major language-group was the Dravidian, it was readilyassumed that the Harappans were aDravidian-speaking people.
In 1946 Wheeler discovered a fort atHarappa; and since the Aryan god Indra ismentioned in the Rigvedaaspuramdara,i.e. destroyer of forts, he declared thatAryan Invaders destroyed HarappanCivilization (Ancient India, No.3, 1947)
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FALLACY IN WHEELERS
ARGUMENT
In support of his Invasion theory, Wheelercited human skeletons at Mohenjo-daro(ibid.)
His interpretation is wrong; since theskeletons were found at differentstratigraphic levels and could not,therefore, be related to an invasion.
No evidence whatsoever of invasion at anyof the hundreds of Harappan sites. On theother hand, there is ample evidence ofcontinuity of habitation, though marked by
gradual cultural devolution.
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Cont.
That no new people at all arrivedbetween 4500-800 BCE, is dulyestablished by a detailed study of
human skeletal remains by Hemphill(in Harappa Excavations,1991).
Thus, if there is no evidence of
warfare nor of an alien people andtheir material culture, where is thecase for any invasion, much less byAryans?
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According to the Aryan Invasionthesis, the Invading Aryans drove
away the Dravidian-speakingHarappans to South India.
If there was any truth in it, one would
find settlements of Harappan refugeesin South India, but there is not even asingle Harappan or even Harappa-related setllement in any of theDravidian-speaking States.
CLAIM THAT HARAPPANSWERE DRAVIDIAN-SPEAKERSIS WRONG
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Contd.
Further, it is seen that even when new peopleoccupy a land, the names of at least some placesand rivers given by earlier people do continue. Forexample, in USA names of rivers like Missouri andMississippi or of places like Chicago and
Massachusetts given by earlier inhabitants docontinue even after the European occupation.
But there is no Dravidian river/place-name in theentire area once occupied by the Harappans, viz.from the Indus to upper reaches of the Yamuna. All told, therefore, there is no evidencewhatsoever for holding that Harappans were aDravidian-speaking people.
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A BACK-DOOR ENTRY
Having failed to establish AryanInvasion, Romila Thapar (1988-91:
259-60) invokes mechanism of
migration of pastoral cattle-
breeders.
Toeing her line, R. S. Sharma (1999:
77) says: the pastoralist came from
Bactria-Margiana Archaeological
Complex which saw the genesis of
the culture of the Rigveda.
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Contd.
But can Sharma cite even a singlesite in India, east of the Induswhich
was the main scene of the activity of
the Rigvedic peoplewhere remainsof BMAC have been found ?
He cannot, since there is none Then why indulge in baselessspeculations ?
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ANOTHER BACK-DOOR ENTRY
Possehl (1996:65) holds: the speakersof Vedic Sanskrit came from
elsewhere. This conclusion comes
from .. Indo-European words for trees
such as birch, Scotch pine, linden,
alder and oak. These are plants from a
temperate environment and the fact
that their names are shared amongthe early languages of the family
suggests a homeland in this
environment.
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. The Rigvedadoes not mention any ofthe cold-climate trees referred to byPossehl.
On the contrary, all trees mentionedin the Rigveda, e.g. Asvattha (FicusReligiosa), Nyagrodha (Ficusbenghalensis), etc. belong to tropicalclimate.
The same is true for the fauna Thus, a cold-climate-home thesis is
absolutely baseless
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WITZELS ABORTIVE
ATTEMPT In order to give a prop to the Aryan
Invasion theory, Witzel (1995: 320-21)deliberately mis-translates a part of
Baudhayana Srautasutra(18.44) asfollows: Ayu went eastwards. Hispeople are the Kuru-Panchala and Kasi-Videha. This is the Ayava (migration).(His other people) stayed at home inthe west. His people are the Gandhari,Parsu and Aratta. This is the Amavasugroup.
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The correct translation would,therefore, be: Ayu migratedeastwards. His people are the Kuru-Panchalas and Kasi-Videhas.Amavasu migrated westwards (andnot stayed back, as Witzel says) .His people are Gandhari, Parsu and
Aratta. In other words, the parting tookplace from an intermediary region,between Gandhara on the west and
Kurukshetra on the east. There is noquestion of any kind of migrationeastwards into India from the west.
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WERE THEN HARAPPANSTHEMSELVES VEDICARYANS?If there was no Aryan Invasion norwere the Harappans Dravidian-speakingpeople, could they themselves havebeen the Vedic Aryans ?
Against such an equation fourobjections have been raised, namely:
- (i) Whereas the Vedic people werenomads, the Harappans were urbanites;
- (ii) The Vedic people knew the horse,while the Harappans did not;
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- (iii) Whereas the Vedic people usedspoked wheels, the Harappans did not;
- (iv) Finally, since according to MaxMuller the Vedas were only as old as1200 BCE and Harappan Civilizationwas of the 3rd mill. BCE, how can thetwo be equated, chronologically?
All these objections are baseless.Briefly: Nomads ? Vedic people lived settled
life and constructed forts. In RV10.101.8 the prayer is: Oh gods, makestrong forts as of metal. RV4.30.20mentions hundred fortresses ofstone.
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Contd. Trade was carried on even on seas .
RV 9.33.6: O Soma, pour thou forth fourseas filled with a thousand-fold riches.The ships had sometimes as many as ahundred oars (sataritra).
Vedic people had sabhas and samitis andeven a hierarchy of rulers: Samrat, Rajanand Rajakas (RV6.27.8 & 8.21.8). Thatthese gradations were real is confirmedby Satapatha Brahmana(V.1.1.12-13):
By offering Rajasuyahe becomes Rajaand by Vajapeya,Samrat; the office ofRaja is lower and of Samrat, higher. Can we still call the Rigvedic people
Nomads ?
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Contd.
The Horse. In his Mohenjo-daroReport, Mackay states: The mostinteresting of model animals isone that I personally take torepresent the horse.Wheeler confirmed Mackays view.
Now a lot of new material hascome to light: from Lothal,Surkotada, Kalibangan, etc.
Lothal has yielded a terracottafigure as well as faunal remains ofthe horse
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Contd.
Reporting on the faunal remains
from Surkotada, the renownedinternational authority on horse-
bones, Sandor Bokonyi of
Hungary, emphasized: Theoccurrence of true horse (EquusCaballus L.) was evidenced by theenamel pattern of the upper andlower cheek and teeth and by thesize and form of the incisors andphalanges (toe bones).
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Contd.
Spoked wheel. Though the hotand humid climate of India does
not let wooden specimens
survive, there are enoughterracotta models of spokedwheels, e.g. from Kalibangan,Rakhigarhi, Banawali, etc.
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Chronological Horizonof the Vedas It is most crucial to ascertain the exact
chronological horizon of the Vedas,since the 1200-BCE fatwa of Max Mulleris at the root of the Aryan Invasion
theory The mention of a shift of vernal equinox
from Mrigasiras to Rohini in the AitareyaBrahmanahas led many astronomers toassign this text to ca. 3500 BCE andthus the Vedas to 4th mill. BCE. I amincompetent to offer any comments, butwould suggest that an internationalseminar be held on this topic to thrash it
out
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Contd.
However, of immense help is the
combined evidence ofarchaeology, geology, hydrology
and radiocarbon-dating
In this context, the role of RigvedicSarasvati is vital. According to RV10.75.5, it lay between Yamuna andSutlej; and flowed from mountains
to the sea (RV 7.95.2).It isidentifiable with the Ghaggar-Sarasvati combine which is nowdry downstream from Sirsa.
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On Sarasvatis bank stands Kalibangan, animportant site of Harappan Civilization.
Hydrological investigations reveal that the
site had to be abandoned because of thedrying up of the Sarasvatian event thattook place because of rise of Bata-Markanda Terrace in the Himalayas (Puriand Verma 1998).
It is interesting to note that thePanchavimsa Brahmana(XXV.10.16) toorefers to the drying up of the Sarasvati.
Radiocarbon dates show that Kalibangan
was abandoned around 2000 BCE. Since the Sarasvati was a mighty flowing
river during the Rigvedic times and it driedup around 2000 BCE, the Rigveda has tobe dated to a period prior to 2000 BCE.
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Contd. Since the Rigvedamust be dated prior to
2000 BCE and, according to RV10.75.5-6,the Rigvedic people occupied the areafrom the Ganga in the east to the Indus onthe west, a question may straightaway beasked: Archaeologically, which civilizationflourished in this very area prior to 2000BCE? The inescapable answer will have tobe: the Harappan.
Hence a Vedic=Harappan equation. Thiswould be further reinforced by asatisfactory decipherment of the Harappanscript, which, however, still awaited.
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Contd.
Now, even if Vedic people and Harappans werethe same, were they indigenous ? The answer isYes.
There is ample archaeological evidence todemonstrate that the Harappan Civilization,which attained maturity in 3rd mill. BCE, had itsroots in 6th mill. BCE. Some of the Carbon-14dates from recent excavations at Bhirrana in theSarasvati valley in modern Haryana are: 4536, 5041 & 6439 BCE. In other words, theHarappans were the sons of the soil.
Hence Vedic people too were indigenous.
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THE EVIDENCE OF
GENETICS A great deal of genetic research is
being carried out which throws lighton this issue and I quote here
Sanghamitra Sahoo et al. (2006: 843-48): The sharing of some Y-chromosomal haplogroups betweenIndian and Central Asian populations
is most parsimoniously explained bya deep, common ancestry betweenthe two regions, with diffusion ofsome Indian-specific lineagesnorthward. .
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Contd.
The Y-chromosomal dataconsistently suggest a largely South
Asian origin for Indian caste
communities and therefore argue
against any major influx, fromregions north and west of India, of
people associated either with the
development of agriculture or the
spread of the Indo-Aryan languagefamily.
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OSTRICH-LIKE ATTITUDE Seeing thou seeth not; knowing
thou ignoreth. How long wouldst
thou continue with this ostrich-like attitude ?
Shouldnt thou re-think and give
the Aryan Invasion theory aceremonial burial ?
O ll C lt l M i
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Overall Cultural Mosaic
As would be seen from the mapthat follows, the Vedic Aryans
occupied only the north-western
part of the Indian subcontinent.
There were other cultural
entities in other parts in 3rd mill.
BCE. All these got intermingled
later on in course of time andbrought into being the
composite Civilization.
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C S
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REFERENCES
Hemphill, B. E., J. R. Lukacs and K. A. R. Kennedy. 1991. Biological
Adaptations and Affinities of Bronze Age Harappans. In R. H. Meadow (ed.),Harappa Excavations 1986-1990, pp.137-82. Madison. Wisconsin:Prehistory Press.
Muller, F. Max. 1890, reprint 1979. Physical Religion. New Delhi: AsianEducational Services.
Possehl, Gregory L. 1996. Indus Age: The Writing System. New Delhi:Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd.
Puri, V. M. K. and B. C. Verma. 1998. Glaciological and Geological Source
of Vedic Sarasvati in the Himalayas, Itihas Darpan,Vol. IV, No. 2: 7-36. Sahoo, Sanghamitra, et al. 2006. A prehistory of Indian Y chromosomes:
Evaluating demic diffusion scenarios. PNAS,Jan. 24, vol.103,no.4,843-848.
Sharma, R. S. 1999. Advent of the Aryans in India.New Delhi: ManoharPublishers.
Thapar, Romila. 1988-91. In Journal Asiatic Society of Bombay,vol. 64-66,pp. 259-60.
Wheeler, R. E. M. 1947. Harappa 1946: The Defences and Cemetery R 37.Ancient India, 3;58-130.
Witzel, Michael. 1995. Rigvedic History: poets, chieftains and polities. InGeorge Erdosy (ed.). The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia,pp. 307-52.Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
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