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Demise of The Aryan
Invasion Theory by Dinesh Agrawal - Part II
This article by Dr. Dinesh Agrawal has been taken from Hindunet
Website
Presence of Horse at Indus-Saraswati sites
It is argued that the Aryans were horse riding, used chariots for
transport, and since no signs of horse was found at the sites of
Harappa and Mohanjo-daro, the habitants of Indus valley cannot be
Aryans. Well, this was the case in the 1930-40 when the excavation
of many sites were not completed. Now numerous excavated sites
along Indus valley and along the dried Saraswati river have
produced bones of domesticated horses. Dr. SR Rao, the world
renowned scholar of archeology, informs us that horse bones have
been found both from the 'Mature Harappan' and 'Late Harappan'
levels. Many other scholars since then have also unearthed
numerous bones of horses: both domesticated and combat types. This
simply debunks the non-Aryan nature of the habitants of the Indus
valley and also identifies the Vedic culture with the Indus valley
civilization.
Origin of Siva-worship
The advocates of AIT argue that the inhabitants of Indus valley
were Siva worshippers and since Siva cult is more prevalent among
the South Indian Dravidians, therefore the habitants of Indus
valley were Dravidians. But Shiva worship is not alien to Vedic
culture, and not confined to South India only. The words Siva and
Shambhu are not derived from the Tamil words civa (to redden, to
become angry) and cembu (copper, the red metal), but from the
Sanskrit roots si (therefore meaning "auspicious, gracious,
benevolent, helpful kind") and sam (therefore meaning
"being or existing for happiness or welfare, granting or
causing happiness, benevolent, helpful, kind"), and the words
are used in this sense only, right from their very first
occurrence. (Sanskrit- English Dictionary by Sir M. Monier-Williams).
Moreover, most important symbols of Shaivites are located in North
India: Kashi is the most revered and auspicious seat of Shaivism
which is in the north, the traditional holy abode of Shiva is
Kailash mountain which is in the far-north, there are passages in
Rigvada which mention Siva and Rudra and consider him an important
deity. Indra himself is called Shiva several times in Rig Veda
(2:20:3, 6:45:17, 8:93:3). So Siva is not a Dravidian god only,
and by no means a non-Vedic god. The proponents of AIT also
present terra-cotta lumps found in the fire-alters at the Harappan
and other sites as an evidence of Shiva linga, implying the Shiva
cult was prevalent among the Indus valley people. But these
terra-cotta lumps have been proved to be the measures for weighing
the commodities by the shopkeepers and merchants. Their weights
have been found in perfect integral ratios, in the manner like 1
gm, 2 gms, 5 gms, 10 gms etc. They were not used as the Shiva
lingas for worship, but as the weight measurements.
Discovery of the Submerged city of Krishna's Dwaraka
The discovery of this city is very significant and a kind of
clinching evidence in discarding the Aryan invasion as well as its
proposed date of 1500BC. Its discovery not only establishes the
authenticity of Mahabharat war and the main events described in
the epic, but clinches the traditional antiquity of Mahabharat and
Ramayana periods. So far the AIT advocates used to either dismiss
the Mahabharat epic as a fictional work of a highly talented poet
or would place it around 1000 BC. But the remains of this
submerged city along the coast of Gujarat were dated 3000BC to
1500BC. In Mahabharat's Musal Parva, the Dwarka is mentioned as
being gradually swallowed by the ocean. Krishna had forewarned the
residents of Dwaraka to vacate the city before the sea submerged
it. The Sabha Parva gives a detailed account of Krishna's flight
from Mathura with his followers to Dwaraka to escape continuous
attacks of Jarasandh's on Mathura and save the lives of its
subjects. For this reason, Krishna is also known as RANCHHOR (one
who runs away from the battle-field). Dr. SR Rao and his team in
1984-88 (Marine Archaeology Unit) undertook an extensive search of
this city along the coast of Gujarat where the Dwarikadeesh temple
stands now, and finally they succeeded in unearthing the ruins of
this submerged city off the Gujarat coast.
Saraswati River Discovered
It is well known that in the Rig Veda, the honor of the greatest
and the holiest of rivers was not bestowed upon the Ganga, but
upon Saraswati, now a dry river, but once a mighty flowing river
all the way from the Himalayas to the ocean across the Rajasthan
desert. The Ganga is mentioned only once while the Saraswati is
mentioned at least 60 times. Extensive research by the late Dr.
Wakankar has shown that the Saraswati changed her course several
times, going completely dry around 1900 BC. The latest satellite
data combined with field archaeological studies have shown that
the Rig Vedic Saraswati had stopped being a perennial river long
before 3000 BC.
As Paul-Henri Francfort of CNRS, Paris recently observed,
"...we now know, thanks to the field work of the Indo-French
expedition that when the proto-historic people settled in this
area, no large river had flowed there for a long time."
The proto-historic people he refers to are the early Harappans of
3000 BC. But satellite 'photos show that a great prehistoric river
that was over 7 kilometers wide did indeed flow through the area
at one time. This was the Saraswati described in the Rig Veda.
Numerous archaeological sites have also been located along the
course of this great prehistoric river thereby confirming Vedic
accounts. The great Saraswati that flowed "from the mountain
to the sea" is now seen to belong to a date long an terior to
3000 BC. This means that the Rig Veda describes the geography of
North India long before 3000 BC. All this shows that the Rig Veda
must have been in existence no later than 3500 BC. (Aryan Invasion
of India: The Myth and the Truth By N.S. Rajaram)
River Saraswati IN RIGVEDA
The river called Saraswati is the most important of the rivers
mentioned in the Rig Veda. The image of this 'great goddess
stream' dominates the text. It is not only the most sacred river
but the Goddess of wisdom. She is said to be the Mother of the
Veda.
A few Rig Vedic hymns which mention Saraswati river are presented
below:
ambitame naditame devitame sarasvati (II.41.16)
(The best mother, the best river, the best Goddess, Saraswati)
maho arnah saraswati pra cetayati ketuna dhiyo visva virajati
(I.3.12)
(Saraswati like a great ocean appears with her ray, she rules all
inspirations)
ni tva dadhe vara a prthivya ilayspade sudinatve ahnam:
drsadvatyam manuse apayayam sarasvatyam revad agne didhi
(III.23.4)
(We set you down, oh sacred fire, at the most holy place on Earth,
in the land of Ila, in the clear brightness of the days. On the
Drishadvati, the Apaya and the Saraswati rivers, shine out
brilliantly for men)
citra id raja rajaka id anyake sarasvatim anu;
parjanya iva tatanadhi vrstya sahasram ayuta dadat (VIII.21.18)
(Splendor is the king, all others are princes, who dwell along the
Saraswati river. Like the Rain God extending with rain he grants a
thousand times ten thousand cattle)
Saraswati like a bronze city: ayasi puh;
surpassing all other rivers and waters: visva apo mahina sindhur
anyah;
pure in her course from the mountains to the sea: sucir yati
girbhya a samudrat (VII.95.1-2)
All this indicates that the composers of the Vedic literature were
quite familiar with the Saraswati river, and were inspired by its
beauty and its vasteness that they composed several hymns in her
praise and glorification. This also indicates that the Vedas are
much older than Mahabharat period which mentions Saraswati as a
dying river.
Decipherment of Indus Script
Dr. SR Rao, who has deciphered the Indus script, is an ex-head of
Archaeological Survey of India, a renowned Marine archaeologist,
has been studying archeology since 1948 and has discovered and
excavated numerous Indus sites. He has authored several monumental
works on Harappan civilization and Indus script. To summarize his
method of decipherment of Indus script, he assigned to each Indus
basic letter the same sound-value as the West Asian letter which
closely resembled it. After assigning these values to the Indus
letters, he proceeded to try to read the inscriptions on the Indus
seals. The language that emerged turned out to be an
"Aryan" one belonging to Sanskrit family. The people who
resided at Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, and other sites were culturally
Aryan is thus confirmed by the decipherment of the Harappan script
and its identity with Sanskrit family. The Harappa culture was a
part of a continuing evolution of the Vedic culture which had
developed on the banks of Saraswati river. And it should be
rightly termed as Vedic-Saraswati civilization.
Among the many words yielded by Dr. Rao's decipherment are the
numerals aeka, tra, chatus, panta, happta/sapta, dasa, dvadasa and
sata (1,3,4,5,7, 10,100) and the names of Vedic personalities like
Atri, Kasyapa, Gara, Manu, Sara, Trita, Daksa, Druhu, Kasu, and
many common Sanskrit words like, apa (water), gatha, tar (savior),
trika, da, dyau (heaven), dashada, anna (food), pa(protector),
para (supreme), maha, mahat, moks, etc.
While the direct connection between the late Indus script (1600
BC) and the Brahmi script could not be definitely established
earlier, more and more inscriptions have been found all over the
country in the last few years, dating 1000 BC, 700 BC, and so on,
which have bridged the gap between the two. Now it is evident that
the Brahmi script evolved directly from the Indus script.
(Sources: Decipherment of the Indus Script, Dawn and Development
of Indus Civilization, Lothal and the Indus Civilization, all by
S. R. Rao)
New Archaeological findings
Since the first discovery of buried townships of Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro on the Ravi and Sindhu rivers in 1922, respectively,
numerous other settlements, now number over 2500 stretching from
Baluchistan to the Ganga and beyond and down to Tapti valley,
covering nearly a million and half square kilometers, have been
unearthed by various archaeologists. And, the fact which was not
known 70 years ago, but archaeologists now know, is that about 75%
of these settlements are concentrated not along the Sindhu or even
the Ganga, but along the now dried up Saraswati river. This
calamity - the drying up of the Saraswati - and not any invasion
was what led to the disruption and abandonment of the settlements
along Saraswati river by the people who lived a Vedic life. The
drying up of the Saraswati river was a catastrophe of the vast
magnitude, which led to a massive outflow of people, especially
the elite, went into Iran, Mesopotamia and other neighboring
regions. Around the same time (2000-1900 BC), there were constant
floods or/and prolonged draughts along the Sindhu river and its
tributaries which forced the inhabitants of the Indus valley to
move to other safer and greener locations, and hence a slow but
continuous migration of these highly civilized and prosperous
Vedic people took place. Some of them moved to south east, and
some to north west, and even towards European regions. For the
next thousand years and more, dynasties and rulers with Indian
names appear and disappear all over the West Asia confirming the
migration of people from East towards West. There was no
destruction of an existing civilization or invasion by any racial
nomads of any kind to cause the destruction or abandonment of
these settlements.
Chronology of the pre-historic period of India
According to the invasionists, the Indian civilization or the
Indus Valley civilization is only 4000-5000 years old. They place
the end of this civilization around 1900BC, and invasion of Aryans
around 1500BC. There is also no plausible explanation from these
invasion advocates for a gap of 400 years between the end of the
Indus Valley civilization (IVC) and the appearance of Aryans on
the Indian scene if Aryans were responsible for the destruction of
the IVC. They propose the period of 1400-1300 BC as the beginning
of the Vedic age when the Vedas were composed and Aryans began to
impose their culture and religion on the indigenous population of
the northern India. The Ramayana and Mahabharat, if considered as
real events, must be according to them arbitr- arily be dated in
the period 1200-1000BC. And only after 1000BC, the historic
accounts of empire building, Buddha's birth etc. have to be dated.
This chronology first proposed by Max Muller was primarily based
on his firm belief in the Biblical date of the creation of the
world, i.e. October 23, 4004 BC. Such chronology contradicts all
the archaeological evidences, scriptural testimonies, traditional
beliefs, and most importantly defies the commonsense and
scientific method. Therefore, based on Vedic testimonies, Puranic
references, archaeological evidences, and all the accounts
presented here above, the most realistic and accurate
chronological events of the pre-historic period of India should be
fixed as follows:
Vedic Age - 7000-4000 BC
End of Rig Vedic Age - 3750 BC
End of Ramayana - Mahabharat Period - 3000 BC
Development of Saraswati-Indus Civilization - 3000-2000 BC
Decline of Indus and Saraswati Civilization - 2200-1900 BC
Period of Complete chaos and migration - 2000-1500 BC
Period of evolution of syncretic Hindu culture - 1400 - 250 BC
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David Frawley's Paradox
The Harappans of the Indus Valley have left profuse archaeological
records over a vast region - from the borders of Iran and beyond
Afghanistan to eastern UP and Tapti valley, and must have
supported over 30 million people and believed to be living an
advanced civilization. And yet these people have left absolutely
no literary records. Sounds incredible! The Vedic Aryans and their
successors on the other hand have left us a literature that is
probably the largest and most profound in the world. But according
to the AIT there is absolutely no archaeological record that they
ever existed. Either on the Indian soil or outside its boundaries.
So we have concrete history and archeology of a vast civilization
of 'Dravidians' lasting thousands of years that left no
literature, and a huge literature by the Vedic Aryans who left no
history and no archaeological records. The situation gets more
absurd when we consider that there is profuse archaeological and
literary records indicating a substantial movement of Indian
Aryans out of India into Iran and West Asia around 2000 BC.
So, how can all these obvious anomalies and serious flaws be
reconciled? By accepting the truth that the so-called Aryans were
the original people habitants of the townships along the Indus,
Ravi, Saraswati and other rivers of the vast northern region of
the Indian subcontinent. And no invasion by nomadic hordes from
outside India ever occurred and the civilization was not destroyed
but the population simply moved to other areas, and developed a
new syncretic civilization and culture by mutual interaction and
exchange of ideas.
The Vedic seers in Vedic literature have proclaimed and practiced
the following all-embracing, catholic, and harmonious principles
for a peaceful coexistence of various communities. How can such
people be accused of annihilater of a civilization, murderer of
innocent people, and destroying large number of cities?
ahm bhumimdadamaryam (Rgveda)
Creater declares: I have bestowed this land to Aryas.
Kirnvanto Vishwaryam (Rgbeda)
Make the entire world noble.
Aa na bhadra katavo yanto vishwatah (Rgveda)
Let noble thoughts come from all sides.
Mata Bhumih putro ham prithvyah (Atharv veda)
Earth is my mother, and I am her son.
Vasudeva kutumbubakam
The entire universe is one family.
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Consequences of the Aryan Invasion Theory in Context of India
It serves to divide artificially India into a northern Aryan and
southern Dravidian culture which were made hostile to each other
by various interested parties: A major source of social tension in
south Indian states.
It gave an easy excuse to the Britishers to justify their conquest
over India as well as validating the various conquests and mayhems
of invading armies of religious fanatics from Arab lands and
central Asia. The argument goes that they were doing only what
Aryan ancestors of the Hindus had previously done millennia ago to
the indigenous population.
As a corollary, the theory makes Vedic culture later than and
possibly derived from Middle Eastern cultures, especially the
Greek culture: An absurd proposition.
Since the identification of Christianity and the Middle Eastern
cultures, the Hindu religion and Indian civilization are
considered as a sidelight to the development of religion and
civilization in the west: A deliberate and dishonest undermining
of the antiquity and the greatness of the ancient Indian culture.
It allows the science of India to be given a Greek basis, as any
Vedic basis was largely disqualified by the primitive nature of
the Vedic culture: In fact the opposite is true.
If the theory of Aryan invasion and its proposed period were true,
this discredited not only the Vedas but the genealogies of the
Puranas, and all the kings mentioned in these scriptures including
Lord Krishna, Rama, Buddha etc. would become as fictional
characters with no historical basis: Which simply means disowning
and discarding the very basis and raison de'etre of the Hindu
civilization.
The Mahabharat, instead of being a civil war of global proportion
in which all the main kings of India participated as is described
in the epic, would be dismissed as a local skirmish among petty
princes that was later exaggerated by poets.
In other words, the Aryan Invasion Theory invalidates and
discredits the most Hindu traditions and almost all its vast and
rich literary and civilizational heritage. It turns its scriptures
and sages into fantasies and exaggerations.
On the basis of this theory, the propaganda by the Macaulayists
was made that there was nothing great in the Hindu culture and
their ancestors and sages. And most Hindus fell for this devious
plan. It made Hindus feel ashamed of their culture - that its
basis was neither historical nor scientific, the Vedas were the
work of nomadic shepherds and not the divine revelations or
eternal truth perceived by the rishis during their spiritual
journey, and hence there is nothing to feel proud about India's
past, nothing to be proud of being Hindu.
In short such a view and this concocted Aryan Invasion theory by a
few European historians in order to prove the supremacy of
Christianity and Western civilization, served (and still serving)
the purpose: 'divide and conquer the Hindus'.
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Swami Vivekananda on Aryan Invasion Theory
"Our archaeologists' dreams of India being full of dark-eyed
aborigines, and the bright Aryans came from - the Lord knows
where. According to some, they came from Central Tibet; others
will have it that they came from Central Asia. There are patriotic
Englishmen who think that the Aryans were all red haired. Others,
according to their idea, think that they were all black-haired. If
the writer happens to be a black-haired man, the Aryans were all
black-haired. Of late, there was an attempt made to prove that the
Aryans lived on Swiss lake. I should not be sorry if they had been
all drowned there, theory and all. Some say now that they lived at
the North Pole. Lord bless the Aryans and their habitations! As
for as the truth of these theories, there is notone word in our
scriptures, not one, to prove that the Aryans came from anywhere
outside of India, and in ancient India was included Afghanistan.
There it ends..."
"And the theory that the Shudra caste were all non-Aryans and
they were a multitude, is equally illogical and irrational. It
could not have been possible in those days that a few Aryans
settled and lived there with a hundred thousand slaves at their
command. The slaves would have eaten them up, made chutney of them
in five minutes. The only explanation is to be found in the
Mahabharat, which says that in the beginning of the Satya Yoga
there was only one caste, the Brahmins, and then by differences of
occupations they went on dividing themselves into different
castes, and that is the only true and rational explanation that
has been given. And in the coming Satya Yuga all other castes will
have to go back to the same condition." (The Complete Work of
Swami Vivekananda, Vol.III Page 293.)
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So, What are the facts?
Now, based on what has been presented above, following facts about
an ancient and glorious period of India clearly emerge:
The Aryan Invasion and Racial theories, and Aryan-Dravidian
conflicts are a 19th century fabrication by some European scholar.
They are being exploited even now for political reasons.
The hymns of Rigveda had been composed and completed by 3700BC,
this can be scientifically proved.
The language of the Indus script is related to Sanskrit, the
language of Vedas.
The Indus valley civilization should be aptly called as Saraswati
Vedic civilization, as the new evidences and right interpretation
of the archaeological findings indicate.
There is now strong evidence that the movement of the ancient
Aryan people was from east to west, and this is how the European
languages have strong association and origin in the Vedic Sanskrit
language.
The ending of Indus Valley and the Saraswati civilization was due
to the constant floods and drought in the Indus area and the
drying up of the Saraswati river. This had caused a massive
emigration of the habitants to safer and interior areas of the
Indian subcontinent and even towards the west.
There was no destruction of the civilization in the Indus valley
due to any invasion of any barbaric hordes.
The Vedic literature has no mention of any invasion or destruction
of a civilization.
There is no evidence in any of the literature which indicate any
Aryan-Dravidian or North-South divide, they were never culturally
hostile to each other.
The population living in the Indus valley and surrounding the
dried up Saraswati river practiced the Vedic culture and religion.
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References
Most of the material presented above has been taken from the
following books.
1. The Aryan Invasion Theory and Indian Nationalism (1993) By
Shrikant G. Talageri (Voice of India)
2. The Astronomical Code of India (1992) By Subhash Kak
3. Vedic Aryans and the Origins of Civilization (1995) By N.S.
Rajaram and David Frawley (World Heritage Press)
4. Aryan Invasion of India: The Myth and the Truth By N.S. Rajaram
(Voice of India Publication)
5. Indigenous Indians: Agastya to Ambedkar (1993) By Koenraad Elst
6. New Light on The Aryan Problem: Manthan Oct. 1994 (Journal of
Deendayal Research Institute)
7. Dawn and Development of the Indus Civilization (1991) By S.R.
Rao (Aditya Prakashan)
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