What's the truth behind Aryan Invasion Theory?
The theory of the Aryan invasion (or migration) was first put forward by Western scholars during the colonial age. It maintained that a race of European or Central Asian “Aryans” swept into the subcontinent displacing the indigenous Indus Valley Civilisation. These Aryans were said to have introduced key elements of Indian culture such as the Sanskrit language – which gave rise to the Indo-Aryan branch of languages spoken all across north, west and east India today – as well as the Vedas, the foundational texts of Hinduism. This went against Hindutva’s own imagination of India, in which all significant cultural development was held to be indigenous. Some of what the term “Aryan” once referred to has been proved to be scientifically inaccurate. The Nazis, for example, mistook what is a language grouping to be a racial one.
Please refer the following links to be relevant on your views:
- Who Were the Shudras? - Wikipedia
- The Arctic Home in the Vedas - Wikipedia
DETAILED EXPLANATION:
Aryans are indigenous to India; they did not originate from outside India. In fact, the word Aryans is wrongly used to mean a race of people. It has no racial connotation. It is derived from the Sanskrit word Arya meaning noble or righteousness. People from any country can fit this description, such as people from Asia, Europe, etc. The people in India who are referred to as Aryans in India instead should be referred to as Vedic people.
Europeans, in particular the British in India, first started to use the word Aryan with reference to their divide and rule policy. When they became aware of the wisdom of Indians, from Indian texts of profound value, they decided to concoct the Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT) so that they would attribute that wisdom to the invaders who are alleged to have arrived in 1500 BC. It was the policy of the British to change the Indian mindset so that there would be no trace of their past glory. The British treated the Indian people as barbaric in every sense of the word and could not accept that they had a superior civilisation in ancient times. Apart from this, India was the richest country in the world for up to 1700 AD (apart from being overtaken by China for a brief period). This is corroborated by the late Prof. Angus Maddison, the Cambridge economist. The British also destroyed the Indian education system with a school in nearly every village, when in Britain there was hardly any public education system. In its place, the British introduced English education for a very small number of elite Indians to help them in the administration of India by appointing them to the lowest positions below Europeans, most of whom were inferior to the Indians in intellect.
The invading Aryans were said to have brought with them their Hindu religion, the caste system and their Sanskrit language. However, no where any place was specifically pinpointed from where they came. The German nationalist Max Muller, who was employed by the British as a Sanscritist at Oxford University, was the person who propounded the AIT for the British. After arriving, it is claimed, that the alleged invaders were the authors of all the Vedic texts, such as the Rig Veda, which allegedly was composed in 1200 BC. It is absolutely clear that there is no truth in this as the very contents of the Rig Veda are enough to demolish this argument in the most decisive manner. Mention is made about the Saraswati River about some 60 places in the Rigveda when that river was flowing in its full glory. However, that river started to dry up since around 3000 BC, according to the Mahabharata, and has been completely dried up by 1900 BC, atleast 6 centuries before 1200 BC the date when the Rigveda was alleged to have been composed by the invading Aryans. If any one wishes to allege that this river was a myth, no reliance any longer can be placed on it as NASA has proved by images from space that the Saraswati River did exist before 1900 BC and there is ample evidence in the form of images taken from space to support the contention. This was a factual river that had existed in the past. In addition to this important piece of evidence to demolish the AIT, many western and Indian scholars have written articles to demolish the AIT. A few names of these scholars are Dr. David Frawley, Stephen Knapp, Dr. N.S. Rajaram and Talagari. To use the words of Stephen Knapp, the AIT has been confined to the dustbin of history. I have written extensively in my own books to demolish the very idea of the AIT.
In the most remote ancient times there were migrations of Sanskrit-speaking people to countries such as Greece and Egypt. Such migrations were probably due to natural disasters, such as the reason for the drying up of the Saraswati River. Evidence of such migrations can be found in the book India in Greece… by Edward Pococke published in 1852 and is on the internet. Indians had a colony in Greece and perhaps in other countries as well. Some of the migrants or their descendants might have returned to India if they had encountered problems with the indigenous population.
To conclude, the word Aryans is wrongly used as it has no racial connotation. People in India who may be described wrongly as Aryans are indigenous to India; they did not originate from outside India.¹
There was no Aryan invasion of India. There are no historical evidence of Aryan invasion. This was some thing created by non-Indian rulers to divide the population of the country and rule them. Dravid means the land where three seas meet and the word was used Shankaracharya in describing where he is from Dravid Putra, meaning that he is the son of the land where three seas meet. The Aryan theory is not proved²,³,⁴.
Aryans did not came from anywhere to India. Aryans were the indigenous people of India. Historians have found the sign of Swastik in the Indus valley civilization, the oldest civilization which means that the people of Indus Valley Civilization were also Aryans. Today's North India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh were called Aryavarta the land of Aryans that is the land of noble people.⁵
Aryans originated near the Ural or Caucasian mountains in the present day Russia. The early Aryan culture is referred to as the Andronovo culture.⁶
According to a theory given by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the Aryans actually lived in the Arctic Circle. The were forced to come here as the glaciers melted. Scientists say that they came from Europe.⁷