The
Aryan Kassites of the ancient Middle East worshipped Vedic Gods like Surya and
the Maruts, as well as one named Himalaya. The Aryan Hittites and Mittani
signed a treaty with the name of the Vedic Gods Indra, Mitra, Varuna and
Nasatyas around 1400 BC. The Hittites have a treatise on chariot racing written
in almost pure Sanskrit. The Indo-Europeans of the ancient Middle East thus
spoke Indo-Aryan, not Indo-Iranian languages and thereby show a Vedic culture
in that region of the world as well.
The
Indus Valley culture had a form of writing, as evidenced by numerous seals
found in the ruins. It was also assumed to be non-Vedic and probably Dravidian,
though this was never proved. Now it has been shown that the majority of the
late Indus signs are identical with those of later Hindu Brahmi and that there
is an organic development between the two scripts. Prevalent models now suggest
an Indo-European base for that language.
It was
also assumed that the Indus Valley culture derived its civilization from the
Middle East, probably Sumeria, as antecedents for it were not found in India.
Recent French excavations at Mehrgarh have shown that all the antecedents of
the Indus Valley culture can be found within the subcontinent and going back
before 6000 BC. In short, some Western scholars are beginning to reject the
Aryan invasion or any outside origin for Hindu civilization.
Current
archeological data do not support the existence of an Indo-Aryan or European
invasion into South Asia at any time in the pre- or protohistoric periods.
Instead, it is possible to document archeologically a series of cultural
changes reflecting indigenous cultural development from prehistoric to historic
periods. The early Vedic literature describes not a human invasion into the area,
but a fundamental restructuring of indigenous society. The Indo-Aryan invasion
as an academic concept in 18th and 19th century Europe reflected the cultural
milieu of the period. Linguistic data were used to validate the concept that in turn was used to interpret
archeological and anthropological data.
In
other words, Vedic literature was interpreted on the assumption that there was
an Aryan invasion. Then archeological evidence was interpreted by the same
assumption. And both interpretations were then used to justify each other. It
is nothing but a tautology, an exercise in circular thinking that only proves
that if assuming something is true, it is found to be true!
Another
modern Western scholar, Colin Renfrew, places the Indo-Europeans in Greece as
early as 6000 BC. He also suggests such a possible early date for their entry
into India.
As far
as I can see there is nothing in the Hymns of the 'Rig Veda' which demonstrates
that the Vedic-speaking population was intrusive to the area: this comes rather
from a historical assumption of the 'comming of the Indo-Europeans.
When
Wheeler speaks of 'the Aryan invasion of the land of the 7 rivers, the Punjab',
he has no warranty at all, so far as I can see. If one checks the dozen references in the 'Rig Veda' to the 7
rivers, there is nothing in them that to me implies invasion: the land of the 7
rivers is the land of the 'Rig Veda', the scene of action. Nor is it implied
that the inhabitants of the walled cities (including the Dasyus) were any more
aboriginal than the Aryans themselves.
Despite
Wheeler's comments, it is difficult to see what is particularly non-Aryan about
the Indus Valley civilization. Hence Renfrew suggests that the Indus Valley
civilization was in fact Indo-Aryan even prior to the Indus Valley era:
This
hypothesis that early Indo-European languages were spoken in North India with
Pakistan and on the Iranian plateau at the 6th millennium BC has the merit of
harmonizing symmetrically with the theory for the origin of the Indo- European
languages in Europe. It also emphasizes the continuity in the Indus Valley and
adjacent areas from the early neolithic through to the floruit of the Indus
Valley civilization.
This is
not to say that such scholars appreciate or understand the 'Vedas' - their work
leaves much to be desired in this respect - but that it is clear that the whole
edifice built around the Aryan invasion is beginning to tumble on all sides. In
addition, it does not mean that the 'Rig Veda' dates from the Indus Valley era.
The Indus Valley culture resembles that of the 'Yajur Veda' and the reflect the
pre-Indus period in India, when the Saraswati river was more prominent.
The
acceptance of such views would create a revolution in our view of history as
shattering as that in science caused by Einstein's theory of relativity. It
would make ancient India perhaps the oldest, largest and most central of
ancient cultures. It would mean that the Vedic literary record - already the
largest and oldest of the ancient world even at a 1500 BC date - would be the
record of teachings some centuries or thousands of years before that. It would
mean that the 'Vedas' are our most authentic record of the ancient world. It
would also tend to validate the Vedic view that the Indo-Europeans and other
Aryan peoples were migrants from India, not that the Indo-Aryans were invaders
into India. Moreover, it would affirm the Hindu tradition that the Dravidians
were early offshoots of the Vedic people through the seer Agastya, and not
unaryan peoples.
In
closing, it is important to examine the social and political implications of
the Aryan invasion idea:
First,
it served to divide India into a northern Aryan and southern Dravidian culture
which were made hostile to each other. This kept the Hindus divided and is
still a source of social tension.
Second,
it gave the British an excuse in their conquest of India. They could claim to
be doing only what the Aryan ancestors of the Hindus had previously done
millennia ago.
Third,
it served to make Vedic culture later than and possibly derived from Middle
Eastern cultures. With the proximity and relationship of the latter with the
Bible and Christianity, this kept the Hindu religion as a sidelight to the
development of religion and civilization to the West.
Fourth,
it allowed the sciences of India to be given a Greek basis, as any Vedic basis
was largely disqualified by the primitive nature of the Vedic culture.
This
discredited not only the 'Vedas' but the genealogies of the 'Puranas' and their
long list of the kings before the Buddha or Krishna were left without any
historical basis. The 'Mahabharata', instead of a civil war in which all the
main kings of India participated as it is described, became a local skirmish
among petty princes that was later exaggerated by poets. In short, it
discredited the most of the Hindu tradition and almost all its ancient
literature. It turned its scriptures
and sages into fantasies and exaggerations.
This
served a social, political and economical purpose of domination, proving the
superiority of Western culture and religion. It made the Hindus feel that their
culture was not the great thing that their sages and ancestors had said it was.
It made Hindus feel ashamed of their culture - that its basis was neither
historical nor scientific. It made them
feel that the main line of civilization was developed first in the Middle East
and then in Europe and that the culture of India was peripheral and secondary
to the real development of world culture.
Such a
view is not good scholarship or archeology but merely cultural imperialism. The
Western Vedic scholars did in the intellectual sphere what the British army did
in the political realm - discredit, divide and conquer the Hindus.
In
short, the compelling reasons for the Aryan invasion theory were neither
literary nor archeological but political and religious - that is to say, not
scholarship but prejudice. Such prejudice may not have been intentional but
deep-seated political and religious views easily cloud and blur our thinking.
It is
unfortunate that this this approach has not been questioned more, particularly
by Hindus. Even though Indian Vedic scholars like Dayananda saraswati, Bal
Gangadhar Tilak and Arobindo rejected it, most Hindus today passively accept
it. They allow Western, generally Christian, scholars to for them and quite naturally Hinduism is
kept in a reduced role. Many Hindus still accept, read or even honor the
translations of the 'Vedas' done by such Christian missionary scholars as Max Muller,
Griffith, Monier- Williams and H. H. Wilson. Would modern Christians accept an
interpretation of the Bible or Biblical history done by Hindus aimed at
converting them to Hinduism?
Universities in India also use the Western history books and Western
Vedic translations that propound such views that denigrate their own culture
and country.
The
modern Western academic world is sensitive to criticisms of cultural and social
biases. For scholars to take a stand against this biased interpretation of the
'Vedas' would indeed cause a reexamination of many of these historical ideas
that can not stand objective scrutiny.
But if
Hindu scholars are silent or passively accept the misinterpretation of their
own culture, it will undoubtly continue, but they will have no one to blame but
themselves.
It is
not an issue to be taken lightly, because how a culture is defined historically
creates the perspective from which it is viewed in the modern social and
intellectual context.
Tolerance
is not in allowing a false view of one's own culture and religion to be
propagated without question. That is merely self-betrayal.