| Indian History (Ancient) |
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From Swayambhuva Manu to Gupta Dynasty ------------------------------------------ The Vedic culture has been pervading the Indian subcontinent for a few thousand years from today. The antiquity and continuity of this culture has been faithfully recorded in the oldest and grandest annals of mankind: the Rgved. Evidence has come forth entirely contradicting the present held "aryan invasion" of India. Archaeological excavations and other findings confirm the coninuation of the Indus Valley civilization as a Vedic age. The Mahabharat and Ramayanic civilizations flourished in the ancient past. The history of India entered the medieval ages almost 5000 years ago, and even before the advent of Christ, the quintessence of philosophy thought and civilizational aspects of India had already been accomplished. Evidence testifies that Buddha and Aadi Shankara lived 1800 B.C. and 500 B.C respectively. The "golden age" in India was ushered with the rise of the Gupta dynasty. It was Chandragupta of the Guptas who reigned over the Indian empire around 325 B.C., a time when Macedonian Alexander had invaded India. In this article, it is attempted to derive the datelines of ancient Indian alias Vedic events and heroes, starting from Swayambhuva Manu to the kings of the Gupta dynasty. An outline of the antiquity and continuity of Vedic history is estimated, substantiating the events with a variety of evidence, including literary and archaeological. The study of history forms an important part in providing an understanding and in giving a clearer perspective of the present mental setup and cultural state of a nation of peoples. The antiquity of a culture's history and the achievements of its peoples provide the nation with an identity and a sense of self- esteem. The study of history tells us the story of how a particular society behaved and reacted in the wake of varying and trying circumstances. And history without chronology is like a person without a backbone. Without this backbone, the person feels helpless and hopeless. This construction and arrangement of historical facts and figures is therefore necessary to effectively hold together and guide forward a particular society. The chronological establishment of Indian history has been a matter of academic contention for the past two centuries. The most difficult part of this study, until now, was to construct an agreeable framework of chronology. It is to the credit of Sir William Jones that a systematic study and examination of this problem was first initiated in the late 18th century. Western scholars have done commendable and untiring work in the field of oriental studies. The researches well-recorded by them are of utmost importance even today. However, within decades, the political situation in India changed and this sincere study of history then became, in a way, a weapon to subjugate and win the people of India. The effects of European religio-political thought also creeped into this investigation. Inspite of the honest and genuine commencement of its study, it is quite unfortunate that the western indologists misinterpreted the historical data available, intentionally or by accident, and putforth theories based merely on speculation and pre-conceived beliefs. The result was that the antiquity of many events were highly underestimated and its continuity and greatness undermined. Nevertheless, it is quite futile to harp over the numerous shortcomings of early historical research, the mistakes of an era bygone. Modern researches, methods and evidence that have become newly available however has provided numerous definite and conclusive statements that has compelled historians, archaeologists and academicians to ponder judiciously over the antiquity, continuity and spread of Indian history and culture. In this article, an attempt is made to present briefly a chronology of events based on newly available archaeological data. Compelling observations from variety of sources and opinions of different scholars have been used in the course of the attempted construction. The listing and review of evidences presented here are by no means exhaustive and the problem of this historical compilation is definitely more complicated that it might appear. However, the dating of some important events and personalities is presented here and it is hoped that the readership gets a clearer and beneficial perspective on the matter. The currently established chronology of India initiates with the invasion of the so-called aryan race in 1500 B.C., which ruthlessly and forcefully subdued the original inhabitants of the land, imposing upon them a alien language and culture. The invading hordes settled down on the banks of river Sindhu (Indus), and within few centuries (1200 B.C.), complied the Veda. Subsequently, the Brahmanas, Samhitas, Puranas and numerous other scriptures were composed. Where does the Ramayan and Mahabharat fit in? Some say that the Ramayan follows Mahabharat and some opine otherwise. In all this anarchy of Indian histography, the probable date of Mahabharat ranges between 1000 B.C.to 300 B.C. The identification of Sandrocottus (325 B.C.) of the Greeks with Chandragupta Maurya by Sir Jones was considered to the "sheet anchor" and based on this assumption, a chronology of Indian history was constructed. The date when Gautam Buddha prospered was calculated from this sheet-anchor to be around 500 B.C., and the dateline of Aadi Shankara was put in 800 A.D. The Gupta Dynasty, whose reign ushered a Golden Age in India, were placed in the 4th century A.D. Examination of the Rgved, Puraan and other texts provide dates of events that took Indian history, at times, back to thousands of years. However, since these dates contradicted the prevalent views of Europeans historians, the saunskrut texts were academically attacked in an attempt to disprove the authenticity of the annals. For example, the European Indologist Maxmuller, tried the interpret the astronomical evidences to prove that the observations recorded in the Hindu scriptures are imaginary, "pious frauds" created by the cunning Brahmanas. Numerous references which were anachronous to the particular time-frames were either considered as unauthentic and unreliable. No attempt was made to recheck and reevaluate the presumptions and basis on which the chronological structure was built. It is now seen that the history of India and its sub-continent can be continuously traced back to a few thousand years, as will be noticed in the paragraphs to follow. This article examines the evidence leading to the dating to many events that occurred at different times: right from the Rgvedic age to the pre-christian golden-age of the Hindus, a period when the Gupta dynasty ruled over India. One of the main events, which apparently is the genesis of Indian history, that is, the invasion of the aryans from outside is described briefly in the following section. The Myth of the Aryan Invasion --------------------------------- The theory of the aryan invasion of India has been a matter of debate, and at times, incisive arguments have been presented for and against it. According to this theory, the light-skinned aryan people wandered into India in the 2nd millennium B.C. from Central Asia. The barbaric aryan race then destroyed an already existing and advanced Harappan civilization, conquered the race and laid the foundations of a foreign imposition of language and culture on India. This supposedly marked the beginning of the development of a Vedic culture, or what is called Hinduism today. The hypothesis of aryan invasion is apparently based on the conflicts between light-skinned aryans and dark race of dasyus described in the Vedic literature. This aspect is said to have been strengthened by the skeletal findings in the excavated sites in the Indus Valley. When the RgVed (2-20-10) refers to "Indra, the slayer of Vritra, destroying the Krishna Yoni Dasyus", it is held as a proof that the "invading aryans" exterminating the "dark aboriginals". However, other references in the Rgved (10-1-11, 8- 85-3, 2-3-9) suggest that the Indians were a mixed race and also, no stigma was attached to any non-white complexion. Therefore to imagine the invading aryans to be a white race is suspicious. According to Saayana, the word dasyu derives from the word "das", i.e., "one who harms". The RgVed (6-22-10) prays to Indra to give glory by which the dasyus can become arya's, that is, changing the dasyus to ideal and cultured human beings. Many a scholar and historian have acknowledged the discrepancies, raised objections and rejected the theory of aryan invasion since its inception in the early 19th century. According to historian Wheeler (in his "Civilization of Indus Valley and Beyond"), "..the [Aryan Invasion] cannot be proved and may be quite incorrect". Also, Murrow in his book "The Sanskrit Language" comments, " For the Indo-Aryan invasion of India no direct evidence is available ... In the text of the RgVed itself, although historical allusions are not uncommon, there is no reference anywhere to the fact of the migration, nor any definite indication that it was still remembered." Indian Vedic scholars like Dayanand Saraswati, B.G. Tilak and Sri Arvind had already rejected the aryan invasion theory based mostly on literary analysis. In spite of having no evidence to support this doctrine, it is amusing to know how academics held on to this dogma. The unobservant reading of the RgVed and its subsequent misinterpretation led to the doctrines of "class" and "colour" struggles among the ancient Indians; an appropriate tool to justify marxist ideals and european racial theories. This doctrine of aryan invasion has been used as a perfect tool to divide the Hindu society and the Indian state. The north-indian aryans were then pit against the south-indian dravidians, high-castes against low- castes, mainstream Hindus against the tribals, Vedic orthodoxy against the "native" heterodox sects and later, to neutralize Hindu criticism of forced Islamic occupation as "Hindus themselves have entered the same way as Muslims have". Till today, the Marxist and "secularist" forces continue to promote this theory and extract propagandist capital out of it. Recent advances in archaeological, linguistic and astronomical research have also compelled the abandonment of the current view of the aryan invasion and the falsely speculated antiquity of the Vedic civilization. The excavated ruins of the submerged city of Dwaraka by Dr. S.R.Rao and his team in 1985 (Marine Archaeological Unit), along the coast of Gujarat, provides authenticity for the existence of the Mahabharat civilization (3000 B.C.). Satellite data combined with field archaeological studies have discovered once disappeared river Saraswati, which appears extensively in the Vedic literature. The study also showed that the river flow discontinued much earlier than 3000 B.C. The decipherment of the Indus script by S.R.Rao shows a amazing affinity with the Sanskrit family and analysis of the seals have putforth numerous words and names from the Sanskritic and Vedic age. It indeed becomes evident that the harappan culture was a part and parcel and continuation of an earlier Vedic age: an age that existed much prior to 3000 B.C. As opposed to any racial connotation, the word "arya" is a honorific title was used for people who were cultivated in mind and character, a person whose way of life aims at elevating theindividual soul through a disciplined life to godhood. Sri Arvind in his celebrated book "The Supramental Manifestation and Other Writings" explains : "..the word Arya expressed a particular ethical and social ideal, an ideal of well-governed life, candour, courtesy, nobility, straight dealing, courage, gentleness, purity, humanity, compassion, protection of the weak, liberality, observance of social duty, eagerness of knowledge, respect for the wise and learned, the social accomplishments. It was the combined ideal of the Brahmana and the Kshatriya. Everything that departed from this ideal, everything that tended towards the ignoble, mean, obscure, rude, cruel or false, was termed un-aryan or anarya (colloq. anari). There is no word in human speech that has a nobler history.." Rama and Krishna have been addressed as arya, as are many other people in the Rgvedic era, the antiquity of which is considered in the next section. RgVedic Era -------------- The RgVed is not a work of the original and the descendants of the aryan nomads, but exhibits a great degree of philosophical thought and advanced knowledge about astronomy. The RgVed, Samhitas and other related Vedic literature have documented the seasons and related changes occurring over a certain epoch in time. Astronomical configurations are also chronicled. The evaluation of these annals enable the determination of the periods when the particular configurations occured. Examinations of the recent archaeological findings also appear to support these datelines. The analysis of astronomical references in the Taiteriya Brahman (3-1-15), where Brushaspati (Jupiter) crossed the Pushya constellation, gives a date of 4650 B.C. The Aiteriya Brahmana points to dates to the order of 6000 B.C. From the calculation of the vernal equinox cycle, the Taiteriya Samhita provides dates that reach as far as 22000 B.C (Ref: Vartak, Tilak). In his book "Are the Gathas pre-vedic" H.S.Spencer quotes another scholar stating that "Dhanista was the first of the naskshatras in the Rgvedic times and this takes us back to 21788 B.C., at least, to the origin of the Rgved." According to Dr. B.M. Sidhartha, director of the Birla Science Center, "Rgved .. was a product of a well-settled civilization going back to 8000 B.C. and beyond on the basis of astronomical dating .. and supported by archaeological excavations in south eastern Turkey... the more antique date of 10,000 B.C. proposed for RgVed or Vedic culture seemed more plausible in view of the epi-paleolithic agricultural and proto- agricultural civilizations going back to the same period ..." (TOI, August 2, 1993). These datelines were already proposed by Tilak when he says, " The Vedic hymns were sung in post-glacial times (8000 B.C.) by poets who had inherited their knowledge or contents thereof from their antediluvian forefathers". B.G. Tilak has done some extraordinary work of deciphering the concealed astronomical allusions in the ancient Vedic texts. The geological discovery of the mighty Vedic river Sarasvati, which originally flowed somewhat parallel to Indus, dried up around 2000 B.C. Now the Rgved speaks of a mighty Sarasvati and it is in much later literature that we hear of the disappearance of the river. It is definitely known that the Veda are much older than the Mahabharat period (3100 B.C.) This establishes that the Rgved itself could not be later than the 4th millennium B.C. A paper presenting technical evidence concerning a newly discovered bronze idol states, " The life sized head has a hair style which the Vedas describe as being unique to Vasishtha, one of the Rishis who composed parts of Rig Veda ... Carbon 14 tests indicate that it was cast around 3700 B.C., with an error in either direction of upto 800 years .. an age also confirmed by independent metallurgical tests" (J. of Indo-European Studies, v.18, 1990, p.425-46). More and more archaeological findings are coming forth that place the Vedic age to remote antiquity. An assessment of the Vedic literature thus provides a chronology of events in steps of 2000 years, starting from the early period of the RgVed (23,000 B.C.) upto the occurance of the Mahabharat War, a period when Vedvyas compiled the scattered Vedic knowledge into four parts. It is also worthy to note that the Indian history can be traced continuously from 29,000 B.C., when the great law-giver Swayambhuva Manu, flourished. Swayambhuva Manu ------------------- A majority of events available in the chronicles provide ages from the beginning of the Kaliyug, and as such, fixing this date becomes necessary. The precise moment for advent of the Kaliyug (3102 B.C) has been reckoned based from references in the Mahabharat as well as from the literature provided by Varahamihira, Kalhana, Arya Bhatta, Vruddha Garga and also the Puranic annals. Count Bijornstierna in his "The Theogony of Hindus", has aptly summarized on the calculation of Kaliyug Thus, "According to the astronomical calculations of the Hindus, the present period of the world, Kaliyuga, commenced 3102 years before the birth of Christ, on 20th February, at 2 hours, 27 minutes and 30 seconds ..." However, for the sake of convenience in calculations, only 3102 B.C is assumed. The current Varaaha Kalpa (one period of time) begins with the reign of Swayambhuva Manu, or the self-born Man, who revived and established the Veda. In this particular Kalpa, 14 Manu's will appear. The period of one chatur-yuga cycle, which begins with a Manu, comprises of 12000 human years. However, to denote the endlessness of Lord's creation, the Puraan have multiplied the above period by 360, to get 4320000 "divine" years. And further multiplying these by 71, the Manavantara period is calculated. Therefore, going backwards from 3102 B.C., the beginning for this chaturyuga period (2400 for Dwaapar, 3600 for Treta and 4800 for Kruta = 10,800) would be 10,800 years before Kali, i.e., at 13902 B.C. approximately, a time when Vaivasvata Manu (leader of the present chatur-yuga) flourished. The Brahmanda Puraan (1-2-9) states that Swayambhuva Manu, the king for the current Kalpa, lived 71 (divya) yuga before (Kali yuga). One divya-yuga is 360 human years, and therefore Swayambhuva Manu's date is calculated to be about 31000 years before present (360*71 + 3102 + 1996). These datelines for Vaivasvata and Swayambhuva Manu are corroborated from the Matsya Puraan (129-76, 77) as well. B.G.Tilak in his "Orion" has calculated 29101 B.C., using astronomical data, as the time when Swayambhuva Manu existed, which tallies remarkably with the date suggested by the Puraan. According to the Puraan's, 52 generations had elapsed between Swayambhuva and Vaivasvata, i.e, over a period of 15200 years. Each generation must therefore be 290 years long. Chakshusha Manu, the sixth descendent of Swayambhuva, is said to be 12 generations elder to Vaivasvata and therefore going backwards, his date can be calculated to be about (14000 + 12*290) 17500 B.C. One very famous king Pruthu, from whom this earth "Pruthvi" derives its name, is known to be 5th in line from Chakshushu. His date therefore comes to roughly 16050 B.C. The institution of Manu was to revive, establish and promote ethical and moral principles amongst humanity. They were the pace- setters of the time, a stature with which they even influenced the rulers of the time. The Puraan however do not record any Manu's appearing after Vaivasvata Manu. Their geographical locations are a matter of further research, however, the following section on "Vedic Homeland" may provide some clues in that regard. Vedic Homeland ----------------- The exact location and expanse of the Vedic culture is still a matter of speculation and discussion. As of today's theory, the span of ancient Vedic culture has primarily been limited to Punjab, the five-river region of northwest India. It is beyond any doubt that the Vedic culture existed in the land of Punjab, however, this fact does not exclude its existence elsewhere. B.G.Tilak is his "The Arctic Home in the Vedas" has provided an incredible understanding and presentation of the RgVedic geography and argues for a polar home for the Vedic aryans before the advent of glaciation. Tilak notes, "in the early geological ages, when the Alps were low and the Himalayas not yet upheaved ... from geological evidence of fossil and fauna, we find that an equable climate and uniform climate prevailed over the whole surface of the globe .. it is now conclusively proved that before the advent of a glacial and inter-glacial periods a luxuriant forest vegetation ... flourished in the high latitude of the polar regions where the Sun goes below the horizon from November till march, thus showing that a warm climate prevailed in the Arctic regions in those days". Tilak quotes many passages from the Vedic as well as Avestan literature which show acquaintance with these polar characteristics. According to geological evidence the post-glacial epoch commenced in about 8000 B.C. The freshness of Siberian fossils also testify to this event. When the original land near the arctic regions was found unsuitable for human habitation, the survivors of the glacial tragedy appear to have moved down to the south of their earlier home. The Vendidad contains a picturesque description of different regions to which these people seem to have moved. The Lord of the Avesta, Ahur Mazdeo (Asur Mahadeo) is said to have created sixteen such regions. The original population appears to have split into different groups which moved in different directions. Scholars concur that the verses in the Avesta are full of aryan glory, and are composed in the same meters as the Rgved. So the ancient Brahmanas and Parsis were two tribes of one nation, called the Aryas, both in the Veda and Avesta. Of the sixteen lands, the "best region" created by the Lord was the Sapta-Sindhu region: a vast region stretching to the east and west of the river Sindhu (Indus). The river Saraswati, Harahwati of Avesta, is regarded as the most central and is intimately mentioned in the RgVed, and even a cursory examination of the text suggests that the Vedics lived on the banks of the "great goddess stream". According to David Frawley (G, S & K, pp.73), it has now be found that Saraswati changed its course at least four times and originally flowed into the sea through what is now known as Rajasthan. The river Saraswati is also identified as the modern river Syr-Darya joining the Aral Sea to the North. For the river to change course four times must have taken at least a few thousands of years, until the river reduced to a insignificant tributary at the time of Mahabharat (3138 B.C.). This takes the Vedic age to remote antiquity, at least to a few thousand years. Most of the sites of the Indus-Valley Culture fall to the east of river Sindhu and appear to be found on the banks of the Saraswati, when the course of this river was already on its decline. It is stated in the Rgved (10-75-6) that river Kubha (Kabul) joins river Saraswati along with other rivers. It is therefore apparent that the Saraswati in the pre-Indus era must be flowing west from present-day Afghanistan-Iran area towards the west. Therefore based on the internal evidence appearing in the Rgved and Avesta, the central-land of the Vedic aryans can now be located in Afghanistan, Iran and other regions to their north and east. According to the Rgved (8-24-27), the land where the Vedics had their hey-day is a Sapta-Sindhu Pradesh or the Hapta-Hindu Pradesh of the Avesta. There are references of people migrating to the east of Sindhu and not the other way around. Thus the land watered by the rivers Saraswati, Sindhu, Sharayu, Rasa, Oxus, Helmand and one more river to the west of Sindhu, territory covering regions to the west of Sindhu, was perhaps the home of the Vedic people for a long time. The Vedics appear to have migrated on the banks of Sindhu after the mighty Saraswati began to desiccate. After having established their stronghold along the Sindhu region, they moved further to the east to the Ganga-Yamuna region and later to the South. Rsi Agastya, brother of Sage Vasistha, is reputed to be the first colonizer of the South. Also, the names and customs of Mittani and Hittite (Iraq, Turkey region) peoples to the west of river Sindhu show a close affinity to the Vedics. A clay tablet found near Ankara invokes gods like Indra, Varun, etc. The landmarks occurring in the Vedic lore, customs and language extend in the east from Ganga- Yamuna to Oxus river which joins the Aral sea in the west, which forms a considerable part of the globe. It should be realized that the Vedas are a heritage of mankind which record and preserve the human development for at least a few thousand years. After the migration from the north, the Vedics settled in the Sapta-Sindhu region, which also included the present-day Iran. The incidents depicted in the Rgved, and even the language, thought and expression, shows a remarkable similarity with the Persian Avesta. It is of no dispute that the Zarathustran people of Iran (and also the Greeks) are closely linked or lived together with the Vedics in the past. However, another major event, as recorded in the Rgved, appears to have caused a further separation between the Vedics living in the Sapta-Sindhu region. |
| VEDIC WOMAN On March 1, 2001, the Indian Supreme Court in a historic ruling said that Hindu women alone can't form a joint family. It said that the concept of Hindu women forming a joint family by an agreement amongst themselves is contrary to a basic tenet of the Hindu personal law, which requires the presence of a male to constitute a joint family. Lessons from the Vedas Don't you think the Hindu personal law needs an amendment? Perhaps the court should learn from the ancient Hindu philosophy of the Vedas, which says: "The home has, verily, its foundation in the wife" (The Rig Veda). In fact, the rights enjoyed by the present-day modern Indian woman are sparse compared to that of their Vedic counterparts. Ergo, today's women should endeavor to win back the lost glory and freedom that were theirs in Vedic India, more than 3000 years ago. During the Vedic age, women were assigned a high place in society. They shared an equal standing with their men folk and enjoyed a kind of liberty that actually had societal sanctions. The ancient Hindu philosophical concept of "shakti" — the feminine principle of energy - was also a product of this age. This took the form of worship of the female idols or goddesses. Birth of the Goddess The feminine forms of the Absolute and the popular Hindu goddesses are believed to have taken shape in the Vedic era. These female forms came to represent different feminine qualities and energies of the Brahman. Kali portrays the destructive energy, Durga the protective, Lakshmi the nourishing, and Saraswati the creative. Here it's notable that Hinduism recognizes both the masculine and feminine attributes of the Divine, and that without honoring the feminine aspects, one cannot claim to know God in his entirety. So we also have many male-female divine-duos like Radha-Krishna, Sita-Ram, Uma-Mahesh, and Lakshmi-Narayan, where the female form is usually addressed first. Education, By Choice! Vedic literature praises the birth of a scholarly daughter in these words: "A girl also should be brought up and educated with great effort and care" (Mahanirvana Tantra); and "All forms of knowledge are aspects of Thee; and all women throughout the world are Thy forms" (Devi Mahatmya). Women who so desired could undergo the sacred thread ceremony or 'Upanayana' (a sacrament to pursue Vedic studies), which is only meant for males even to this day. The mention of female scholars and sages of the Vedic age like Vac, Ambhrni, Romasa, Gargi and Khona in the Vedic lore corroborates this view. These highly intelligent and greatly learned women, who chose the path of Vedic studies, were called 'brahmavadinis', and women who opted out of education for married life were called 'sadyovadhus'. Co-education seems to have existed in this period, and both the sexes got equal attention from the teacher. Moreover, ladies from the Kshatriya caste received martial arts courses and arms training. |
| Marriage and married life are ever-important to a woman. What was marriage like in the Vedic age? How was it to be a wife of a Vedic man? Were divorces, remarriage and prostitution allowed in this age? Let's try to seek answers to these questions. Marriage Eight types of marriage were prevalent in the Vedic age, of which four were more prominent. The first was 'brahma', where the daughter was given as gift to a good man learned in the Vedas; the second was 'daiva' , where the daughter was given as a gift to the presiding priest of a Vedic sacrifice. 'Arsa' was the third kind, where the groom had to pay to get the lady, and 'prajapatya', the fourth kind, where the father gave his daughter to a man who promised monogamy and faithfulness. In the Vedic age, there was both the custom of 'Kanyavivaha', where the marriage of a pre-puberty girl was arranged by her parents and 'praudhavivaha', where the girls were married off after attaining puberty. Then there was also the custom of 'Swayamvara', where a girl, usually of a royal family, had the freedom to choose her husband from among the eligible bachelors invited to her house for the occasion. Wifehood As in the present, after marriage the girl became a 'grihini' (wife) and was considered 'ardhangini' or one half of her husband's being. Both of them constituted the 'griha' or home, and she was considered its 'samrajni' (queen or mistress) and had an equal share in the performance of religious rites. Divorce, Remarriage & Widowhood Divorce and remarriage of women were allowed under very special conditions. If a woman lost her husband, she was not forced to undergo the merciless practices that cropped up in later years. She was not compelled to tonsure her head, nor was she forced to wear red sari and commit 'sahagamana' or dying on the funeral pyre of the dead husband. If she chose to, she could live a life of a 'sanyasin' or hermit, after the husband passed away. Prostitution Prostitutes were very much a part of the Vedic society. They were allowed to make a living, but their lives were regulated by a code of conduct. They came to be known as 'devadasis' — the girls who were married to God in a temple and expected to spend the rest of their lives as his maid serving the men in the society. |
| Women of the Vedic period (circa 1500-1200 BCE) were epitomes of intellectual and spiritual attainment. The Vedas have lots to say about these women, who both complemented and supplemented their male partners. When it comes to talking about significant female figures of the Vedic period, four names - Ghosha, Lopamudra, Sulabha Maitreyi, and Gargi - come to mind. Ghosha Vedic wisdom is encapsulated in myriad hymns, and 27 women-seers emerge from them. But most of them are mere abstractions, except for a few, such as Ghosha, who has a definite human form. Granddaughter of Dirghatamas and daughter of Kakshivat, both composers of hymns in praise of Ashwins, Ghosha has two entire hymns of the tenth book, each containing 14 verses, assigned to her name. The first eulogizes the Ashwins, the heavenly twins who are also physicians; the second is a personal wish expressing her intimate feelings and desires for married life. Ghosha suffered from an incurable disfiguring disease, probably leprosy, and remained a spinster at her father's house. Her implorations with the Ashwins and the devotion of her forefathers towards them made them cure her disease and allow her to experience wedded bliss. Lopamudra The Rig Veda ('Royal Knowledge') has long conversations between the sage Agasthya and his wife Lopamudra that testify to the great intelligence and goodness of the latter. As the legend goes, Lopamudra was created by sage Agasthya and was given as a daughter to the King of Vidarbha. The royal couple gave her the best possible education and brought her up amidst luxury. When she attained a marriageable age, Agasthya, the sage who was under vows of celibacy and poverty, wanted to own her. Lopa agreed to marry him, and left her palace for Agasthya's hermitage. After serving her husband faithfully for a long period, Lopa grew tired of his austere practices. She wrote a hymn of two stanzas making an impassioned plea for his attention and love. Soon afterwards, the sage realized his duties towards his wife and performed both his domestic and ascetic life with equal zeal, reaching a wholeness of spiritual and physical powers. A son was born to them. He was named Dridhasyu, and he later became a great poet. Maitreyi The Rig Veda contains about one thousand hymns, of which about ten are accredited to Maitreyi, the woman seer and philosopher. She contributed towards the enhancement of her sage-husband Yajnavalkya's personality and the flowering of his spiritual thoughts. Yajnavalkya had two wives, Maitreyi and Katyayani. While Maitreyi was well-versed in the Hindu scriptures and was a 'brahmavadini', Katyayani was an ordinary woman. One day the sage decided to make a settlement of his worldly possessions between his two wives and renounce the world by taking up ascetic vows. He asked his wives their wishes. The learned Maitreyi asked her husband if all the wealth in the world would make her immortal. The sage replied that wealth could only make one rich, nothing else. She then asked for the wealth of immortality. Yajnavalkya was happy to hear this and imparted to Maitreyi the doctrine of the soul and his knowledge of attaining immortality. Gargi Gargi, the Vedic prophetess and daughter of sage Vachaknu, composed several hymns that questioned the origin of all existence. When King Janak of Videha organized a 'brahmayajna', a philosophic congress centered around the fire sacrament, Gargi was one of the eminent participants. She challenged the sage Yajnavalkya with a volley of perturbing questions on the soul or 'atman' that confounded the learned man who had till then silenced many an eminent scholar. Her question - "The layer that is above the sky and below the earth, which is described as being situated between the earth and the sky and which is indicated as the symbol of the past, present and future, where is that situated?" - bamboozled even the great Vedic men of letters. |
| Ancient history of India can be divided into a period from 7000 BC to 1000 AD, then Medieval India (1000 AD to 1756 AD) and modern day (1757 to 1947 AD). Ancient India (BC to 1000 AD) Age Event 7000-3750 BC Vedic Age 3000-2000 BC Harappa (Indus and Saraswati) Civilization 2200-1900 BC Decline of Indus and Saraswati Civilization 2000-1500 BC Period of Complete chaos and migration 1000 BC Aryans expand into the Ganga valley from the Indus valley 900 BC Mahabharata War 800 BC Aryans expand into Bengal (Epic Age of Mahabharata and Ramayana) 550 BC Composition of the Upanishads 544 BC Buddha's Nirvana 327 BC Alexander's Invasion 324 BC Chandragupta Maurya defeats Seleacus Nicator 322 BC Rise of the Mauryas; Chandragupta establishes first Indian Empire 272 BC Ashoka begins reign 180 BC Fall of the Mauryas; Rise of the Sungas 145 BC Chola king Erata conquers Ceylon 30 BC Rise of the Satvahana Dynasty in the Deccan 40 AD Sakas in power in Indus Valley and Western India 320 AD Chandragupta I establishes the Gupta dynasty 340 AD Samudragupta conquers the North and most of the Deccan 360 AD Samudragupta conquers the North and most of the Deccan 380 AD Chandragupta II comes to power; Golden Age of Gupta Literary Renaissance 405 AD Fa-hein begins his travels through the Gupta Empire 415 AD Accession of Kumara Gupta I 467 AD Skanda Gupta assumes power 476 AD Birth of astronomer Aryabhatta 606 AD Accession of Harshavardhan Gupta 711 AD Invasion of Sind by Muhammad Bin Qasim 892 AD Rise of the Eastern Chalukyas 985 AD The Chola Dynasty: Accession of Rajaraja, the Great 1001 AD Defeat of Jaipal by Sultan Mahumd Medieval India (1000 AD to 1756 AD) 1026 Mahmud Ghazni sacks Somnath Temple 1191 Prithviraj Chauhan routs Muhammad Ghori: the first battle of Tarain 1192 Ghori defeats Prithviraj Chauhan: the second battle of Tarain 1206 Qutbuddin establishes the Slave Dynasty 1221 Mongol invasion under Genghis Khan 1232 Foundation of the Qutub Minar 1288 Marco Polo visits India 1290 Jalaludin Firuz Khalji establishes the Khalji dynasty 1320 Ghiyasuddin Tughluk founds the Tughluk dynasty 1325 Accession of Muhammad-bin-Tughluk 1336 Foundation of Vijayanagar (Deccan) 1398 Timur invades India 1424 Rise of the Bahmani dynasty (Deccan) 1451 The Lodi dynasty established in Delhi 1489 Adil Shah dynasty at Bijapur 1490 Nizam Shahi dynasty at Ahmednagar 1498 First voyage of Vasco da gama 1510 Portuguese capture Goa 1518 Kutub Shahi dynasty at Golconda 1526 Establishment of the Mughul Dynasty; First Battle of Panipat: Babur defeats Lodis 1526-1530 Reign of Babur 1530 Humayun succeeds Babur 1538 Death of Guru Nanak 1539 Sher Shah Suri defeats Humayan and becomes Emperor of Delhi 1555 Humayun recovers the throne of Delhi 1556 Death of Humayun; Accession of Akbar;Interview with Akbar 1564 Akbar abolishes poll tax on Hindus 1565 Battle of Talikota: Muslim rulers in Deccan defeats Vijaynagar Empire 1568 Fall of Chittor 1571 Foundation of Fatehpur Sikri by Akbar 1572 Akbar annexes Gujarat 1573 Surat surrenders to Akbar 1575 Battle of Tukaroi 1576 Battle of Haldighat: Akbar defeats Rana Pratap; Subjugation of Bengal 1577 Akbar troops invade Khandesh 1580 Accession of Ibrahim Adil Shah II in Bengal; Rebellion in Bihar and Bengal 1581 Akbar's march against Muhammad Hakim and reconciliation with him 1582 Divine Faith promulagated 1586 Annexation of Kashmir 1591 Mughul conquest of Sind 1592 Annexation of Orissa 1595 Siege of Ahmednagar; Annexation of Baluchistan 1597 Akbar completes his conquests 1600 Charter to the English East India Company 1602 Formation of the United East India Company of Netherlands 1605 Death of Akbar and Accession of Jahangir 1606 Rebellion of Khusrav; Execution of the Fifth Sikh Guru, Arjan 1607 Sher Afghan first, husband of Nur Jahan, killed 1608 Malik Ambar takes Ahmednagar 1609 The Dutch open a factory at Pulicat 1612 The English establish a factory at Masulipatnam 1615 Mughul Governor of Bengal defeats the Afghans; Mughuls annex Kuch ajo 1616 Submission of Mewar to the Mughuls; Arrival of Sir Thomas Roe in India 1620 The Dutch establish a factory at Surat 1621 Capture of Kangra Fort; Malik Ambar revolts in the Deccan 1622 Shah Abbas of Persia beseiges and takes Qandahar 1623 Shah Jahan revolts against Jahangir 1624 Suppression of Shah Jahan's rebellion 1626 Rebellion of Mahabat Khan 1627 Death of Jahangir; Accession of Shah Jahan 1628 Shah Jahan proclaimed Emperor 1631 Death of Shah Jahan's wife Mumtaz Mahal; The construction of Taj Mahal 1632 Mughul invasion of Bijapur 1633 End of Ahmednagar Dynasty 1636 Aurangzeb appointed Viceroy of Deccan 1639 Foundation of Fort St. George at Madras by the English 1646 Shivaji captures Torna 1656 The Mughuls attack Hyderabad and Golkunda; Annexation of Javli by Shivaji 1657 Invasion of Bijapur by Aurangzeb; Aurangzeb captures Bidar and Kalyani 1658 Coronation of Aurangzeb 1659 Battles of Khajwah and Deorai 1661 Cession of Bombay to the English; Mughul capture of Cooch Bihar 1664 Shivaji sacks Surat and assumes royal title 1666 Death of Shah Jahan; Shivaji's visit to Agra and escape 1674 Shivaji assumes the title of Chhatrapati 1678 Marwar occupied by the Mughuls 1680 Death of Shivaji; Rebellion of Prince Akbar 1686 English war with the Mughuls; Fall of Bijapur 1689 Execution of Sambhaji 1690 Peace between the Mughuls and the English 1691 Aurangzeb at the zenith of his power 1698 The new English company trading to the East Indies 1699 First Maratha raid on Malwa 1700 Death of Rajaram and regency of his widow Tara Bai 1702 Amalgamation of English and the London East India Companies 1707 Death of Aurangzeb; Battle of Jajau 1714 Husain Ali appointed Viceroy of the Deccan, signs treaty with the Marathas 1720 Accession of Baji Rao Peshwa at Poona 1739 Nadir Shah conquers Delhi; The Marathas capture Salsette and Bassein 1740 Accession of Balaji Rao Peshwa; The Marathas invade Arcot 1742 Marathas invade Bengal 1748 First Anglo-French war in India 1750 War of the Deccan and Carnatic Succession; Death of Nasir Jang 1751 Treaty of Alivadi with the Marathas 1756 Siraj-ud-daulah captures Calcutta Demise of Aryan Invasion/ Race Theory Source: Prof. Dinesh Agrawal (Penn State University, USA) Theory is not a subject of academic interest only, rather it conditions our perception of India's historical evolution, the sources of her ancient glorious heritage, and indigenous socio-economic-political institutions which have been developed over the millennia. Indian culture and nationalism have been evolved and fostered over the millenia by India's ancient rishis who at the banks of holy rivers of Saptasindhu and Saraswati had composed the Vedic literature - the very foundation of Indian civilization, and realized the eternal truths about the Creator, His creation, and means to preserve it. These pioneers of the ancient Vedic culture were indigenous people of mother India. These facts are mendaciously denied by the Aryan Invasion theory, which professes their foreign origin, and thereby challenges the very raison d'etre of Indian culture and nationhood. In this article an attempt has been made to expose the myth of the (AIT) Aryan Invasion Theory (propagated by the west) by quoting scriptural, historical and archaeological evidences, and presenting proper interpretation of Vedic literature. Now with the emergence of new information in last couple of decades, and an objective analysis of the archaeological data and scriptures, the validity of AIT is seriously challenged by scholars, and by many is outrightly discarded. The most weird aspect of the AIT is that it has its origin not in any Indian records but in European politics and German nationalism of 19th century. No where in any of the ancient Indian scriptures or epics or Puranas, etc. is there any mention of Aryan migration or invasion or Aryan race. In the last couple of decades, the discovery of the lost track of the Rig Vedic river Saraswati, the excavation of a chain of Harappan sites from Ropar in the Punjab to Lothal and Dhaulavira in Gujarat all along this lost track, the discovery of the archaeological remains of Vedis (alters) and Yupas connected with Vedic Yajnas (sacrifices) at Harrapan sites like Kalibangan, decipherment of the Harappan/Indus script by many scholars as a language belonging to Vedic Sanskrit family, the view of the archaeologists like Prof. Dales, Prof. Allchin etc. that the end of the Harappan civilization came not because of the so called Aryan invasion but as a result of a series of floods, the discovery of the lost Dwarka city beneath the sea water near Gujarat coast and its similarity with Harappan civilization, and an objective, accurate and contextual interpretation of Vedas indicate convincingly towards the full identity of the Harappan/Indus civilization with post Vedic civilization, and demand a re-examination of the entire gamut of Aryan Race/Invasion Theories. For thousands of years the Hindu society has looked upon the Vedas as the fountain-head of all knowledge: spiritual and secular, and the mainstay of Hindu culture, heritage and its existence. Never our historical or religious records have questioned this fact. Even western and far eastern travelers who have documented their experiences during their prolonged stay and sojourn in India have testified the importance of Vedic literature and its indigenous origin. And now, suddenly, in the last century or so, these the so-called European scholars are telling that the Vedas do not belong to Hindus, they were the creation of a barbaric horde of nomadic tribes descended upon north India and destroyed an advanced indigenous civilization. They even suggest that the Sanskrit language is of non-Indian origin. This is all absurd, preposterous, and defies the commonsense. A nomadic, barbaric horde of invaders cannot from any stretch of imagination produce the kind of sublime wisdom, pure and pristine spiritual experiences of the highest order, a universal philosophy of religious tolerance and harmony for the entire mankind, one finds in the Vedic literature. Origin of Aryan Race Theory: Max Muller, a renowned Indologist from Germany, is credited with the popularization of the Aryan racial theory in the middle of 19th century. Though later on when Muller's reputation as a Sanskrit scholar was getting damaged, and he was challenged by his peers, since nowhere in the Sanskrit literature, the term Arya denoted a racial people, he recanted and pronounced that Aryan meant only a linguistic family and never applied to a race. But the damage was already done. The German and French political and nationalist groups exploited this racial phenomenon to propagate the supremacy of an assumed Aryan race of white people, which Hitler used to its extreme absurdities for his political hegemony and his barbaric crusade to terrorize Jews and other societies. This culminated in the holocaust of millions of innocent people. According to the AIT theory, northern India was invaded and conquered by nomadic, light-skinned race of a people called 'aryans' who supposedly descended from central Asia (or some unknown land?) around 1500 BC, and destroyed an earlier more advanced civilization of the people habitated in the Indus Valley, and then imposed upon them their culture and language. These Indus Valley people were supposed to be either Dravidian, or Austrics The main elements on which the entire structure of AIT has been built are: Arya is a racial group, their invasion, they were nomadic, light-skinned, their original home was outside India, their invasion occurred around 1500 BC, they destroyed an advanced civilization of Indus valley, etc. Real Meaning of the Word 'ARYA' In 1853, Max Muller introduced the word 'Arya' into the English and European usage as applying to a racial and linguistic group when propounding the Aryan Racial theory. However, in 1888, he himself refuted his own theory (Biographies of Words and the Home of the Aryas, 1888, pg 120) and he wrote: I have declared again and again that if I say Aryas, I mean neither blood nor bones, nor hair, nor skull; I mean simply those who speak an Aryan language...to me an ethnologist who speaks of Aryan race, Aryan blood, Aryan eyes and hair, is as great a sinner as a linguist who speaks of a dolichocephalic dictionary or a brachycephalic grammar. In Vedic Literature, the word Arya is nowhere defined in connection with either race or language. Instead it refers to: gentleman, good-natured, righteous person, noble-man, and is often used like 'Sir' or 'Shree' before the name of a person like Aryaputra, Aryakanya, etc. In Ramayan (Valmiki), Rama is described as an Arya in the following words: a;yR: sv;R-smWcewv: sdwv ip[y;dxRn (Aryah sarvasamashchaivah sadaiv priyadarshan ) :Arya - who cared for the equality to all and was dear to everyone. Etymologically, according to Max Muller, the word Arya was derived from ar- (ar-), "plough, to cultivate". Therefore, Arya means - "cultivator" agriculturer (civilized sedentary, as opposed to nomads and hunter-gatherers), landlord; V.S. Apte's Sanskrit-English dictionary relates the word Arya to the root r- (r-) to which a prefix a (a) has been appended to give a negating meaning. And therefore the meaning of Arya is given as "excellent, best", followed by "respectable" and as a noun, "master, lord, worthy, honorable, excellent", upholder of Arya values, and further: teacher, employer, master, father-in-law, friend, Buddha. References in Rigveda The voluminous references to various wars and conflicts in Rigveda are frequently cited as the proof of an invasion and wars between invading 'white-skinned' Aryans and 'dark-skinned' indigenous people. Well, the so-called conflicts and wars mentioned in the Rigveda can be categorized mainly in the following three types: Conflicts between the forces of nature: Indra, the Thunder-God of the Rig Veda, occupies a central position in the naturalistic aspects of the Rigvedic religion, since it is he who forces the clouds to part with their all-important wealth, the rain. In this task he is pitted against all sorts of demons and spirits whose main activity is the prevention of rainfall and sunshine. Rain, being the highest wealth, is depicted in terms of more terrestrial forms of wealth, such as cows or soma. The clouds are depicted in terms of their physical appearance: as mountains, as the black abodes of the demons who retain the celestial waters of the heavens (i.e. the rains), or as the black demons themselves. This is in no way be construed as the war between white Aryans and black Dravidians. This is a perverted interpretation from those who have not understood the meaning and purport of the Vedic culture and philosophy. An example of such distorted interpretation is made of the following verse: The body lay in the midst of waters that are neither still nor flowing. The waters press against the secret opening of the Vrtra (the coverer) who lay in deep darkness whose enemy is Indra. Mastered by the enemy, the waters held back like cattle restrained by a trader. Indra crushed the vrtra and broke open the withholding outlet of the river. (Rig Veda, I.32.10-11) This verse is a beautiful poetic and metamorphical description of snow-clad dark mountains where the life-sustaining water to feed the rivers flowing in the Aryavarta is held by the hardened ice caps (vrtra demon), and Indra, the rain god by allowing the sun to light its rays on the mountains makes the ice caps break and hence release the water. The invasionists interpret this verse literally on human plane, as the slaying of vrtra, the leader of dark skinned Dravidian people of Indus valley by invading white-skinned Aryan king Indra. This is an absurd and ludicrous interpretation of an obvious conflict between the natural forces. Conflict between Vedic and Iranian people: Another category of conflicts in the Rigveda represents the genuine conflict between the Vedic people and the Iranians. At one time Iranians and Vedic people formed one society and were living harmoniously in the northern part of India practising Vedic culture, but at some point in the history for some serious philosophical dispute, the society got divided and one section moved to further north-west, now known as Iran. However, the conflict and controversy were continued between the two groups often resulting into even physical fights. The Iranians not only called their God Ahura (Vedic Asura) and their demons Daevas (Vedic Devas), but they also called themselves Dahas and Dahyus (Vedic Dasas, and Dasyus). The oldest Iranian texts, moreover depict the conflicts between the daeva-worshippers and the Dahyus on behalf of the Dahyus, as the Vedic texts depict them on behalf of the Deva-worshippers. Indra, the dominant God of the Rigveda, is represented in the Iranian texts by a demon Indra. What this all indicate that wars or conflicts of this second category are not between Aryans and non-Aryans, but between two estranged groups of the same parent society which got divided by some philosophical dichotomy. Vedas even mention the gods of Dasyus as Arya also. A well-known global phenomenon to share the natural resources like, water, cattle, vegetation and land, and expand the geographical boundaries of the existing kingdoms. This conflict between various indigenous tribal groups in no way suggests any war or invasion by outsiders on the indigenous people. Excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro It is argued that in the excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro the human skeletons found do prove that a large scale massacre had taken place at these townships by invading armies of Aryan nomads. Prof. G. F. Dales (Former head of department of South Asean Archaeology and Anthropology, Berkeley University, USA) in his "The Mythical Massacre at Mohenjo-daro, Expedition Vol VI,3: 1964 states the following about this evidence: What of these skeletal remains that have taken on such undeserved importance? Nine years of extensive excavations at Mohenjo-daro (1922-31) - a city of three miles in circuit - yielded the total of some 37 skeletons, or parts thereof, that can be attributed with some certainty to the period of the Indus civilizations. Some of these were found in contorted positions and groupings that suggest anything but orderly burials. Many are either disarticulated or incomplete. They were all found in the area of the Lower Town - probably the residential district. Not a single body was found within the area of the fortified citadel where one could reasonably expect the final defence of this thriving capital city to have been made. He further questions: Where are the burned fortresses, the arrow heads, weapons, pieces of armour, the smashed chariots and bodies of in the invaders and defenders? Despite the extensive excavations at the largest Harappan sites, there is not a single bit of evidence that can be brought forth as unconditional proof of an armed conquest and the destruction on the supposed scale of the Aryan invasion. Colin Renfrew, Prof. of Archeology at Cambridge, in his famous work, "Archeology and Language : The Puzzle of Indo-European Origins",Cambridge Univ. Press, 1988, makes the following comments about the real meaning and interpretation of Rig Vedic hymns: "Many scholars have pointed out that an enemy quite frequently smitten in these hymns is the Dasyu. The Dasyus have been thought by some commentators to represent the original, non-Vedic-speaking population of the area, expelled by the incursion of the warlike Aryas in their war-chariots. As far as I can see there is nothing in the Hymns of the Rigveda which demonstrates that the Vedic-speaking population were intrusive to the area: this comes rather from a historical assumption about the 'coming' of the Indo-Europeans. It is certainly true that the gods invoked do aid the Aryas by over-throwing forts, but this does not in itself establish that the Aryas had no forts themselves. Nor does the fleetness in battle, provided by horses (who were clearly used primarily for pulling chariots), in itself suggest that the writers of these hymns were nomads. Indeed the chariot is not a vehicle especially associated with nomads. This was clearly a heroic society, glorifying in battle. Some of these hymns, though repetitive, are very beautiful pieces of poetry, and they are not by any means all warlike.” To thee the Mighty One I bring this mighty Hymn,for thy desire hath been gratified by my praise In Indra, yea in him victorious through his strength, the Gods have joyed at feast, and when the Soma flowed. The Seven Rivers bear his glory far and wide, and heaven and sky and earth display his comely form. The Sun and Moon in change alternate run their course that we, 0 Indra, may behold and may have faith . . . The Rigveda gives no grounds for believing that the Aryas themselves lacked for forts, strongholds and citadels. Recent work on the decline of the Indus Valley civilization shows that it did not have a single, simple cause: certainly there are no grounds for blaming its demise upon invading hordes. This seems instead to have been a system collapse, and local movements of people may have followed it." M.S. Elphinstone (1841):(first governor of Bombay Presidency, 1819-27) in his magnum opus, History of India, writes: "It is opposed to their (Hindus) foreign origin, that neither in the Code (of Manu) nor, I believe, in the Vedas, nor in any book that is certainly older than the code, is there any allusion to a prior residence or to a knowledge of more than the name of any country out of India. Even mythology goes no further than the Himalayan chain, in which is fixed the habitation of the gods... ...To say that it spread from a central point is an unwarranted assumption, and even to analogy; for, emigration and civilization have not spread in a circle, but from east to west. Where, also, could the central point be, from which a language could spread over India, Greece, and Italy and yet leave Chaldea, Syria and Arabia untouched? There is no reason whatever for thinking that the Hindus ever inhabitated any country but their present one, and as little for denying that they may have done so before the earliest trace of their records or tradition. So what these eminent scholars have concluded based on the archaeological and literary evidence that there was no invasion by the so-called Aryans, there was no massacre at Harappan and Mohanjo-dara sites, Aryans were indigenous people, and the decline of the Indus valley civilization is due to some natural calamity. 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. S. R. 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 1500 BC. 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 if not fictional 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. S. R. 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 anterior 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. A lot of hyms in the Vedas indicate 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 inidates that the Vedas are much older than Mahabharat period, which mentions Saraswati as a dying river. 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. So, how can all these obvious anomalies and serious flaws be reconciled? By accepting the truth that the so-called Aryans were the original 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. |