#7 Aryan Invasion - Did it Happen?

All of us would have read in school history that somewhere around 1500 BC, fair skinned Aryans invaded India in horse back and chariot and occupied northern India. Existing Indian population were pushed down south and they are the dravidians. For more than last 100 years it was the accepted theory.

However, recent finding in archeology and other related fields, has raised some doubt on this version of history. There have been many arguments against the Aryans coming to India and there seem to be merit in the arguments of both sides.

In this posting we list out the facts and correlate it with different theories so that the reader can draw their own conclusion.

Origin of Aryan Invasion Theory
When Sir William Jones first noted the similarity of Latin, Greek and Sanskrit in the late 18th century, he concluded that:

"No philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists."

Sanskrit was assumed to be the oldest of the known Indo-European languages. As the field of historical linguistics progressed, it became clear that this could not be the case. In line with late 19th century ideas, an Aryan "invasion" was made the vehicle of the language transfer. Indus Valley civilization, discovered in the 1920s, was unknown to 19th century scholars. The discovery of an urban civilization in decline roughly contemporaneous to the proposed migration movement was seen initially as an independent confirmation of these early suggestions.

There have been different suggestions about the origin of Aryan. The most popular hypothesis is Kurgan Migration Hypothesis proposed by Marija Gambutas. The migration happened from Central Asia starting 4000 BC and reached India around 1500 BC.

Other Arguments in Support of a Aryans coming to India

Similarity of Rig Veda and Zoroastrian Avesta: The language of the Gathas (the oldest part of the Avesta) is very similar to the language of the Rig Veda, and differs only in certain well defined phonetic changes. Beyond language, the Vedic universe is surprisingly reflected in the Avestan universe. Both have a common divinity (Mitra:Mithra), and the roles of gods and demons are reversed (deva:daeva), (asura:ahura). The sacrificing priest is called (hotr:zaotr) and in both traditions, (soma:haoma) play an important role. This indicates a common origin of the Avestan and the Vedic. The point of departure is the supreme position of Ahura Mazda, the uncreated god in the Avesta, in opposition to the many gods in the Vedas.

Reference of Vedic God in Hittites treaty: Other evidence is found in references to the names of Mitanni rulers and the gods they swore by in treaties. These remains are found in the archives of the Mitanni's neighbors. The time period for this spans the 15th and 14th centuries.

Was there an Invasion?
Around 1924 the ruins of Harappa and Mahenjo daro was discovered, which was datable to the third millennium BC. Its peak period lay between 2600 and 1900 BC, after which began its decline. Sir Mortimer Wheeler who carried further excavation in 1946 had asked, ...

"What destroyed this firmly-settled civilization? Climatic, economic, political deterioration may have weakened it, but its ultimate extinction is more likely to have been completed by deliberate and large scale destruction. It may be no mere change that at a late period of Mohenjo daro men, women and children appear to have been massacred. On circumstantial evidence, Indra stands accused".

Rig Veda refers to Indra as puramdara - destroyer of forts.

However, recent archeology has not been able to identify any evedince of war.

Migration Theory Preferred over Invasion
Subsequent excavation revealed that the Indus Valley culture was not destroyed by outside invasion, but according to internal causes and, most likely, floods. There are very few takers for the Aryan invasion theory now. More acceptable theory is that groups of Indo-Aryan speakers gradually migrated from Indo-Iranian borderlands and Afghanistan to northern India, where they introduced the language. The impetus to migrate was a search for a better pastures and it was not disruptive of settlement and culture.

So, the case for Aryan migration to India is quiet strong. However, there is the problem of River Saraswati.

Where was Vedic Saraswati Located?
There are many Harappan settlements located on the Ghaggar-Hakra and its palaeochannels. They could have flourished only if the Ghaggar-Hakra was a perennially flowing river in the past. This would have been possible only if it received water from the melting of Himalayan glaciers. However, the seasonal streams which combine to form the Ghaggar in northern Rajasthan, all originate in the Siwalik Hills which have no permanent snow cover. This river could have been a perennially flowing river only if the waters of the Sutlej or the Yamuna or both flowed in the past through the channel of this river rather than through their present channels.

Click here to see cluster of Harappan sites and possible trajectory of the river.

There is a complete absence of Harappan sites along the present courses of the Yamuna and the Sutlej. Had these two rivers been flowing in their present channels during the Harappan times, the Harappan people would have certainly established their settlements along their banks. On the contrary, there are many sites of the later Painted Grey Ware (PGW) culture, dated 1000-600 B.C., along the banks of these rivers.

Saraswati has been eulogized in many hymns of the Rig Veda as a mighty, perennial and sacred river, flowing from the mountains into the Arabian Sea. In the later epics Mahabharata and Ramayana this river is described as having disappeared underground.

It is argued by some that the Vedic Saraswati could have been river Helmand in Afghanistan and since there are many rivers with name Saraswati in India, the name could have been transported from Afghanistan. However, according to Rig Veda:-

  • Saraswati lay between the Yamuna and Sutlej - imam me Gange Yamune Sarasvati Sutudri stotam sachata Parusnya (RV 10.75.5).
  • Drishadvati and Apaya were its tributaries - Drishadvatyam manusa Apayam Sarasvatyam revadagne didihi (RV 3.23.4).
  • The Saraswati flowed all the way from the mountains to the sea - ekachetat Sarasvati nadinam suchir yati giribhya a samudrat (RV 7.95.2).
    In Afghanistan there are no rivers by the name of Yamuna and Sutlej, nor are there Drishadvati and Apaya. Further, there is no sea in Afghanistan.

When was Rig Veda Composed?
This time frame also coincides with the date of Rig Veda origin proposed by Max Muller. He assumed that the five layers of the four 'Vedas' & 'Upanishads' were each composed in 200 year periods before the Buddha to arrive at a date of 1500-1200 BC. He also stated that his dating was merely hypothetical and said that:

"Whether the Vedic hymns were composed in 1000 or 1500 or 2000 or 3000 BC, no power on earth will ever determine".

There have been many attempts to date Veda, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Some of the techniques used are as follows:

  • Through Astronomical Reference
  • Based on Puranic genealogies
  • The traditional value, mentioned by Aryabhata
None of these are conclusive. However, if Rig Veda was composed when river Saraswati was in full flow, then the date of composition gets pushed to much before 1500 BC. According to Kurgan hypothesis, Aryans could not have reached India much earlier than 1500 BC.

So, if the Aryan did not migrate to India then how to explain the linguistic similarity of all the Indo-European languages?

Out of India Theory
Out of India Theory states that the Indo-Europeans were migrants from India and not that the Indo-Aryans were invaders into India. Rig Veda dates are not from the Indus Valley era. The Indus Valley culture resembles that of the 'Yajur Veda' and they reflect the pre-Indus period in India when the Saraswati River was more prominent. 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. Moreover, it would affirm the Hindu tradition that the Dravidians were early offshoots of the Vedic people through the seer Agastya, and not un-Aryan peoples.

Archeological Evidence shows Cultural Continuity
Immediately after the discovery of Harappa and Mahenjo daro, it was believed that the civilization became extinct. However, recent study tends to indicate that only the urban culture slowly decayed, but rest of the tradition survived. There are many artifacts found in excavation which indicates cultural continuity. Some examples are given below:
  • An agricultural field in Kalibangan dating back to 2800 BC has a criss-cross pattern of the furrows exactly the same as the pattern of ploughing the fields is followed even today in northern Rajasthan, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh
  • Kalibangan has also yielded a linga-cum-yoni of the same type as is worshipped now.
  • Kalibangan, Banawali, Rakhigarhi and Lothal, has brought to light "fire altars", indicating rituals associated with fire.
  • Evidence of woman applying sindur has surfaced through many female terracotta figurines.
  • Greeting with a namaste seem to be rooted in the Harappan Culture, as shown by certain other terracotta figures.
  • The enigmatic terracotta figures suggest yoga-like postures.
  • Harappan house plan of a central courtyard surrounded by rooms (it has been found by air-conditioning experts to be best suited for Indian climate) seems to have continued from the Harappan times.

There is very little trail of migration, either into or out of India. Does Vedic Text through any light on Migration?

Matching Vedic Text with Archeological Evidence
Many arguments quoting Vedic text have been advanced to support or refute the claim of Aryan migration.

The Vedic culture was thus said to be that of primitive nomads who came out of Central Asia with their horse-drawn chariots and iron weapons. However, recent archeology seems to contradict this view.

  • Remains of horse, though few in numbers, has been found in some of the sites of Harappa. It also needs to be stated that no large scale horse remains found prior to Maurya period.
  • Specimens found at Kalibangan and Rakhigarhi, the spokes of the wheel are shown by painted lines radiating from the central hub to the periphery. Specimens from Banawali these are executed in low relief, a technique which continued even into the historical times.
  • Chariots are not the vehicles of nomads. Their usage occured only in ancient urban cultures with much flat land, of which the river plain of north India was the most suitable. Chariots are totally unsuitable for crossing mountains and deserts.
  • That the Vedic culture used iron revolves around the meaning of the Vedic term "ayas", interpreted as iron. "Ayas" in other Indo-European languages like Latin or German usually means copper, bronze or ore generally, not specially iron. There is no reason to insist that in such earlier Vedic times, 'ayas' meant iron, particularly since other metals are not mentioned in the Rig Veda. Moreover, the 'Atharva Veda' and 'Yajur Veda' speak of different colors of 'ayas' (such as red & black), showing that it was a generic term.

There is no conclusive evidence either way. Can genetic study resolve this issue one way or the other?

Genetic Study
There has been significant progress in genetic studies of the Indian caste populations in the last five years. There have been many studies and they have come up with conflicting results.

Some of the studies support an infusion of genetic material. These studies maintain that there exists "Aryan" Y-lineages in Indian (especially upper caste) population. The age of these Y-lineages in India coincided with the Aryan migration period.

  • Bamshad et al.(2001)
  • Basu et al. (2003)
  • Cordaux et al.(2004)
There are others that do not. They argue that the lineages identified with the "Aryan" are in fact more diverse in lower caste and tribal populations even though their frequency is lower. Their studies came to the conclusion that most of Indian Y-chromosomes date back to late pleistocene.
  • Kivisild et al.(2003)
  • Sengupta et al.(2005)
  • Sahoo et al.(2006)
A final picture will emerge after critical and comparative analyses of these studies.

So, the result of Genetic study is also inconclusive. However, couple of recently proposed theory better explains all the known facts.

Anatolian Hypothesis
The Anatolian hypothesis of Indo-European origin, proposed by Colin Renfrew, suggests that the speakers of the Indo-European language lived in Anatolia in the Neolithic. The language spread along with the spread of agriculture during 7th and 6th millennia. The main strength of the farming hypothesis lies in its linking of the spread of Indo-European languages with an archeologically known event of the spread of farming.

This would imply that the Indo-European language would have come to India along with the start of agriculture. It would also imply that the Harappan spoke a form of Indo-European language.

This is not the only hypothesis proposing a much earlier spread of the language.

Paleolithic Continuity Theory
In the Nineties, three archaeologists and three linguists, all independently from one another, presented a new theory of IE origins, which is similar to the Uralic continuity, in that it claims uninterrupted continuity from Paleolithic also for IE people and languages.

Languages are much more ancient than traditionally thought. So, record of their origins, change and development must be mapped onto a much longer chronology, instead of being compressed into a few millennia, as traditionally done. The emerging and formation of the lexicon of all world language phyla and their groups, including of course Indo-European, should be "periodized" along the entire course of human evolution, and not compressed in the recent prehistory, as typical of the traditional theory. The "arrival" of Indo-European people in Europe and Asia must be seen as one of the major episodes of the "arrival" of Homo sapiens in Europe and Asia from Africa, and not as an event of recent prehistory. It is therefore important to note that this theory is the only one which has been advanced not only by archaeologists, but also by professional linguists, and therefore has been carefully checked as to its linguistic coherence, rigor and, especially, productivity.

Closing Remarks
It is important to segregate fact from hypothesis and theory. In the context of Aryan migration following are the important facts:

  • Linguistic similarity of Indo-European family of languages.
  • Evidence of cultural continuity from Harappan time to subsequent period.
  • Lack of archeological evidence of invasion.
  • Evidence of existence of a river similar to river Saraswati mentioned in Veda.
These facts are proposed to be explained by one of the following theories.
  • Kurgan Migration
  • Out of India
  • Anatolian Origin
  • Paleolithic Continuity
In this posting, we have tried to outline all the important facts. Readers are requested to point out any glaring omission.

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#6 The First Urbanisation

Migration of Homo-sapiens into India
According to currently accepted theory homo-sapiens originated from Africa around 150,000 years back. From there they mograted to rest of the world. After the end of the last ice age, around 10,000 BC, most of the earth was occupied.

How homo-sapiens migrated to India from Africa is beautifully explained by Bradshaw Foundation in Association with Stephen Oppenheimer. (click here to see the presentation)

The migration to India happened in three times.

  1. Around 80,000 years back, movement took place via India to South-East Asia and China. Subsequently, the erruption of Mt. Toba wiped out the entire population of India.
  2. Around 55,000 years back people migrated from South-East Asia to India.
  3. About the same time another group migrated from South-West Asia.

The Harappan Civilisation developed at approximately the same time as the early city states of Egypt and Mesopotamia. The urban civilization spread over a vast geographical region, from the high mountains of Baluchistan and Afghanistan to the coastal regions of Makran, Sindh and Gujarat. Large cities and smaller towns grew up along the major trade routes as administrative and ritual centers. During the full urban phase of this civilization, there is evidence for trade contact with the surrounding cultures in the Arabian gulf, West and Central Asia and peninsular India. Some of the technologies, architecture, artistic symbols and aspects of social organization that characterized the first urban centers of the Indus Civilization have continued up to the present in the urban setting of traditional South Asian cities.

Time Line
Based on the archeological exploration done in the last few decades, our knowledge about the civilisation has significantly improved. The time period has significantly expanded going back to 7000 BC for first sign of agriculture and coming forward to 1300 BC for the last occupation of the cities.
  • Start of Agriculture 7000 BC to 5500 BC
  • Early Harappan phase 5500 BC to 2600 BC
  • Mature Harappan phase 2600 BC to 1900 BC
  • Late Harappan phase 1900 BC to 1300 BC

Mehrgarh is earliest known agricultural site of this civilisation. It dates back to 7000 BC. There are also evidences of the use of cotton. Somewhere between 2600 and 2000 BC, the city seems to have been largely abandoned.

Harappa is one of the largest and most important cities of the Indus Valley Civilization. This is one of the only sites where an entire sequence has been recovered that spans the history of Indus cities. The overall size of the city was over 150 hectares. Current evidence suggests that Harappa was occupied till 1300 BC.

Mahenjo-daro had a population between 35,000 and 80,000 and occupies an area over 250 hectares. At its peak it could have been the largest city in the world.

Lothal had the earliest known dock found in the world, equipped to berth and service ships. It spans an area of 37 meters from east to west and nearly 22 meters from north to south. Boats could dock at Lothal in the 1850's. In 1942 timber was brought from Baruch to nearby Sagarwala. It is said that then the dockyard could hold 30 ships of 60 tons each or 60 ships of 30 tons each. This would be comparable to the modern docks at Vishakapatnam.

Dholavira has a rectangular shape and organization, and is spread over 100 hectares. One of the unique features of Dholavira is the sophisticated water conservation system of channels and reservoirs, the earliest found anywhere in the world, and of which three are exposed. Another of the most dramatic discoveries at Dholavira was made in one of the side rooms of the northern gateway of the city. The Harappans had arranged and set pieces of gypsum (a kind of mineral) to form ten large letters on a big wooden board. At some point of time the board fell down flat on its face. The wood decayed, but the arrangement of the letters survived.

Manufacturing and Trading

The Mystery of the Harappan Seal
Thousands of Indus seals have been recovered from Harappan sites since the discovery of this culture. Most of these objects were made of steatite in a general square shape and a perforated boss on the back. The Indus seals are the finest exemplifications of Harappan plastic art and are best recognized for their calligraphy and most realistic rendering of animal characters. The typical Indus stamp seal is a square or rectangular of about 2 to 3 centimetres on a side. The most common character on the seal is the so-called unicorn and the long horned bull. The large quantities of seals collected at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa do in a sense reinforce the thought that these two cities were the major administrative and redistributive centres. The great number of seals from Lothal reinforces in its turn the argument that this site worked as a major transport centre. All other Indus sites, including Allahdino, Kalibangan, and Chanhudaro have revealed appreciably smaller quantities.

The probability that the seals in first hand were applied for commerce cannot be ignored. It is suggested by evidence such as cotton fabric bearing a seal once impressed with an Indus stamp from Iraq as well as the wide distribution of them in contexts associated with commerce. The rather wide distribution of them outside Indus borders become quite interesting.

Was it some form of money?

Uniqueness of this Civilisation
  1. Harappan civilisation was the largest of the ancient civilisation. It was probably as large as Mesoposemia and Egypt put together.
  2. The level of urban planning achieved was probably not matched anywhere in the world for another 2000 years.
  3. Earliest use of cotton.
  4. Use of fired bricks with most scientific size of 1:2:4.
  5. Standardisation of weights and measures across the civilisation.
  6. Earliest dock.
  7. Absence of any large ceremonial building, palace.
  8. Extensive trading network.

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#5 Bimbishar to Ashok

Tapas was the lead speaker. Awaiting material from him to complete this post.

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#4 The Second Urbanisation

Tapas was the lead speaker. Awaiting material from him to complete this post.

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#3 The Vedic Period (cont.)

Udayan was the lead speaker. The following points were discussed.
  • Review of Vedic period
  • Sources of data and nomenclature
  • India vs. World - 2000 BC
  • Establish timeline
  • Aryan Invasion Theory
  • Early Vedic civilization - 1200 BC
  • World around 1200 BC
  • Late Vedic civilization - 600 BC
  • Use of Iron
  • India vs. World - 500 BC
Basis of Understanding
  • From Archeological sites
  • Text - Vedic and related text, Buddhist and Jain text, Panini grammar of Sanskrit, Arthashastra of Chanakya, Greek sources
  • Linguistics Similarity - Eurasian language and Sanskrit, Rig-Veda and Avesta (Zoroastrian)
  • Genetic analysis
India vs. World – 2000 BC
  • Population – World 27m (India 4m, Southwest Asia 5m, China 5m, Egypt 1m)
  • Cities - Largest – Lagash: 80,000 <=> Harappan & Mohenjo Daro: 50,000
  • Mesopotamia - Decline of Sumer, Rise of Babylon – Hamurabi (1750 BC)
  • Egypt - Middle kingdom, 12th dynasty, Ammenemes I (1990 BC)
  • China - First distinctive civilization - Shang (1800 BC)
  • Greece - Farming, small settlement, Aegean & Crete more developed
Archeological Sites
  • Pre Harappan - Mehrgarh – Balochistan – 7000 BC to 3300BC
  • Harappan - Early(3300 BC to 2500 BC), Mature(2500 BC to 2000 BC), Late(2000 BC to 1700 BC)
  • Overlapping
    • Gandhar Grave – Banks of Swat & Dhir – 1600 BC to 500 BC
    • Cemetery H – Punjab – 1900 BC to 1300 BC
    • Ochre Color Pottery – Rajasthan - ?
  • Early Vedic
    • Black & Red Ware – Eastern Gangetic plane – 1200 BC to 900 BC
    • Painted Gray Ware – Western Gangetic plane – 1100 BC to 350 BC
  • Later Vedic
    • Northern Black Polished Ware – 700 BC to 200 BC
Chronology of Vedic Text
  • Rig-Veda – 1500 BC, Similarity with Zoroastrian Avesta
  • Other Veda – 1200 BC to 600 BC Sama-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Atharva-Veda
  • Upanisan – 500 BC
  • Ramayan & Mahabharat - No archeological correlation
  • Panini Sanskrit grammar – 500 BC
Aryan Invasion Theory Did speakers of Indic languages enter from outside? Earlier theory of invasion changed to migration Basis of theory
  • Similarity of Sanskrit with Syrian text of 2000 BC, Greek & Latin
  • Rig-Veda similarity with Zoroastrian Avesta
  • Harappan civilization did not know horse
  • Counter
    • Implies spread of language – not necessarily people invasion
    • No mention of any migration in Vedic text
    • Recent genetic study tend to indicate minimal migration
    • Were the Vedic people in majority or were in small minority?
  • Conclusion – more study required
    • Location of Swaraswati River
    • Further excavation of the archeological sites located
Early Vedic Civilization – 1200 BC Characteristic
  • Nomadic lifestyle
  • Cattle rearing
  • Varna system emerged
  • No money – bartering
  • No writing
  • Sites
    • Gandhar Grave – Northwest
    • Cemetery H – Punjab
    • Ochre Color Pottery – Rajasthan
World Around 1200 BC Dark Age all around
  • China Collapse of Shang dynasty
  • Southwest Asia Almost all major cities destroyed
  • Greece Aegean & Crete destroyed, Every Mycenaean palace destroyed
  • Egypt Lost most of the territory, Power waned rapidly after death of Rameses II
  • India End on Indus valley civilization
Late Vedic Civilization – 600 BC
  • Second urbanization
  • Use of iron tools for crafting
  • Formation of Mahajanapadas (Most powerful – Kashi, Kosala, Magadha)
  • Political organization - Gana-sangha, Kingdom
  • New religion - Buddha - Buddhism, Mahavir - Jainism
  • Rise of Maghada - Bibmisara (520 BC) & Ajatsatru (490 BC), Nanda dynasty
Mahajanapads
  • Middle Ganges Valley Anga, Magadha, Vajji or Vriji, Malla
  • West Kasi, Kosala, Vamsa or Vatsa
  • Central Chedi or Cheti, Avanti
  • Further West Kuru, Panchala, Machcha or Matsya, Surasena
  • North West Gandhara, Kamboja
  • Deccan Assaka or Ashmaka
Use of Iron – Around the world Till 1000 BC very little use
  • Wrought Iron Technology developed in Southwest Asia and India
  • India Special technology for high quality sword blade – prized all around the world, Use of zinc
  • China Use of Iron started 400 years later, Developed Cast Iron technology
India vs. World – 500 BC
  • Population – World 100m (India 25m, China 30m, Greece 3m)
  • Cities - Largest – Babylon: 250,000 <=> Sravasti(Kosala): 150,000
  • Southwest Asia - Fall of Assyrian empire (610 BC), Nebuchadnezzar II (605 BC), Achaemenid empire of Iran (560 BC)
  • Egypt - Initial under Assyrian and later under Achaemenid empire
  • China - Divided into small states – Spring & Autumn period
  • Greece - Sparta (800 BC), Athens (600 BC), Carthage (600 BC), Macedonia (350 BC)
  • Rome - Small villages (700 BC), Established (275 BC)

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#2 The Vedic Period - The Aryan Concept

[This writeup is contributed by Animesh.]

William Jones, a writer at East India Company by the end of the 18th Century first delivered the hypothesis of Indo European language family. Similarity between Rg Vedic Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, German – based on this theory of next 150 / 200 years historians / indologists developed the theory of Aryan race / Aryan language. This race was from Central Asia. They spoke the mother language – now termed as Proto Indo European language – one section of this Aryans migrated to Persia (Iran) and then from Iran to India.

It is difficult to develop a concrete defimation of Aryan and there is difference of opinion among the experts. This word was used in many Indo European language. However modern historians do not mix any race / ethnic group with Arya / Aryan. It is only a family of Aryan language speaking people.

From early 20th century series of historians contradicted the theory of genesis of Aryan from Central Asia as per their Aryan race / culture was originated from India and Harappan culture is part of Aryan / Vedic culture – date of Rg Veda is 3500 BC whereas Harappan culture is 3000 – 2000 BC ended by 1200 BC.

Controversy on Aryan Migration From early 20th century series of historians contradicted the theory of genesis of Aryan from Central Asia as per their Aryan race / culture was originated from India and Harappan culture is part of Aryan / Vedic culture – date of Rg Veda is 3500 BC whereas Harappan culture is 3000 – 2000 BC ended by 1200 BC.

Strongest point in favour of them is Saraswati River which was treated as main river both by Avesta amd Rg Veda. Debate is continuing about the dry river bed Saraswati River.

The language Present day philologists feels the development of Rg vedic sanskrit developed in following way.

  1. Mother language – Proto Indo European language – one part known as Eastern Indo European language spread into Iran (Persia).
  2. It is established that Indo Iranian language speaking people who separated from Persia and migrated towards India are now termed as Indo Aryan Language Speaking People. That was the language of Rg Veda. It is also known as Rg Vedic Sanskrit.
Harappan and Rg vedic culture comparison It is now accepted that Harappan and Aryan / Rg vedic culture lived side by side atleast for few hundred years – may be till end of 2nd millenium B.C. but then on clear demarcation between these two civilisation
  1. Language – Harappan had script based language (still undeciphered) whereas Rg vedic language was pure phonetical without script. Philologists feels Harappan language was in the family of old Tamil/Proto- dravidian language. Old Tamil has similarity with Barki – a tribal language of Baluchistan.
  2. Though horse bones has been found in Later Harappan stages – horse was not a common animal in Harappa whereas domesticated horse and chariot is the main feature of Aryan life.
  3. It is told that concept of chariot was developed in 3000 B.C. in the Central Asia in the valley between Dneeper and Volga
  4. Cremation – Burial was the main trend in Harappa whereas Indo Aryan preferred cremation.
  5. Harappan used solid wheel. Aryans used spoke wheel.
  6. Harappan were master of brick technology – vedic people did not use brick. In post Harappan culture brick was found not before 300 BC
  7. Harappan culture was city based which presupposes surplus food production. However evidence of city is not available in Rg Veda. Different suktas of Rg Veda looked down to city and agriculture. Only in later suktas agriculture (paddy) got prominence. Cities were found only after 1000 B.C. (600 BC) during Yajur Veda time.
Later vedic period (1000 B.C. onwards) Periods of Yajur Veda and its appendix Satapada Bramanaha and Attraiya Bramanahas
  1. Aryan speaking people slowly migrated to Himalayan foothill / plains and then to Western side to the gangetic plain through deforestation
  2. It took longer time to migrate to gangetic plain mainly due to problem of deforestation of dense forest of gangetic plain. Deforestation took place either through fire or due to technological development and use of iron / better quality iron.
  3. Himalayan plain gave birth of republics
  4. Gangetic plain slowly developed to kingship / monarchy.
  5. Cities started developing again in India (after Harappan culture)
  6. Use of fertile gangetic plain and development of paddy replantation technique gave birth to surplus food – city – private ownership – trade with distance land (with South India) – coin as medium of exchange (known as punch marked coin)
  7. Trading creates merchant community – histiorical gives birth of new social movement eg. Buddhism and Jainism
  8. Clearly Buddhism / Jainism gave more importance to Kshatriyas and Vaishyas than Brahmanas.
Summing up
  1. Due to migration to Himalayan plain and Gangetic Plain along with development of cultivation technology and iron making Aryans slowly changed themselves from pastoral / bajra cultivation to agricultural community with permanent settlement.
  2. Orthodox Vedic practice developed more in Gangetic Plain along with monarchy.
  3. Republicians grew more in less fertile Himalayan foothill.
  4. Development of city was another milestone of the period.
  5. Trade activities expanded with West Asia and South India. Consequently history of money started through punch marked coins.
  6. Creation of surplus grain from fertile land gives rise to the eagerness for holding more territory of fertile land. Ultimately this leads to formation of monarchy based on territory / kingdom – Magadha dynasty of Bimbisara was one of the best example of this period.

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#1 On Historiography

Tapas was the lead speaker. Awaiting material from him to complete this post. The topic of next meeting is Vedic period. More precisely, the period after decline of Indus valley civilization and prior to Alexander's invasion.

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