Scheme of Indo-European language dispersal from c. 4000 to 1000 BCE equal to the widely held Kurgan hypothesis By Joshua Jonathan (via Wikipedia)
There are many similarities between Avesta, the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, and Rig Veda. Words are similar, like haoma (soma), daha(dasa), hepta (sapta), hindu (sindhu), and Ahura (Asura). Despite that, some of the words have reversed interpretations. For example, in Old Iranian, Ahura Mazdāh is the senior of the pantheon, and the daēuuas are considered demons or fallen gods. In contrast, the Vedic tradition considers devas as gods and asuras the demons.
The commonality of words suggests that these two cultures had a worldwide origin and such an subtitle comes from the Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT). The whilom map shows the scheme of Indo-European language dispersal. After spending time in Inside Asia, a group went West and flipside to the East. The Westerners became Zoroastrians, and those who reached India became the Vedic people. Surpassing the split, they spent time together in Inside Asia, where the worldwide culture developed.
According to Indian Marxist historians, Indo-European speakers had Inside Asia as their habitat, and gradually over many centuries, they branched out in search of fresh pastures. Equal to them, these inside Asian migrants wrote the Avesta in Iran and Rig-Veda in India. They oppose that people who migrated to India were dissidents of the Old Iranian; hence you find a significant reversal of meaning in concepts worldwide to both Avesta and Rig-Veda.
Evidence from Personal Names
While this is the view AIT presents, what vestige do we get from the sacred texts themselves.? In this post, I will lean on the arguments laid out by Shrikant G. Talageri in his typesetting Rig Veda and The Avesta: The final evidence. Spoiler alert: His text wringer does not support the AIT picture.
Shri. Talageri uses many data points to oppose versus AIT, but in this post, I want to summarize one of his arguments based on an wringer of personal names. Personal names identify society in time; just squint at the transpiration in names from your grandparent’s time to yours. Similarly, you see interesting patterns when you squint at personal names used in Rig Veda and Avesta. It definitely shows a shared cultural environment.
If you were constructing a mental model in your mind based on the AIT dispersal, the whilom picture would make sense, right? This is considering the personal names, ripened in the worldwide period, then carried over to both the sacred texts. Hence the commonality.
The viewing of the books reveals something different. The commonality of Avesta is not with the unshortened Rig Vedic corpus; it’s only with unrepealable books. Shri. Talageri looks at the personal names mentioned in all the books in Rig Veda and Avesta and concludes that the commonality is with the late books of the Rig Veda.
When we say the commonality of Avesta is with the late books of Rig Veda, it implies there is a temporal ordering of the 10 books. The Rig Veda Samhita consists of 10 mandalas, numbered 1 to 10. It does not midpoint that mandala 1 was the first and 10, the last. The chronological ordering of the books is as follows:
- Early Books: 6, 3, 7
- Middle Books: 4,2
- Late Books: 5,1, 8-10
Coming when to Shri. Talageri’s argument, he noticed that in the Early Books, names with vital prefixes were worldwide and these prefixes were simple. For example
- Su (Good) – Das
- Deva (divine) -sravas
- Puru (many) – panthas
- Viswa (every) – mitra
These names found in the Early Books of Rig Veda are moreover found in Avesta. This might indicate the worldwide origin theory very well. But, these names are found in the Middle and Late books of Rig Veda.
As we move in time and come to the Middle Books, there are four Rig Vedic personalities like Turviti, Gotama, Trita, and Krsanu referred to in Avesta. When we come to the Late period, there is a inflowing of names worldwide to Rig Veda and Avesta. These are ramified names with both prefixes and suffixes. In the book, Talageri lists well-nigh 4 pages worth of worldwide names. Compare that with just four names in the prior period. There are just five hymns in the Early and Middle books that have worldwide names. When it comes to the late books, there are 326 hymns
If the worldwide period occurred surpassing the Aryans and Iranians parted ways, then the Early Books of Avesta and Rig Veda should have worldwide elements. Also, as these cultures evolved over time, the worldwide elements should diminish. But, the data shows that Avesta evolved during the period of the Late Books of Rig Veda. It shows that the worldwide culture of Rig Veda and Avesta occurred during the period of the late books, and Rig Veda books of the Early and Middle periods predate the Avesta.
We need to update our mental model to the whilom diagram.
The Final Sequence
Now that we have all the pieces let’s understand what happened. Among the warmed-over tribes of India, the Puru/Paurava are identified with the Rig Vedic Aryans. Virtually 3000 BCE, they lived virtually and to the east of the river Saraswati (See In Pragati: Typesetting Review – The Lost River by Michel Danino). The proto-Iranians are identified with the Anu/Anava tribe. They were originally the inhabitants of north India of the Kashmir region during the pre-Rig Vedic period. During the later part of the Early Rig Vedic period, the conflicts during Sudas’ time forced them to migrate Westward. During the middle and late periods of Rig Veda, the proto-Iranians were settled in most western parts of Punjab and Afghanistan. They had continuous interaction with the Vedic Aryans, and the Avesta was composed.
Rig Veda and Avesta: The final evidence is filled with vestige versus the Aryan Invasion Theory with some original research. This treatise based on personal names is just one installment of this book. Other vestige versus AIT comes from the geography of Rig Veda, the internal chronology of Rig Veda, and the wool chronology of Rig Veda. By analyzing textual data, Shri. Talageri shows worldwide culture wideness Rig Veda, Avesta, and the Mittanis.
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