In The Wonder That Was India, A L Basham presented a dramatic picture of the ripen of the Harappan civilization. Equal to him, from 3000 BCE, invaders were present in the region. Without conquering the outlying villages, they moved on Mohenjo-daro. The people of Mohenjo-Daro fled but were cut lanugo by the invaders; the discovered skeletons proved this invasion. Basham terminated that the Indus cities fell to barbarians “who triumphed not only through greater military prowess, but moreover considering they were equipped with largest weapons, and had learned to make full use of the swift and terror-striking beats of the steppes.” Sir R [[Mortimer Wheeler]] personal these horse-riding invaders were none other than Aryans. Their war-god Indra destroyed the forts and citadels at Harappa.
According to the Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT), Basham’s invaders were Indo-European speakers on a global invasion tour from Central Asia. Surpassing the invaders split up into Vedic Aryans and Iranians, they had ripened a joint culture in Central Asia, hence the similarity in Rig Veda and Avesta. Once they left Central Asia, the Indians and Iranians parted ways. The whilom map shows the scheme of Indo-European language dispersal.
In a previous article, based on Shrikant G. Talageri’s spanking-new book, The Rig Veda and The Avesta: The Final Evidence, we saw that the worldwide culture was not ripened in Central Asia. We moreover saw that during the Middle and Late periods of Rigveda, the proto-Iranians were settled in western parts of Punjab and Afghanistan. They continuously interacted with the Vedic Aryans, and the joint Indo-Iranian culture developed.
This begs the question. Where did the Vedic Aryans live surpassing they met the Iranians or people of the Anu/Anava tribe? Did they come from Central Asia, or did they come from the Eastern parts of India? Then for this article, I will be once then using Shrikant G. Talageri ‘s The Rig Veda and The Avesta: The Final Evidence.
Basics
Two important concepts will help understand the details. The first is related to the chronological ordering of the mandalas of Rig Veda. The second is the geography virtually the rivers of Punjab.
The Rig Veda Samhita consists of 10 mandalas, numbered 1 to 10. This 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
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Coming to the region’s geography, this is the map to remember. This shows some important rivers like Ganga, Yamuna, Sarasvati, and Indus.
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These are rivers mentioned in Rig Veda. Displaying unconfined familiarity with the Indian North-West, the nadistuti sukta lists nineteen rivers from the Ganga to the Kurram sequentially from East to West. Equal to the Vedic tradition, Sarasvati flowed between the Yamuna and Sutlej, a location mentioned in other texts.
Shri. Talageri divides this zone into three regions.
- Region East of Saraswati (Haryana and West UP)
- Region West of Indus (Afghanistan, South Central Asia, North West Pakistan)
- Region between Indus and Saraswati (North Pakistan, Punjab)
Strong vestige versus the Aryan Invasion Theory comes from the whilom two vital concepts augmented with the names of rivers, lakes, places, mountains, and animals. There is moreover a big track in nadistuti sukta. See the direction in which the rivers are named. That has unconfined significance for what we are well-nigh to discover.
Evidence from Rivers
According to AIT, the joint Indo-Iranian culture is pre-Rigvedic. This culture was ripened in Central Asia surpassing the Indians and Iranians took variegated exits on the Aryan Invasion freeway. But in flipside article, we saw that the joint culture was not pre-Rigvedic, but Late Rigvedic. Now, if the Vedic culture did not develop in Central Asia, where did it originate?
From both Rigveda and Avesta, we know the regions they are familiar with. The Avesta knows the land from Afghanistan and south Central Asia to Punjab. The Rig Veda knows the zone from Western Uttar Pradesh to eastern and southern Afghanistan. So, if you yank a Venn diagram, the place familiar to both the Vedic people and Iranians is the land from Punjab to Afghanistan.
Now it gets interesting. Geographical data in the Early and Middle books of Rigveda show that the Vedic Aryans lived in the interior of India, to the East of Sarasvati. The Early Books (Books 6, 3, 7) of Rig Veda don’t show familiarity with the Western region. The primeval book, Typesetting 6, does not reference the Central or Western rivers but mentions Ganga. The next book, Typesetting 3, refers to the two easternmost rivers of the five rivers of Punjab.
The last typesetting in the Early Books, Typesetting 7, refers to the third from the east of the five rivers of Punjab. This is in reference to the pivotal Battle of Ten Kings. The non-Vedic enemies are people living to the West of the fourth river (Asikni).
Two heady pieces come out of this analysis. First, these Early Books do not use the words sapta sindhu. Second, the enemies of the Vedic people are mentioned as those who live West of the fourth river in Punjab. The Vedic vein towards northwest and western areas is suspicion and hostility. These lands are treated as mleccha or vulgarian lands; their social and religious practices are strongly disapproved. These are not considered areas that fit a visit by orthodox Brahmins. This is moreover reflected in later texts: In Ramayana, the good queen Kausalya is from the east and the bad queen Kaikeyi is from the northwest; in Mahabharata, Kunti is from the east, while Gandhari is from the northwest.
We see familiarity with the Western landscape as we move from the Early Books to the newer ones. The Middle Books (4, 2) show familiarity with the Western region. This is the first time three Western rivers towards (Book 4). Also, the word sapta-sindhu shows up for the first time. Finally, when it comes to the Late Books, they too refer to sapta-sindhu.
The Eastern region, the land East of Sarasvati, was known to the Vedic Aryans of the Early, Middle, and Late Books. At the same time, the Western region is unknown to the Early books, but newly familiar to the Middle Books. Three Western rivers towards in the first typesetting among the Middle Books (Book 4), and the same rivers are known in the first typesetting of the Late Books.
Other vestige from nature
Besides the vestige from the rivers, there is vestige from nature that rules out Afghanistan or Central Asia as the Vedic homeland. The Vedic rishis lived in a land of monsoon storms and mountains. They worshiped Indra as the most important god. The monsoon land stops without Punjab; hence, it could not have been well-balanced in Afghanistan. The animals mentioned in Rig Veda are spotted deer, buffalo, bison, peacock, and elephant. It’s not like elephants were stampeding in Kabul during that time like in the opening scene of Lion King.
Trees provide some fascinating evidence. There is mention of khadira, and simsapa, which are used in the manufacture of the soul of a chariot, kimsuka and salmali used in the manufacture of wheels, and aratu used in the manufacture of the axle. If you compare this with the Egyptians, the raw material for the chariots came from the Caucuses. We don’t say that the Egyptians came from the Caucuses considering they used imported wood. If Vedic Aryans came from the Caucuses, they too would have used the same wood that should be known to them. Instead, they used Indian trees. If they rode their chariots into India as per Basham, would they have used Indian trees?
Rice and wheat are popular cereals in India, depending on which part of India you are from. Rig Vedic Aryans do not show any familiarity with wheat. At the same time, they are familiar with three preparations of rice. If the invasion route was through a wheat-producing area, why doesn’t the Rigveda mention that? This shows that the Vedic tradition took root surpassing wheat consumption started in North India. In a later period, in unrelatedness to the use of rice, wheat is treated with disdain. Among Brahmins, during death, when they are required to withhold from food, rice is forbidden, but not wheat.
A transpiration in our mental model
Before reading this book, my mental model was different. In Michel Danino’s The Lost River, it was well-spoken that Sarasvati was the most important river for the Vedic Aryans. In forty-five hymns, the rishis praised Sarasvati; for them, she was ‘great among the great, the most impetuous of rivers,’ ‘limitless, unbroken, swift-moving, and ‘surpasses in majesty and might all other waters.’ Once Saraswati zestless up without 1900 BCE, people migrated to variegated regions, including the Ganges Valley.
Now with this internal vestige from Rig Veda, it is well-spoken that the story is different. Vedic Aryans during the period of Early and Middle Books did not live in Central Asia or Afghanistan but in the interior of India. Specifically to the East of Saraswati. Also, they were familiar with Ganga. From there, they progressively moved Westward. This is why the nadistuti sukta lists rivers from East to West.
Also, the Early and Middle Books of Rigveda represent a period older than the period of joint minutiae of the Indo-Iranian culture. Moreover, this joint minutiae happened in a region between Punjab and Afghanistan and not Central Asia.
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