Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Aryans In India: Old Debate Triggers New Debate
deepikaglobal.com ^ | 11-11-2002

Posted on 11/11/2002 3:08:30 PM PST by blam

Aryans In India: Old Debate Triggers New Debate

New Delhi, Nov 11 (UNI) An Ancient India historian today said his remarks on academic debate over Aryan invasion were torn out of context by the Director of the New Delhi-based National Council of Educational Research and Training.

''He should read my book,'' Prof D N Jha said, commenting on a suggestion by Prof J S Rajput that his remarks perhaps implied a shift from the theory of Aryans' foreign origin.

Prof Rajput's suggestion came in a statement voicing satisfaction over scholars' ''professional'' remarks on the publication of the Council textbook on Ancient History for XI graders.

''Even Professor D N Jha, an esteemed scholar of Ancient India who has himself authored several books, has accepted that the Aryan invasion theory is a matter of academic debate,'' Prof Rajput said.

''This admission, coming from Prof Jha, is particularly significant in that his books never mentioned anything else than the Aryans' foreign origin theory,'' Prof Rajput said.

''The previous authors of NCERT's textbooks on Ancient India, Professors Romila Thapar and R S Sharma, had also shied from mentioning the India-origin theory of Aryans,'' he went on. ''We are happy that the new NCERT publication has already made an impact.'' Reached for comment, Prof Jha said, ''He should read my book. My position is clear that the Aryans' origin was foreign. The debate I referred to is on the manner of their arrival-- whether it was migration rather than invasion, as I held in my earlier writings.'' He said in his book 'Ancient India-- An Introductory Outline' published in 1977 he took the view it was an invasion, but he updated it and duly recorded it in another book called 'Ancient India in Historical Outline' published in 1998.

Prof Jha said the overall view in the debate-- which scholars say is more than 100 years old-- was balanced in favour of migration of Aryans as opposed to an invasion by them. ''I don't think there is much evidence of Aryans having an indigenous origin in India. They came from outside.'' Another scholar, Prof Arjun Dev, a former Professor of History and Head of the Social Science Department in the Council, said the Council remarks appeared intended to mislead by portraying a debate on the manner of Aryans' arrival as one on their origin.

He said it reflected eagerness of the establishment and its ideologues to try to prop up a communal ideology. The insistence on the Aryans' Indian origin is integral to this ideology.

He cited how Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Sarsanghchalak Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar accounted for nationalist leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak's view that Aryans hailed from the Arctic by saying Arctic had been a part of India


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aryaninvasion; aryans; debate; godsgravesglyphs; india; indusvalley; indusvalleyscript; new; sarasvati; sarasvatiriver; saraswati; saraswatiriver; triggers
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-63 next last

1 posted on 11/11/2002 3:08:31 PM PST by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: blam
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Sarsanghchalak Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar .....

----------------------

This is the guy's name? How does he even remember who he is?

2 posted on 11/11/2002 4:37:11 PM PST by RLK
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam
Bump
3 posted on 11/11/2002 4:47:23 PM PST by Fiddlstix
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RLK
"This is the guy's name? How does he even remember who he is?"

His friends and family call him 'Junior'.

4 posted on 11/11/2002 7:25:17 PM PST by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: blam
Whoever the "Aryans" were, they had an Indoeuropean language very similar to those old Persia and of some other Near East civilizations. It appears some of them stopped off in Persia and the rest went on to India, given the similarities.

Indian tradition has the Aryan invasion coming from the north and pushing the original inhabitants to the south. The pattern of languages on the subcontinent today supports that scenario, with Dravidian (non-Indoeuropean) languages in the south and in Sri Lanka, but only in a pocket or two in the north where Hindi and other descendants of Sanskrit predominate.

This "Indian origin" thing resembles the idea put out in this country that Ancient Egypt was peopled by blacks. That is, it's a modern invention to encourage ethnic pride. Perhaps next the Brits will decide that the Norman invaders may have come from Scotland or Wales.

5 posted on 11/11/2002 7:41:50 PM PST by VadeRetro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: VadeRetro
Tocharians? (Proto-Tocharians?)
6 posted on 11/11/2002 7:48:44 PM PST by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: VadeRetro
The Mitanni, Medes, Hittites and Philistines were the other Indo-European groups in the Mid East.
7 posted on 11/11/2002 7:52:10 PM PST by Eternal_Bear
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: VadeRetro
very similar to those old Persia and of some other Near East civilizations.

Editor wanted. Must work for peanuts.

8 posted on 11/11/2002 8:14:19 PM PST by VadeRetro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Eternal_Bear
The Mitanni, Medes, Hittites and Philistines were the other Indo-European groups in the Mid East.

That looks pretty good. Are you sure the Philistines weren't Semitic?

9 posted on 11/11/2002 8:15:15 PM PST by VadeRetro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: blam
Tocharians? (Proto-Tocharians?)

Heard of them, but remember little.

10 posted on 11/11/2002 8:16:31 PM PST by VadeRetro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: VadeRetro

11 posted on 11/11/2002 8:22:06 PM PST by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: RLK
LOL...

Ok, here goes.. if you care:

"Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh" is the name of an organization (Hindu fascist). "Sarsanghchalak" is the name of a position within that organization. "Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar" is his name. Think of it as "Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard John Doe".

12 posted on 11/11/2002 8:23:42 PM PST by AM2000
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: VadeRetro
Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Tocharians (But were afraid to ask)
13 posted on 11/11/2002 8:25:46 PM PST by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: blam
South-Asians (India and Pakistan) are genetically caucasian, where is the controversy?
14 posted on 11/11/2002 8:27:13 PM PST by ContentiousObjector
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam
Oh, those guys. Yeah. Chinese Turkestan was a bit outside my thinking.
15 posted on 11/11/2002 8:27:13 PM PST by VadeRetro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Eternal_Bear
Looking at my own question about the Philistines: they were probably refugees ("sea people") from Crete after the big Thera volcanic popoff best remembered through a haze of legend as the downfall of Atlantis. (It was really the Minoans on Crete.) It looks from a cursory scan tonight as though their language hasn't been deciphered very far.
16 posted on 11/11/2002 8:31:33 PM PST by VadeRetro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: VadeRetro
Maybe refugees from the Black Sea flood in 5600BC?
Thera exploded in 1628BC. (...and in my opinion, provided the fireworks for the Exodus.)
17 posted on 11/11/2002 8:37:45 PM PST by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: RLK
"Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Sarsanghchalak Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar"

The name of the person is Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar. "Sarsanghchalak" , transliterated into English would mean President and "Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh" is the name of a cultural organization. I hope that clarifies.

18 posted on 11/11/2002 10:40:45 PM PST by akash
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: AM2000; keri; BlackIce; anu_shr
"Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard John Doe".

Not very surprising that you choose to slander certain people and organizations and mislead the others with your hate propaganda.

19 posted on 11/11/2002 10:45:35 PM PST by akash
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: akash
Well Akash - you know it better - RSS and KKK are brother organisations which promote the same ideology - Aryan supremacy and hate for others. In Indian context - Aryan supremacy is expressed through the Brahminical order of caste system which is called the varna system. And Varna means color. The symbol is close too... the swastika.
20 posted on 11/12/2002 5:18:46 AM PST by anu_shr
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-63 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson