For PRELIMS 2014: Vedic Period [ 1500 BC-600 BC] The Harappan civilization was followed by Vedic or Rig-Vedic culture which was completely opposite to it. The Vedic culture was founded by the Aryans. They were immigrants and arrived in India between 2000 and 1500 BC. The origin of the Aryans is still an unsettled affair. Historians have following different views on the origin and migration of Aryans to India- *.Central Asia Theory- Aryans originally lived inCentral Asia. This theory was propounded by Prof Max Mullera German scholar of comparative languages. He stated that the ancestors of the Indians, Greeks, Persians, Romans, Germans and the Celts must have lived together originally *.Arctic Theory- This theory was put forwarded by Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Tilak in his book‘Arctic Home in the Vedas’opined that the original home of the Aryans was a place of extreme cold. The Vedas refer to days and nights lasting for 6 months which are found in Arctic region *.Sapt-Sindhu Theory- According to the eminent historians A C Das and K M Munshithe Aryans originally belonged to the Sapt-Sindhu or Punjab. This point of view was put forward byA C Das in his book Rig Vedic India. He says that all the plants, rivers, crops and animals mentioned in Rig-Veda and other ancient books were found in ancient Punjab. The geographical conditions in Rig-Veda points out to this region. But this theory is not convincing. If the Aryans had been indigenous inhabitants of the Sapt Sindhu area there would have been no need for them to desert such a fertile area and go to other parts. Aryans were unaware of animals such as elephant and lion which were found mainly in India. This proves that Aryans were foreigners. *.Tibetan Theory- According to Swami Dayanand Saraswati the original home of the Aryans was Tibet. This view has been expounded by them in the Satyartha Prakash. According to him Aryans worshipped the sun and fire as it was extremely cold in Tibet. All the trees and animals mentioned in the Rig Veda were found in Tibet. *.South-East European Theory- The theory generally accepted these days is that the original home of the Aryan was in south-east Europe. According to MacDonnell the common trees like the oak, the birch and the willow and the common animals like the horse and the cow with which the ancestors of the Aryans were familiar could in those days be found only in southern Europe. This theory is also disputed by some western scholars It is believed that before the coming of the Aryans in India the greater part of northern and north-western India was inhabited by a group of people known as Dravidians. They later migrated to southward direction of India
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 05:46:31 +0000
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