[world-vedic] VEDIC WORLD HISTORY pt 1

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Antiquity and Continuity of Indian History (Part 1)

Organization: University of New Brunswick

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Antiquity and Continuity of Indian History

(From Swayambhuva Manu to Gupta Dynasty)

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by Prasad Gokhale

Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

 

 

Abstract

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The Vedic culture has been pervading the Indian subcontinent for a

few thousand years from today. The antiquity and continuity of this

culture has been faithfully recorded in the oldest and grandest

annals of mankind: the Rgved. Evidence has come forth entirely

contradicting the present held "aryan invasion" of India.

Archaeological excavations and other findings confirm the

coninuation of the Indus Valley civilization as a Vedic age. The

Mahabharat and Ramayanic civilizations flourished in the ancient

past. The history of India entered the medieval ages almost 5000

years ago, and even before the advent of Christ, the quintessence

of philosophy thought and civilizational aspects of India had

already been accomplished. Evidence testifies that Buddha and Aadi

Shankara lived 1800 B.C. and 500 B.C respectively. The "golden age"

in India was ushered with the rise of the Gupta dynasty. It was

Chandragupta of the Guptas who reigned over the Indian empire

around 325 B.C., a time when Macedonian Alexander had invaded

India.

 

In this article, it is attempted to derive the datelines of ancient

Indian alias Vedic events and heroes, starting from Swayambhuva

Manu to the kings of the Gupta dynasty. An outline of the antiquity

and continuity of Vedic history is estimated, substantiating the

events with a variety of evidence, including literary and

archaeological.

 

 

1. Introduction

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The study of history forms an important part in providing an

understanding and in giving a clearer perspective of the present

mental setup and cultural state of a nation of peoples. The

antiquity of a culture's history and the achievements of its

peoples provide the nation with an identity and a sense of self-

esteem. The study of history tells us the story of how a particular

society behaved and reacted in the wake of varying and trying

circumstances. And history without chronology is like a person

without a backbone. Without this backbone, the person feels

helpless and hopeless. This construction and arrangement of

historical facts and figures is therefore necessary to effectively

hold together and guide forward a particular society.

 

The chronological establishment of Indian history has been a matter

of academic contention for the past two centuries. The most

difficult part of this study, until now, was to construct an

agreeable framework of chronology. It is to the credit of Sir

William Jones that a systematic study and examination of this

problem was first initiated in the late 18th century. Western

scholars have done commendable and untiring work in the field of

oriental studies. The researches well-recorded by them are of

utmost importance even today.

 

However, within decades, the political situation in India changed

and this sincere study of history then became, in a way, a weapon

to subjugate and win the people of India. The effects of European

religio-political thought also creeped into this investigation.

Inspite of the honest and genuine commencement of its study, it is

quite unfortunate that the western indologists misinterpreted the

historical data available, intentionally or by accident, and

putforth theories based merely on speculation and pre-conceived

beliefs. The result was that the antiquity of many events were

highly underestimated and its continuity and greatness undermined.

Nevertheless, it is quite futile to harp over the numerous

shortcomings of early historical research, the mistakes of an era

bygone.

 

Modern researches, methods and evidence that have become newly

available however has provided numerous definite and conclusive

statements that has compelled historians, archaeologists and

academicians to ponder judiciously over the antiquity, continuity

and spread of Indian history and culture. In this article, an

attempt is made to present briefly a chronology of events based on

newly available archaeological data. Compelling observations from

variety of sources and opinions of different scholars have been

used in the course of the attempted construction. The listing and

review of evidences presented here are by no means exhaustive and

the problem of this historical compilation is definitely more

complicated that it might appear. However, the dating of some

important events and personalities is presented here and it is

hoped that the readership gets a clearer and beneficial perspective

on the matter.

 

 

2. Background

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The currently established chronology of India initiates with the

invasion of the so-called aryan race in 1500 B.C., which ruthlessly

and forcefully subdued the original inhabitants of the land,

imposing upon them a alien language and culture. The invading

hordes settled down on the banks of river Sindhu (Indus), and

within few centuries (1200 B.C.), complied the Veda. Subsequently,

the Brahmanas, Samhitas, Puranas and numerous other scriptures were

composed. Where does the Ramayan and Mahabharat fit in? Some say

that the Ramayan follows Mahabharat and some opine otherwise. In

all this anarchy of Indian histography, the probable date of

Mahabharat ranges between 1000 B.C.to 300 B.C.

 

The identification of Sandrocottus (325 B.C.) of the Greeks with

Chandragupta Maurya by Sir Jones was considered to the "sheet

anchor" and based on this assumption, a chronology of Indian

history was constructed. The date when Gautam Buddha prospered was

calculated from this sheet-anchor to be around 500 B.C., and the

dateline of Aadi Shankara was put in 800 A.D. The Gupta Dynasty,

whose reign ushered a Golden Age in India, were placed in the 4th

century A.D.

 

Examination of the Rgved, Puraan and other texts provide dates of

events that took Indian history, at times, back to thousands of

years. However, since these dates contradicted the prevalent views

of Europeans historians, the saunskrut texts were academically

attacked in an attempt to disprove the authenticity of the annals.

For example, the European Indologist Maxmuller, tried the

interpret the astronomical evidences to prove that the observations

recorded in the Hindu scriptures are imaginary, "pious frauds"

created by the cunning Brahmanas. Numerous references which were

anachronous to the particular time-frames were either considered as

unauthentic and unreliable. No attempt was made to recheck and

reevaluate the presumptions and basis on which the chronological

structure was built.

 

It is now seen that the history of India and its sub-continent can

be continuously traced back to a few thousand years, as will be

noticed in the paragraphs to follow. This article examines the

evidence leading to the dating to many events that occurred at

different times: right from the Rgvedic age to the pre-christian

golden-age of the Hindus, a period when the Gupta dynasty ruled

over India. One of the main events, which apparently is the genesis

of Indian history, that is, the invasion of the aryans from outside

is described briefly in the following section.

 

 

3. The Myth of the Aryan Invasion

 

 

The theory of the aryan invasion of India has been a matter of

debate, and at times, incisive arguments have been presented for

and against it. According to this theory, the light-skinned aryan

people wandered into India in the 2nd millennium B.C. from Central

Asia. The barbaric aryan race then destroyed an already existing

and advanced Harappan civilization, conquered the race and laid the

foundations of a foreign imposition of language and culture on

India. This supposedly marked the beginning of the development of

a Vedic culture, or what is called Hinduism today.

 

The hypothesis of aryan invasion is apparently based on the

conflicts between light-skinned aryans and dark race of dasyus

described in the Vedic literature. This aspect is said to have been

strengthened by the skeletal findings in the excavated sites in the

Indus Valley. When the RgVed (2-20-10) refers to "Indra, the slayer

of Vritra, destroying the Krishna Yoni Dasyus", it is held as a

proof that the "invading aryans" exterminating the "dark

aboriginals". However, other references in the Rgved (10-1-11, 8-

85-3, 2-3-9) suggest that the Indians were a mixed race and also,

no stigma was attached to any non-white complexion. Therefore to

imagine the invading aryans to be a white race is suspicious.

According to Saayana, the word dasyu derives from the word "das",

i.e., "one who harms". The RgVed (6-22-10) prays to Indra to give

glory by which the dasyus can become arya's, that is, changing the

dasyus to ideal and cultured human beings.

 

Many a scholar and historian have acknowledged the discrepancies,

raised objections and rejected the theory of aryan invasion since

its inception in the early 19th century. According to historian

Wheeler (in his "Civilization of Indus Valley and Beyond"), "..the

[Aryan Invasion] cannot be proved and may be quite incorrect".

Also, Murrow in his book "The Sanskrit Language" comments, " For

the Indo-Aryan invasion of India no direct evidence is available

.... In the text of the RgVed itself, although historical allusions

are not uncommon, there is no reference anywhere to the fact of the

migration, nor any definite indication that it was still

remembered." Indian Vedic scholars like Dayanand Saraswati, B.G.

Tilak and Sri Arvind had already rejected the aryan invasion theory

based mostly on literary analysis. In spite of having no evidence

to support this doctrine, it is amusing to know how academics held

on to this dogma.

 

The unobservant reading of the RgVed and its subsequent

misinterpretation led to the doctrines of "class" and "colour"

struggles among the ancient Indians; an appropriate tool to justify

marxist ideals and european racial theories. This doctrine of aryan

invasion has been used as a perfect tool to divide the Hindu

society and the Indian state. The north-indian aryans were then pit

against the south-indian dravidians, high-castes against low-

castes, mainstream Hindus against the tribals, Vedic orthodoxy

against the "native" heterodox sects and later, to neutralize Hindu

criticism of forced Islamic occupation as "Hindus themselves have

entered the same way as Muslims have". Till today, the Marxist and

"secularist" forces continue to promote this theory and extract

propagandist capital out of it.

 

Recent advances in archaeological, linguistic and astronomical

research have also compelled the abandonment of the current view of

the aryan invasion and the falsely speculated antiquity of the

Vedic civilization. The excavated ruins of the submerged city of

Dwaraka by Dr. S.R.Rao and his team in 1985 (Marine Archaeological

Unit), along the coast of Gujarat, provides authenticity for the

existence of the Mahabharat civilization (3000 B.C.). Satellite

data combined with field archaeological studies have discovered

once disappeared river Saraswati, which appears extensively in the

Vedic literature. The study also showed that the river flow

discontinued much earlier than 3000 B.C. The decipherment of the

Indus script by S.R.Rao shows a amazing affinity with the Sanskrit

family and analysis of the seals have putforth numerous words and

names from the Sanskritic and Vedic age. It indeed becomes evident

that the harappan culture was a part and parcel and continuation of

an earlier Vedic age: an age that existed much prior to 3000 B.C.

 

As opposed to any racial connotation, the word "arya" is a

honorific title was used for people who were cultivated in mind and

character, a person whose way of life aims at elevating the

individual soul through a disciplined life to godhood. Sri Arvind

in his celebrated book "The Supramental Manifestation and Other

Writings" explains : "..the word Arya expressed a particular

ethical and social ideal, an ideal of well-governed life, candour,

courtesy, nobility, straight dealing, courage, gentleness, purity,

humanity, compassion, protection of the weak, liberality,

observance of social duty, eagerness of knowledge, respect for the

wise and learned, the social accomplishments. It was the combined

ideal of the Brahmana and the Kshatriya. Everything that departed

from this ideal, everything that tended towards the ignoble, mean,

obscure, rude, cruel or false, was termed un-aryan or anarya

(colloq. anari). There is no word in human speech that has a nobler

history.." Rama and Krishna have been addressed as arya, as are

many other people in the Rgvedic era, the antiquity of which is

considered in the next section.

 

[ Continued in Part 2 ]