New Internet resource on the Aryan Migration Theory Debate

[Guest guest]

Dear List,

 

This post is to announce the creation of a new directory of Internet

links named "Selected Internet Resources on the Aryan Migration

Theory (AMT) Debate (e-papers, e-books and Web pages)". The URL is:

 

http://www.eastwestcultural.org/public/amt/amt-internet.php

 

or, in tinyurl format:

 

http://tinyurl.com/mvw4a

 

The web directory is divided into several sections, whose titles are

the following:

 

Aryan Migration Theory (AMT) vs. Out-of-India Theory (OIT)

Archaeology of the Harappan (Indus Valley) Civilization

Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC)

Writing & literacy in Indus civilization

Linguistic prehistory of India

Astronomy and the dating of the Vedas

Horses, chariots and Vedic Indians

Sarasvati River

Science, mathematics and iron technology in ancient India

Afro-Dravidian connections

Austro-Asiatic connections

Genetics & prehistoric migrations of the Indian sub-continent

Sunken cities off the Indian coasts?

 

Here is the introductory note to my web directory written by Dr.

Dean Anderson, on whose East West Cultural Institute website the

resource in question is kindly loaded:

 

"It should be pointed out that, given the relative ease with which

one can post information on the internet, there is often wide

diversity in the accuracy of the information presented. The AMT

Debate is a highly technical subject that involves specialized

research from many disciplines. Yet for many people it is also

emotionally charged with strong political, nationalist and religious

overtones. In order to try to accurately portray the many

perspectives on this issue, Dr. Brighenti has chosen to present,

free of editorial comment, this subset of the vast resources on this

subject available on the internet. It is up to the reader to judge

for themselves the reliability of the opinions of the various

writers."

 

In his turn, Dr. Anderson has compiled another webpage

named "Selected Books on the Aryan Migration Theory (AMT) Debate",

with a list of links to the most relevant books relating to the

subject. The URL is:

 

http://www.eastwestcultural.org/public/amt/amt-books.php

 

or, in tinyurl format:

 

http://tinyurl.com/f58v8

 

Dr. Anderson's resource and mine complement each other inasmuch as

they provide a wealth of research references useful to those

concerned with the AMT vs. OIT debate .The following is Dr.

Anderson's introductory note to his own resource:

 

"This section does not discuss the political aspect of the AMT

Debate. Although the political aspect is admittedly important,

particularly regarding the politics of identity, it is, in the final

analysis, a modern debate. The modern political use to which the AMT

has been, and is being put, is ultimately a different topic than the

investigation of the ancient origins of the Indo-Europeans. Indo-

European and Indo-Aryan origins should be determined using only

objective methodologies such as archaeology and linguistics and such

research should be free from any modern political pressures."

 

To prevent some possible objections to my choice of lumping together

so many authors of different scholarly standard in one webpage, I

want to clarify that my directory of links is meant to serve as a

collection of Internet materials mirroring the `intellectual'

debate -- I would not at all define it a `scientific' or `scholarly'

one so far as positions clearly inspired by political-cum-religious

propaganda are concerned -- on ethnogenesis in pre- and proto-

historic South Asia. It goes without saying that my including in the

webpage the online materials authored by the most active and

notorious proponents of the so-called `Vedic Harappa' / Out-of-India

theories does not imply that I consider them as serious

intellectuals as the professional scholars who have opposed and

denounced their ideas for years now, or that I want to stick them in

my web directory with the latter on an equal plane. I am fully aware

that most of the `Vedic Harappa' / Out-of-India protagonists do not

belong to accredited universities (at least not in the capacity in

which they are acting when participating in the AIT vs. OIT debate),

and that the views they propagate are strongly supported by Hindutva

organizations in India and overseas.

 

My directory of links, intentionally free of editorial comment, aims

at representing faithfully the views held by the discussants on the

Internet `battlefield', not those discussed in academic debates.

 

List members are kindly invited to point out to me off-list any

relevant links I may have overlooked so that I can incorporate them

in my resource.

 

Thanks and best regards,

Francesco Brighenti