Aryan Invasion Theory

[Guest guest]

 

Aryan invasion theory dubbed a myth

 

New Delhi, Nov. 23. (PTI): Former Director General (DG) of Archaeological Survey of India, B B Lal, today dubbed the hypothesis of "Aryan Invasion of India" a myth and alleged that it was still accepted for reasons other than historical.

 

"The theory that there was an Aryan invasion of India is completely wrong," Lal stressed in a seminar here and alleged that political reasons were behind its being in textbooks.

 

The dating of the Vedas to 1200 B.C. by Max Mueller was ad hoc and even he confessed it to his colleagues, Lal claimed and argued that the Rig Veda could not be later than 2000 B.C.

 

He also discounted the discovery of skeletons at the Mohenjodaro site, the basis for hypothesising an invasion and said, "the hard fact is that these came from various levels, some from the middle and some from the late, and some were found in deposits after the site was abandoned."

 

There were no remains of weapons and material culture of the invaders at the site, the former DG said.

 

He also came down on those historians who assert that the "Dravidians" are descendants of Harappans who dispersed after the "Aryan invasion." None of the four southern States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala have any Harappan sites, but have sites of neolithic culture, Lal said.

 

"Do the proponents of this theory expect us to believe that urban Harappans, on being sent away to South India, shed overnight their urban characteristics and took to a Stone Age way of living?, Lal asked.