This Is Us
29 May 2023 12:20:49
When we stand in front of any newly excavated site, I always feel that those barren walls are telling us stories of their own. Those walls are ready to show the secrets they kept for so long.
‘In that one corner, there are two lovers, who are meeting secretly, and sharing their ‘moment’; in one corner, there is a father who is worrying about future of his children, in one corner of site, there is old grandma who is telling stories to her grandchildren’, all images started to scroll in front our eyes. There are so many artifacts which also have unique stories to tell, the feel of every artifact is a treasure of their own experiences and feelings.
But why are we suddenly talking about all these things, because these things are the definition of our own legacy. The legacy is not something we can see or touch, legacy is something we can understand and carry on.
India is a land of such complex, varied and unique Legacies. Our legacy’s first bright spot is ‘Sindhu- Saraswati Civilization’. But when we start to talk about Sindhu- Saraswati Civilization, the later phase of this civilization comes with another complex dimension- ‘Aryans and their migration to India or Invasion of Aryans on Indian Land’.
But first we need to understand- who are these Aryans and why they are so important and sought after?
According to the theory, those probably light-skinned Aryans were the group who invaded and conquered ancient India from the north or from European land, and whose literature, religion, and social organization subsequently changed the course of Indian culture, particularly the Vedic religion that informed and was eventually converted into Hinduism as a religion.
The word ‘Arya’ or Aryan is found in Rig Veda, the first literary source for Vedic religion.
Rigveda describes these Aryans as ‘noble, handsome, and righteous people’. Vedic Sanskrit looked at the term 'Arya' as a religious–linguistic group, referring to those who spoke the Sanskrit language and practiced Vedic cultural norms, especially those who worshiped the Vedic gods (Indra and Agni in particular), engaged in the yajna and festivals, and practiced the art of poetry.
When Europeans with their imperial mindset started to discover the uniqueness of Knowledge in India, They also started to strongly believe that these are not the byproducts of Indian land. There must be some other aspects to this richness and diversity of Knowledge which stemmed from Vedic Literature.
The Words 'Arya' and 'Anarya' comes repeatedly in Rig Veda, so Historians started to feel that, there are two groups who are living on this land, where one is superior than other, and with the description of Arya in Rig veda, scholars started to attach this identity with invaders rather than locals.
The Aryan Invasion Theory is a hypothesis developed in the 20th century that states that a group of people called Aryans invaded northern India and destroyed the Indus Valley Civilization.
In the 1850s, Max Müller conceptualized the notion of two Aryan races, a western and an eastern one, who migrated from the Caucasus into Europe and India respectively.
Müller classified the two groups, giving the greater prominence and value to the western branch. Nevertheless, He also stated, "the eastern branch of the Aryan race was more powerful than the indigenous eastern natives, who were easy to conquer".
Herbert Hope Risley furthered on Müller's two-race Indo-European speaking Aryan invasion theory, concluding that the ‘caste system was a remnant of the Indo-Aryans domination of the native Dravidians, with observable variations in phenotypes between hereditary, race based, castes’.
But while these academic discussions are heating up, The excavation of the Harappa, Mohenjo-daro and Lothal sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation in the 1920, showed that northern India already had an advanced culture when the Indo-Aryans migrated into the area.
This discovery changed the Aryan Theory from a migration of advanced Aryans towards a primitive aboriginal population, ultimately this theory turned from Aryan Migration to Aryan Invasion Theory. Scholars strongly believed that there was a possibility of hostile invasion into northern India. The decline of the Indus Valley Civilisation at precisely the period in history in which the Indo-Aryan migrations probably took place.
Argument was articulated by the mid-20th century archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler, who interpreted the presence of many unburied corpses found in the top levels of Mohenjo-daro as the victims of conquest wars, and who famously stated that the god "Indra stands accused" of the destruction of the Civilisation.
As we see this progression, we understand that, theory of an colonization of Arya ("Aryan invasion") is simply seen as a means of British to justify their own breaching into India and their resultant colonial rule, in both cases, a "white race" was seen as subduing the local darker colored population.
However, since the late 20th century, a growing number of scholars simply rejected both the Aryan invasion hypothesis and the use of the term Aryan as a racial designation, citing that the Sanskrit term arya (“noble” or “distinguished”), the linguistic root of the word, was actually a social rather than an ethnic moniker.
Scholars also stated, rather, the term is used strictly in a linguistic sense, in recognition of the influence that the language of the ancient northern migrants had on the development of the Indo-European languages of South Asia.
That notion, which had been disclaimed by anthropologists by the second quarter of the 20th century, was snatched up by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis and established the entire ‘Nazism’, the policy of butchering Jews, Roma (Gypsies), and other non-Aryans.
But this entire Aryan Invasion theory was debunked by one single Skeleton found on the Rakhigarhi site of Sindhu- Saraswati Civilization.
The first scientific study of DNAs of skeletal remains acquired in the Rakhigarhi site, has found no evidence of trace of Iranian Farmers or Steppe Pastoralist ancestry , which directly questions theory of Aryan Invasion.
The findings of this study clearly stated that. ‘The development of all the stages from the Hunter-gatherer stage to the modern age of South Asia were done by indigenous people only’. The study also concludes, ‘Indians come from a genetic pool predominantly belonging to an indigenous ancient civilization’, it also claims, Rakhigarhi individual was from the population which is the ‘largest source of ancestry of South Asians’.
This study also suggests that, all the development in agriculture and animal rearing also done by indigenous people, no Iranian influence on agriculture.
When we understand all these things, the first feeling we have is that me and my ancestors have been living on this land for the last 6000-7000 years continuously. My own blood is the blood of Sindhu- Saraswati civilization, their DNAs runs into my DNAs, so that their legacy is my Legacy.
This realization hits so hard, and gives a rather stern understanding of my responsibilities.
So now, it is our duty to maintain, pursue and celebrate this legacy which has been alive for the last 6000 years. This is my legacy, our legacy. This is who we are….I am…!!!
‘In that one corner, there are two lovers, who are meeting secretly, and sharing their ‘moment’; in one corner, there is a father who is worrying about future of his children, in one corner of site, there is old grandma who is telling stories to her grandchildren’, all images started to scroll in front our eyes. There are so many artifacts which also have unique stories to tell, the feel of every artifact is a treasure of their own experiences and feelings.
But why are we suddenly talking about all these things, because these things are the definition of our own legacy. The legacy is not something we can see or touch, legacy is something we can understand and carry on.
India is a land of such complex, varied and unique Legacies. Our legacy’s first bright spot is ‘Sindhu- Saraswati Civilization’. But when we start to talk about Sindhu- Saraswati Civilization, the later phase of this civilization comes with another complex dimension- ‘Aryans and their migration to India or Invasion of Aryans on Indian Land’.
But first we need to understand- who are these Aryans and why they are so important and sought after?
According to the theory, those probably light-skinned Aryans were the group who invaded and conquered ancient India from the north or from European land, and whose literature, religion, and social organization subsequently changed the course of Indian culture, particularly the Vedic religion that informed and was eventually converted into Hinduism as a religion.
The word ‘Arya’ or Aryan is found in Rig Veda, the first literary source for Vedic religion.
Rigveda describes these Aryans as ‘noble, handsome, and righteous people’. Vedic Sanskrit looked at the term 'Arya' as a religious–linguistic group, referring to those who spoke the Sanskrit language and practiced Vedic cultural norms, especially those who worshiped the Vedic gods (Indra and Agni in particular), engaged in the yajna and festivals, and practiced the art of poetry.
When Europeans with their imperial mindset started to discover the uniqueness of Knowledge in India, They also started to strongly believe that these are not the byproducts of Indian land. There must be some other aspects to this richness and diversity of Knowledge which stemmed from Vedic Literature.
The Words 'Arya' and 'Anarya' comes repeatedly in Rig Veda, so Historians started to feel that, there are two groups who are living on this land, where one is superior than other, and with the description of Arya in Rig veda, scholars started to attach this identity with invaders rather than locals.
The Aryan Invasion Theory is a hypothesis developed in the 20th century that states that a group of people called Aryans invaded northern India and destroyed the Indus Valley Civilization.
In the 1850s, Max Müller conceptualized the notion of two Aryan races, a western and an eastern one, who migrated from the Caucasus into Europe and India respectively.
Müller classified the two groups, giving the greater prominence and value to the western branch. Nevertheless, He also stated, "the eastern branch of the Aryan race was more powerful than the indigenous eastern natives, who were easy to conquer".
Herbert Hope Risley furthered on Müller's two-race Indo-European speaking Aryan invasion theory, concluding that the ‘caste system was a remnant of the Indo-Aryans domination of the native Dravidians, with observable variations in phenotypes between hereditary, race based, castes’.
But while these academic discussions are heating up, The excavation of the Harappa, Mohenjo-daro and Lothal sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation in the 1920, showed that northern India already had an advanced culture when the Indo-Aryans migrated into the area.
This discovery changed the Aryan Theory from a migration of advanced Aryans towards a primitive aboriginal population, ultimately this theory turned from Aryan Migration to Aryan Invasion Theory. Scholars strongly believed that there was a possibility of hostile invasion into northern India. The decline of the Indus Valley Civilisation at precisely the period in history in which the Indo-Aryan migrations probably took place.
Argument was articulated by the mid-20th century archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler, who interpreted the presence of many unburied corpses found in the top levels of Mohenjo-daro as the victims of conquest wars, and who famously stated that the god "Indra stands accused" of the destruction of the Civilisation.
As we see this progression, we understand that, theory of an colonization of Arya ("Aryan invasion") is simply seen as a means of British to justify their own breaching into India and their resultant colonial rule, in both cases, a "white race" was seen as subduing the local darker colored population.
However, since the late 20th century, a growing number of scholars simply rejected both the Aryan invasion hypothesis and the use of the term Aryan as a racial designation, citing that the Sanskrit term arya (“noble” or “distinguished”), the linguistic root of the word, was actually a social rather than an ethnic moniker.
Scholars also stated, rather, the term is used strictly in a linguistic sense, in recognition of the influence that the language of the ancient northern migrants had on the development of the Indo-European languages of South Asia.
That notion, which had been disclaimed by anthropologists by the second quarter of the 20th century, was snatched up by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis and established the entire ‘Nazism’, the policy of butchering Jews, Roma (Gypsies), and other non-Aryans.
But this entire Aryan Invasion theory was debunked by one single Skeleton found on the Rakhigarhi site of Sindhu- Saraswati Civilization.
The first scientific study of DNAs of skeletal remains acquired in the Rakhigarhi site, has found no evidence of trace of Iranian Farmers or Steppe Pastoralist ancestry , which directly questions theory of Aryan Invasion.
The findings of this study clearly stated that. ‘The development of all the stages from the Hunter-gatherer stage to the modern age of South Asia were done by indigenous people only’. The study also concludes, ‘Indians come from a genetic pool predominantly belonging to an indigenous ancient civilization’, it also claims, Rakhigarhi individual was from the population which is the ‘largest source of ancestry of South Asians’.
This study also suggests that, all the development in agriculture and animal rearing also done by indigenous people, no Iranian influence on agriculture.
When we understand all these things, the first feeling we have is that me and my ancestors have been living on this land for the last 6000-7000 years continuously. My own blood is the blood of Sindhu- Saraswati civilization, their DNAs runs into my DNAs, so that their legacy is my Legacy.
This realization hits so hard, and gives a rather stern understanding of my responsibilities.
So now, it is our duty to maintain, pursue and celebrate this legacy which has been alive for the last 6000 years. This is my legacy, our legacy. This is who we are….I am…!!!