This served a social, political and economical purpose of domination, proving the superiority of Western culture and religion. It made the Hindus feel that their culture was not the great thing that their sages and ancestors had said it was. It made Hindus feel ashamed of their culture that its basis was neither historical nor scientific. It made them feel that the main line of civilization was developed first in the Middle East and then in Europe and that the culture of India was peripheral and secondary to the real development of world culture.
Such a view is not good scholarship or archeology but merely cultural imperialism. The Western Vedic scholars did in the intellectual spehere what the British army did in the political realm discredit, divide and conquer the Hindus. In short, the compelling reasons for the Aryan invasion theory were neither literary nor archeological but political and religious that is to say, not scholarship but prejudice. Such prejudice may not have been intentional but deep-seated political and religious views easily cloud and blur our thinking.
It is unfortunate that this this approach has not been questioned more, particularly by Hindus. Even though Indian Vedic scholars like Dayananda saraswati, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Arobindo rejected it, most Hindus today passively accept it. They allow Western, generally Christian, scholars to interpret their history for them and quite naturally Hinduism is kept in a reduced role. Many Hindus still accept, read or even honor the translations of the 'Vedas' done by such Christian missionary scholars as Max Muller, Griffith, MonierWilliams and H. H. Wilson. Would modern Christians accept an interpretation of the Bible or Biblical history done by Hindus aimed at converting them to Hinduism? Universities in India also use the Western history books and Western Vedic translations that propound such views that denigrate their own culture and country.
The modern Western academic world is sensitive to critisms of cultural and social biases. For scholars to take a stand against this biased interpretation of the 'Vedas' would indeed cause a reexamination of many of these historical ideas that can not stand objective scrutiny. But if Hindu scholars are silent or passively accept the misinterpretation of their own culture, it will undoubtly continue, but they will have no one to blame but themselves. It is not an issue to be taken lightly, because how a culture is defined historically creates the perspective from which it is viewed in the modern social and intellectual context. Tolerance is not in allowing a false view of one's own culture and religion to be propagated without question. That is merely self-betrayal.
Articles with evidence and proofs:
- The Myth of the Aryan Invasion: Part 1
- The Myth of the Aryan Invasion: Part 2
- The Myth of the Aryan Invasion: Part 3
- History Of Ancient India
This is a very good website with at least 16 extensive articles and resources busting the myth of Aryan invasion. It has an Astronomical Proof from the Bhagavat Puraan, Scientific Dating of the Mahabharat War, The Scientific Dating of the Mahabharat War as per Astronomy, etc. - The Myth of the Aryan Invasion: Part 4
It is a 2 hours discussion by renowned historian, entrepreneur Mr. Rajiv Malhotra and renowned economist, politician, historian, Harvard professor Dr. Subramanian Swamy. - The Myth of the Aryan Invasion: Part 5
The Myth was busted during the first ever Hindu-Jewish summit in the world where all the revered Acharyas and Rabbis came together to have an inter-faith talk for mutual understanding of two of the most old and most persecuted religions in the world. - Gujarat's Honorable Chief Minister Mr. Narendra Modi talks on Myth of Aryan Invasion.
"India was the mother of our race and Sanskrit the mother of Europe's languages. She was the mother of our philosophy, mother through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics, mother through Buddha, of the ideals embodied in Christianity, mother through village communities of self-government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all."
- Will Durant
"If there is one place on the face of this Earth "where all the dreams of living men have found a home "from the very earliest days when Man began the dream of"existence, it is India."
- Romain Rolland - French Philosopher 1886-1944
There is no reason whatever for thinking that the Hindus ever inhabitated any country but their present one, and as little for denying that they may have done so before the earliest trace of their records or tradition.
--Elphinstone
3 comments:
I am happy to see your post on the Aryan Invasion myth... No other theory in the world has been so misused as this... and the gullible Indian/ Hindu masses have accepted this theory long enough...
This is a small article i wrote, mainly combining the various articles you have cited and a little more... do check it out and tell me your opinion:
http://anupammanur.blogspot.com/2009/02/myth-of-aryan-invasion-theory_15.html
http://anupammanur.blogspot.com/2009/02/myth-of-ait-cont.html
check out http://voi.org/books/rig/
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