Edwin Bryant
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195137774
- eISBN:
- 9780199834044
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137779.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
As a result of the discovery of similarities between Sanskrit and the classical languages of Europe, scholars hypothesized the existence of an early “proto-Indo-European” people who spoke the ...
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As a result of the discovery of similarities between Sanskrit and the classical languages of Europe, scholars hypothesized the existence of an early “proto-Indo-European” people who spoke the language from which the other Indo-European speakers evolved. The solution to this Indo-European homeland problem has been one of the most consuming intellectual projects of the last two centuries. At first it was assumed that India was the original home of all the Indo-Europeans. Soon, however, Western scholars were contending that the Vedic culture of ancient India must have been the by-product of an invasion or migration of “Indo-Aryans” from outside the subcontinent. Over the years, Indian scholars have raised many arguments against this European reconstruction of their nation’s history, yet Western scholars have generally been unaware or dismissive of these voices from India itself. Edwin Bryant offers a comprehensive examination of this ongoing debate, presenting all of the relevant philological, archaeological, linguistic, and historiographical data, and showing how they have been interpreted both to support the theory of Aryan migrations and to contest it. Bringing to the fore those hitherto marginalized voices that argue against the external origin of the Indo-Aryans, he shows how Indian scholars have questioned the very logic, assumptions, and methods upon which the theory is based and have used the same data to arrive at very different conclusions. By exposing the whole endeavor to criticism from scholars who do not share the same intellectual history as their European peers, Bryant’s work newly complicates the Indo-European homeland quest. At the same time it recognizes the extent to which both sides of the debate have been driven by political, racial, religious, and nationalistic agendas.Less
As a result of the discovery of similarities between Sanskrit and the classical languages of Europe, scholars hypothesized the existence of an early “proto-Indo-European” people who spoke the language from which the other Indo-European speakers evolved. The solution to this Indo-European homeland problem has been one of the most consuming intellectual projects of the last two centuries. At first it was assumed that India was the original home of all the Indo-Europeans. Soon, however, Western scholars were contending that the Vedic culture of ancient India must have been the by-product of an invasion or migration of “Indo-Aryans” from outside the subcontinent. Over the years, Indian scholars have raised many arguments against this European reconstruction of their nation’s history, yet Western scholars have generally been unaware or dismissive of these voices from India itself. Edwin Bryant offers a comprehensive examination of this ongoing debate, presenting all of the relevant philological, archaeological, linguistic, and historiographical data, and showing how they have been interpreted both to support the theory of Aryan migrations and to contest it. Bringing to the fore those hitherto marginalized voices that argue against the external origin of the Indo-Aryans, he shows how Indian scholars have questioned the very logic, assumptions, and methods upon which the theory is based and have used the same data to arrive at very different conclusions. By exposing the whole endeavor to criticism from scholars who do not share the same intellectual history as their European peers, Bryant’s work newly complicates the Indo-European homeland quest. At the same time it recognizes the extent to which both sides of the debate have been driven by political, racial, religious, and nationalistic agendas.
Edwin Bryant
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195137774
- eISBN:
- 9780199834044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137779.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
An analysis is made of the evidence for a non-Indo-Aryan linguistic substratum in Sanskrit texts, which has remained perhaps the principal and (in the author’s view) the most persuasive reason ...
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An analysis is made of the evidence for a non-Indo-Aryan linguistic substratum in Sanskrit texts, which has remained perhaps the principal and (in the author’s view) the most persuasive reason brought forward in support of the Aryan invasions and migrations. The issue here is: Do the Vedic texts preserve linguistic evidence of languages preceding the Indo-Aryan presence on the Indian subcontinent? This is an essential aspect of the debate, but one that has been mostly ignored by Indigenous Aryanists. The different sections of the chapter look at linguistic (syntactical) innovations in Sanskrit, the existence of “loanwords” ascribed to either Dravidian, Munda, and/or unknown origins, terms for flora in Indic languages, and place names and river names. Finally the possibility (first raised by Bloch) is explored that it was Dravidian that intruded into an Indo-Aryan speaking area and not vice versa.Less
An analysis is made of the evidence for a non-Indo-Aryan linguistic substratum in Sanskrit texts, which has remained perhaps the principal and (in the author’s view) the most persuasive reason brought forward in support of the Aryan invasions and migrations. The issue here is: Do the Vedic texts preserve linguistic evidence of languages preceding the Indo-Aryan presence on the Indian subcontinent? This is an essential aspect of the debate, but one that has been mostly ignored by Indigenous Aryanists. The different sections of the chapter look at linguistic (syntactical) innovations in Sanskrit, the existence of “loanwords” ascribed to either Dravidian, Munda, and/or unknown origins, terms for flora in Indic languages, and place names and river names. Finally the possibility (first raised by Bloch) is explored that it was Dravidian that intruded into an Indo-Aryan speaking area and not vice versa.
Asko Parpola
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197262856
- eISBN:
- 9780191753961
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262856.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
The Aryan or Indo-Iranian languages are divided into two basic groups, Indo-Aryan (i.e. languages nowadays mainly spoken in India in its pre-1947 sense of South Asia) and Iranian (i.e. languages ...
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The Aryan or Indo-Iranian languages are divided into two basic groups, Indo-Aryan (i.e. languages nowadays mainly spoken in India in its pre-1947 sense of South Asia) and Iranian (i.e. languages nowadays mainly spoken in Iran, also rather in the historical sense of the Persian Empire, which extended to Central Asia and the Indus Valley). This chapter discusses how this dialectal split goes back to the very emergence of Proto-Aryan from Late Proto-Indo-European, far from India and Iran.Less
The Aryan or Indo-Iranian languages are divided into two basic groups, Indo-Aryan (i.e. languages nowadays mainly spoken in India in its pre-1947 sense of South Asia) and Iranian (i.e. languages nowadays mainly spoken in Iran, also rather in the historical sense of the Persian Empire, which extended to Central Asia and the Indus Valley). This chapter discusses how this dialectal split goes back to the very emergence of Proto-Aryan from Late Proto-Indo-European, far from India and Iran.
Edwin Bryant
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195137774
- eISBN:
- 9780199834044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137779.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
An outline is given of some of the archaeological evidence that has received attention in attempting to trace the trans-Asiatic exodus of the Indo-Aryans on their proposed route to India, across ...
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An outline is given of some of the archaeological evidence that has received attention in attempting to trace the trans-Asiatic exodus of the Indo-Aryans on their proposed route to India, across central Asia. The first section of the chapter discusses what we are looking for in the archaeological record that might correspond to the speakers of an Indo-European language. The next sections look at this issue from the perspective of the two assumed overland routes of the Indo-Aryans--the northern route and the southern route. The last section discusses the two-wave (or multiple-wave) theory of incursion into India.Less
An outline is given of some of the archaeological evidence that has received attention in attempting to trace the trans-Asiatic exodus of the Indo-Aryans on their proposed route to India, across central Asia. The first section of the chapter discusses what we are looking for in the archaeological record that might correspond to the speakers of an Indo-European language. The next sections look at this issue from the perspective of the two assumed overland routes of the Indo-Aryans--the northern route and the southern route. The last section discusses the two-wave (or multiple-wave) theory of incursion into India.
Edwin Bryant
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195137774
- eISBN:
- 9780199834044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137779.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This introduction describes the book as primarily a historiographical study of how various Indian scholars, over the course of a century or more, have rejected this idea of an external origin of the ...
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This introduction describes the book as primarily a historiographical study of how various Indian scholars, over the course of a century or more, have rejected this idea of an external origin of the Indo-Aryans by questioning much of the logic, assumptions, and methods upon which the theory is based. The aims of the book are discussed, with the primary aim identified as an excavation of marginalized points of view reacting against what is perceived as a flawed and biased historical construct. As a corollary of this aim, the book further complicates the Indo-European homeland quest by exposing the whole endeavor to a critique from scholars outside mainstream European academic circles who do not share the same intellectual history as their Western peers. A further aim of the book is to present a comprehensive exposition and analysis of views from within mainstream academic circles, addressing the issue of Indo-Aryan origins. The main part of the introduction gives an outline of the contents of each chapter and addresses various methodological issues.Less
This introduction describes the book as primarily a historiographical study of how various Indian scholars, over the course of a century or more, have rejected this idea of an external origin of the Indo-Aryans by questioning much of the logic, assumptions, and methods upon which the theory is based. The aims of the book are discussed, with the primary aim identified as an excavation of marginalized points of view reacting against what is perceived as a flawed and biased historical construct. As a corollary of this aim, the book further complicates the Indo-European homeland quest by exposing the whole endeavor to a critique from scholars outside mainstream European academic circles who do not share the same intellectual history as their Western peers. A further aim of the book is to present a comprehensive exposition and analysis of views from within mainstream academic circles, addressing the issue of Indo-Aryan origins. The main part of the introduction gives an outline of the contents of each chapter and addresses various methodological issues.
Edwin Bryant
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195137774
- eISBN:
- 9780199834044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137779.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
The Indigenous Aryan debate can only be understood in the context of the history of the greater Indo-European homeland quest in Europe. The purpose of this chapter is to outline the most prominent ...
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The Indigenous Aryan debate can only be understood in the context of the history of the greater Indo-European homeland quest in Europe. The purpose of this chapter is to outline the most prominent features of this history that are most directly connected with the problems of Indo-Aryan origins. Indigenous Aryanists are almost universally suspicious of the motives surrounding the manner in which evidence was interpreted and construed by British and European scholars in the colonial period. It is important to excavate clearly the various biases that influenced the epistemes of the time before attempting to consider the evidence itself, so this chapter addresses some of the more blatant ideological and religious attitudes of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in the West that co-opted Aryan discourse in some form or fashion. Since there have been a number of studies focused on the general history of Indo-European Studies, it focuses on the aspects of this history that are of particular relevance to the Indian side of the family.Less
The Indigenous Aryan debate can only be understood in the context of the history of the greater Indo-European homeland quest in Europe. The purpose of this chapter is to outline the most prominent features of this history that are most directly connected with the problems of Indo-Aryan origins. Indigenous Aryanists are almost universally suspicious of the motives surrounding the manner in which evidence was interpreted and construed by British and European scholars in the colonial period. It is important to excavate clearly the various biases that influenced the epistemes of the time before attempting to consider the evidence itself, so this chapter addresses some of the more blatant ideological and religious attitudes of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in the West that co-opted Aryan discourse in some form or fashion. Since there have been a number of studies focused on the general history of Indo-European Studies, it focuses on the aspects of this history that are of particular relevance to the Indian side of the family.
Edwin Bryant
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195137774
- eISBN:
- 9780199834044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137779.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
As was the case in the West, there were all sorts of reactions to, and appropriations of, the discovery of a shared Aryan pedigree from the Indian subcontinent in popular, political, and religious ...
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As was the case in the West, there were all sorts of reactions to, and appropriations of, the discovery of a shared Aryan pedigree from the Indian subcontinent in popular, political, and religious discourse. The first section of this chapter briefly touches upon nineteenth- and early twentieth-century nationalistic co-options of the Aryan theory in terms of its applicability for Indian relations with the colonial power and for internal power dynamics among competing sets of interests among Indians themselves. A brief selection of these reactions as exemplified by Hindu nationalist responses is extracted to provide something of a parallel to the Aryan discourse in Europe during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The second section of the chapter describes the first stirrings of opposition to the theory itself, as inaugurated by prominent Hindu religious leaders.Less
As was the case in the West, there were all sorts of reactions to, and appropriations of, the discovery of a shared Aryan pedigree from the Indian subcontinent in popular, political, and religious discourse. The first section of this chapter briefly touches upon nineteenth- and early twentieth-century nationalistic co-options of the Aryan theory in terms of its applicability for Indian relations with the colonial power and for internal power dynamics among competing sets of interests among Indians themselves. A brief selection of these reactions as exemplified by Hindu nationalist responses is extracted to provide something of a parallel to the Aryan discourse in Europe during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The second section of the chapter describes the first stirrings of opposition to the theory itself, as inaugurated by prominent Hindu religious leaders.
Ariel Glucklich
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195314052
- eISBN:
- 9780199871766
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195314052.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter discusses Hindu origins. The Indo‐Aryan controversy is examined: Did Hindu scriptures emerge as an indigenous product or did they arrive with migrating foreigners? The chapter discusses ...
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This chapter discusses Hindu origins. The Indo‐Aryan controversy is examined: Did Hindu scriptures emerge as an indigenous product or did they arrive with migrating foreigners? The chapter discusses the religious thought of the Rig Veda with a special focus on the sacrifice and its intellectual foundations.Less
This chapter discusses Hindu origins. The Indo‐Aryan controversy is examined: Did Hindu scriptures emerge as an indigenous product or did they arrive with migrating foreigners? The chapter discusses the religious thought of the Rig Veda with a special focus on the sacrifice and its intellectual foundations.
Almuth Degener
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197262856
- eISBN:
- 9780191753961
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262856.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
In the context of the problems connected with the early migrations of the Indo-Iranian peoples and the entry of the Indo-Aryans into India, the question of where and when the ancestors of the later ...
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In the context of the problems connected with the early migrations of the Indo-Iranian peoples and the entry of the Indo-Aryans into India, the question of where and when the ancestors of the later Iranians separated from the Indo-Aryans is particularly interesting. This problem is connected with that of the relationship between Iranian, Indo-Aryan, and the third Indo-Iranian group of languages, the Nuristani languages, formerly called Kafiri languages. The Nuristani languages are spoken almost entirely within the confines of the area of northeast Afghanistan known as Nuristan. There is no doubt that the Nuristani languages belong to the Aryan group of Indo-European languages, their nearest relatives being the Iranian and the Indian languages. However, there has never been unanimity about the exact position of the Nuristani languages in relation to these two well-known branches of the Aryan family. There are three possible hypotheses, each of which has found supporters: (i) the Nuristani languages are part of the Iranian family, but separated at a very early stage from the main stream of Iranian languages; (ii) they are part of the Indo-Aryan family, but separated from Indo-Aryan in pre-Vedic times; and (iii) they are neither Indian nor Iranian but represent a third branch of the Aryan family. This chapter attempts to evaluate each of these hypotheses critically.Less
In the context of the problems connected with the early migrations of the Indo-Iranian peoples and the entry of the Indo-Aryans into India, the question of where and when the ancestors of the later Iranians separated from the Indo-Aryans is particularly interesting. This problem is connected with that of the relationship between Iranian, Indo-Aryan, and the third Indo-Iranian group of languages, the Nuristani languages, formerly called Kafiri languages. The Nuristani languages are spoken almost entirely within the confines of the area of northeast Afghanistan known as Nuristan. There is no doubt that the Nuristani languages belong to the Aryan group of Indo-European languages, their nearest relatives being the Iranian and the Indian languages. However, there has never been unanimity about the exact position of the Nuristani languages in relation to these two well-known branches of the Aryan family. There are three possible hypotheses, each of which has found supporters: (i) the Nuristani languages are part of the Iranian family, but separated at a very early stage from the main stream of Iranian languages; (ii) they are part of the Indo-Aryan family, but separated from Indo-Aryan in pre-Vedic times; and (iii) they are neither Indian nor Iranian but represent a third branch of the Aryan family. This chapter attempts to evaluate each of these hypotheses critically.
Richard Salomon
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197262856
- eISBN:
- 9780191753961
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262856.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter focuses on a language whose very name was first proposed by the great scholar whose career is celebrated in this volume. For it was Harold Bailey's 1946 article whose title ‘Gāndhārī’ ...
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This chapter focuses on a language whose very name was first proposed by the great scholar whose career is celebrated in this volume. For it was Harold Bailey's 1946 article whose title ‘Gāndhārī’ introduced that name for the first time. The discussion covers the varieties of literary Gāndhārī, the historical development of Gāndhārī as a literary language, the character of literary Gāndhārī, and Gāndhārī and the modern language of the northwest.Less
This chapter focuses on a language whose very name was first proposed by the great scholar whose career is celebrated in this volume. For it was Harold Bailey's 1946 article whose title ‘Gāndhārī’ introduced that name for the first time. The discussion covers the varieties of literary Gāndhārī, the historical development of Gāndhārī as a literary language, the character of literary Gāndhārī, and Gāndhārī and the modern language of the northwest.
K. R. Norman
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197262856
- eISBN:
- 9780191753961
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262856.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter goes back to the beginnings of Buddhism, in fact to that ancient problem: What language or languages did the Buddha speak? It discusses Old Indo-Aryan and the origin of the Prakrit ...
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This chapter goes back to the beginnings of Buddhism, in fact to that ancient problem: What language or languages did the Buddha speak? It discusses Old Indo-Aryan and the origin of the Prakrit dialects, the language(s) of the Buddha and the Jina, Old Māgadhī, the migration of the Buddhist teachings, the writing down of the canon in Ceylon, anomalous forms in the Theravādin canon, anomalous forms and the Aśokan inscriptions, and why anomalies remain in the Pāli canon.Less
This chapter goes back to the beginnings of Buddhism, in fact to that ancient problem: What language or languages did the Buddha speak? It discusses Old Indo-Aryan and the origin of the Prakrit dialects, the language(s) of the Buddha and the Jina, Old Māgadhī, the migration of the Buddhist teachings, the writing down of the canon in Ceylon, anomalous forms in the Theravādin canon, anomalous forms and the Aśokan inscriptions, and why anomalies remain in the Pāli canon.
R.S. Sharma
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195687859
- eISBN:
- 9780199080366
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195687859.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
India is a land of numerous languages. Indian languages belong to Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman, Dravidian, and Indo-Aryan groups. The Austric language family is divided into Austric-Asiatic and ...
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India is a land of numerous languages. Indian languages belong to Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman, Dravidian, and Indo-Aryan groups. The Austric language family is divided into Austric-Asiatic and Austronesian languages. The two branches of Austric-Asiatic subfamily are Munda and Mon-Khmer. The second group of languages, that is Tibeto-Burman, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan family. The third family of languages spoken in India is Dravidian. This form of speech covers almost the whole of south India, and is also prevalent in north-eastern Sri Lanka. The fourth language group, Indo-Aryan belongs to the Indo-European family. In the Indian subcontinent, each of the four language families is attributed to each one of the four ethnic groups into which the people of India are divided. These four groups are Negrito, Australoid, Mongoloid, and Caucasoid. It is difficult to demarcate one racial group from another, for their physical features keep changing due to climatic conditions.Less
India is a land of numerous languages. Indian languages belong to Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman, Dravidian, and Indo-Aryan groups. The Austric language family is divided into Austric-Asiatic and Austronesian languages. The two branches of Austric-Asiatic subfamily are Munda and Mon-Khmer. The second group of languages, that is Tibeto-Burman, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan family. The third family of languages spoken in India is Dravidian. This form of speech covers almost the whole of south India, and is also prevalent in north-eastern Sri Lanka. The fourth language group, Indo-Aryan belongs to the Indo-European family. In the Indian subcontinent, each of the four language families is attributed to each one of the four ethnic groups into which the people of India are divided. These four groups are Negrito, Australoid, Mongoloid, and Caucasoid. It is difficult to demarcate one racial group from another, for their physical features keep changing due to climatic conditions.
Richard S. Weiss
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195335231
- eISBN:
- 9780199868803
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195335231.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This is an exploration of the utopian elements of accounts of the history of siddha medicine. Siddha practitioners and authors of Tamil revivalism often locate the origins of siddha medicine on a ...
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This is an exploration of the utopian elements of accounts of the history of siddha medicine. Siddha practitioners and authors of Tamil revivalism often locate the origins of siddha medicine on a primordial, utopian island called Kumari Kandam or more commonly Lemuria. They describe this island as a place where pure Tamil traditions flourished and where siddha medical knowledge was at its most effective, unadulterated by non-Tamil traditions. Later, with the rising of the seas, Aryans descended on the Tamil lands from the north, bringing an end to the harmonious society and pure sciences of the Tamils. In these utopian medical narratives, the other, sometimes biomedicine but more commonly ayurveda, plays the role of the destroyer of utopia. This demonization of ayurveda emerges out of broader Tamil nationalist and revivalist formulations of Tamil civilization as a protest against the homogenizing project of the Indian state.Less
This is an exploration of the utopian elements of accounts of the history of siddha medicine. Siddha practitioners and authors of Tamil revivalism often locate the origins of siddha medicine on a primordial, utopian island called Kumari Kandam or more commonly Lemuria. They describe this island as a place where pure Tamil traditions flourished and where siddha medical knowledge was at its most effective, unadulterated by non-Tamil traditions. Later, with the rising of the seas, Aryans descended on the Tamil lands from the north, bringing an end to the harmonious society and pure sciences of the Tamils. In these utopian medical narratives, the other, sometimes biomedicine but more commonly ayurveda, plays the role of the destroyer of utopia. This demonization of ayurveda emerges out of broader Tamil nationalist and revivalist formulations of Tamil civilization as a protest against the homogenizing project of the Indian state.
Edwin Bryant
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195137774
- eISBN:
- 9780199834044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137779.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
An examination is made of the relationship between the Indus Valley Civilization and Indo-Aryan origins, a topic that has received a tremendous amount of attention from Indian archaeologists and ...
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An examination is made of the relationship between the Indus Valley Civilization and Indo-Aryan origins, a topic that has received a tremendous amount of attention from Indian archaeologists and historians. The issue discussed is whether the Indo-Aryans preceded, succeeded, or co-existed with the inhabitants of the Indus Valley cities. The different sections of the chapter look at archaeological evidence on the religion of the Indus Valley, evidence on the decline of the river Sarasvatī (which is referred to many times in the Ŗgveda, the oldest of the Sanskrit Vedic texts), the absence of the horse from the Harappan record (although it played an important part in the Vedic-Aryan culture), evidence of the spoked-wheel chariot (which is fundamental to Aryan identification), the Indus script, and urbanization and the Ŗgveda.Less
An examination is made of the relationship between the Indus Valley Civilization and Indo-Aryan origins, a topic that has received a tremendous amount of attention from Indian archaeologists and historians. The issue discussed is whether the Indo-Aryans preceded, succeeded, or co-existed with the inhabitants of the Indus Valley cities. The different sections of the chapter look at archaeological evidence on the religion of the Indus Valley, evidence on the decline of the river Sarasvatī (which is referred to many times in the Ŗgveda, the oldest of the Sanskrit Vedic texts), the absence of the horse from the Harappan record (although it played an important part in the Vedic-Aryan culture), evidence of the spoked-wheel chariot (which is fundamental to Aryan identification), the Indus script, and urbanization and the Ŗgveda.
Edwin Bryant
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195137774
- eISBN:
- 9780199834044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137779.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
An examination is made of the problems associated with identifying the Indo-Aryans in the archaeological record within the subcontinent of India. This is done through a consideration of the regional ...
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An examination is made of the problems associated with identifying the Indo-Aryans in the archaeological record within the subcontinent of India. This is done through a consideration of the regional cultures that have been typically connected with intruding Indo-Aryan elements-- the Gandhara Grave culture, the Jhukar cultures, the Cemetery H culture, and the Painted Gray Ware culture. The ways in which these cultures have been related to the Indo-Aryans are discussed and interpretative options outlined. The last two sections of the chapter look at the lack of evidence of Aryans in the skeletal record and at the aspects of continuity and innovation in the archaeological record. The opinion of the majority of professional archaeologists interviewed in India (and also working outside South Asia) seems to be that there is no archaeological evidence to support external Indo-Aryan origins.Less
An examination is made of the problems associated with identifying the Indo-Aryans in the archaeological record within the subcontinent of India. This is done through a consideration of the regional cultures that have been typically connected with intruding Indo-Aryan elements-- the Gandhara Grave culture, the Jhukar cultures, the Cemetery H culture, and the Painted Gray Ware culture. The ways in which these cultures have been related to the Indo-Aryans are discussed and interpretative options outlined. The last two sections of the chapter look at the lack of evidence of Aryans in the skeletal record and at the aspects of continuity and innovation in the archaeological record. The opinion of the majority of professional archaeologists interviewed in India (and also working outside South Asia) seems to be that there is no archaeological evidence to support external Indo-Aryan origins.
Edwin Bryant
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195137774
- eISBN:
- 9780199834044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137779.003.0013
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
The various attempts made to date Sanskrit texts (the Veda) are examined in the context that if the Ŗgveda (the earliest of the texts) is at least a millennium older than its commonly accepted date, ...
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The various attempts made to date Sanskrit texts (the Veda) are examined in the context that if the Ŗgveda (the earliest of the texts) is at least a millennium older than its commonly accepted date, then the possibility of Dravidian and/or Munda and/or unknown linguistic influences on Vedic Sanskrit being the result of the speakers of these languages intruding on an Indo-Aryan-speaking area after the other languages had already left, as opposed to vice versa, becomes a much more serious consideration. Moreover, the relationship between Vedic and Proto-Indo-European would need to be reconsidered, and any proposal associating the overland trajectory of the Indo-Aryans with the Andronovo culture, a southern Iranian route, or any Post-Harappan culture in the subcontinent, loses value. For these and other reasons, a much older date for the Veda is foundational to the Indigenous Aryanist position; if by contrast, the oldest strata of the Ŗgveda cannot be far removed from the conventionally accepted date of 1200 or 1500 B.C.E., then the Indigenous Aryanist case loses cogency. The chapter examines the dating of Proto-Indo-European first, before going on to look at the dating of the Veda itself, paying special attention to astronomy and its bearing on Vedic chronology. The author concludes that none of the evidence presented so far in the book convincingly settles the debate, and that the only evidence that could do this with any degree of certainty would be the decipherment of the script from the Indus Valley civilization.Less
The various attempts made to date Sanskrit texts (the Veda) are examined in the context that if the Ŗgveda (the earliest of the texts) is at least a millennium older than its commonly accepted date, then the possibility of Dravidian and/or Munda and/or unknown linguistic influences on Vedic Sanskrit being the result of the speakers of these languages intruding on an Indo-Aryan-speaking area after the other languages had already left, as opposed to vice versa, becomes a much more serious consideration. Moreover, the relationship between Vedic and Proto-Indo-European would need to be reconsidered, and any proposal associating the overland trajectory of the Indo-Aryans with the Andronovo culture, a southern Iranian route, or any Post-Harappan culture in the subcontinent, loses value. For these and other reasons, a much older date for the Veda is foundational to the Indigenous Aryanist position; if by contrast, the oldest strata of the Ŗgveda cannot be far removed from the conventionally accepted date of 1200 or 1500 B.C.E., then the Indigenous Aryanist case loses cogency. The chapter examines the dating of Proto-Indo-European first, before going on to look at the dating of the Veda itself, paying special attention to astronomy and its bearing on Vedic chronology. The author concludes that none of the evidence presented so far in the book convincingly settles the debate, and that the only evidence that could do this with any degree of certainty would be the decipherment of the script from the Indus Valley civilization.
Edwin Bryant
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195137774
- eISBN:
- 9780199834044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137779.003.0014
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This final chapter discusses some of the more modern ideological underpinnings of the Indo-Aryan origin debate in India as different forces compete over the construction of national identity. Other ...
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This final chapter discusses some of the more modern ideological underpinnings of the Indo-Aryan origin debate in India as different forces compete over the construction of national identity. Other concerns motivating some of the participants on both sides of the Indigenous Aryan debate are also considered, showing how the same theme of Aryan origins has been used to support a variety of agendas on the Indian subcontinent. It is suggested that although the promotion of Indigenous Aryanism is undoubtedly extremely important to notions of identity and to the politics of legitimacy among certain Hindu nationalists, such concerns are not representative of all the scholars who have supported this point of view. Unfortunately, however, the whole Indigenous Aryan position is often simplistically stereotyped and conveniently demonized, both in India and in the West, as a discourse exclusively determined by such agendas. This bypasses other concerns also motivating such reconsideration of history: the desire of many Indian scholars to reclaim control over the reconstruction of the religious and cultural history of their country from the legacy of imperial and colonial scholarship. The manifold concerns that the author perceives as motivating Indigenous Aryanists to undertake a reconsideration of this issue are discussed, and it is argued that although there are doubtlessly nationalistic and, in some quarters, communal agendas lurking behind some of this scholarship, a principal feature is anticolonial/imperial.Less
This final chapter discusses some of the more modern ideological underpinnings of the Indo-Aryan origin debate in India as different forces compete over the construction of national identity. Other concerns motivating some of the participants on both sides of the Indigenous Aryan debate are also considered, showing how the same theme of Aryan origins has been used to support a variety of agendas on the Indian subcontinent. It is suggested that although the promotion of Indigenous Aryanism is undoubtedly extremely important to notions of identity and to the politics of legitimacy among certain Hindu nationalists, such concerns are not representative of all the scholars who have supported this point of view. Unfortunately, however, the whole Indigenous Aryan position is often simplistically stereotyped and conveniently demonized, both in India and in the West, as a discourse exclusively determined by such agendas. This bypasses other concerns also motivating such reconsideration of history: the desire of many Indian scholars to reclaim control over the reconstruction of the religious and cultural history of their country from the legacy of imperial and colonial scholarship. The manifold concerns that the author perceives as motivating Indigenous Aryanists to undertake a reconsideration of this issue are discussed, and it is argued that although there are doubtlessly nationalistic and, in some quarters, communal agendas lurking behind some of this scholarship, a principal feature is anticolonial/imperial.
Edwin Bryant
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195137774
- eISBN:
- 9780199834044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137779.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter starts the analysis of the actual data concerning Indo-Aryan origins. By the mid-nineteenth century, one of the few things regarding the homeland that Western Indo-European scholars did ...
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This chapter starts the analysis of the actual data concerning Indo-Aryan origins. By the mid-nineteenth century, one of the few things regarding the homeland that Western Indo-European scholars did agree on was that it could not have been India; wherever the original homeland might have been the Indo-Aryans at least must have come to the subcontinent from outside. While not the slightest bit concerned with the homeland obsession of European scholars in general, Indigenous Aryanists soon reacted to the corollary of the problem when it impinged on the origins of their own culture; it seemed unacceptable to consider that such an enormously speculative and seemingly inconclusive European undertaking should be entitled to make authoritative pronouncements on the early history of the Indian subcontinent. The first voices of opposition that attempted to utilize critical scholarship to counter the claim that the forefathers of the Vedic Indians hailed from outside the subcontinent are introduced. The initial objections concerned the philological evidence that had been brought forward as decisive by Western philologists. Since philology was a discipline that resonated with their own traditional Śruti epistemologies, and since it focused on texts in their own ancient language, Vedic Sanskrit, the philological evidence was the most easily accessible to Indigenous Aryan scrutiny; moreover, these texts that were suddenly of such interest to Western scholars happened to be their sacred ones and this fueled their concern.Less
This chapter starts the analysis of the actual data concerning Indo-Aryan origins. By the mid-nineteenth century, one of the few things regarding the homeland that Western Indo-European scholars did agree on was that it could not have been India; wherever the original homeland might have been the Indo-Aryans at least must have come to the subcontinent from outside. While not the slightest bit concerned with the homeland obsession of European scholars in general, Indigenous Aryanists soon reacted to the corollary of the problem when it impinged on the origins of their own culture; it seemed unacceptable to consider that such an enormously speculative and seemingly inconclusive European undertaking should be entitled to make authoritative pronouncements on the early history of the Indian subcontinent. The first voices of opposition that attempted to utilize critical scholarship to counter the claim that the forefathers of the Vedic Indians hailed from outside the subcontinent are introduced. The initial objections concerned the philological evidence that had been brought forward as decisive by Western philologists. Since philology was a discipline that resonated with their own traditional Śruti epistemologies, and since it focused on texts in their own ancient language, Vedic Sanskrit, the philological evidence was the most easily accessible to Indigenous Aryan scrutiny; moreover, these texts that were suddenly of such interest to Western scholars happened to be their sacred ones and this fueled their concern.
Edwin Bryant
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195137774
- eISBN:
- 9780199834044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137779.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
An examination is made of various points of view on the location of the Indo-European homeland based on evidence from the method of linguistic paleontology. This is one of the most exploited ...
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An examination is made of various points of view on the location of the Indo-European homeland based on evidence from the method of linguistic paleontology. This is one of the most exploited disciplines used in the homeland quest, and one that is also fundamental in insisting that the Indo-Aryans had an origin external to the Indian subcontinent. Here, Indian scholars are found reconfiguring the same logic and method to arrive at very different conclusions from those of their Western counterparts. The two principal aspects of linguistic paleontology examined are terms for various Indo-European flora and fauna (including trees), and the term “ēkwos” for horse (along with references to the accompanying archaeological evidence). The chapter finishes by presenting criticisms of the linguistic palaeontology method.Less
An examination is made of various points of view on the location of the Indo-European homeland based on evidence from the method of linguistic paleontology. This is one of the most exploited disciplines used in the homeland quest, and one that is also fundamental in insisting that the Indo-Aryans had an origin external to the Indian subcontinent. Here, Indian scholars are found reconfiguring the same logic and method to arrive at very different conclusions from those of their Western counterparts. The two principal aspects of linguistic paleontology examined are terms for various Indo-European flora and fauna (including trees), and the term “ēkwos” for horse (along with references to the accompanying archaeological evidence). The chapter finishes by presenting criticisms of the linguistic palaeontology method.
Edwin Bryant
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195137774
- eISBN:
- 9780199834044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195137779.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter deals with the linguistic evidence from outside of India, particularly loanwords from the Finno-Ugric languages (which have been identified either as Indo-Iranian, Iranian, or ...
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This chapter deals with the linguistic evidence from outside of India, particularly loanwords from the Finno-Ugric languages (which have been identified either as Indo-Iranian, Iranian, or Indo-Aryan) as well as the Mitanni and Avestan evidence, all of which have a direct bearing on the problem. Here, too, Indigenists have their own way of accounting for the evidence. The first section of the chapter looks at Semitic loans in Indo-European (Nichol’s model), Finno-Ugric, and other traces of Indo-Aryan (in the Caucasian and Ketic languages, on the borders of China and Korea, in the Kuban region north of the Black Sea, around the Caspian Sea, in Europe, in Afghanistan, and the Middle East). It then examines whether the Avesta (the body of texts preserving the ancient canon of the Iranian Zarathustran tradition) and the Mitanni (a kingdom in north Mesopotamia in the fourteenth century B.C.E.) treaties can throw any light on the Indo-Iranian homeland.Less
This chapter deals with the linguistic evidence from outside of India, particularly loanwords from the Finno-Ugric languages (which have been identified either as Indo-Iranian, Iranian, or Indo-Aryan) as well as the Mitanni and Avestan evidence, all of which have a direct bearing on the problem. Here, too, Indigenists have their own way of accounting for the evidence. The first section of the chapter looks at Semitic loans in Indo-European (Nichol’s model), Finno-Ugric, and other traces of Indo-Aryan (in the Caucasian and Ketic languages, on the borders of China and Korea, in the Kuban region north of the Black Sea, around the Caspian Sea, in Europe, in Afghanistan, and the Middle East). It then examines whether the Avesta (the body of texts preserving the ancient canon of the Iranian Zarathustran tradition) and the Mitanni (a kingdom in north Mesopotamia in the fourteenth century B.C.E.) treaties can throw any light on the Indo-Iranian homeland.
