Author: N.S. Rajaram
Publication: The Organiser
Date: November 19, 2000
Who were the Harappans?
The last quarter of the twentieth
century saw major advances in our understanding of ancient India.
Beginning with the discovery of the Vedic Sarasvati river by the late V.S.
Wakankar, it has reached a new stage following the decipherment of the
famous and difficult Indus script (or the Harappan script) by Natwar Jha
in collaboration with this writer. All this work, including the decipherment,
settles the question of the identity of the Harappans and their problems
of twentieth century historical research. No less significantly,
the decipherment provides a historical context for both the Harappans and
the Vedic people by linking Harappan archaeology and the Vedic literature.
Without this historical linkage, what we have is the paradox of a vast
archaeology without literature for the Harappans and a great literature
without archaeology for the Vedic Aryans.
An important point to note is that
the Aryan invasion version of history had stood demolished by archaeology
even before the decipherment. But for reasons ranging from academic
inertia to protection, of vested interests, the scientifically discredited
version based on the 'Aryan invasion' and the 'Aryan Dravidian wars' continues
to be found in history books. It is worth noting that no archaeologist
today-Indian or Western-subscribes to the Aryan invasion, which is mainly
the creation of nineteenth century linguists. (There were also political
and Christian missionary considerations that are not germane here.) Recently
available genetic evidence also contradicts any invasion or large-scale
migration 3000-4000 years ago, as required by the Aryan invasion, version
of history. The decipherment is the last nail ill the coffin.
It is still recent and controversial so what I will do is present evidence
to show that, the Harappan Civilization abounds in Vedic symbolism, without
resorting to the decipherment.
This is best done with the help
of a few illustrations taken from archaeological sites, The first shows
several svastika signs that are quite common on Harappan artifacts.
This is closely related to the Vedas. There is a famous svasti mantra
of the Rigveda, which begins: svasti nah indrah vriddhashravah...
Another artifact that highlights
the obvious Vedic Harappan connection is a seal known as 'Onkara mudra',
with the Harappan 'Om' sign on it. The figure displays a photo of
the seal along with its line drawing in two positions-the original and
rotated by ninety degrees. This clearly shows that the Devanagari
'Om' was obtained by rotating the Harappan 'Om' by ninety degrees.
Sever al Vedantic works, from the Upanishads to the Gita, describe this
'bow-shaped' pranavakshara-as the 'Om' is also known.
The third display is a photo of
several terracotta figurines from sites like Harappa and Mohen-jo-daro.
They show various postures recognizable as yogasanas. Yoga is an
integral and indispensable part of Vedantic knowledge and practice with
roots that go back to the Rigveda Itself. The important point to,
note is that all the evidence presented so far highlight the Vedic nature
of the Harappan civilization even without the decipherment. And this
is but a miniscule fraction of the abundant evidence that has been available
to scholars for well over half a century. In the face of this it
is puzzling that both Indian and Western scholars should stubbornly refuse
to acknowledge the telltale evidence before their eyes.
What about the horse?
Recognizing that their days are
numbered, advocates of the Aryan invasion theory are trying to divert attention
away from all this evidence by raising irrelevant issues like 'No horse
at Harappa', and charges of 'fraud'. As authority they quote Michel
Witzel and one Steve Farmer as 'Harvard Indologists'. (Witzel is
a Sanskrit professor whose credentials are in doubt because of his blunders
in Sanskrit grammar. And Farmer is a failed academic who makes a
living as a contract computer programmer in California. But characteristically,
these are 'experts' to secularist scholars simply because they happen to
be Westerners!)
In addition there is technical evidence
about the horse also. The Rigveda describes the horse as having 34
ribs. The Central Asian horse on the other hand, which the Aryans
are supposed to have brought to India, has 36 ribs. So it cannot
be the Vedic horse. On the other hand, the breed native to India
and Southeast Asia has 34 ribs. So the horse evidence actually contradicts
the Aryan invasion, as does a good deal of other technical evidence including
genetic evidence. The fact of the matter is that there is not a shred
of evidence to support any 'Aryan invasion' from the northwest in ancient
times. On the other hand there is plenty of archaeological evidence
to indicate movements from India going west and north in prehistoric times.
And this includes examples of Sanskrit and Vedic names and inscriptions
in West Asia. Most significantly, a horse training manual found in
West Asia (Anatolia) has technical terms in Sanskrit! All this hows there
were movements out of India in ancient times. (I'll describe this
in a future article.) This means that the Aryan invasion exists only to
serve the careers and reputations of a few western Indologists and their
Indian followers. Seeing that they are running out of evidence, they
have resorted to cries of 'Hindutva propaganda'!
When argument fails, abuse begins.
