ARTCL: Some changes in Theories

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

Some of you must have already read similar articles.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/history/history5.shtml

Part of the article is pasted below.

Warm Regards

Sanjay P

The Aryan Invasion TheoryOne of the most controversial ideas about Hindu history

is the Aryan invasion theory. This theory, originally devised by F. Max Muller

in 1848, traces the history of Hinduism to the invasion of India's indigenous

people by lighter skinned Aryans around 1500 BCE. The theory was reinforced by

other research over the next 120 years, and became the accepted history of

Hinduism, not only in the West but in India.There is now ample evidence to show

that Muller, and those who followed him, were wrong.Why is the theory no longer

accepted?The Aryan invasion theory was based on archaeological, linguistic and

ethnological evidence. Later research has either discredited this evidence, or

provided new evidence that combined with the earlier evidence makes other

explanations more likely.Modern historians of the area no longer believe that

such invasions had such great influence on Indian history. It's now generally

accepted that Indian history shows a continuity of progress from the earliest

times to today. The changes brought to India by other cultures are not denied

by modern historians, but they are no longer thought to be a major ingredient

in the development of Hinduism.Dangers of the theoryThe Aryan invasion theory

denies the Indian origin of India's predominant culture, but gives the credit

for Indian culture to invaders from elsewhere. It even teaches that some of the

most revered books of Hindu scripture are not actually Indian, and it devalues

India's culture by portraying it as less ancient than it actually is.The theory

was not just wrong, it included unacceptably racist ideas:

it suggested that Indian culture was not a culture in its own right, but a

synthesis of elements from other cultures it implied that Hinduism was not an

authentically Indian religion but the result of cultural imperialism it

suggested that Indian culture was static, and only changed under outside

influences it suggested that the dark-skinned Dravidian people of the South of

India had got their faith from light-skinned Aryan invaders it implied that

indigenous people were incapable of creatively developing their faith it

suggested that indigenous peoples could only acquire new religious and cultural

ideas from other races, by invasion or other processes it accepted that race was

a biologically based concept (rather than, at least in part, a social construct)

that provided a sensible way of ranking people in a hierarchy, which provided a

partial basis for the caste system it provided a basis for racism in the

Imperial context by suggesting that the peoples of Northern India were

descended from invaders from Europe and so racially closer to the British Raj

it gave a historical precedent to justify the role and status of the British

Raj, who could argue that they were transforming India for the better in the

same way that the Aryans had done thousands of years earlier it downgraded the

intellectual status of India and its people by giving a falsely late date to

elements of Indian science and culture

[Guest guest]

A few of my thoughts, please do not take it to be preaching or a lecture:

This is the bane of our nation. Other people write stuff that divides

our people. Aryan-Dravidian divide, language divide, caste divide,

religion divide and who benefits? - Some selfish invader or some vile

politicians.

Veda is not a religion. Veda is a book and can be adopted by anyone and

at anytime. It is meant to be studied and understood. No conversion is

required.

I often say that at one time all of the people in today's India,

Pakistan and perhaps Afghanistan were part of the same Vedic culture.

This is before the pre-islamic time. How come, then, people started

fighting born of the same culture? To my understanding, it is the

invaders who forcibly converted and divided our people to make sure

rebellion and resistance isn't strong. I will not blame the invaders

for the same, it is our own fault that we continue to believe in such

divisions.

Yoga means to unite and all we are doing is divide.

Similarly, Varna Dharma was not meant to divide people but to make sure

one works according to one's own nature. Today, it has been a political

issue. One person recently commented that we should drop Shlokas from

the Vedas which refer to casteism (when there is only varnas as a

description of people born under influence of different gunas)!

In effect, atleast I would not let my thinking be divisional in this

manner. For me, there is no divide between Aryan-Dravidian or any other.

For people who continue to believe so, it is more of question of education and not of fight.

Thanks and Regards

Bharat

On 10/8/05, Sanjay Prabhakaran <sanjaychettiar > wrote:

|| Om Gurave Namah ||

Dear Friends,

Some of you must have already read similar articles.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/history/history5.shtml

Part of the article is pasted below.

Warm Regards

Sanjay P

The Aryan Invasion TheoryOne of the most controversial ideas about Hindu history

is the Aryan invasion theory. This theory, originally devised by F. Max Muller

in 1848, traces the history of Hinduism to the invasion of India's indigenous

people by lighter skinned Aryans around 1500 BCE. The theory was reinforced by

other research over the next 120 years, and became the accepted history of

Hinduism, not only in the West but in India.There is now ample evidence to show

that Muller, and those who followed him, were wrong.Why is the theory no longer

accepted?The Aryan invasion theory was based on archaeological, linguistic and

ethnological evidence. Later research has either discredited this evidence, or

provided new evidence that combined with the earlier evidence makes other

explanations more likely.Modern historians of the area no longer believe that

such invasions had such great influence on Indian history. It's now generally

accepted that Indian history shows a continuity of progress from the earliest

times to today. The changes brought to India by other cultures are not denied

by modern historians, but they are no longer thought to be a major ingredient

in the development of Hinduism.Dangers of the theoryThe Aryan invasion theory

denies the Indian origin of India's predominant culture, but gives the credit

for Indian culture to invaders from elsewhere. It even teaches that some of the

most revered books of Hindu scripture are not actually Indian, and it devalues

India's culture by portraying it as less ancient than it actually is.The theory

was not just wrong, it included unacceptably racist ideas:

it suggested that Indian culture was not a culture in its own right, but a

synthesis of elements from other cultures it implied that Hinduism was not an

authentically Indian religion but the result of cultural imperialism it

suggested that Indian culture was static, and only changed under outside

influences it suggested that the dark-skinned Dravidian people of the South of

India had got their faith from light-skinned Aryan invaders it implied that

indigenous people were incapable of creatively developing their faith it

suggested that indigenous peoples could only acquire new religious and cultural

ideas from other races, by invasion or other processes it accepted that race was

a biologically based concept (rather than, at least in part, a social construct)

that provided a sensible way of ranking people in a hierarchy, which provided a

partial basis for the caste system it provided a basis for racism in the

Imperial context by suggesting that the peoples of Northern India were

descended from invaders from Europe and so racially closer to the British Raj

it gave a historical precedent to justify the role and status of the British

Raj, who could argue that they were transforming India for the better in the

same way that the Aryans had done thousands of years earlier it downgraded the

intellectual status of India and its people by giving a falsely late date to

elements of Indian science and culture

 

 

 

 

 

 

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