Aryan invasion theory: Encyclopedia - Aryan invasion theory

Aryan invasion theory

Aryan invasion theory, often abbreviated to AIT, is a term used to refer to the theory developed by 19th Century European linguists to explain the similarity between Sanskrit and European languages, supposing the invasion or migration of peoples who originated outside of India. The term is now most used by Indian opponents of the theory, or to label obsolete forms of the theory. The term "Aryan" derives from the word arya, used in the Vedas in a sense of "nobility", and as an ethnic term in Iran.

The phrase "Aryan invasion" arises from the historical model developed by 19th century European linguists to account for the origins of Vedic culture. They proposed an ancient invasion of "Aryans" into India. In some now obsolete versions of the theory the Aryans were envisaged as blond Nordic warriors who imposed themselves by force of arms on dark-skinned natives. Because of the racialist implications of this model, the phrase "Aryan Invasion" is now often used in the West to refer only to the predecessors of the modern theory of an Indo-Aryan migration into India. In this modern context the term "Indo-Aryan" refers to the sub-group of the Indo-Iranians who occupied northern India and who created the Vedas.

Aryan invasion theory - Origin of the theory

The theory arose from the discovery by William Jones that Sanskrit was related to the classical European languages Latin and Greek, and to Avestan, the ancient language of Iran. Jones surmised that all four languages derived from a common source "which perhaps no longer exists". For Jones, writing in the 1790s, this discovery was consistent with the biblical account of the origins of the tribe of Japheth, one of the sons of Noah, who was thought to have been the ancestor of the European peoples, and to have migrated from Mount Ararat into Europe. It was assumed that an offshoot of the tribe must have entered Iran and then India. Hence the lost proto-language was at first called Japhetic.

Later theorists identified that the Germanic, Celtic and Slavic languages also derived from this lost proto-language. Some theorists, such as Friedrich Schlegel postulated that India was the source of the language. They adopted the term "Indo-Germanic". Others preferred "Indo-European", which is now the standard term.

By the 1840s the distribution-pattern of the languages had led several scholars to conclude that India was an unlikely origin-point, since it was at the easternmost extension of the languages. Statements made in the Iranian sacred texts about a northern homeland, along with descriptions of battles in the Rig-Veda, led scholars to conclude that the original Aryans must have migrated into India. This theory is most associated with the linguist Friedrich Max Müller, who argued that the Aryans had migrated into India at around 1500 BCE, from an earlier homeland in Bactria or further north, in the Russian steppe. Müller also believed that the gods of the Vedic pantheon were related to the gods of Greece, Rome and of Norse mythology, so he argued that the pagan culture of Europe could be traced back to the Aryans, who must have expanded both eastwards and westwards from their homeland.

Max Müller dated the Rig Veda to 1200-1500 BCE, but he also said that these dates were provisional and that he has "repeatedly dwelt on the hypothethical character of the dates... All I have claimed for them has been that they are minimum dates." (Müller 1892). And he also asserted: " Whether the Vedic hynmns were composed 1000, or 1500, or 2000, or 3000 years BC, no power on earth will ever determine." (Müller 1891:91). Max Müller's contemporary critics have pointed out that "the whole foundation of Müller's date rests on the authority of Somadeva.. [who] narrated his tales in the twelfth century after Christ [and] would not be a little surprised to learn that "a European point of view" raises a "ghost story" of his to the dignity of a historical document". (Goldstücker 1860; Bryant 2001).

A non-Indian Urheimat was also favoured by Christian missionaries or because of imperialist and political considerations. Even the similiary of Sanskrit with European languages was rejected by some of them. Max Müller recounted that any remarks on Sanskrit were treated with contempt by his teachers and that "no one was for a time so completely laughed down as Professor Bopp, when he first published his Comparative Grammar of Sanskrit, Zend, Greek, Latin and Gothic. All hands were against him." (Müller 1883).

Aryan invasion theory - Racial aspects of the theory

Because of the view that the Aryans were the ancestors of Europeans it was assumed by many scholars that they must have been "white" caucasians. Interpretations were made of the Vedic scriptures to support this view. The Varna (caste) system associates the high-caste Brahmins with the colour white and the low-caste Shudras with the colour black. Hence it was argued that the higher castes were white-skinned invaders, who had subordinated dark-skinned natives. The derogatory application of the word "anasa" (noseless) to the Dasa, the enemies of the Aryans, was interpreted to mean that the Dasa had negroid-type flat noses. Other arguments were derived from alleged references to the "golden" hair of some Vedic deities. From these arguments scholars derived the idea that the Aryans had subordinated or displaced earlier inhabitants of India. Because the Dravidian languages of southern India were unrelated to Sanskrit and the other languages of the Indo-European group, it was assumed that Dravidian speaking peoples had been the aboriginal inhabitants.

By the 1880s several scholars were arguing that the original home of the Aryans was somewhere in Europe. By this date Darwinian ideas had replaced the biblical model of human origins. Thomas Huxley in his essay The Aryan Question (1890) summed up the thinking of the day,

Huxley took the view that the "primitive Aryans" were of Nordic race, writing that "typical specimens have tall and massive frames, fair complexions, blue eyes, and yellow or reddish hair–that is to say, they are pronounced blonds." Huxley's view was shared by other writers such as Charles Morris in his 1888 book The Aryan Race, and Friedrich Nietszche in On the Genealogy of Morals (1887). These and other writers argued that the Aryans were a warrior people who had imposed themselves over others by their ruthless military energy, based on chariot warfare. The invaders were thought to have entered the Indian subcontinent from the mountain passes of the Hindu Kush (present day Afghanistan), bringing with them the domesticated horse, probably previously unknown in India.

Isaac Taylor (The Origins of the Aryans. 1892: 226-227) noted that "German scholars have contended that the physical type of the primitive Aryans was that of the North Germans - a tall, fair, blue-eyed dolichocephalic race", while French writers have maintained that they were brachycephalic Gauls. This increasing preoccupation with race led Max Müller to proclaim: "I have declared again and again that if I say Aryans, I mean neither blood nor bones, nor hair nor skull; I mean simply those who speak an Aryan language… To me an ethnologist who speaks of Aryan race, Aryan blood, Aryan eyes and hair, is as great a sinner as a linguist who speaks of a dolichocephalic dictionary or a brachycephalic grammar." (Max Müller. 1887: 120. "Biographies of Words and the Home of the Aryas".)

Aryan invasion theory - Role in Imperialism and Nazism

The theory that the original Aryans were northern Europeans who had migrated into India was used by some British imperialists as an ideological justification for British control of India, on the grounds that the founders of Indian culture were of the same race as the Anglo-Saxon invaders who established the British Raj. The theory provided an argument for an alliance between the British and the Indian ruling classes. However some Indian nationalists also took the view that the Aryans had originated outside India. In The Arctic Home in the Vedas (1903) Bal Gangadhar Tilak argued on the basis of astronomical data that the Vedas could only have been composed from an Arctic location – the Aryan bards having brought them south after the onset of the last Ice age. The Aryan Invasion Theory and Tilak's theories were also accepted by the Hitler sympathizers Savitri Devi and her husband Asit Krishna Mukherji. Elst (1999) claimed that "after reading her autobiography, "Memories and Reflexions of an Aryan Lady", there is not the slightest doubt left that for her and her husband, their belief in the AIT, along with their distortive reinterpretation of Hindu tradition in terms of the AIT, was the direct cause of their enthusiasm for Hitler." Others were opposed to the view that the Vedas could have had a non-Indian origin.

The most notorious appropriation of the Nordic theory was that of the Nazis, who adopted the swastika design from Indian culture as an "Aryan" badge. The Nazi race-theorist Alfred Rosenberg argued in his book The Myth of the Twentieth Century (1930) that the Vedas were written by a superior Nordic master race who had invaded and occupied India in ancient times. These people had later become corrupted because they had lost contact with their "racial soul" due to their involvement with subordinated non-Aryans. For the Nazis, the Aryan invasion of India served as an allegory of the dangers of racial mixing. This argument was later repeated by other white supremacists such as the former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. The Indo-European linguist Jean Haudry, who was involved with the Front national, asserted in 1985 that the Proto-Indo-Europeans were tall, blue-eyed, fair-haired, long-skulled and straight-nosed and supported the Aryan Invasion Theory (Haudry 1985, Elst 1999).

Aryan invasion theory - Later developments

Even in the 19th century several theorists had criticised the use of the term "primitive [i.e. primal] Aryans" to refer to the earliest speakers of Indo-European languages, wherever they may have originated. They argued that the word should only describe the cultures in which the term "Arya" was used – those that occupied Iran and northern India. The tribal name of the earliest speakers is unknown, hence the term Proto-Indo-Europeans is now used. Such writers stated that equation of the Indo-Iranians with northern European invaders was unjustified. There was no reason to believe that the peoples of Iran and northern India were ever Nordic. There are references in Sanskrit literature where the hair of Brahmins is assumed to be black. For example, Atharva Veda 6:137. 2-3 contains a charm for making "strong black hairlocks" grow and in Baudhayana’s Dharma-Sutra 1:2, (also cited in Shabara’s Bhasya on Jaimini 1:33) we read the verse "Let him kindle the sacrificial fire while his hair is still black". And apart from a few gods associated with the sun, there is in Sanskrit literature only one golden-haired (hiranyakeshin) person , i.e. Hiranyakeshin, the author of the Hiranyakeshin-Shrauta-Sutra. (M. Witzel in J. Bronkhorst and M.M. Deshpande. 1999: 390).

By the 1920s the theory of Aryan superiority was also challenged by the discovery of the remains of the Indus Valley Civilization, which preceded the postulated Aryan invasion. It was obviously advanced for its time, with planned cities, a standardized system of weights and bricks, etc, and it was understood that if the Aryans had invaded, then, regardless of their later achievements, they had in fact overthrown or at least post-dated a civilization more advanced than their own. On the basis of the Rig-Veda, it was argued that the Aryans themselves must have been semi-nomadic pastoralists. The British archaelogist Mortimer Wheeler argued that the Aryans may have taken advantage of the decline of the Indus civilization to invade it. As he wrote, the war-god Indra "stands accused" of its final destruction.

More recent writers have taken the view that racial arguments are irrelevant to the theory. Hans Hock (1999b) studied all the occurrences that were interpreted racially in Geldner's translation of the Rig Veda and concludes that they were either mistranslated or open to other interpretations. He writes that the racial interpretation of the Indian texts "must be considered dubious." (p.154) Hock also notes that "early Sanskrit literature offers no conclusive evidence for preoccupation with skin color. More than that, some of the greatest Epic heroes and heroines such as Krishna, Draupadi, Arjuna, Nakula and (...) Damayanti are characterized as dark-skinned. Similarly, the famous cave-paintings of Ajanta depict a vast range of skin colors. But in none of these contexts do we find that darker skin color disqualifies a person from being considered good, beautiful, or heroic." (p.154-155) Hans Hock also notes that the world of the Aryas is often described with the words "light, white, broad and wide", while the world of the enemies of the Aryas is often described with the words "darkness or fog". And in many of these instances, he notes, a "racial" interpretation can be safely ruled out. Vishnu, Rama and many others are also described as dark-skinned. On the other hand Siva who is considered by many invasion-theorists as a Dravadian god is often described as fair-skinned. Also, Veda Vyas who compiled the Vedas and wrote the great Hindu epic Mahabharat was dark-skinned.

According to another examination by Trautmann (1997) the racial evidence of the Indian texts is soft and based upon an amount of overreading. He concludes: "That the racial theory of Indian civilization still lingers is a miracle of faith. Is it not time we did away with it?" (p.213-215)

Earlier commentators on the Rig Veda like Sayana (14th century) didn't interpret the Rig Veda in racial terms. According to Romila Thapar (1999, The Aryan question Revisited, "There isn't a single racial connotation in any of Sayana's commentaries."

Aryan invasion theory - Political and religious issues

In modern India, the discussion of Indo-Aryan migration is charged politically and religiously. Supporters of migration are faced with several accusations. The major one is that the British Raj and European Indologists from the 19th century to the present day promoted the Aryan Invasion hypothesis in support of Eurocentric notions of white supremacy. Assertions that the highly advanced proto-Hindu Vedic culture could not have had its roots in India are seen as attempts to bolster European ideas of dominance.

After Indian independence, Socialist and Marxist accounts of history proliferated in Indian universities. Opponents of the invasion theory contend that Marxists promoted the theory because its model of invasion and subordination corresponded to Marxist concepts of class struggle and ideology. Some modern opponents of the Aryan-Vedic continuity in India, like Romila Thapar, are Marxist. Some others like the Dalit Voice are proponents of the Dalit movement, even though B.R. Ambedkar and other Dalit leaders rejected the Aryan Invasion Theory. The Dalits who support the Theory allege that the Aryans were nomadic plunderers who invaded and destroyed civilizations from Europe to India, especially the Harappan civilization. Christian and Islamic missionaries have utilized the Aryan Invasion Theory for their own political goals. Some Christians and Muslims have thus proposed that "Sanskrit should be deleted from the Eight Schedule of the Constitution because it is a foreign language brought to the country by foreign invaders - the Aryans." (Elst 1999). Some Marxists, Missionaries and Dalits have questioned the legitimacy of Hinduism because of the Aryan Invasion Theory.

In contrast, the proponents of a continuous, ancient, and sophisticated Vedic civilization are seen by some as Hindu nationalists who wish to dispense with the foreign origins of the Aryan for the sake of national pride or religious dogma. The Indian nationalist Veer Savarkar, who invented the term Hindutva, accepted the Aryan Invasion theory (Savarkar: Hindutva, Elst 1999). Another motivation may arise from the desire to eradicate the problem associated with the Indian caste system; the hypothesis that it may originally have been a means of social engineering by the Aryans to establish and maintain a superior position compared to the Dravidians in Indian society may be a source of discomfort.

Shrikant G. Talageri (1993: 47) thinks that the question whether the Aryans came from outside of India is not very relevant to Hinduism itself, which has all of its holy places in India (in contrast to other religions like Christianity, Judaism and Islam). He noted that "Even if it is assumed that a group of people, called "Aryans", invaded, or immigrated into, India,... they have left no trace, if ever there was any, of any link, much less the consciousness of any link, much less any loyalties associated with such a link, to any place outside India."

Some Hindu thinkers like Sri Aurobindo have reacted against the theory on spiritual rather than historical grounds, claiming it to be 'materialistic'. Sri Aurobindo interprets the descriptions of war in the Rig Veda often as descriptions of spiritual warfare or as nature-poetry. Some Hindus have emphasized the fact that there is not an explicit mention of an Aryan invasion in the Hindu texts. Aurobindo thus writes: "But the indications in the Veda on which this theory of a recent Aryan invasion is built, are very scanty in quantity and uncertain in their significance. There is no actual mention of any such invasion..."(Sri Aurobindo. The Secret of the Veda. Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. 1971: 23-4) Also Vivekananda (CW Vol. 3) remarked: "As for the truth of these theories, there is not one word in our scriptures, not one, to prove that the Aryan ever came from anywhere outside of India, and in ancient India was included Afghanistan. There it ends."

Aryan invasion theory - Modern Theory

While the classical "Aryan invasion" scenario – the idea that a wave of Vedic Aryan invaders were the cause of the Indus Valley Civilization's destruction – has fallen out of favor, the majority of archaeologists would not dispute that the Sanskrit language and Hindu religion have some external sources in addition to internal ones. Sanskrit and other Indic languages are clearly related to the Iranian languages which historically have occupied much of Central Asia. However, even as early as the Rig-Veda (1500-1200 BCE), Sanskrit contains many Dravidian loanwords. Vedic religion appears to combine both local and foreign elements. Divine imagery, particularly for the gods Shiva and Prajapati, is reminiscent of statues found at Indus Valley Civilization sites, although the names of several Vedic gods have clear Iranian cognates (Mitra to the Iranian Mithra, and the god Agni appears in both Indic and Iranian religions). The linguistic and religious evidence thus indicates a complex process of fusion between cultures.

Archaeologist JP Mallory identifies the culture of the Rig Veda with the Gandhara grave culture which appears in northern India around 1600 BCE, perhaps a century after the end of the Indus Valley Civilization. Thus the Vedic Aryans are seen as migrants, but not the destroyers of the Indus Valley Civilization, whose fall was probably associated with climate change.

Aryan invasion theory - Literature

• J. Bronkhorst and M.M. Deshpande. 1999. Aryan and Non-Aryan in South Asia
• Bryant, Edwin: The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture. 2001. Oxford University Press.ISBN 0195137779
• Elst, Koenraad Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate. 1999. ISBN 8186471774 [2], [3]
• Frawley, David The Myth of the Aryan Invasion of India, 1995. New Delhi: Voice of India
• Hock, Hans. 1999b, Through a Glass Darkly: Modern "Racial" Interpretations vs. Textual and General Prehistoric Evidence on Arya and Dasa/Dasyu in Vedic Indo-Aryan Society." in Aryan and Non-Aryan in South Asia.
• Müller, Max. 1883. India:What it can teach us? London: Longmans.
• --. 1891 Physical Religion: The Gifford Lectures. London:Longmans.
• --. 1892. Rig-Veda Samhita. Vol. 4. London: Oxford University Press.
• Schetelich, Maria. 1990, "The problem ot the "Dark Skin" (Krsna Tvac) in the Rgveda." Visva Bharati Annals 3:244-249.
• Parpola, Asko. 1988. The Coming of the Aryans to Iran and India and the Cultural and Ethnic Identity of the Dasas.
• Sethna, K.D. 1992. The Problem of Aryan Origins. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan.
• Talageri, Shrikant. 1993. Aryan Invasion and Indian Nationalism.
• Trautmann, Thomas R. 1997, Aryans and British India. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Mallory, JP. 1989, In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology, and Myth

See also

• Indo-Aryan migration
• History of India
• Indo-European studies
• Indo-Aryan languages
• Sarasvati River
• Indus Valley Civilization
• Vedic civilization

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