BMAC

The Andronovo culture is a cover term for a group of Bronze Age cultures of southern Siberia and Central Asia, ca. 2300–1000 BCE. It is probably better termed an archaeological complex or archaeological horizon. The name derives from the village of Andronovo (55°53′N 55°42′E), where in 1914, several graves were discovered, with skeletons in crouched positions, buried with richly decorated pottery. At least four sub-cultures have been since distinguished, during which the culture expands towards the south and the east:Including:

• Andronovo culture - Successors
• Andronovo culture - External link

Read more here: » Andronovo culture: Encyclopedia - Andronovo culture

Indo-Aryan migration refers to the migration and expansion of the Indo-Aryans during the 2nd millennium BC or earlier. Archaeological and philological data indicates that there was a shift of settlements from the northwestern part of South Asia to the Gangetic valley and to the south during the second millennium BCE, but does not clearly support a migration of Indo-Aryan people into South Asia. Based on linguistic data, many scholars have argued that Indo-Aryan speakers invaded in South Asia in the second millennium BCE. This correspo ...

Including:

• Indo-Aryan migration - Overview
• Indo-Aryan migration - History
• Indo-Aryan migration - Linguistics
• Indo-Aryan migration - Philology
• Indo-Aryan migration - Rig Veda
• Indo-Aryan migration - Vedic and Puranic King lists
• Indo-Aryan migration - Puranas
• Indo-Aryan migration - Avesta and Airyanem Vaejah
• Indo-Aryan migration - Archaeology
• Indo-Aryan migration - Indus Valley Civilization
• Indo-Aryan migration - Vasishta head
• Indo-Aryan migration - Pottery
• Indo-Aryan migration - West Asia
• Indo-Aryan migration - Astronomical data
• Indo-Aryan migration - Physical Anthropology
• Indo-Aryan migration - Genetics and Archaeogenetics

Read more here: » Indo-Aryan migration: Encyclopedia - Indo-Aryan migration

The Sintashta-Petrovka culture is succeeded by the Fedorovo (1400-1200 BCE) and Alekseyevka (1200-1000 BCE) cultures, still considered as part of the Andronovo horizon. In southern Siberia and Kazakhstan, the Andronovo culture was succeeded by the Karasuk culture (1500-800 BCE), which is sometimes asserted to be non-Indo-European, and at other times to be specifically proto-Iranian. On its western border, it is succeeded by the Srubna culture, which partly derives from the Abashevo culture. The earliest historical peoples associated w ...

See also:

Andronovo culture, Andronovo culture - Successors, Andronovo culture - External link

Read more here: » Andronovo culture: Encyclopedia II - Andronovo culture - Successors

The Indo-Aryans were nomadic or at least peripatetic, following their herds of cows around from pasture to pasture. Consequently they had no permanent settlements; the RgVeda only mentions temporary huts. These leave no archaeological record. So it is only to be expected that the migrations left no archaeological traces. The Huns are a comparable instance. No one doubts that the Huns actually invaded parts of western Europe on more than one occasion. Yet -- because the Huns were nomads -- they left no archaeological ...

See also:

Indo-Aryan migration, Indo-Aryan migration - Overview, Indo-Aryan migration - History, Indo-Aryan migration - Linguistics, Indo-Aryan migration - Philology, Indo-Aryan migration - Rig Veda, Indo-Aryan migration - Vedic and Puranic King lists, Indo-Aryan migration - Puranas, Indo-Aryan migration - Avesta and Airyanem Vaejah, Indo-Aryan migration - Archaeology, Indo-Aryan migration - Indus Valley Civilization, Indo-Aryan migration - Vasishta head, Indo-Aryan migration - Pottery, Indo-Aryan migration - West Asia, Indo-Aryan migration - Astronomical data, Indo-Aryan migration - Physical Anthropology, Indo-Aryan migration - Genetics and Archaeogenetics

Read more here: » Indo-Aryan migration: Encyclopedia II - Indo-Aryan migration - Archaeology

Shruti Vedas Rig Veda Sama Veda Yajur Veda Atharva Veda Brahmanas Aranyakas Upanishads Smriti Itihāsas Mahābhārata Bhagavad Gītā Ramayana Puranas (List) Tantras Sutras (List) Stotras Ashtavakra Gita Git ...

Including:

• Rigveda - Text
• Rigveda - Books
• Rigveda - Translations
• Rigveda - Internal evidence
• Rigveda - Hindu tradition
• Rigveda - More recent Indian views
• Rigveda - Editions
• Rigveda - Translations
• Rigveda - Bibliography

Read more here: » Rigveda: Encyclopedia - Rigveda

Soma (Sanskrit), or Haoma (Avestan) (from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Sauma) was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the later Vedic and Iranian cultures. It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, which contains many hymns praising its energizing or intoxicating qualities. It is described as prepared by pressing juice from the stalks of a certain mountain plant, which has been variously hypothesized to be a psychedelic mushroom, cannabis, or ephedra. In both Indian and Iranian tradition, the drink is ...

Including:

• Soma - Etymology
• Soma - Soma in Indian tradition
• Soma - Vedas
• Soma - Other Hindu texts
• Soma - Hinduism
• Soma - Persian Haoma
• Soma - Candidates for the Soma plant
• Soma - Hallucinogenic
• Soma - Ephedra
• Soma - Archaeological evidence

Read more here: » Soma: Encyclopedia - Soma

The Dasa are a tribe identified as the enemies of the Aryans in the Rig-Veda. The word Dasa, later acquired derogatory connotations, meaning 'servant', implying that they were subordinated by the Aryans. The identity of the Dasa has caused much debate, closely tied to arguments over Indo-Aryan migration, the claim that the Indo-Aryan authors of the Rigveda entered India from outside, displacing its earlier inhabitants. During the nineteenth century Western scholars identified the Dasa with dark-skinned Dravidian-speaking people ...

Including:

• Dasa - Etymology of Dasa and related terms
• Dasa - Dasa
• Dasa - Dasyu
• Dasa - Related terms
• Dasa - Anasa
• Dasa - The religion of the Dasas/Dasyus
• Dasa - Symbolical and spiritual interpretations
• Dasa - The Dasas/Dasyus and krsna or asikni
• Dasa - Tvac
• Dasa - Literature

Read more here: » Dasa: Encyclopedia - Dasa

Brian E. Hemphill and Alexander F. Christensen's study (1994) of the migration of genetic traits does not support a movement of Aryan speakers into the Indus Valley around 1500 BC. According to Hemphill's study, "Gene flow from Bactria occurs much later, and does not impact Indus Valley gene pools until the dawn of the Christian era." Kenneth Kennedy (1984), who examined 300 skeletons from the Indus Valley civilization, concludes that the ancient Harappans “are not markedly different in their skeletal biology from the present ...

See also:

Indo-Aryan migration, Indo-Aryan migration - Overview, Indo-Aryan migration - History, Indo-Aryan migration - Linguistics, Indo-Aryan migration - Philology, Indo-Aryan migration - Rig Veda, Indo-Aryan migration - Vedic and Puranic King lists, Indo-Aryan migration - Puranas, Indo-Aryan migration - Avesta and Airyanem Vaejah, Indo-Aryan migration - Archaeology, Indo-Aryan migration - Indus Valley Civilization, Indo-Aryan migration - Vasishta head, Indo-Aryan migration - Pottery, Indo-Aryan migration - West Asia, Indo-Aryan migration - Astronomical data, Indo-Aryan migration - Physical Anthropology, Indo-Aryan migration - Genetics and Archaeogenetics

Read more here: » Indo-Aryan migration: Encyclopedia II - Indo-Aryan migration - Physical Anthropology

Indo-Aryan migration - Rig Veda. The Rigveda is by far the most archaic testimony of Vedic Sanskrit. It describes a pastoral or nomadic, mobile culture, still centered on the Indo-Iranian Soma cult and fire worship. The purely nomadic and/or pastoral character of the Rig Vedic people is however disputed. The mobile nature of the Vedic religion is illustrated by the laying out of the ritual precinct as part of the ritual, rather than the existence of fixed temples. This holds for the invitation of Indra to the Som ...

See also:

Indo-Aryan migration, Indo-Aryan migration - Overview, Indo-Aryan migration - History, Indo-Aryan migration - Linguistics, Indo-Aryan migration - Philology, Indo-Aryan migration - Rig Veda, Indo-Aryan migration - Vedic and Puranic King lists, Indo-Aryan migration - Puranas, Indo-Aryan migration - Avesta and Airyanem Vaejah, Indo-Aryan migration - Archaeology, Indo-Aryan migration - Indus Valley Civilization, Indo-Aryan migration - Vasishta head, Indo-Aryan migration - Pottery, Indo-Aryan migration - West Asia, Indo-Aryan migration - Astronomical data, Indo-Aryan migration - Physical Anthropology, Indo-Aryan migration - Genetics and Archaeogenetics

Read more here: » Indo-Aryan migration: Encyclopedia II - Indo-Aryan migration - Philology

The separation of Indo-Aryans proper from Proto-Indo-Iranians has been dated to roughly 2000 BC–1800 BC. The Nuristani languages probably split in such early times, and are either classified as remote Indo-Aryan dialects, or as an independent branch of Indo-Iranian. It is believed Indo-Aryans reached Assyria in the west and the Punjab in the east before 1500 BC: the Indo-Aryan Mitanni rulers appear from 1500, and the Gandhara grave culture emerges from 1600. This suggests that Indo-Aryan tribes would have had to be present in the area of t ...

See also:

Indo-Aryan migration, Indo-Aryan migration - Overview, Indo-Aryan migration - History, Indo-Aryan migration - Linguistics, Indo-Aryan migration - Philology, Indo-Aryan migration - Rig Veda, Indo-Aryan migration - Vedic and Puranic King lists, Indo-Aryan migration - Puranas, Indo-Aryan migration - Avesta and Airyanem Vaejah, Indo-Aryan migration - Archaeology, Indo-Aryan migration - Indus Valley Civilization, Indo-Aryan migration - Vasishta head, Indo-Aryan migration - Pottery, Indo-Aryan migration - West Asia, Indo-Aryan migration - Astronomical data, Indo-Aryan migration - Physical Anthropology, Indo-Aryan migration - Genetics and Archaeogenetics

Read more here: » Indo-Aryan migration: Encyclopedia II - Indo-Aryan migration - Overview

When British and European language students first encountered Sanskrit in the late 18th century, they naturally assumed Sanskrit was the oldest of the Indo-European languages & the fount of all the others. As the study of language progressed, it became clear -- for very technical reasons -- that this could not be the case: there had existed a still older language (Proto-Indo-European) from which all the Indo-European languages descended. This reconstructed language had clearly come from a temperate climate, north of the Himalayas. Hence the Indo-Aryan language ...

See also:

Indo-Aryan migration, Indo-Aryan migration - Overview, Indo-Aryan migration - History, Indo-Aryan migration - Linguistics, Indo-Aryan migration - Philology, Indo-Aryan migration - Rig Veda, Indo-Aryan migration - Vedic and Puranic King lists, Indo-Aryan migration - Puranas, Indo-Aryan migration - Avesta and Airyanem Vaejah, Indo-Aryan migration - Archaeology, Indo-Aryan migration - Indus Valley Civilization, Indo-Aryan migration - Vasishta head, Indo-Aryan migration - Pottery, Indo-Aryan migration - West Asia, Indo-Aryan migration - Astronomical data, Indo-Aryan migration - Physical Anthropology, Indo-Aryan migration - Genetics and Archaeogenetics

Read more here: » Indo-Aryan migration: Encyclopedia II - Indo-Aryan migration - History

The linguistic facts of the situation are little disputed. However, linguistic data alone cannot determine whether this migration was peaceful or invasive. Different linguists have argued for either, or for a combination of both, on extra-linguistic grounds. Most of the languages of northern South Asia belong to a single language family, the Indo-Aryan subgroup of the Indo-European family of languages. The languages of South India belong to a different language family, the Dravidian languages, which has not been proven to be linked wi ...

See also:

Indo-Aryan migration, Indo-Aryan migration - Overview, Indo-Aryan migration - History, Indo-Aryan migration - Linguistics, Indo-Aryan migration - Philology, Indo-Aryan migration - Rig Veda, Indo-Aryan migration - Vedic and Puranic King lists, Indo-Aryan migration - Puranas, Indo-Aryan migration - Avesta and Airyanem Vaejah, Indo-Aryan migration - Archaeology, Indo-Aryan migration - Indus Valley Civilization, Indo-Aryan migration - Vasishta head, Indo-Aryan migration - Pottery, Indo-Aryan migration - West Asia, Indo-Aryan migration - Astronomical data, Indo-Aryan migration - Physical Anthropology, Indo-Aryan migration - Genetics and Archaeogenetics

Read more here: » Indo-Aryan migration: Encyclopedia II - Indo-Aryan migration - Linguistics

In the Rig Veda, Dasa, Dasyu and similar terms (e.g. Pani) occur sometimes in conjunction with the terms krsna ("black") or asikni ("black"). This was often the basis for a "racial" interpretation of the Vedic texts. But Sanskrit is a language that uses many metaphors. The word cow for example can mean Mother Earth, sunshine, wealth, language, Aum etc. Words like "black" have similary many different meanings in Sanskrit, as it is in fact the case in most languages. Thus "black" has many symbolical, mythological, psychological ...

See also:

Dasa, Dasa - Etymology of Dasa and related terms, Dasa - Dasa, Dasa - Dasyu, Dasa - Related terms, Dasa - Anasa, Dasa - The religion of the Dasas/Dasyus, Dasa - Symbolical and spiritual interpretations, Dasa - The Dasas/Dasyus and krsna or asikni, Dasa - Tvac, Dasa - Literature

Read more here: » Dasa: Encyclopedia II - Dasa - The Dasas/Dasyus and krsna or asikni

The separation of Indo-Aryans proper from Proto-Indo-Iranians is commonly dated, on linguistic grounds, to roughly 1800 BC. The Nuristani languages probably split in such early times, and are either classified as remote Indo-Aryan dialects, or as an independent branch of Indo-Iranian. It is believed that by 1500 BC, Indo-Aryans had reached Assyria in the west and the Punjab in the east. The spread of Indo-Aryan languages has been connected with the spread of the chariot in the first half of the second millennium BC. Some scholars trac ...

See also:

Indo-Aryans, Indo-Aryans - pre-Vedic Indo-Aryans, Indo-Aryans - Vedic Aryans, Indo-Aryans - Ancient India, Indo-Aryans - Contemporary Indo-Aryans, Indo-Aryans - South Asia, Indo-Aryans - Roma and Sinti, Indo-Aryans - Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryans - Historic, Indo-Aryans - Present-day Indo-Aryans

Read more here: » Indo-Aryans: Encyclopedia II - Indo-Aryans - pre-Vedic Indo-Aryans

The Indo-Iranians expanded widely into Central Asia from the Ural River in the west to the Tian Shan in the east, taking over the area occupied by the earlier Afanasevo culture, and defined by Transoxiana and the Hindu Kush (mountains) in the south. This region would later become for the most part exclusively Iranian. Their history becomes sensational with their invention of the horse-drawn chariot. Indo-Iranians - First wave. Main articleSee also:

Indo-Iranians, Indo-Iranians - Origin, Indo-Iranians - Expansion, Indo-Iranians - First wave, Indo-Iranians - Second wave, Indo-Iranians - Associated archaeological cultures, Indo-Iranians - Sources

Read more here: » Indo-Iranians: Encyclopedia II - Indo-Iranians - Expansion

From the time of its compilation, the text has been handed down in two versions: The Samhitapatha has all Sanskrit rules of sandhi applied and is the text used for recitation. The Padapatha has each word isolated in its pausa form and is used for memorization. The Padapatha is, as it were, a commentary to the Samhitapatha, but the two seem to be about co-eval. The original text as reconstructed on metrical grounds lies somewhere between the two, but closer to the Samhitapatha ("original" in the sense that it aims to recover the hymns in the form of their composition ...

See also:

Rigveda, Rigveda - Text, Rigveda - Books, Rigveda - Translations, Rigveda - Internal evidence, Rigveda - Hindu tradition, Rigveda - More recent Indian views, Rigveda - Editions, Rigveda - Translations, Rigveda - Bibliography

Read more here: » Rigveda: Encyclopedia II - Rigveda - Text

Even in the Rigveda, Soma is described as growing far away, in the mountains, and has to be purchased from travelling traders. This is connected with the Indo-Aryan migration model, i.e. the plant supposedly grew in the homeland of the Indo-Iranians, probably the Hindukush, but the migration of the Aryans into the Punjab removed them from the area of its occurrence, and it had to be imported. Later, knowledge of the plant was lost altogether, and Indian ritual reflects this, in expiatory prayers apologizing to the gods for the use of a substitute pla ...

See also:

Soma, Soma - Etymology, Soma - Soma in Indian tradition, Soma - Vedas, Soma - Other Hindu texts, Soma - Hinduism, Soma - Persian Haoma, Soma - Candidates for the Soma plant, Soma - Hallucinogenic, Soma - Ephedra, Soma - Archaeological evidence

Read more here: » Soma: Encyclopedia II - Soma - Candidates for the Soma plant

Indo-Aryans - Historic. Mitanni Vedic Aryans Kurus Licchavis Gandharis (During the Mahabharata period the present Kandahar province of Afghanistan used to be called as Gandhar) Shakya Magadhis Kambojas (Originally Iranian, later Indianized) Andhras? Angas Kasis Kalingas? Indo-Aryans - Present-day Indo-Aryans. Gujaratis Jats Punjabis Ra ...

See also:

Indo-Aryans, Indo-Aryans - pre-Vedic Indo-Aryans, Indo-Aryans - Vedic Aryans, Indo-Aryans - Ancient India, Indo-Aryans - Contemporary Indo-Aryans, Indo-Aryans - South Asia, Indo-Aryans - Roma and Sinti, Indo-Aryans - Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryans - Historic, Indo-Aryans - Present-day Indo-Aryans

Read more here: » Indo-Aryans: Encyclopedia II - Indo-Aryans - Indo-Aryan peoples

Contemporary speakers of Indo-Aryan languages are spread over most of the northern Indian Subcontinent. The largest group are the speakers of the Hindi and Urdu dialects of the Republic of India and Pakistan, together with other dialects also grouped as Hindustani, numbering at roughly half a billion native speakers, constituting the largest community of speakers of any Indo-European language. Other Indo-Aryan communities are in Nepal, Bangladesh, the disputed territories of Kashmir, and parts of Afghanistan. Of the 23 national languages of ...

See also:

Indo-Aryans, Indo-Aryans - pre-Vedic Indo-Aryans, Indo-Aryans - Vedic Aryans, Indo-Aryans - Ancient India, Indo-Aryans - Contemporary Indo-Aryans, Indo-Aryans - South Asia, Indo-Aryans - Roma and Sinti, Indo-Aryans - Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryans - Historic, Indo-Aryans - Present-day Indo-Aryans

Read more here: » Indo-Aryans: Encyclopedia II - Indo-Aryans - Contemporary Indo-Aryans

These archaeological cultures are assigned to the Indo-Iranians: BMAC Copper Hoard culture Painted Gray Ware culture Swat culture ...

See also:

Indo-Iranians, Indo-Iranians - Origin, Indo-Iranians - Expansion, Indo-Iranians - First wave, Indo-Iranians - Second wave, Indo-Iranians - Associated archaeological cultures, Indo-Iranians - Sources

Read more here: » Indo-Iranians: Encyclopedia II - Indo-Iranians - Associated archaeological cultures