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Resolving the Aryan Question: A Comprehensive presentation of Out of India Case – II

Resolving the Aryan Question: A Comprehensive presentation of Out of India Case – II

Author’s Note: This article series is an expanded version of a paper presented at ICHR conference in New Delhi, 2018 under the title ‘The Rigveda and the Aryan Theory: A Rational Perspective’.

II. The Actual Date of the Rigveda

The compulsions of the linguistic data compel the linguists to postulate that the “Vedic Aryans” entered India as intruders (whether invaders or immigrants) only around or after 1500 BCE, and composed the Rigveda between 1500 BCE and 1200 BCE. The linguistic data shows that speakers of all the twelve branches of Indo-European languages were together in the Original PIE (Proto-Indo-European) Homeland (wherever it be located) till around 3000 BCE, and only started separating from each other and migrating from that Homeland after or around that point. As per the AIT, this Homeland was in South Russia. At the same time, the securely dated archaeological and textual evidence from around the period of the Buddha (600 BCE or so) shows that the Indo-Aryan languages were definitely well established and spoken by local people all over northern India at that time. Achieving a balance between these two dates compels the date of intrusion to be fixed at 1500 BCE: the fact that the Iron Age commenced in northern India by 1200 BCE (although the latest evidence now takes this date back by several centuries) and that the Rigveda is clearly a pre-Iron-Age text also prevents the postulation of a later date.

The oldest datable and decipherable material or inscriptional evidence for the definite established presence of Indo-Aryan (Indo-European) languages in northern India is represented by the inscriptions of Ashoka (269-232 BCE). This gives the proponents of the AIT the freedom to postulate this speculative as-late-as-possible date for the invasion post-1500 BCE. A significantly earlier date would automatically disprove the South Russian Homeland theory (since it would be difficult to calibrate such an early date for the totally locally-oriented Rigveda with the postulated departure from South Russia around 3000 BCE) and would prove that India itself is the Original Homeland.

Till the beginning of the twentieth century, the only contemporary external (non-Indian) source for any data to be compared with that of the Rigveda was the Iranian Avesta. But this text also shared the Rigveda’s characteristic of having been orally transmitted during the earlier part of its existence, and was hence not datable on the basis of material inscriptions. But in the early twentieth century, it was discovered on the basis of datable records in West Asia that the Mitanni rulers of Syria-Iraq from around 1500 BCE were of “Indo-Aryan” origin. Their established presence in West Asia even more than 200 years earlier before that completely skewed the established consensus about the date of the Rigveda. However, this was sought to be adjusted within the AIT by postulating that the Mitanni Indo-Aryans separated from the main (i.e. Vedic) Indo-Aryans as well as the Iranians in Central Asia well before 1500 BCE in a pre-Rigvedic period. They migrated westwards into West Asia; while the proto-Vedic Indo-Aryans, later, migrated into northwestern India, and the proto-Iranians into Afghanistan, where they, later and separately, composed the Rigveda and the Avesta respectively.

The dated Mitanni records of the mid-second millennium BCE, therefore provide the first and the only datable material inscriptional evidence for the computation of “Indo-Iranian” chronology. But what does this computation show? Does it show that the recorded Mitanni Indo-Aryan data is of the pre-Rigvedic Indo-Aryan stage, as the AIT proponents insist it does?

The Rigveda consists of 10 Books or Maṇḍalas, numbered 1 to 10, containing different numbers of hymns and verses: the total number of hymns is 1028, and the number of verses is 10552. The Books belong to different periods, but the Indologists studying the internal chronology of the Books are unanimous in classifying 6 Books, the Family Books 2-7, as being older than the 4 non-Family Books 1, 8-10. Again, among the Family Books, it is agreed that Book 5 is closer to the non-Family Books than to the other five Family Books. Thus, we get two categories of Books: the 5 Early/Old Books 2,3,4,6,7, and the 5 Late/New Books 1,5,8,9,10. The Early/Old Books include Old hymns and verses, as well as Redacted hymns and verses (i.e. hymns that were added, edited or modified during a later period at the time of inclusion of the New Books, as per the Indologists). The number of hymns and verses in the three categories is as follows:

1. Old Hymns in Books 2,3,4,6,7:  280 Hymns, 2351 verses.

2. Redacted Hymns in Books 2,3,4,6,7:  62 Hymns, 890 verses.

3. New Hymns in Books 1,5,8,9,10:  686 Hymns, 7311 verses.

A. The Mittani Data

If the classification of the Mitanni culture as representing a pre-Rigvedic stage of “Indo-Aryan” culture is correct, then the elements common to the Rigveda and the Mitanni (and also the Avesta) should be found in the greatest numbers in the Old Books of the Rigveda (which would be closest in time to the connection with the proto-Mitanni Indo-Aryans), should become less frequent in the New Books (with the passage of time and increase of distance from the proto-Mitanni Indo-Aryans and the Iranians) and least frequent in the post-Rigvedic texts. However, we find exactly the opposite case, i.e. a huge mass of common elements is completely missing in the Old Hymns in the Old Books, found a few times in the Redacted Hymns in the Old Books (which were edited in the period of the New Books), but found in abundance in the New Books and in post-Rigvedic texts and later literature:

The common Vedic-Mitanni elements consist of names having the following prefixes and suffixes:   –aśva, –ratha, –sena, –bandhu, –uta, vasu-, ṛta-, priya-, and (as per the analysis of the Indologist P.E. Dumont), also bṛhad-, sapta-, abhi-, uru-, citra-, –kṣatra, yama/yami-. There is also the word maṇi, “bead/ornament”.

A1. Composer Names:

The following is the distribution of names with these prefixes and suffixes among the composers of hymns in the Rigveda:

1. Old Hymns in Books 2,3,4,6,7:  0 Hymns.

2. Redacted Hymns in Books 2,3,4,6,7:  0 Hymns.

3. New Hymns in Books 1,5,8,9,10:  108 Hymns.

V. 3-6, 24-26, 46, 47, 52-61, 81-82 (21 hymns).

I. 12-23, 100 (13 hymns).

VIII. 1-5, 23-26, 32-38, 46, 68-69, 87, 89-90, 98-99 (24 hymns).

IX. 2, 27-29, 32, 41-43, 97 (9 hymns).

X. 14-29, 37, 4647, 54-60, 65-66, 75, 102-103, 118, 120, 122, 132, 134, 135, 144, 154, 174, 179 (41 hymns).

Not a single hymn in the Old Books is composed by a composer with names with these prefixes and suffixes.

A2. References Within the Hymns:

The following is the distribution of names with these prefixes and suffixes, and the word maṇi,  in references within the hymns of the Rigveda:

1. Old Hymns in Books 2,3,4,6,7:  0 Hymns, 0 verses.

2. Redacted Hymns in Books 2,3,4,6,7:  2 Hymns, 2 verses.

3. New Hymns in Books 1,5,8,9,10:  78 Hymns, 128 verses.

VII.33.9 (1 hymn, 1 verse and name).

IV.30.18 (1 hymn, 1 verse and name).

V.19.3; 27.4,5,6; 33.9; 36.6; 44.10; 52.1; 61.5,10; 79.2; 81.5 (9 hymns, 12 verses and names).

I.33.8; 35.6; 36.10,11,17,18; 38.5; 45.3,4; 83.5; 100.16,17; 112.10,15,20; 116.2,6,16; 117.17,18; 122.7,13,14; 139.9; 163.2; 164.46 (14 hymns, 26 verses and names).

VIII.1.30,30,32; 2.37,40; 3.16; 4.20; 5.25; 6.45; 8.18,20; 9.10; 21.17,18; 23.16,23,24; 24.14,22,23,28,29; 26.9,11; 32.30; 33.4; 34.16; 35.19,20,21; 36.7; 37.7; 38.8; 46.21,33; 49.9; 51.1,1; 68.15,16; 69.8,18; 86.17 87.3 (24 hymns, 42 verses and 44 names).

IX.43.3; 65.7 (2 hymns, 2 verses and names).

X.10.7,9,13,14; 12.6; 13.4; 14.1,5,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15; 15.8; 16.9; 17.1; 18.13; 21.5; 33.7; 47.6; 49.6; 51.3; 52.3; 58.1; 59.8; 60.7,10; 61.26; 64.3; 73.11; 80.3; 92.11; 97.16; 98.5,6,8; 123.6; 132.7,7; 135.17; 154.4,5; 165.4 (29 hymns,  46 verses and 47 names).

The only references in the Old Books are in two Redacted Hymns.

The above evidence is not partial or ambiguous. It is clear and sweeping: the elements of the culture common to the Rigveda and the Mitanni are not pre-Rigvedic (formed during some hypothetical period in Central Asia before the “arrival” of the Indo-Aryans “into” India). They are Late Rigvedic, i.e. they belong to the period of composition of the New Books.

B. The Avestan Data

But this common culture is not just a Vedic-Mitanni culture: it is a Vedic-Mitanni-Iranian culture. So, let us examine the provenance of the common Vedic-Avestan names and name types in the Rigveda to see whether the Iranian evidence also shows this to be a late Vedic culture developed in the period of the New Books of the Rigveda. The Avestan data available is much more massive than the Mitanni data available and includes other important data including hosts of other common words as well as metres, etc.

The common Vedic-Avestan names and name types include not only names with the prefixes and suffixes found in the Mitanni records already considered earlier except –uta (i.e. –aśva, –ratha, –sena, –bandhu, vasu-, ṛta-, priya-, and, as per the analysis of the Indologist P.E. Dumont, bṛhad-, sapta-, abhi-, uru-, citra-,-kṣatra and yama/yami-) and the word maṇi, but also names with the prefixes and suffixes aśva-, ratha-, ṛṇa-, –citra, pras-, ṛṣṭi-, –ayana, dvi-, aṣṭa-, –anti, ūrdhva-, ṛjū-, –gu, saṁ-, svar-, –manas, śavas-, –stuta, śūra-, sthūra-, vidad-, nṛ-, pṛṣad-, prati-, –śardha, pṛthu-, jarat-, maya-, hari-, –śruta, śyāva-, –toṣa, –tanu, –rocis, –vanta/-manta, –kratu, etc., and the following names: Ghora, Āptya, Atharva, Uśīnara, Avasyu, Budha, Ṛkṣa, Gandharva, Gaya, Sumāyā, Kṛpa, Kṛṣṇa, Māyava, Śāsa, Traitana, Urukṣaya, Nābhānediṣṭha, Vṛṣṇi, Vaivasvat, Virāṭ, etc., as well as a few words common to the Rigveda and Avesta that are found only as words in the Rigveda but as words and also in names in the Avesta or vice versa (such as prāṇa, kumbha, śepa, etc., and the names of certain animals). Also, there are numerous other words listed by earlier Indologists (like Hopkins) and present-day Indologists (like Lubotsky and Witzel) that are peculiar to only the Indo-Aryan and Iranian branches and are not found in the other IE languages. These include the following prominent words: āśā, gandha/gandhi, kadrū, sūcī, tiṣya, phāla, saptaṛṣi, mūjavat, stukā, ambhas, samā, strī, tokman, evathā, udara, kṣīra, sthūṇa, chāga, kapota, vṛkka, śanaih, pṛdāku, bhaṅga, parṣa, pavasta, dvīpa. Also, the words gāthā and bīja.

B1. Composer Names:

The following is the distribution of names with these prefixes and suffixes among the composers of hymns in the Rigveda:

1. Old Hymns in Books 2,3,4,6,7:  0 Hymns, 0 verses.

2. Redacted Hymns in Books 2,3,4,6,7:  1 Hymn, 3 verses (last 3 of the 18 verses in the hymn).

3. New Hymns in Books 1,5,8,9,10:  309 Hymns, 3389 verses.

III.36­.16,17,18 (1 hymn, 3 verses).

V.1, 3-6, 9, 10, 20, 24-26, 31, 33-36, 44, 46-49, 52-62, 67, 68, 73-75, 81, 82 (39 hymns, 362 verses).

I.12-30, 36-43, 44-50, 99, 100, 105, 116-139 (61 hymns, 710 verses).

VIII.1-5, 10, 14, 15, 23-38, 43-51, 53, 55-58, 62, 68, 69, 75, 80, 85-87, 89, 90, 92, 97-99 (52 hymns, 878 verses).

IX.2, 3, 5-24, 27-29, 32-36, 41-43, 53-60, 63, 64, 68, 72, 80-82, 91, 92, 94, 95, 97, 99-103, 111, 113, 114 (62 hymns, 547 verses).

X.1-10, 13-29, 37, 42-47, 54-66, 72, 75-78, 90, 96-98, 101-104, 106, 109, 111-115, 118, 120, 122, 128, 130, 132, 134, 135, 137, 139, 144, 147, 148, 151, 152, 154, 157, 163, 166, 168, 170, 172, 174, s175, 179, 186, 188, 191 (95 hymns, 892 verses).

The only hymn in the Old Books whose composer has a name with any of these prefixes or suffixes is III.36 (in fact, only the last 3 verses out of 18 in this hymn), a Redacted Hymn, classified in the Aitareya Brahmana VI.18 as a late addition into the Old Book 3.

B2. References Within the Hymns:

The following is the distribution of names with these prefixes and suffixes, and the other common Vedic-Avestan or “Indo-Iranian” words, within the hymns of the Rigveda:

1. Old Hymns in Books 2,3,4,6,7:  0 Hymns, 0 verses.

2. Redacted Hymns in Books 2,3,4,6,7:  14 Hymns, 20 verses.

3. New Hymns in Books 1,5,8,9,10:  225 Hymns, 434 verses.

VI.15.17; 16.13,14; 47.24 (3 hymns, 4 verses and names).

III.38.6; 53.21 (2 hymns, 2 verses and names).

VII.33.9,12,13; 55.8,8; 59.12; 104.24 (4 hymns, 6 verses, 7 names).

IV.30.8,18; 37.7; 57.7,8 (3 hymns, 5 verses and names).

II.32.8; 41.5,12 (2 hymns, 3 verses and names).

V.10.3,6; 18.2; 19.3,3; 27.1,4,5,6; 30.9,12,14; 31.10; 33.9,10; 34.8; 35.4; 36.3,6; 41.5,9; 44.5,10,10,10,11,11,12,12; 45.11; 52.1; 53.13; 54.13; 61.5,6,9,10,18,19; 62.6,7,8; 64.7; 74.4; 75.8; 79.2; 81.5 (23 hymns, 42 verses, 47 names).

I.7.1; 10.2; 18.1; 22.14; 23.22; 24.12,13; 25.15; 30.3,4; 33.8,14,15; 35.6; 36.10,10,10,11,17,17,18; 38.5; 39.3; 42.9; 43.4,6; 44.6; 45.3,3,3,4; 51.1,3,13; 52.1; 59.1; 61.7; 66.1; 80.16; 83.5,5; 88.1,5; 91.6; 100.16,17; 104.3;  112.7,9,10,10,11,12,15,15,15,19,20,23,23; 114.5; 116.1,2,6,6,12,16,16,20,21,23; 117.7,8,8,17,17,18,18,20,22,24; 119.9; 121.11; 122.4,5,7,7,13,14; 125.3; 126.3; 138.2; 139.9; 140.1; 158.5; 162.3,7,10,10,15; 163.2,2; 164.7,16,46; 167.2,5,6; 169.3; 187.10;  188.5; 190.1; 191.16 (50 hymns, 95 verses, 113 names).

VIII.1.11,30,30,32; 2.1,9,37,38,40,40,41; 3.9,10,12,12,12,16; 4.1,2,2,19,20; 5.25,25,37,37,37,38,39; 6.6,39,45,46,46,48; 7.23; 8.18,20; 9.7,10,15; 12.16; 17.8,12,14; 19.24,37; 20.4; 21.17,18; 23.2,16,23,24,24,28; 24.7,14,18,22,23,28,28,29; 25.2,22; 26.2,9,11; 27.19; 32.1,2,30; 33.4,17; 34.3,16; 35.19,20,21; 36.7; 37.7; 38.8; 45.5,11,26,30; 46.21.21,21,22,24,24,31,33; 47.13,14,15,16,17; 49.9; 50.5; 51.1,1,1,1,1,2,2; 52.1,2,2,2,2; 54.1,2,2,8; 55.3; 56.2,4; 59.3; 62.10; 66.8; 68.10,15,15,16,16,17; 69.8,18; 70.15; 71.2,14; 74.4,4,13,13,13; 75.6; 77.2,5,10,10; 80.8; 85.3,4; 87.3; 91.3,5: 92.2,25; 93.1; 97.12; 98.9 103.8 (55 hymns, 128 verses, 157 names).

IX.8.5; 11.2,4; 43.3; 58.3; 61.13; 65.7; 67.32; 83.4; 85.12; 86.36,47; 96.18; 97.7,17,38; 98.12; 99.4; 107.11; 112.4; 113.3,8; 114.2 (18 hymns, 23 verses, 23 names).

X.8.8; 9.8; 10.4,7,9,13,14; 11.2; 12.6; 13.4; 14.1,1,5,5,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15; 15.8; 16.9; 17.1,1,2,5; 18.13,13; 20.10; 21.5,5; 23.6,7; 24.4; 27.7,10,17; 28.4; 31.11; 33.7; 34.1,11; 39.7; 47.3,6; 48.2; 49.5,6; 51.3; 52.3; 55.8; 58.1,1; 59.6,8,10; 60.5,7,10,10,10; 61.13,17,18,21,26; 62.8; 63.17; 64.2,3,8,16,17; 65.12,12; 67.7; 72.3,4; 73.11; 80.3; 82.2; 85.5,6,37,37,40,41; 86.4,6,23,23; 87.12,16; 89.7; 90.5,13; 91.14; 92.10,11; 93.14,15,15; 94.13; 95.3,15; 96.5,6,8; 97.16; 98.1,3,5,6,7,8; 99.6,11; 101.3; 103.3; 105.2; 106.5,6; 109.4; 115.8,9; 120.6,9; 123.4,6,7; 124.4; 129.1; 130.5; 132.7,7; 135.1,7; 136.6; 139.4,6; 146.6; 148.5; 150.3; 154.4,5; 159.3; 164.2; 165.1,2,3,4,4,5; 166.1; 177.2; 189.2 (79 hymns, 146 verses, 160 names).

The only references in the Old Books are in fourteen Redacted Hymns.

B3. Dimetric Meters:

In addition, the following is the distribution in the Rigveda of the newer dimetric meters, i.e. meters having 8 syllables per line [other than the old gāyatrī (8+8+8) and anuṣṭubh (8+8 +8+8) that are found throughout the Rigveda], i.e. the  pankti (8+8+8+8+8), mahāpankti (8+8 +8+8 +8+8) and dimeter śakvarī (8+8+8+8+8+8+8), common to the Avesta and the Rigveda:

1. Old Hymns in Books 2,3,4,6,7: 0 Hymns, 0 verses.

2. Redacted Hymns in Books 2,3,4,6,7:  1 Hymn, 1 verse.

3. New Hymns in Books 1,5,8,9,10:  50 Hymns, 255 verses.

VI. 75.17 (1 verse).

V. 6.1-10; 7.10; 9.5,7; 10.4,7; 16.5; 17.5; 18.5; 20.4; 21.4; 22.4; 23.4; 35.8; 39.5; 50.5; 52.6,16-17; 64.7; 65.6; 75.1-9; 79.1-10 (49 verses).

I. 29.1-7; 80.1-16; 81.1-9; 82.1-5; 84.10-12; 105.1-7,9-18; 191.10-12 (60 verses).

VIII. 19.37; 31.15-18; 35.22,24; 36.1-7; 37.2-7; 39.1-10; 40.1-11; 41.1-10; 46.21,24,32; 47.1-18; 56.5; 62.1-6,10-12; 69.11,16; 91.1-2 (86 verses).

IX. 112.1-4; 113.1-11; 114.1-4 (19 verses).

X. 59.8,9; 60.8,9; 86.1-23; 133.3-6; 134.1-7; 145.6; 164.5; ; 166.5 (41 verses).

The only verse in the five Old Books is in a notoriously late Redacted Hymn.

In sum: the common data, representing the cultural elements common to the Rigveda, the Avesta, and the securely dated Mitanni documents and records, is not found at all in the 280 Old Hymns and 2351 Old verses in the five Old Books. It is found sparingly in the 62 Redacted Hymns and 890 Redacted verses in these Old Books (that were redacted or edited during the period of composition of the New Books), and found in great abundance in the 686 New Hymns and 7311 New verses in the five New Books as well as in all subsequent Vedic and Sanskrit literature.

To summarize the data only in the Old Hymns and the New Hymns respectively, leaving aside as a distraction the Redacted Hymns (Old hymns edited during the New period), we get an absolutely uni-directional picture:

TOTAL HYMNS AND VERSES:

1. Old Hymns in Books 2,3,4,6,7:  280 Hymns, 2351 verses.

2. New Hymns in Books 1,5,8,9,10:  686 Hymns, 7311 verses.

COMMON RIGVEDIC-AVESTAN-MITANNI NAME TYPES IN COMPOSER NAMES:

1. Old Hymns in Books 2,3,4,6,7:  0 Hymns, 0 verses.

2. New Hymns in Books 1,5,8,9,10:  309 Hymns, 3389 verses.

COMMON RIGVEDIC-AVESTAN-MITANNI NAME TYPES AND WORDS WITHIN THE HYMNS:

1. Old Hymns in Books 2,3,4,6,7:  0 Hymns, 0 verses.

2. New Hymns in Books 1,5,8,9,10:  225 Hymns, 434 verses.

COMMON RIGVEDIC-AVESTAN NEW DIMETRIC METERS:

1. Old Hymns in Books 2,3,4,6,7: 0 Hymns, 0 verses.

2. New Hymns in Books 1,5,8,9,10:  50 Hymns, 255 verses.

The Avestan-Mitanni data, and its complete identity with the new data in the New Books of the Rigveda, thus presents us with solid scientifically dated evidence for dating the Rigveda:

1. The Mitanni kingdom flourished in Syria-Iraq for about 200 years from around 1500 BCE or so. But the recorded evidence shows that they were in West Asia more than 200 years prior to the establishment of their kingdom. Further, the presence of another Mitanni-like people, the Kassites, in Iraq (Babylon) is also attested from around 1750 BCE: the Kassites had a king named Abirattaš, one of the late name-types (with the suffix –ratha) found in the Mitanni names.

2. The presence of the Mitanni and Kassites in Syria-Iraq in the 18th century BCE, and the presence in their culture of cultural elements in common with the New Books of the Rigveda, however, harks back to a far earlier period: The Mitanni and Kassites were already speakers of totally non-Indo-European languages. Witzel classifies these Indo-Aryan elements in the Mitanni data as the “remnants” of Indo-Aryan in the Hurrite/Hurrian language of the Mitanni (WITZEL 2005:361); and J.P. Mallory calls them “little more than the residue of a dead language in Hurrian“, and tells us that “the symbiosis that produced the Mitanni may have taken place centuries earlier” (MALLORY 1989:42). By any conservative estimate, these cultural elements must date back long before 1800 BCE in West Asia itself.

3. The Old Books of the Rigveda, earlier, and the New Books of the Rigveda, later, form two parts of one single cultural continuum. Therefore, the new cultural elements in the New Books that are not found in the Old Books represent new cultural developments within the culture of the Old Books, and within the same geographical area. The Old Books (6,3,7,4,2) preceded the development of the common Rigvedic-Mitanni-Avestan culture, and the New Books (5,1,8,9,10) represent the period of this development, both within the same broad geographical horizon. The geographical horizon of the Rigveda is therefore the geographical horizon of the area where this new culture originally developed; i.e. this common culture developed in the area stretching from westernmost Uttar Pradesh and Haryana in the east to southern and eastern Afghanistan in the west. And this is the area from which the proto-Mitanni Indo-Aryans and the proto-Iranian ancestors of the Avestan composers migrated to their historical areas, taking this common culture with them.

4. The Mitanni people in West Asia (Syria-Iraq) already in the 18th century BCE represented the “remnants” and “residue” of this common culture inherited from their Indo-Aryan ancestors. Those ancestors must, by any logic, have already arrived in West Asia by 2000 BCE at the latest. They must therefore have migrated from the Rigvedic area (stretching from westernmost Uttar Pradesh and Haryana in the east to southern and eastern Afghanistan in the west) many centuries before their presence in West Asia. By any logic, this can only be a date somewhere in the second half of the third millennium BCE at the latest.

5. The culture that the proto-Mitanni Indo-Aryans took with them was clearly already a fully developed and flourishing culture in this home area of the Rigveda at the time they migrated from the area taking this culture with them. Therefore, the beginnings of this new culture of the New Books of the Rigveda must go back at the very least to 2500 BCE and even further back into the first half of the third millennium BCE.

6. The period of composition of the Old Books (that are divided into two periods: an Earlier Old Period of the Oldest Books 6,3,7 in that order, and a Later Old Period, or Middle Period, of Books 4,2), in which this new culture of the New Books is completely absent, will therefore go much further back in time before 2500 BCE at the very latest: to 3000 BCE or earlier.

This dating is further confirmed by the references in the Rigveda to certain technological innovations that took place in the second half of the third millennium BCE, which are likewise completely absent in the Old Books:

Spoked wheels were invented (supposedly around Central Asia) in the second half of the third millennium BCE. Likewise, the “Bactrian camel was domesticated in Central Asia in the late 3rd mill. BCE” (Witzel). The following is the distribution of references to camels and to spokes in the Rigveda, all exclusively in the New Books and completely missing in the Old Books:

V.13.6; 58.5.

I.32.15; 141.9; 138.2; 164.11,12,13,48.

VIII.5.37; 6.48; 20.14; 46.22,31; 77.3.

X.78.4.

7. The fact that the Old Books of the Rigveda were composed in the area stretching from westernmost Uttar Pradesh and Haryana in the east to southern and eastern Afghanistan in the west in a period anterior to 3000 BCE (at minimal estimates) gives us two very significant equations:

a) This is the area as well as the period of the “Indus Valley”/”Harappan”/”Sindhu-Sarasvatī” Civilization. Therefore, clearly the Rigvedic culture is identifiable with the “Indus Valley”/”Harappan”/”Sindhu-Sarasvatī” culture.

b) As per the linguistic evidence, the speakers of all the 12 branches of Indo-European languages were together in the PIE Homeland, the “Original Homeland of the Indo-European languages”, till around 3000 BCE. Therefore, that PIE Homeland in 3000 BCE is clearly in northern India.

The Date of the Other Vedic Texts

Another important point that must be clarified here is the relative position of the other Vedic texts (the other Samhitās, the Brāhmaṇas, the Āraṇyakas, the Upaniṣads and the Sūtras) vis-à-vis the Rigveda in terms of their period of composition. If the Rigveda was completed by 1500 BCE or so, does this mean that the other texts follow each other in a chronological line after 1500 BCE? The fact is that there is nothing to indicate that the periods of the different texts are mutually exclusive. While the points of completion of the different texts are indeed in line with their hitherto accepted chronological order, there is no reason to believe that the entire bodies (so to say) of the different texts were necessarily composed in mutually exclusive periods. The composition of the bulk of the oldest texts or the oldest parts of the texts in most of these categories must already have started at different points of time within the later Rigvedic period, along with the composition of the hymns in the New Books of the Rigveda. It is only that the Rigveda, for ritual reasons, was preserved with much greater precision and exactitude than the other texts, and therefore the New Books preserved older linguistic forms than the other Vedic texts that may have been constantly redacted and linguistically updated. The exact chronological details must await detailed investigation, including an examination of genuine astronomical details or data that may be available in these texts.

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Shrikant Talageri

Shrikant Talageri is a scholar and acclaimed author of "The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis", the seminal work on the Aryan Invasion debate. His latest work is "Rigveda And Avesta The Final Evidence".