Controversies and Omissions in the PBS Documentary
THE STORY OF INDIA

The show “The Story of India” is about the history, the religion and the culture of India. India has thousands of years of history, diversified religious thought processes and varied cultures. It is a story of the journey of man. One has to go back in time to understand India. The journey of India began with the evolution of mankind when there were no written records or documented evidence. One would find many controversies while filming a documentary of such enormity and it becomes essential to bring forth controversies and multiple perspectives to make justice to a documentary of such magnitude and culture that is depicted in the show. I watched the stunning documentary “The Story of India” on PBS Channel produced and narrated by historian Michael Wood. He has done a fairly good job in depicting the colours of India. However, there were some controversies and omissions in the show and few that got my attention relate to the controversies of the now discredited Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT) or Aryan Migration Theory (AMT), the origin of Sanskrit, the complete omission of Maratha Empire and the Maratha King Chhatrapati Shiwaji Maharaj.

The AIT or AMT hypothesizes the migration of the herdsmen and hunters from Central Europe to Northwest India around 1500 BC. They supposedly conquered the indigenous people of India and imposed the so-called Aryan culture upon them. This hypothesis was first promoted by European and British colonialists to establish a historical precedence to justify their own presence in India. Asimilar argument is also applicable to the origin of Sanskrit because of some parallels that were found between Latin (and other European languages) and Sanskrit. As a result, the European colonialist jumped to the conclusion that the language Sanskrit of the conqueror was the origin of the language of the conquered. After independence, some of the politically motivated Indians supported this theory probably either due to ignorance or due to being under the influence of Macaulay’s anglicized system of education - British Colonial gift to India in 18th century.

Let us go through the chronicle of time to determine whether AIT is a historical truth or a colonial myth and the origin of Sanskrit. For completeness we should go way back into the past. Over 160,000 years ago the first modern humans or homo sapiens lived in Africa.1 The earliest known archaeological evidence of our DNA and Y-chromosome ancestors is found in East Africa. A group travelled across Sahara about 125,000 years ago up the River Nile. Most of this group seems to have died due to global freezing. Around 90,000 years ago, the survivors travelled through Arabian Peninsula towards India. This group travelled all the way up to South China. However, about 74,000 years back, the super eruption of Mount Toba caused a 1000 year long ice age which seems to have killed most of the population. Following devastation of the Indian subcontinent, repopulation took place. Later dramatic warming of the climate, that happened around 52,000 years back, allowed population to migrate northward via India. From there, they moved westward to Europe around 50,000 years ago. The further review of the timeline indicates that the migration of the population and population growth that took place around the globe, started actually from Indian subcontinent around 50,000 years back. Around 10,000 BC, in the post glacial world, humans began experimenting with the domestication and farming. The agricultural advances achieved became the main means of subsistence in Asia. 2 Around 8000 BC when the glacier retreated, European populations were able to exploit various resources for survival and around 7000 BC, farming reached southwest Europe spreading west along the Mediterranean and north into central and northwest Europe. 2

In such a vast span of time, there is no record of any archaeological excavations that indicate a developed civilization in any part of the world except in the northern part of India, Sumer and Egypt (around 3000 BC). 3 The discovery of the archaeological sites of the Indus-Saraswati takes us back to 6000 BC6 revealing development of civilization in Northern part of India. The archaeological excavations around Mohenjo daro and Harappa 4 indicate that around 3000 BC there was a developed civilization that existed in these parts of India and continued as Indus-Saraswati civilization all the way up to 1900 BC, 5 around which time there was a major tectonic shift possibly accompanied by volcanic eruptions which drastically altered flow of river Saraswati and eventually drying up of the river bed. As a result, the civilization shifted eastward towards and flourished around the river Ganges. The archaeological findings also include the existence of horses and chariots around 4000 BC 6 and evidence of iron in India around 1800 BC. The artefacts of Devis and Devatas (female and male deities) found during the archaeological excavations are in line with the religious practices of India that still exist in the present day India. 4, 5 The Vedas and other sacred scriptures of Hindus written in Sanskrit are sophisticated poetry depicting advanced cultural and philosophical thought processes that date back to the period 3100 - 1500 BC. 4

Based on the timeline and the facts as mentioned here, it is very clear that: The civilization and culture began in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent around 6000 BC.

An advanced civilization was already existent in that region around 3100 BC. There was no historical record or archaeological proof indicating existence of other advanced civilizations in that time frame except in northern part of the Indian subcontinent, Sumer and Egypt. There were no civilizations existing in Europe or any nearby region of India during the time frame of 1500 BC to 2000 BC that could have sent the Aryan invaders to India as depicted in the PBS show.

There is no record of invasion of that magnitude from that time frame. There is no record of any destruction as a result of the battle between the indigenous people of India and these mythical invaders in the archaeological excavations around Mohenjo Daro, Harappa, or Indus-Saraswati Region.

Archaeological excavations indicate a cultural and religious continuity between archaeological artefacts of the Mohejo daro, Harappan, and Indus-Saraswati civilization that later continued as Hindu civilization as we know now’s and continues to flourish in modern times.

The Vedas, Puranas, Bhagvad Gita, Mahabharat, and Ramayan go back to 1500 BC or even 3100 BC.4 These Hindu Vedic Scriptures were created orally in Sanskrit language around that timeframe. The philosophies, the concepts, the storylines as depicted in these scriptures are sophisticated even for modern times.

All archaeologists dealing with the past of the Indian Subcontinent agree that there is no sign whatsoever of an invasion by Aryans at any time between 2000 and 1200 BC. Some quotations from archaeologists on this question are reproduced below: 7

As early as 1964, U.S. archaeologist George F. Dales, who excavated at several Harappan sites, questioned the theory of a violent attack on Indus cities by invading Aryans: “Where are the burned fortresses, the arrow heads, weapons, pieces of armour, the smashed chariots and bodies of the invaders and defenders?... Despite the extensive excavations at the largest Harappan sites, there is not a single bit of evidence that can be brought forth as unconditional proof of an armed conquest and the destruction on the supposed scale of the Aryan invasion.”

In a major book on the Indus civilization, another U.S. archaeologist, Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, one of the excavators at Harappa, rejected the entire concept of AIT:

“There is no archaeological or biological evidence for invasions or mass migrations into the Indus Valley between the end of the Harappan Phase, about 1900 bc and the beginning of the Early Historic period around 600 bc.” (J. M. Kenoyer, Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, p. 174).

Jean-François Jarrige, a French archaeologist who led excavations at three sites in Baluchistan, noticed important transformations in the course of several millennia, but saw no evidence of Aryan invasions:

“Nothing, in the present state of archaeological research ... enables us to reconstruct convincingly invasions that could be clearly attributed to Aryan groups.”

(Jean-François Jarrige, “Du néolithique à la civilisation de l’Inde ancienne” (Paris: Arts Asiatiques, vol. L-1995), p. 24, 21.)

Lord Colin Renfrew, the well-known British archaeologist, rejected the idea of an Aryan invasion on the evidence of the Rig- Veda (something many Indian scholars and spiritual masters, from Swami Vivekananda to Sri Aurobindo, had done earlier):

“As far as I can see, there is nothing in the Hymns of the Rigveda which demonstrates that the Vedic-speaking populations were intrusive to the area.... Nothing implies that the Aryas were strangers there.” (Colin Renfrew, Archaeology and Language, p. 182, 188.)

S. R. Rao, a well-known Indian archaeologist who excavated at Lothal and Dwaraka in Gujarat, wrote:

“There is no indication of any invasion of Indus towns nor is any artefact attributable to the so-called ‘invaders’.” (S. R. Rao, Foreword to The Aryan Invasion Theory – A Reappraisal by Shrikant Talageri, p. vi.)

B. B. Lal, another well-known archaeologist who once headed the Archaeological Survey of India, noted:

“The supporters of the Aryan-invasion theory have not been able to cite even a single example where there is evidence of ‘invaders,’ represented either by weapons of warfare or even of cultural remains left by them.” (B. B. Lal, The Earliest Civilization of South Asia, p. 283.)

M. K. Dhavalikar, an Indian archaeologist known for his excavations at several sites of the Deccan, wrote: “The theory of largescale invasion by Aryans is now discounted as there is no evidence to support it.” (M. K. Dhavalikar, Indian Protohistory (New Delhi: Books & Books, 1997), p. 299.)

Based on the findings of the archeological excavations, it is crystal clear that the theory of Aryan Invasion is nothing more than a myth and all humans except Africans have ancestors in the Indian peninsula. They can trace their ancestry that appeared between 10,000 and 50,000 years ago in Northern part of India or more precisely from South Asia.

The evolution of the Sanskrit language can be traced to 3100 BC in the Indian subcontinent. Therefore, Sanskrit, the language of the Vedas originated in India. There is no reason for us to doubt that the similarity that we see between Sanskrit and other European languages is due to the migration of the population that started 50000 years back from Indian peninsula and has continued since then.

The Story of India cannot be completed without the mention of the Maratha Empire that ruled in India 200 years from approximately 1650 AD through 1857 AD and during that time it expanded to North, Central and Mid-west part of India.3 The Maratha Empire restrained the expansion of the Moghul Empire. Ayoung boy at the age of 16 started this empire in Deccan and was crowned later on with the title of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shiwaji Maharaj. 9

These facts were easily available to anyone, especially to Michael Wood, who was involved in creating epic of such phenomenal nature. One would expect that the show of such magnitude will identify controversies and present both sides of the stories. There was no reason for a historian like Michael Wood to ignore the existence of the Maratha Empire, since it is more recent history and all the documented evidence is readily available for review. 3, 9 Unfortunately, Michael Wood failed in doing that. It is very sad that the historian of such calibre failed to catch this controversy and omitted 200 years of recent history that changed the fate of India. In doing that he has done disservice to Indian people especially to Hindus. His views are more Euro-centric. As mentioned in Hindu American Foundation (HAF) Press release, 8 it is obvious that Michael Wood clearly admires India and its people and this is revealed through his passionate depiction of the Story of India. But it is hoped that suitable corrections will be added by PBS to its website on this monumental documentary.

References

http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/. World History Atlas, General Editor Jeremy Black. Encyclopaedia of World History, General Editor Peter Stearns. In Search of the cradle of Civilization by Dr. Subhash kak, Dr. David frawley, Dr. George Feurstein/ The Invasion That Never Was by Michel Danino. The Astronomical code of Rgveda by Prof. S. Kak Chapter 2 (Sect. 2.2). A brief Note on the Aryan Invasion Theory by Michel Danino. HAF press Release dated January 10, 2009 (Washington, D.C.). http://www.iloveindia.com/history/medievalindia/ maratha-empire.html, http://www.indianetzone. com/6/maratha_history.htm, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maratha_Empire.

(If you need any assistance or clarification on this article, please do not hesitate to contact me at vshertu@aol.com.)