The original homeland of the Aryans

The original homeland of the Aryans, a group of Indo-European peoples, is a subject of debate among scholars. This ancient civilization is believed to have existed around 1500–2000 BC. The most widely held theory is the “Aryan migration” theory, which posits that Aryans originated from the Eurasian steppes, perhaps in present-day Ukraine or southern Russia.

According to this theory, the Aryans migrated south and west until they eventually settled in the Indian subcontinent, where they played a significant role in the development of Vedic culture and the composition of the sacred texts known as the Vedas. The migration theory is supported by linguistic and archaeological evidence, including similarities between Sanskrit and other Indo-European languages ​​and the presence of horse-drawn chariots both on the steppes and in the early Indian subcontinent.

However, the debate continues, with some scholars arguing for alternative theories, such as a more localized origin within the Indian subcontinent. The exact homeland of the Aryans remains an interesting historical puzzle with ongoing research and debate.

The original homeland of the Aryans

Introduction The original homeland of the Aryans

In India, the founders or creators of the Vedic culture, which was diametrically opposed to the Indus Valley Civilization, were Aryans, probably immigrants whose first arrival in India dates back to between 2000 and 1500 BC. After the Aryans settled in India, they composed a series of religious hymns that were eventually compiled into a text known as the Rigveda.

India is the original home of the Aryans

There has long been controversy over what region the Indo-Europeans inhabited before one or more of their branches arrived in India. Many scholars like Ganganath Jha (Brahmarshi-desha), D.S. Triveda, (Devika River in Multan), L.D. Kalla (Kashmir and Himalaya region) etc. have tried to prove that the Vedic Aryans were neither foreigners nor migrated to India but they were the original inhabitants who considered Sapta Sindhu as their original home. This view, while very popular at one time, does not have many supporters now.

Aryans are foreigners

If India were the original home of the Aryans, they would certainly have tried to fully Aryanize this entire subcontinent before crossing the border barrier to some other countries.

Furthermore, the vast differences between the Harappan and Vedic civilizations further prove that if the Aryans were the original inhabitants, these differences would not have been noticed, especially since the epicenter of both cultures was the Indus region.

Equally fanciful are the views of some European scholars who attribute the Baltic Sea region as the original home of the Aryans. Bal Gangadhar Tilak proposed the polar region as the original home of the Aryans. Central Asia, Central Europe, Lithuania, etc. have also been proposed as the original homelands of the Aryans. However, there is a consensus that the original homeland of the Aryans was somewhere in Central Asia.

Settlement of Aryans before coming to India

In the period preceding the migration to India, the Aryans, in all probability, settled in Iran and the Central Asian regions bordering the Oxus and Jaxartes and the Aral and Caspian seas, and are now known as Indo-Iranians. From this base, it can be assumed that parts of them pushed out into the highlands of Afghanistan and then descended from this base into the plains of the Punjab.

Asia Minor and Western Asia

There is evidence outside of India to show that there was some Aryan activity in Asia Minor and other West Asian countries. Some inscriptions from 1350 BC found at Boghaz-Koi in Cilicia (Asia Minor), the capital of the ancient Hittites, mention some Aryan deities such as Indra, Varuna, Mitra and Nasatyas (Aswins). We also have information that Indo-European elements were found in the Hittites of Turkey (ancient Anatolia) around 2000 BC and the Kassite languages ​​contained Indo-European expressions. Some Aryan names appear in the 1600 BC Kassite inscriptions from Iraq and the 14th century BC Mittani inscriptions from Syria. However, the earliest evidence of an Indo-European language is found in an inscription from 2200 BC in Iraq. Babylonian cuneiform clay tablets discovered at El-Amarna in Egypt revealed that many kings with Indo-Iranian names such as Artamanya, Arzawiya, Yasadata, Suttarna, etc. ruled in Syria around 1400 BC. Further, around 1760 BC, Babylon fell to Kassites, who are known to have used the word Surias to denote the Sun. This is possibly the oldest documented Indo-Iranian stamp word that the Kassites borrowed from the Indo-Iranians before they split from their common home.

Evidence of the Boghaz-Koi Inscriptions

As regards chronology, all we can glean from the inscriptions at Boghaz-Koi is that by about the middle of the second millennium B.C. the Aryan tribes who worshiped the Vedic gods must have been established for a very long time in north-western India. several tribes migrated far back to the west as early as around 1400 BC.

Conclusion

The Aryan migration to India was not a single collective event but one spanning centuries and involving many tribes. In the Rigveda, the land where the Vedic Aryans lived is called Sapta Sindhu, or “land of seven rivers,” which included the Indus or Sindhu with its main tributaries in the west and the Sarasvati in the east. The Sapta Sindhu region witnessed the composition of sacred hymns that describe Vedic culture’s early growth and development.

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