Intellectual khichdi

I came across an astounding theory recently.

Doing some research (for no apparent reason) into India's history of invasion, I was told that the famed Aryan race might never have existed and most probably wasn't an invading tribe from Central Asia/Europe.

Now we have all been through those early years of history at school, before the Mughals started their dominance, when we would make models of the Indus Valley civilization and feel pride at our ancestors for having the intelligence and wisdom to have designed perfectly working drainage, multi-storied brick buildings and a system of written language. In stark contrast, our drainage system now throws in its towel at the first few showers, like a fat-girl-at-the-sight-of-chocolate (self-slap), and some of our multi-storied buildings are probably from the time of the enterprising Harappans. In terms of language, things are coming a full circle, with more and more youngsters today choosing to convey their thoughts (?) and outbursts through pictures & symbols, what with all the hard work required to read & write full sentences that make sense.

Anyway, our history books told us that the Indus Valley civilization came to an end in around 1500 BC with the invasive arrival of the European/Iranian tribe, the Aryans. These guys were supposed to have come straight from Persia, a martial race as they were supposed to have tamed the horse and mastered how to make weapons of iron, coming to the sub-continent, assimilating and ruling most of it for over 700 years.

We learnt that the Aryans were tall, fair and martial. As opposed to the Dravidians who were apparently the original inhabitants of India. The Aryans spoke Sanskrit, early descendants of them went on to write the Vedas, and descendants even further down are what we call the North Indians today.

But now I learn that there is a lot of debate on this theory. There is a link between Indians & Europeans, which was established by the German scholar, Max Mueller, one of the most noted authorities on Vedic literature and Sanskrit. But this could mean one of two things: either ancient Indians traveled to Central Asia & Europe and resulted in the Indo-European race we have today, or the other way round. Historians such as Max Mueller seem to believe in the second theory. In the 20th century, an archaeologist, Sir Mortimer Wheeler took it even further, when he discovered some human fossils in the ruins of the Indus Valley and propagated the theory that the coming of the Aryan race led to the downfall of that ancient civilization.

All of this above is under question. In fact certain scholars debate whether the Aryan race/tribe even existed. The belief is that they definitely didn't in such terms, even if theoretically there could have been an early race of pure Indians/Persians/Europeans who then mixed and matched to become what forms our ancestry today. There is recent research by the CCMB (Center for Cellular & Molecular Biology) which suggests that it is in fact the Indian gene that traveled to various parts of Central Asia & Europe, resulting in the Indo-European descent.

Surprisingly I came to know that the Nazis believed in the same notion of the Aryan race originating in India or Persia, and then moving on to Europe. The other bits we all know - their belief in the superiority of this race in character and wisdom to all other allegedly mixed races (especially the Jewish who were believed to have elements of Eastern/Oriental ancestry) and their undertaking to establish its supremacy by engaging in ethnic cleansing.

If any of you have managed to reach this point, you may be wondering about my interest in the subject and the larger point behind writing this rambling piece. Well, difficult for me to put down exactly why all of this fascinates me, but some of the more easily decipherable thoughts swirling around in my mind are:

- Genealogy has always interested me. I was the kid who stood up in class in 5th standard and asked whether I was an Aryan or a Dravidian (only to be derided by the teacher for asking what she perceived to be a racist question). There is a reason behind why I am what I am today, and at least a part of it is due to some gene which has traveled long and far. On the other hand, consider it an extreme version of self-centered-ness.
- I have come to believe that our school text books introduce history to us in a warped biased fashion, based on the politics of the time. I am sick of the notion that children are to be sheltered from uncertainty and debate, even if the alternate is to present to them a version of events, which may not be true at all. How rich would our learning have been had we been told of this debate, opposing theories and then asked to form our own views? History during school largely represented memorizing dates and other irrelevant information, a disastrous strategy. A strategy which has resulted in a nation of clueless engineers and corporate slaves.

On a tangential note, I have come to realize how racist and morally debilitating our ancient literature is. Why are the Gods, and noble kings always tall, fair, elegant-bodied, whereas the Asuras, and evil incarnates dark & stout?

Well, kudos to those who read through, tell me if you found it interesting? And please remember, I am a student, a beginner, no scholar and if you have more or opposing information, feel free to comment.