The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture : The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate.

Intro -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1. Myths of Origin: Europe and the Aryan Homeland Quest -- Biblical Origins -- India, the Cradle of Civilization -- The Aryans and Colonial and Missionary Discourse -- German Aryanism -- Two Centuries of Homeland Theories -- Present-Day Homeland Hypotheses -- Conclusion -- 2. Early Indian Responses -- Hindu Nationalist Responses -- The First Reactions: Hindu Religious Leaders -- Conclusion -- 3. Vedic Philology -- The Racial Evidence -- The West-to-East Geographic Shift in Sanskrit Texts -- Conclusion -- 4. Indo-European Comparative Linguistics: The Dethronement of Sanskrit -- The Law of Palatals and the Discovery of Hittite -- Objections from India -- Conclusion -- 5. Linguistic Substrata in Sanskrit Texts -- Linguistic Innovations in Sanskrit -- Evidence of the Loanwords -- Terms for Flora in Indic Languages -- Place-Names and River Names -- Indo-Aryan, or Dravidian and Munda Migrations? -- Conclusion -- 6. Linguistic Paleontology -- Flora and Fauna -- The Horse -- Criticisms of the Method -- Conclusion -- 7. Linguistic Evidence from outside of India -- Semitic Loans in Indo-European: Nichols's Model -- Finno-Ugric Loans -- Other Traces of Indo-Aryan -- The Avestan Evidence -- The Mitanni Treaties -- Conclusion -- 8. The Viability of a South Asian Homeland -- Center of Origin Method -- Dialectical Subgroupings: Gamkrelidze and Ivanov's Model -- Nichols's Sogdiana Model -- Conclusion -- 9. The Indus Valley Civilization -- Indra Stands Accused -- The Religion of the Indus Valley -- The Sarasvat&amp -- #299 -- -- The Horse -- The Chariot -- The Indus Script -- Urbanity and the Rgveda -- Conclusion -- 10. Aryans in the Archaeological Record: The Evidence outside the Subcontinent -- Identifying Aryans -- The Northern Route -- The Southern Route -- Two Wave Theories -- Conclusion.

11. Aryans in the Archaeological Record: The Evidence inside the Subcontinent -- Gandhara Grave Culture -- Jhukar Culture -- Cemetery H Culture -- Painted Gray Ware Culture -- Aryans in the Skeletal Record -- Continuity and Innovation -- Conclusion -- 12. The Date of the Veda -- Dating Proto-Indo-European -- Dating the Veda -- Astronomy and Vedic Chronology -- The Mathematics of the &amp -- #346 -- ulvasautras -- Conclusion -- 13. Aryan Origins and Modern Nationalist Discourse -- Nationalism and Historiography: General Comments -- The Aryans in Hindutva Ideology -- Stereotypes and Counterstereotypes -- Discourses of Suspicion -- Conclusion -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Works Cited -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- V -- W -- Z.

Western scholars have argued that Indian civilization was the joint product of an invading Indo-European people--the Indo-Aryans--and indigenous non-Indo European peoples. Although Indian scholars reject this European reconstruction of their country's history, Western scholarship giveslittle heed to their argument. In this book, Edwin Bryant explores the nature and origins of this fascinating debate.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.