Hindu civilizational continuum -- linguistic, textual and limited archaeological evidences

Book review: S.G. Talageri, 2 !, The Rigveda and the Avesta the final evidence, "elhi, #dit$a %rakashan The theses o& Shrikant G. Talageri, 'resented in this (ook, are: 1. )arl$ *igvedic 'eo'le +%uru,%aurava- were settled to the east o& Sarasvati river in .rd millennium B/) and started migrating, ex'anding westwards. 2. %roto-0ranians, %roto-Greeks, %roto-#rmenians and %roto#l(anians +#nu,#nava- were settled in areas to the west o& the *igvedic 'eo'le and started ex'anding westwards around that 'eriod. .. #reas to the west and north o& #nu 'eo'le were %roto-#natolian, %roto-Tocharian, %roto-0talic, %roto-/eltic, %roto-Germanic, %rotoBaltic and %roto-Slavic +"ruh$u tri(es- who started ex'anding northwards into /entral #sia. 1. 2adu,2adava, Turvasus,Turvas3as settled to the south o& *igvedic 'eo'le included 0ndo-)uro'ean grou's 4 whose s'eech &orms were not included in the reconstruction o& the %roto-0ndo)uro'ean linguistic 'aradigm &or lack o& detailed records- and other linguistic grou's +%roto-"ravidian, %roto-5undas etc.0n Section 0 o& the (ook, Talageri &inds a large (od$ o& classes o& names and name elements &ound (oth in *igveda +mainl$ in.!6 h$mns in late (ooks- and in #vesta-5itanni-7assite data. 89ame elements shared with #vesta consist mainl$ o& a &ew restricted t$'es o& com'ound names with a &ew 'rominent 're&ixes o& a (asic nature +Su-, "eva-, %uru-, :is3va--, which are &ound in the names o& im'ortant historical 'ersonalities o& the )arl$ %eriod. However, these name-elements are &ound in even greater 'ro&usion in the ;ate Books<0n short: the )arl$ and 5iddle Books o& the *igveda are earlier than the #vesta, and the ;ate Books o& the *igveda are contemporaneous with the #vesta= and the common >0ndo-0ranian3 culture visi(le in the two texts is a 'roduct o& the Late *igvedic %eriod.? "ealing with the evidence o& chronolog$ o& the meters used in the two texts, Talageri concludes: 8The evidence o& the #vestan meters con&irms to the hilt the conclusions com'elled ($ the evidence o& the #vestan names: namel$, that @arathushtra, the first and earliest composer of the Avesta, is contemporaneous with the Late %eriod and

(ooks o& the *igveda +nota(l$ with the non-&amil$ Books-, that the )arl$ and 5iddle Books o& the *igveda precede the 'eriod o& com'osition o& the #vesta, and that the >0ndo-0ranian3 culture common to the *igveda and the #vesta is a 'roduct o& the Late *igvedic %eriod.? Geogra'h$ o& the *igveda is closel$ linked with *iver Sarasvati. Talageri notes: 8The im'ortance o& the Sarasvati in 0ndian historical studies has multi'lied mani&old since archaeological anal$ses o& the Ghaggar-Hakra river (ed, com(ined with detailed sattllite imager$ o& the course o& the ancient +now dried u'- rigver, conclusivel$ showed that it had almost dried u' ($ the mid-second millennium B/) itsel&, and that, long (e&ore that, it was a mightl$ river, mightier than the 0ndus, and that an overwhelming maAorit$ o& the archaeological sites o& the Hara''an cities are located on the (anks o& the Sarasvati rathern than o& the 0ndus. This has lethal im'lications &or the #0T, which reBuires an #r$an invasion around CD B/) a&ter the decline o& the Hara''an civilization, since it shows that the :edic #r$ans, who lives >on (oth (anks3 +*igveda :00.E6.2- o& a might$ Sarasvati in &ull 'ower&ul &low, must have (een inha(itants o& the region long (e&ore CD B/) and in &act ma$ (e identical with the indigenous Hara''ans.? Fn relative chronolog$ o& the *igveda, Talageri cites )dward G. Ho'kins +C!E6, %ragathikani, ''.2.-E2 in Hournal o& the #merican Friental Societ$, :ol. CI: I1-!C-: 8<most o& these #vestan words 'reserved in viii, withal those o& the most im'ortance, are common words in the literature 'osterior to the *ik<Take &or instance, udara or ushtra or mesha, the &irst is &ound onl$ in viii.i.x= the second in viii.i= the last in viii.i.ix., x. 0s it 'ro(a(le that words so common (oth earl$ and late should have 'assed through an assumedl$ intermediate 'eriod +o& ii-vii- without leaving a traceJ...Ge must, 0 think, su''ose that the #vesta and *: viii are $ounger than *: ii., vii= or else that the 'oets o& viii were geogra'hicall$ nearer to the #vestan 'eo'le, and so took &rom them certain words, which ma$ or ma$ not have (een old with their 0ranian users, (ut were not received into the (od$ o& :edic literature until a time 'osterior to the com'osition o& ii-vii.? Talageri notes that the second alternative is not correct since these words are shared ($ the #tharvaveda and later texts, geogra'hicall$ much &urther to the east and >the common &actor is late date, and not close geographical location3, Talageri dares to 'rovide a3the a(solute chronolog$ o& the *igveda3: )arl$ 'eriod 4 Books 6,.,I earl$ 0: .1 4 26 B/)= 5iddle 'eriod 4 Books 1,2, middle C: 26 4 22 B/)= ;ate 'eriod 4 Books D,!,E,C , rest o& C: 22 -C1 B/).

This thundering statement is (ased on >5itanni evidence3, citing H.%. 5allor$ and Gitzel. /iting 5allor$ +CEEI, Encyclopaedia of IndoEuropean Culture, 5allor$ H.%. and #dams ".K., Litzro$ "ear(orn %u(lishers, ;ondon and /hicago-, Talageri concludes: 8<the actual 5itanni IA language must have (een 'resent in the area +northern 0raB,S$ria- as a living language, in&luential enough to in&luence its neigh(ouring languages, onl$ centuries before C16 B/) ? Then, Talageri cites Gitzel: 8the 7assite language (elongs to an altogether unknown language grou'<the voca(ular$ o& their largel$ unknown language hardl$ shows an$ 0# in&luence, not even in their man$ designations &or the horse and horse names.? +Gitzel, 2 D, 0ndocentrism: autochthonous visions o& ancient 0ndia. Gitzel, 5ichael, in: >The 0ndo-#r$an controvers$ 4 evidence and in&erence in 0ndian histor$3 ed. )dwin L. Br$ant and ;aurie ;. %atton, *outledge, ;ondon M 9ew 2ork: .62,.! - and adds: 8There&ore the 7assites +whose conBuest o& 5eso'otamia is dated ($ Gitzel to C6II B/), though earlier dates have (een suggested- 'ro(a(l$ acBuired their &ew 0# words some time earlier &rom the original 5itanni 0# language which was 'ro(a(l$ alread$ a d$ing language ($ the time the 7assites conBuered 5eso'otamia around C6II B/)<? Talageri concludes that 85itannia 0# language, which (ecame the 5itannia 0# language in Gest #sia, was a culture which develo'ed in northwestern 0ndia in the 'eriod o& the ;ate Books o& the *igveda= and these 'roto-5itanni s'eakers must have migrated from 0ndia well a&ter the develo'ment o& this common culture at some time in the ;ate *igvedic %eriod.? +'.C!!-. 0n Section 00 o& the (ook, Talageri locates the 0ndo-)uro'ean homeland in 0ndia, (ased 'rinci'all$ on the evidence o& isoglosses discussed ($ Hock +CEEE: a.Fut o& 0ndiaJ The linguistic evidence. Hock, Hans H., ''. C-C! in: 8#r$an and non-#r$an in South #sia: evidence, inter'retation, and ideolog$? +'roceedings o& the 0nternational Seminar on #r$an and non-#r$an in South #sia, Nniv. o& 5ichigan, Fcto(er CEE6= (. Through a glass darkl$: 5odern >racial3 inter'retations vs. textual and general 'rehistoric evidence on ar$a and daasa,das$u in :edic societ$. Hock, Hans H., ''. C1D-CI1, i(id.-. 8#n isogloss is a s'ecial linguistic &eature which develo's in an$ one language and then s'reads to other languages and dialects over a contiguous area. Thus, the distinction (etween dental sounds and cere(ral sounds +i.e. (etween dental t,d and n as o''osed to cere(ral T,",9- is an isogloss 'eculiar to the 0ndian area: it is &ound in all kinds o& languages not geneticall$ related to each other: 0ndo-#r$an, "ravidian, #ustric +7ol-5unda- and Burushaski.? +'.2CDTalageri notes that Hock3s evidence 8is deli(eratel$ 'artial and selcctive: not onl$ does Hock &ail to take into account man$ im'ortant

isoglosses linking together di&&erent (ranches, (ut he even 'ointedl$ excludes &rom his arrangement one crucial (ranch, Tocharian, on the 'lea that >it is di&&icult to &ind dialectal a&&iliation3 +Hock CEEEa: C6- &or it<0n no reasona(le dialectological arrangement o& 0ndo-)uro'ean dialects can these three +Hittite, Tocharian and 0talic- (e shown to (e sharing these im'ortant isoglosses with each other in contiguous areas and then >maintaining their relative 'ositions to each other as the$ &anned out &rom the homeland3 to their res'ective earliest attested areas. So Hock, sim'l$ ignores the concerned isoglosses, and excludes Tocharian &rom his arrangement, and crosses his &ingers in the ho'e that no-one notices.? "iscussing the evidence o& contacts (etween the )uro'ean "ialects o& 0ndo-)uro'ean and various non-Indo-European languages of Eurasia, Talageri concludes: 8<there is no linguistic evidence &or an$ assumed movement o& the main (od$ o& 0ndo-#r$ans and 0ranians of the south through )urasia in an$ direction at an$ time in the 'ast.? #nd adds that 80ndo-#r$an is the dialect which remained in the homeland after all the others had left.? Tr$ing to delineate the linguistic roots o& 0ndia, Talageri cites George )rdos$, whom he calls ?an AIT writer?: 8we reiterate that there is no indication in the *igveda o& the #r$a3s memor$ o& an$ ancestral home, and ($ extension o& migrations.? +)rdos$ CE!E, )thnicit$ in the *igveda and its (earing on the Buestion o& 0ndo-)uro'ean origins. )rdos$, George ''..D-1I in >South #sian Studies3 vol. D, ;ondon: 1 -1C-. /oncluding >a com'lete linguistic case &or the 0ndian Homeland or Futo&-0ndia theor$?, Talageri notes: 80sisore "$en, in a 'a'er 'resented in CE66 and 'u(lished in CEI , makes out a case showing the similarities (etween man$ (asic words reconstructed in the 'roto-0ndo-)ro'ean and 'roto-#ustronesian languages, including such (asic words as the &irst &our numerals, man$ o& the 'ersonal 'ronouns, and the words &or >water3 and >land.3 +"$en, CEI , The case o& the #ustronesian languages. "$en, 0sidore, in >0ndo-)uro'ean and 0ndo-)uro'eans3, ex. B$ George /ardona, H5 Hoenigswald and #l&red Senn, Nniversit$ o& %enns$lvania %ress, %hiladel'hia: 1.E-.? Talageri cites S7 /hatterAee &or the ultimate origins o& the #ustronesian &amil$ o& languages in an 0ndian homeland h$'othesis: 80ndia was the centre &rom which #ustric s'eech s'read into the lands and islands o& the east and %aci&ic +5aAumdar ed. CEDC,CEE6, The :edic #ge. General )ditor 5aAumdar *./., The Histor$ and /ulture o& the 0ndian %eo'le. Bharati$a :id$a Bhavan. 5um(ai: CD6-.? +'.2!E*e&erring to archaeolog$, Talageri notes: 8So &ar as the archaeological evidence is concerned, the onl$ 'ossi(le conclusion that can (e

reached is that the undisturbed archaeological and anthropological continuity in the arappan areas (etween >the Dth,1th and < the Cst millennium B/)3 constitutes &ormida(le, and lethal, evidence against the #0T +#r$an 0nvasion Theor$-, which !ust simply cann not (e ex'lained awa$. ? He goes on to see the 'ossi(ilit$ o& matching Hara''an civilization with >0ndo-0ranian3,*igvedic 'hase and %GG +%ainted Gre$ware- culture &or the 'ost-*igvedic 'hase. To conclude this 'rOcis o& Talageri3s work which logicall$ &ollows his earlier works on *igvedic histor$ +CEE., The #r$an invasion theor$ and 0ndian nationalism, :oice o& 0ndia, 9ew "elhi= 2 , The *igveda: # historical anal$sis, #dit$a %rakashan, 9ew "elhi-, we ma$ sa$ that rel$ing u'on isoglosses and name-elements are sim'listic enter'rises. ;anguages are &ar (e$ond these elements tracea(le in 'honetic 'eculiarities or names which occur in a &ew texts. The maAor omission in Talageri3s work is a &ailure to trace the cultural markers in the civilizations o& the 'eriods he is dealing with. 0n a recent address, BB ;al noted that Sarasvati is the mother o& 0ndian civilization and cited man$ exam'les o& cultural continuit$ &rom :edic times evident in modern 0ndia: to name Aust two: C. &inds o& Shivalingas in Hara''a= 2. the 'ractice o& wearing sindhur at the 'arting o& the hair. 5an$ more have (een cited in e-(ooks, links and re&erences at htt':,,sites.google.com,site,kal$anEI,sarasvati-hindu-civilization Be$ond 'honetics, 'lace names, river names and name elements is the cultural su(stratum which de&ines the world-view and sel&-identities o& 'eo'le. This is an area which is as su(stantive as semantics o& language while su'er&icial 'henomena such as 'honetics and (uilding u' isoglosses ma$ (e onl$ a mechanistic ex'lanation &or a com'lex cultural 'henomenon called the origins and evolution o& civilizations. Lor exam'le, one o& the theses develo'ed in the e-(ooks cited is that the the so-called 0ndus Scri't has (een decoded as C- Sarasvati hierogl$'hs read re(us and related to the semantics o& mint,smith$, with 'articular re&erence to minerals, metals, allo$s, &urnaces, smelters invented ($ earl$ artisans 4 vishwakarma o& the Hindu tradition and 2the underl$ing language as mleccha vaacas as distinct &rom ar$a vaacas +lingua franca or s'oken dialects as distinct &rom grammaticall$ correct written &orm-. The mleccha vaacas and ar$a vaacas ma$ ex'lain the indigenous &ormation and evolution o& 5unda-"ravidian and 0ndo-#r$an in the 0ndian Homeland= this reBuires &urther investigation ($ language scholars with s'ecial &ocus on general semantics in a linguistic area called Bharatam +c&. :ishwamitra3s &amous line: Vishwamitrasya rakshati brahmedam bharatam janam: *igveda ..D..C2-.

Since Talageri3s work is a 'oint-($-'oint re&utation o& two 'ro'onents o& #0T: Gitzel and Hock, one ho'es that (oth o& them will read and res'ond to the evidence marshaled su'er(l$ ($ Talageri. S. 7al$anaraman "irector, Sarasvati *esearch /entre. C! 9ovem(er 2 ! kal$anEIPgmail.com