prologue I had written my paper on the problem of chronology. I
was provoked to change the theme after the new light that there or
imported scholars, domesticated scholars, Calibrated scholars and
street scholars. It is last to which I prefer to belong, because
the street grants me the freedom to remain straight. In this paper
I have to submit that the study of past is designed to control the
present. This compulsion robs it of the scientific temper. Those
who aim at maintaining their control over the mind of nations who
depend on them for knowledge and information cannot be ever
convinced, whatever may you do. Those who care for their
recognition in the west are bound to be and remain their slaves. So
long you address English-speaking- gentry fed on western doses, you
cannot think independently. Dont answer, please state. Believe in
yourselves to be believed by those who read you, irrespective of
the East and the West.
Slide 3
Tactical approach to pedagogy has cost us dearly. In most of
the areas covered by humanity, our knowledge is only skin-deep. I
recall this because despite thousands of years of our own encounter
with the text and, in recent centuries, desperate attempts by
western scholars, there is no translation, commentary or exposition
of the gveda that I find dependable. Our understanding of
archaeological material has been no less confounding.
Slide 4
While we have witnessed tremendous growth in theoretical and
applied sciences, we are moving away from civilization to savagery
because of the irrationality encouraged to serve political agenda
of those who will to dominate and personal greed of those jumping
high to pick up loaves. The worst sufferer has been history, which
shapes mens mind. We laud history as a science but we have reduced
it to rumour mongering. I find a gap between private understanding
and public posture of most of the scholars, who participate in
these debates raising settled issues time and again and suppressing
bulk of information from those who want to trust them. I may ask a
few questions to fortify my point
Slide 5
Feigned Ignorance that the Sindhis among South Asians were
pioneers in horse domestication, horse trade, and it were they who
reached Central Asia, and named the area of their operation as
Sintasta, that is the land of Sindhis. that some of the people
there are still known as sindoi, or migrants from Sindh; that they
had named Volga as Rasa ( jlk ) and one of its tributaries as
Kubha, and Murghab as Sindesh (Sindhu); who among us does not know
that the word saindhava ( lSa/ko ) meant rock-salt and horse. Salt
was natural gift, but not the horse?
Slide 6
that another people who took to catching, taming, training and
domesticating animals were Andhra (Andhaka Vrishni, in neighbouring
Gujarat), appear to be responsibe for the name Andronovo, that is
the new abode of the Andhras, reminiscent of the link between York
and New York.
Slide 7
Slide 8
Social status of Sindhis and Andhras that In India both the
Sindhis and Andhras were censored as non-Vedic and non-Aryan. They
were in contact with the civilized mainstream, served it like all
other animal-catchers and hunters fowlers, snake charmers, elephant
hunters and trainers and those who caught bears, monkeys, and even
lions and were bilingual.
Slide 9
The problem of the sense of direction that the horse-breeding
area of Asia and Europe was identified to be tri-lingual, with
Dravidian, Mundari and Aryan elements so intricately mixed that one
could move from one to the other with perfect ease. It was
explained as a hat-trick with a mixture of science and mischief,
called magic. The out-reach was from South Asia to Central Asia,
but it was reversed by the engineering skill and power generated to
support colonial and racial biases. We have always appreciated the
magic and true to our nature we kept clapping, shouting hurrah and
ingesting the indigestible for two centuries. I have no reason to
blame them, I feel berated as none of our scholars challenged
it.
Slide 10
On the Vedic side, serious work is required to be done. Our
knowledge is so superficial that even the tallest scholars are
confused about the key words such as ava, ra, go, yajna, etc.
Friends, I would like to clarify that the term ava and its other
synonyms hari, haya, atya, etc. in the Rigveda denoted ass. Local
breeds of horses were available, but they were not found suitable
as pack animals or draught animal. Even the asva of avamedh skta,
had a halter, yup ( ;wiozLdk mr ;s ;wiokgk% p"kkya ;s v'o;wik;
r{kfr, 1.162.6), attached to its neck, to reduce its speed. Another
device to the same effect was padba or the rope fastened to its
feet ( fudze.ka fu"knua foorZua ;r~ p iM~ch'keoZr%A 1-162-14 ).
They ran faster than me, while a pack animal or draft animal was
required to move at human pace. All the three terms for donkey- ava
(ass), khara (khur) and rsabha (*ross, horse, rush, race, rash)
were introduced in European languages along with rath (rota, road,
route) probably at the stage of ass-domestication. Only the wealthy
ones could afford steppe horse, kakuhas [1] or the mountain ass
despite the fact that there was a local breed of horse, as
indicated by T. kudirai, Te. gurramu, M. shali. Skt. ghota or H.
ghod and a, but this The semantic shift from ass to horse took some
time. [1] [1] oP;Urs oka ddqgkl% tw.kkZ;kef/k fo"Vfi A ;}ka jFkks
fofHk"irkr~ AA 1-46-3( iz oka fups#% ddqgks okk vuq fi'kax:i%
lnukfu xE;k% A gjh vU;L; ihi;Urk oktSeZFuk jtkaL;f'ouk fo ?kks"kS%
AA 1-181-5(fJ;s iw"kfUu"kqd`rso nsok uklR;k ogrqa lw;kZ;k% A oP;Urs
oka ddqgk vIlqtkrk ;qxk tw.ksZo o#.kL; Hkwjs% AA 1-184- 3(ogfUr ;r~
ddqgkl% jFks oke~ AA 4-44-2( mnkuV~ddqgks fnoeq"Vk~prq;Zqtks nnr~ A
Jolk ;k}a tua AA 8-6-48
Slide 12
I am somewhat confused when these points are ignored or
distorted. I doubt my own fitness to be part of an assembly, so
eclectic in its approach. We had to bear with censors, sarcasm and
vituperative remarks for telling what we thought correct, cant we
ask straight questions why bungling has remained the favourite game
of enemies of history. I do not have proper understanding of
archaeology. I go by what archaeologists say within the area of
their expertise. I expect archaeologists either to contradict or
accept the evidence produced by me that speak for themselves.
Resurfacing settled issues amounts to wastage of energy that could
be used more fruitfully. Serious and in depth work is required to
be done both in the field of Vedic studies. Our knowledge is so
superficial that even the tallest scholars are confused about the
key words such as ava, ra, go, yajna, samudra, even the character
of Vedic compositions.
Slide 13
Friends, I would like to repeat that the term ava and its other
synonyms hari, haya, atya, etc. in the Rigveda denoted ass. Local
breeds of horses were available, but they were not found suitable
as pack animals or draught animal. Even the asva of avamedh skta,
had a halter, yup ( ;wiozLdk mr ;s ;wiokgk% p"kkya ;s v'o;wik;
r{kfr, 1.162.6), attached to its neck, to reduce its speed. Another
device to the same effect was padba or the rope fastened to its
feet ( fudze.ka fu"knua foorZua ;r~ p iM~ch'keoZr%A 1-162-14 ).
They ran faster than me, while a pack animal or draft animal was
required to move at human pace. All the three terms for donkey- ava
(ass), khara (khur) and rsabha (*ross, horse, rush, race, rash)
were introduced in European languages along with rath (rota, road,
route) probably at the stage of ass-domestication. Only the wealthy
ones could afford steppe horse, kakuhas [1] or the mountain ass
despite the fact that there was a local breed of horse, as
indicated by T. kudirai, Te. gurramu, M. shali. Skt. ghota or H.
ghod and a, but this The semantic shift from ass to horse took some
time. [1] [ 1] [ 1] oP;Urs oka ddqgkl% tw.kkZ;kef/k fo"Vfi A ;}ka
jFkks fofHk"irkr~ AA 1-46-3(iz oka fups#% ddqgks okk vuq fi'kax:i%
lnukfu xE;k% A gjh vU;L; ihi;Urk oktSeZFuk jtkaL;f'ouk fo ?kks"kS%
AA 1-181-5(fJ;s iw"kfUu"kqd`rso nsok uklR;k ogrqa lw;kZ;k% A oP;Urs
oka ddqgk vIlqtkrk ;qxk tw.ksZo o#.kL; Hkwjs% AA 1-184-3(ogfUr ;r~
ddqgkl% jFks oke~ AA 4-44-2( mnkuV~ddqgks fnoeq"Vk~prq;Zqtks nnr~ A
Jolk ;k}a tua AA 8- 6-48
Slide 14
Likewise ra is not wool. Vr is invariably used for wool, and
only once loma occurs with reference to soft wool of Gandhari
sheep. ra refers to silk and silk alone as for gveda is concerned.
Yajna is not sacrifice and definitely not blood sacrifice even
though there could have been practice of blood sacrifice in other
sects, as evident from a seal.
Slide 15
There is almost a consensus that the Rigvedic verses were
composed in Sarasvati Valley, at a time when the river was vigorous
and perennial. This is applicable only to the old portion which
comprises Family Books and some portions of the Books considered to
be modern. The modern portion belongs to expansive era of which
Indus valley is just a part. There is a covert temptation in some
scholars to rate Rigvedic culture as pre-urban and to cast it in
pastoral frame antedating Mature Harappan by millennia to retain
the pastoral image. I doubt they know the basics because the
society depicted even in the old portion of the gveda is literate,
urbanized and more cultivated than the mature Harappan stage.
Slide 16
Broadly speaking, we have two urban phases. The first phase is
that of consolidation and sophistication. The second one is that of
expansion and domination. Society in the former was industrious and
creative than in the latter it was ease-loving and more prone to
the vices of affluence. Sarasvati Valley Phase faded out with
gradual desertion of the valley because of the problems posed by
Sarasvati itself, such as:
Slide 17
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Slide 18
Erosion of one bank and resultant destruction of the
settlements on that side. [1] [1] Rise of the river bed due to
sludge and siltation. [2] [2] Frequent floods spreading over much
wider areas. [3] [3] Creation of islands in the river-bed, [4] and
the threat posed by pirates capturing the islands [5]. [4] [5]
Ultimately the river was rendered unfit for navigation and ceased
to be a trunk route. [1] [1] mr L;k u% ljLorh ?kksjk fgj.;orZfu% A
o`=?uh of"V lq"Vqfre~ AA 6-61-7 [2] [2] This is implied by the
colour of Sarasvati, supposed to be reddish. Colour in riparian
contexts, such as Yellow River, presupposes high level of sludge
content. [3] [3] ljLoR;fHk u% usf"k oL;ks ekiLQjh% i;lk ek u vk/kd~
A tq"k"o u% l[;k os ;k p ek Ror~ {ks=k.;j.kkfu xUe AA 6-61-14 [4]
[4] vkiks u }hia n/kfr iz;kafl AA 1-169-3 [5] [5] fo }hikfu ikiru~
fr"Bn~ nqPNquk mHks ;qtUr jksnlh A iz /kUokfu,sjr kqHkz[kkn;ks
;nsr~ vFk LoHkkuo% AA 8-20-4
Slide 19
This phase was as heterogeneous linguistically, culturally and
racially as the expansive urban phase called Harappan. Mercantile
operation during this phase was Sarasvati-centric. The rivers to
the west are mentioned as obstructions in their land route. The
extraordinary distance covered by them is evident from the fact
that they had to cross a number of rivers from Afghanistan to the
tributaries of Indus, in the course of a single journey. [1] [1]
[1] ek oks jlk vfurHkk dqHkk dzqeq% ek o% flU/kq% fujhjer~ A ek o%
ifj"Bkr~ lj;q% iqjhf"k.kh vLes br~ lqEua vLrq o% AA 5-53-9
Slide 20
Even Vyasa ( > ) and Sataluj ( > ), the closest rivers to
Sarasvati, figure only in the course of a home- ward journey of
Vivmitra, from an unspecified remote destination in the west. [1]
There are references to fabulous wealth of a patron on Sarasvati
renowned for his charity [2] and numerous other verses in adulation
of charity Prosperity of Sarasvati Valley is reflected in the
advanced urban planning of Indus cities with plinth level raised to
a height impressive even on modern counts. It was only reluctantly
that they had to move to comparatively safe locations to carry on.
[1] [2] [ 1] [ 1] vks "kq Lolkj% dkjos k`.kksr ;;kS oks nwjknulk
jFksu] 3-33-9. [2] [2] fp= bnzktk jktdk bnU;ds ;ds ljLorheuq A
itZU; bo rruf) o`"V~;k lglze;qrk nnr~ AA 8-21-18
Slide 21
The problem is that we find only few sizable excavated ancient
centers on in the Sarasvati Valley. Many of them appear to have
been eroded and washed away by the river in its notorious floods.
Of all the rivers Sarasvati is the only one, blamed for erosion of
its bank ( ok=Z?uh ) and changing its course ( fgj.;orZuh
Slide 22
Slide 23
Incidence of terms related to cattle and equine breeds in the
gveda is not supportive of pastoral economy. We have almost all the
modes of transport right from the oldest verses that were available
to the world prior to steam engine pack bullock, [1] pack horse
[2], pack ass, pack camel besides cart (, ), chariot (),
ass/mule-driven carriage i.e. Shakat ( > ) and Shakati ( ), [3]
camel driven cart i.e. ur ( ) [4], single animal driven wagon,
sthuri ( ). [5] Besides the animals there were load bearing
transporters ( : ) in service [6]. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [1] [1]
eukstqoks o`"k.kks ohri`"Bk,g Lojktks vf'ouk ogUrq AA 1-181-2 [2]
[2] vLekda Rok lqrk mi ohri`"Bk vfHk iz;% A kra ogUrq gj;% AA
8-6-42 [3] [3] mrks vj.;kfu% lk;a kdVhfjo ltZfr AA 10-146-3 [4] [4]
m"Vkjso QoZjs"kq J;sFks] 10-106-2 [5] [5] ufg LFkwfj _rqFkk ;krefLr
uksr Joks fofons l~xes"kqA xO;Ur bUnza l[;k; foizk v ok;Urks
o`"k.ka okt;Ur%AA 10-131-3 [6] [6] Agni itself is load bearer of
the oblations offered in yajnas to reach the gods. But even in
normal life physical work appears to have been va kqa nqgfUr
gfLruks Hkfj=SeZ/o% iqufUr /kkj;k ifo=S% AA 3-36-7
Slide 24
Slide 25
Our archaeologists could read solid wheel on Sumerian seals,
but could not see the six-spoke-wheel ( ) representing six seasons
of the year on Harappan seals. Even Prof. Lal took a long time
weighing the pros and cons, before coming out with a wealth of
material to show the cultural continuity from Harappan times till
date despite the fact that Jarrige and Shaffer had advocated the
same from even earlier stages and this author had supplied literary
and linguistic evidence in his writings from 1973 onwards. But the
fun of it is that none including Prof. Lal could notice the spoke
wheel sign on the seals, whereas I feel convinced that the plate
from Mehragarh Phase IV has a stylized spoke wheel in the
centre.
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
The basic difference between surviving Sarasvati Valley urban
and urbanized centers and those of expansive phase lies in the fact
that the former evolved to urbanism and reached their peak
accessible within their technical constraints, whereas, the latter
were born fully urbanized. They capitalize the skills and devices
inherited by them from the Srasvatas and make full use of it. They
remained stagnant for some time, struggled to survive against odds
and finally lost their gusto. Most of the developments viewed by us
as inventions were not inventions but protracted modifications of a
crude device and have a history of thousands of years.
Slide 31
For example the invention of wheel was much less an invention
than a gradual modification. It started with the problem of
carriage of pebbles to the area of their hunting and gathering. The
rounded boulders and pebbles were easy to be moved. They made some
experiments to minimize the exertion. We find four or more major
linguistic groups with their own sub-groups involved in invention
of wheel. They later merged into the main cultural stream. What
were the exact words in their dialects for pebble at that stage or
which of the variants were adopted by other speech groups with a
different phonology cannot be determined at this stage.
Slide 32
We may also remind that most of the terms derived from these
sources have been incorporated in northern languages and some of
them passed on to European languages as well. The terms initially
used for pebble carried the load of wheel as well and luckily it
can be identified in Indian languages. karkar( )/carkar( ),sarkar,
kankar ( ), cankar, Shankar( ) or sharkar ( ), generating cakkar(
), cakar (), cakra ( ), cakala( ),Skt. Shakal ( ), cakiya ( ), chak
( ). Some of the cognates may be traces in European languages- car,
carrier, carriage, chariot, circle, shirk etc. We may remind that
this group was also composite formed by many independent groups
which had become subgroups of an interactive social milieu.
Slide 33
bat () /va ( ) vat ( ) > vart (), vartul ( ), vartan () - to
roll, route, vrit ( ) to turn, route, vritt ( ) circle, vritti ( )
tendency, profession, vartan () vartmn () - revolving. Vedic vatra
( ) - pebble, mahbatr ( ) boulder, batt ( ) pestle, bantn ( ) to
batter, to divide, H. batan ( ) - twist, batt () /bt ( ), b ( )/
batik ( ) pill, ( / etc.) bt ( ) - 1.weight, 2. route, batoh ( )
traveler, baamr, baratan ( ) 1. to distribute, 2. to deal, 3. to
use, bart v , bartv () 1. treatment, 2. behavior, bateshvar ( ) the
lord of pebbles i.e. iva E. vertex/vortex, bark (1. outer covering;
2. Small ship) bat, batter, battle, break, brittle. [1] [1] [1] By
the way as I reached batik ( ) pill, in this string of words, it
flashed all of a sudden that another word used for it is li ( ) and
it may have some semantic connection with E. little. If it appears
a ridiculous outreach, it may entertain those who are in a position
to offer a more acceptable semantic explanation. [1]
Slide 34
roa ( ) /rodh ( ). Terms roa (), ro ( ) are still used with
semantic extension for mechanically crushed pieces of stone which
can neither roll nor roar. lodh ( ) the rolling stone or pistle>
lodhan () to pluck, ludhakan (), ladh (), ladhiy (), lotan to roll
on sides > , lot (), lotpot ( ), *rah>reh () -pushcart, reh (
) castor. The speech community which either lacked cerebrals or had
a preference for dentals was indebted for its rada ( ) - to move
with a dash > ), and ratha( ) - to this group. Hindi roti
(),>E., route, rod, road, rotary, rut, rotation, roll.
Slide 35
Gada/gadha (/), gart () cart, gdi ( )> gaddika ( )
>gudmud ( ), with transposition of consonants dagar/ dagari ( ),
dagarana () ( ) dagga, () digna, ( ), dhanga (). An alternative
form of daga in the speech community which lacked sonant and
aspirate sounds was tak (), which generated takra (), tarku ( )
takalii ( ) and probably take ( ) - refrain, etc. >E. cart,
cartage.
Slide 36
*pagha > paha (), phana ( ), pahd (), pahala ( ), pahal ()
pahuchan ( ) pahunch ( ) phun ( ) pahiy ( ) pahal () paheli ( ).
There were speech communities joining the cultural stream which
change p into b ( - ), and one which changes b into v ( - ) bagg (
), baggh ( ), bahang ()- slingshot, bahuran () to return, vhan ( )
vahan (), vahni () that which carries, fire, equine animal, E.
Vehicle,
Slide 37
There should have been many experiments to save the labour of
bending down push the lump to role ahead. They caused a groove and
connected it to a stick but the labour of pushing increased many
times. Even this failed experiment resulted into invention of mace
later transferred to timber medium as / . It took some time to dawn
that another lump with similar groove fixed to the other end could
give much relief from strain and double the benefit. This again
survived in a wooden toy for children, lol (), i.e. that which
rolls ( - mobile). We guess that the hole was named differently by
these speech communities kha ( ), bila ( ) kila () chha ( ), khed
(), ched (), khdra (), chida ( ) chl ( ), dur (), dhur ( ), sn ()
shn ( ) and so was the rod fixed to it billi , kl/ killa/ killi (
), dhur (), khur (), khul ,
Slide 38
Not only initial problems of wheel had been solved, but most of
the Copper Age tools had also been invented in Stone Age itself.
After metal became common and cutting, scraping and carving wood
more convenient, the medium shifted from stone to timber and from
rollers to solid wheel. Spoke wheel called for further advances in
tool-making, among them invention of saw. Some of the wheeled items
such as pully ( ), grinding wheel ( ), potters wheel ( ) appear to
have been invented before the invention of spoke-wheel.
Slide 39
In the gveda, credit for forging chariot is given to the
Bhrigus. Bhrigus were hostile to Indra/Vishnu and sacrifice ( ). A
poet boasts that he has forged his verse with excellence comparable
to that of the Bhrigus while making a wheel/chariot ] 10-39-14 .
The problem is to find a chronological table for these
developments. literature and language have exemplary vision but
lack firm feet, while archaeology is firmly footed cannot see ahead
of its feet. Archaeology could carry on its shoulders language and
literature the two could cross many hurdles that block our
understanding the past.
Slide 40
Those who have been suggesting a few centuries for South Asian
urbanization are either not forthright or too shortsighted. There
has been nauseating discussion on astrological dating of the gveda
by Tilak, Bhler, and Jacobi etc. It is not the Veda, but the
tradition of firm matrimony that had come down to later periods. It
simply indicates that inseparable matrimonial bond was established
as for back as the position of the polar star. Krishna in Gita
introduces himself among other things with margra among months,
spring among the seasons and Uan among the poets. It just shows the
strength of tradition not that Gita was composed as far back when
spring coincided with the said month or when Uan lived. There
determinations only indicate that astronomical observations had
started millennia back and peasants took guidance from the position
of stars which helped them in determining the right time for
tilling the land and sowing the crop.