Genetics and the Aryan Migration Debate

“The thorniest, most fought-over question in Indian history is slowly but surely getting answered: did Indo-European language speakers, who called themselves Aryans, stream into India sometime around 2,000 BC - 1,500 BC when the Indus Valley civilisation came to an end, bringing with them Sanskrit and a distinctive set of cultural practices? Genetic research based on an avalanche of new DNA evidence is making scientists around the world converge on an unambiguous answer: yes, they did.” (—Tony Joseph in The Hindu; more here.)

Even before these genetic studies of recent years, it has long been clear which way the scholarly evidence has overwhelmingly leaned, though the evidence had gaps that the “out-of-India” folks exploited to advance their rival theory. These new findings from genetics, if correct, imply that Vedic Sanskrit, the Holy Vedas and various cultural practices of these migrants (especially the varna system) are not Subcontinental in origin (at least their precursors are not). They came via migration, as did Islam, the Qur’an, and the Persian language. In other words, the religious beliefs of all contemporary Indians—Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and others—have descended from what migrants brought in (and subsequent accretions, fusions, innovations, conversions, appropriations); nor is India the mother of all Indo-European languages.

This ain’t going to make the “out-of-India” theorists too happy. They’re largely a brigade of proud Hindu “scholars” obsessed with the idea that there was no Aryan migration into South Asia, allowing them to claim South Asia as the indigenous homeland / birthplace of Hinduism’s earliest scriptures and their language (Sanskrit, but also its earliest ancestor, proto-Indo European)—and so also of Hinduism (of Brahminism, more accurately, but that’s a separate discussion), which evolved out of them. They also claimed that the language of the Indus Valley Civilization was a proto-Sanskrit, though its “linguistic script” remains undeciphered (it’s not even clear that the inscriptions represent a linguistic script)! Trolls have plastered such claims on countless Internet forums, but they’ve been mostly led by nationalistic windbaggery (aka Hindutva), wishful thinking, and gaps in rival theories—not on solid evidence from linguistics, philology, archaeology or anything else.

One of the best and most widely respected books on this topic is Edwin Bryant’s The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate (2004). As I wrote on 3QD years ago, Bryant not only has a sophisticated sense of history, his synthesis and exposition of a vast range of topics—such as 19th-century historiography in Europe and India, Vedic philology, Avestan studies, historical Indo-European linguistics, South Asian and Central Asian linguistics and archaeology, anthropology, astronomy, postcolonial studies, Hindu nationalism, etc.—is a real achievement. He even evaluates the central claim of Hindu chauvinists—that India is the homeland of Indo-European languages—without condescension and based on evidence. And one of his key conclusions is that though gaps exist in the current migration theories, “there has been almost no convincing evidence brought forward in support of a homeland this far east”.

What inspires these Hindutva “scholars”? This excellent article explains what’s at stake in this debate. Or as Meghnad Desai wrote, “To say that the Aryans are foreigners would make Hinduism a foreign religion [just like Islam]. The aborigines – tribals – would then be the only true natives, as some Dalit scholars have argued. That is why Hindu nationalists deny foreign origin of the Aryans. The Aryans [and Sanskrit] have to be primordially native to suit the Hindu nationalist narrative.” But if the Vedas, product of a nomadic-pastoralist world, and its language turn out to be of “foreign” origin (if not Vedic Sanskrit then certainly its predecessor), that deals a body blow to the Hindutva intellectual project, since their indigenous origins are central to the Hindutvadis’ claim of a Hindu nation. In their view, Hinduism is native, Islam is foreign. But if the foundation of Hinduism too turns out to be of foreign origin … man, oh man!! It’s going to be fun to watch Hindutva “scholars” react to these new studies. I’m gonna get me some popcorn!

Comments

[Namit]

In 2018, "a breath-taking new study, with some of the most well-regarded names in population genetics, archaeology and anthropology as authors, [unpeeled] the layers of our pre-history concerning the Indus Valley, Vedic Aryans and Dravidian languages." Below are a few articles that explain and clarify its findings:

1. How genetics is settling the Aryan migration debate by Tony Joseph (The Hindu).

2. How We, The Indians, Came to Be by Tony Joseph (The Quint).

3. Indus Valley People Did Not Have Genetic Contribution From The Steppes by Hartosh Singh Bal (The Caravan).

4. A geneticist, Razib Khan, who specializes in South Asian ancient DNA research has a few interesting articles here, here, here, and here.

5. We are all Harappans by Sunil Menon and Siddhartha Mishra (Outlook India).

6. 4500-year-old DNA from Rakhigarhi reveals evidence that will unsettle Hindutva nationalists by Kai Friese (India Today).

7. Why Hindutva is Out of Steppe with new discoveries about the Indus Valley people by Girish Shahane (Scroll.in).

8. After Meluhha, The Melange by Michael Witzel (Outlook India).

9. Blood nationalism: Why does Hindutva perceive a mortal danger from the Aryan Migration Theory? by Shoaib Daniyal (Scroll.in).

10. Two new genetic studies upheld Indo-Aryan migration. So why did Indian media report the opposite? by Shoaib Daniyal (Scroll.in).

[Rana Pratap]

What a narcissistic article this is !!!. How can you compare even Hinduism with Barbaric Islam and Christianity with their intolerant attitudes ?. Have you studied Rigveda clearly ?. Have you studied genetic research carefully. Have you studied linguistics carefully. In all fronts AIT/AMT fails thorough scrutiny ?.

[Namit]

Dear Rana Pratap,

Your namesake not only lost the battle of Haldighati—contrary to what Hindutva “scholars” now want us to believe—your foolish battle over the AIT/AMT is also a lost cause. With luck, you’ll realize it in your lifetime, understand its implications, and be wiser for it. All the best.