"British imperialists used Aryan invasion theory to explain the inferiority of the Indian 'race', hence the need for British rule."
"The idea of such a military invasion and conquest, in fact, informed Adolf Hitler's creation of the myth of Aryan superiority."
"A Brief History of India" by Judith E. Walsh (first edition 2006)
"What happened to Harappan civilization? British archaeologists in the early 20th century (and others later) blamed its end of the 'Aryan invasion', the migration into the subcontinent of Indo-Aryan warrior tribes from Central Asia and Iran. Scholars now know these tribes entered the region in large numbers centuries after Harappan civilization was in decline and many cities had already been abandoned. Instead, they debate other possible reasons for the Harappan end - climate change, endemic disease, river flooding - or speculate on how an as-yet-unknown Harappan ideology might have contributed to its demise. Hindu nationalists of the 20th and 21st centuries claim Harappan civilization as the birthplace of Sanskrit and Hindu culture - an 'Out of India' idea that many strenuously dispute. In the end we are left with many questions and with speculations, but with few firm answers. "
Into or Out of India
Over the past 150 years many groups have used the Harappan and Aryan legacies for their own purposes. The "Aryan invasion" theory originated in 19th-century efforts to explain linguistic similarities between Sanskrit and the languages of Europe and Iran. A collection of tribes, this linguistic argument runs, once lived together north of the Black and Caspian Seas. These peoples were nomadic and warlike, used horses, and raised herds of cattle; they shared a common language (sometimes called "proto-Indo-European"). As these tribes broke apart, some migrated west into European lands, others (Indo-Iranians) moved into southern Central Asia, Iran, and Afghanistan. By 1700 B.C. a further subgroup, the Indo-Aryans, had broken off to migrate into southern Afganistan, reaching the Punjab region of the subcontinent by 1400 B.C. The term Aryan was used only by the Indo-Iranian group. However, European scholars of the 19th century commonly (and Mistakenly) used Aryan to refer to the entire community from which the languages of Europe, Iran, and India derived (Bulliet 2002). Until very recently it was thought that the Indo-Aryans had destroyed Harappan civilization, but although the linguistic theory is still widely accepted, studies now show that the Indo-Aryans actually entered India in large numbers two centuries after the decline of Harappan civilization.
This theory was used by such 19th-century European scholars as Oxford don Friederich Max Muller to underline the "family" connection between "the Celts, the Germans, the Slaves [sic], the Greeks and Italians, the Persian and Hindus". All of these people at one time were "living together beneath the same roof..." (Trausman 1997, 177). Later British imperialists used the same theory to explain the inferiority of the Indian "race" - through mixing with indigenous peoples, Indians had degenerated from an earlier Aryan state - and, hence, the need for British rule. German Nazis in the 20th century claimed the Aryans were a superior "master race" whose descendants should rule the world. In the German formulation, however, the Indians, as Aryans, were part of the master race, not inferior to it.
Hindu nationalists in the 20th and 21st centuries have challenged the Aryan invasion theory, arguing that Aryan culture was indigenous to India and Aryans were the creators of the ancient Harappan civilization. Descendants of these Harappan-cum-Aryans later traveled "out of India", spreading the Indo-European languages (and Aryan race) into Iran and Europe. According to this theory the Hindus in India all descend from this original Harappan/Aryan race. As descendants of the original Indian people, Hindus are the only group who can legitimately claim the right to live in and govern the modern country of India.
Within India - including among Hindu groups - strong opposition to the "out of India" theory has come from modern-day Dalit (Untouchable) communities, such as the group that maintains the 21st - century Dalitstan Web Site. The Dalitstan Organisation sees Dalits as the original Indian peoples who created the ancient Harappan civilization. For Dalitastan, it was the Aryan invaders, the ancestors of today's Brahmans, who "conquered and enslaved the original inhabitants of India" (Ganesan 2001 1-2).
One problem with the "out of India" theory, lies in the absence of horses from the ancient Harappan region and sites. Indo-Aryan tribes were nomadic, pastoral people who fought their frequent battles in horses: There are no horses on its seals; no remains of horses - although there are domesticated cattle and donkeys - found at its sites. In the early 21st century one enthusiastic proponent of the "out of India" theory attempted to improve the historical record by altering an image of a Harappan seal to make its bull (or unicorn) look like a horse (Witzel and Farmer 2000). Such efforts show that current controversies over Harappa and the Aryan invasion are as much struggles for identity and political legitimacy in the Indian present as they are arguments about the historical past.
"Getting to know Hinduism - Religion, Traditions, Culture and Philosophy"
by Mark W. Muesse (first edition 2018)
The Demise of the Indus Valley Civilization and the Advent of the Aryans
After the discovery of the Indus Valley Civilization, modern scholars were faced with the task of explaining the demise of the great culture and its relationship with the Indo-Aryans, a people with whom the Hindu traditions had long been associated. The theory that came to prominence in the early 20th century suggested that the Indus Civilization declined near the middle of the second millennium BCE when bands of light-skinned Aryans ventured into the Indian Subcontinent from Central Asia and conquered the dark-skinned Indus dwellers. This theory was not an unreasonable conclusion, given the Aryans' documented love of war and conquest. The idea of such a military invasion and conquest, in fact, informed Adolf Hitler's creation of the myth of Aryan superiority and his appropriation of the swastika (卐), an ancient Aryan symbol.
Today, however, most scholars, of ancient India think the Aryans' arrival in South Asia was well short of an invasion. The invasion theory is now generally acknowledged as heavily influenced by the ideology of Western colonialism. Other evidence paints a different picture of the Aryan movement into India. We know, for example, that the Indus Civilization was already in serious decline by 1600 BCE, when the Aryans supposedly subdued the region by military means. Recent satellite photography has shown that between 1900 and 1600 BCE the Indus River changed course, leaving the region desiccated, Archaeology confirms that cities of the Indus Civilization were being abandoned during this period. Furthermore, there is no evidence, archaeological or otherwise, to suggest a massive Aryan conquest. The Aryans' own extensive writings never mention wars or hostilities against peoples who can be positively identified as indigenous to India. In all likelihood, the Indo-Aryans migrated slowly and relatively peacefully into the Indus region beginning around 1600 BCE and may have coexisted for a time with the remaining citizens of the native culture.
But there is another theory to explain the relationship between the Indus dwellers and the Aryans. According to this idea, the Aryans were actually indigenous to India, not Central Asia, and migrated from the subcontinent to other locations throughout the world. This perspective is known as the Out of India theory. According to this hypothesis, Aryan culture was actually an outgrowth of the Indus Valley Civilization. An upshot of this theory is that the foundations of the Hindu traditions are wholly the product of Indian culture with no influences from outside sources.
In recent years, the Out of India theory has been revived by Hindu communalists, who seek to promote Hindu interests and traditions in Indian politics, and by some Indian and Western scholars. Hindu nationalists believe the idea that the Aryans came from any place other than India, whether by invasion or even by a milder form of migration, denigrates Hindu and Indian culture. The proponents of the Out of India position use Aryan literature and the absence of archaeological evidence to support their point of view. Because the issues at stake are highly charged in the current political climate of India, the so-called Aryan question has now become the subject of great debate. This issue has become as much a matter of politics as of history.
