THE ARYAN INVASION THEORY WRONG

One of the most controversial ideas about Hindu history is the Aryan Invasion theory. This theory, originally devised by F Max Muller in 1848, traces the history of Hinduism to the invasion of India’s indigenous people by lighter skinned Aryans around 1500 BCE.

The theory was reinforced by British up to 1947, and after that by the Marxist historians, and made it the history of Hinduism, not only in the West but in India too. There is now ample evidence to show that Muller, and those who followed his, were wrong.

Why the theory is no longer accepted?

The Aryan invasion theory was based on highly rough and unacceptable archeological. Linguistic and ethnological evidence. Later research has either discredited this evidence, or provided new evidence that combined with the earlier evidence makes other explanations more likely. Modern historians of the area no longer believe that such invasions had such great influence on Indian history. It’s now generally accepted that Indian history shows a continuity of progress from the earliest times to today.

Why the British generate this theory?

The British generate Aryan Invasion theory, because through this theory they justify the role and status of British Raj. They argue that the North Indians are Aryan Invaders. The Aryans also invade India like Islamic Invaders and the English Invaders. The difference is just time, Aryans came India before 3000 years, Islamic Invaders (Afghan-Turk) came before 500 years and the British came now. They also argue that they were transforming India for the better in the same way that the Aryans had done thousands of years earlier. The same theory they gave to justify their colonization of America regarding the aboriginal peoples. Those known as Red Indians.

Dangers of the theory

The Aryan invasion theory denies the Indian origin of India’s predominant culture, but gives the credit for Indian culture to invaders from elsewhere. It even teaches that some of the most revered books of Hindu scripture are not actually India, and it devalues India’s culture by portraying it as less ancient than it actually is.

The theory was not just wrong, it included unacceptable racist ideas:

1 It suggested that Indian culture was not a culture in its own right, but a synthesis of elements from other cultures.

2 It implied that Hinduism was not as authentically Indian religion but the result pf cultural imperialism.

3 It suggested that Indian culture was static, and only changed under outside influence.

4 It suggested that the south Indians are the “Dark Skinned Dravidian” peoples and had got their faith from “Light Skinned Aryan Invaders”.

5 It implied that indigenous people were incapable of creativity developing their faith.

6 It suggested that indigenous peoples could only acquire new religious and cultural ideas from other races, by invasion or other processes.

7 It accepted that race was a biologically based concept (rather than, at least in part, a social construct) that provided a sensible way of ranking people in a hierarchy, which provided a partial basis for the caste system.

8 It provided a basis for racism in the Imperial context by suggesting that the people of Northern India were descended from invaders from Europe and so racially closer to the British Raj.