1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910813838603321

Autore

Bryant Edwin F (Edwin Francis), <1957->

Titolo

The quest for the origins of Vedic culture : the Indo-Aryan migration debate / / Edwin Bryant

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, : Oxford University Press, 2000

ISBN

0-19-988133-2

1-280-48088-2

0-19-803151-3

1-4237-3874-8

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (400 p. ) : 11 maps, 1 halftone & 4 line illus

Disciplina

934/.02

Soggetti

Indo-Aryans - Origin

Indus civilization

India History To 324 B.C

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 349-379) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Intro -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1. Myths of Origin: Europe and the Aryan Homeland Quest -- Biblical Origins -- India, the Cradle of Civilization -- The Aryans and Colonial and Missionary Discourse -- German Aryanism -- Two Centuries of Homeland Theories -- Present-Day Homeland Hypotheses -- Conclusion -- 2. Early Indian Responses -- Hindu Nationalist Responses -- The First Reactions: Hindu Religious Leaders -- Conclusion -- 3. Vedic Philology -- The Racial Evidence -- The West-to-East Geographic Shift in Sanskrit Texts -- Conclusion -- 4. Indo-European Comparative Linguistics: The Dethronement of Sanskrit -- The Law of Palatals and the Discovery of Hittite -- Objections from India -- Conclusion -- 5. Linguistic Substrata in Sanskrit Texts -- Linguistic Innovations in Sanskrit -- Evidence of the Loanwords -- Terms for Flora in Indic Languages -- Place-Names and River Names -- Indo-Aryan, or Dravidian and Munda Migrations? -- Conclusion -- 6. Linguistic Paleontology -- Flora and Fauna -- The Horse -- Criticisms of the Method -- Conclusion -- 7. Linguistic Evidence from outside of India -- Semitic Loans in Indo-European: Nichols's Model -- Finno-Ugric Loans -- Other Traces of Indo-Aryan --



The Avestan Evidence -- The Mitanni Treaties -- Conclusion -- 8. The Viability of a South Asian Homeland -- Center of Origin Method -- Dialectical Subgroupings: Gamkrelidze and Ivanov's Model -- Nichols's Sogdiana Model -- Conclusion -- 9. The Indus Valley Civilization -- Indra Stands Accused -- The Religion of the Indus Valley -- The Sarasvat&amp -- #299 --  -- The Horse -- The Chariot -- The Indus Script -- Urbanity and the Rgveda -- Conclusion -- 10. Aryans in the Archaeological Record: The Evidence outside the Subcontinent -- Identifying Aryans -- The Northern Route -- The Southern Route -- Two Wave Theories -- Conclusion.

11. Aryans in the Archaeological Record: The Evidence inside the Subcontinent -- Gandhara Grave Culture -- Jhukar Culture -- Cemetery H Culture -- Painted Gray Ware Culture -- Aryans in the Skeletal Record -- Continuity and Innovation -- Conclusion -- 12. The Date of the Veda -- Dating Proto-Indo-European -- Dating the Veda -- Astronomy and Vedic Chronology -- The Mathematics of the &amp -- #346 -- ulvasautras -- Conclusion -- 13. Aryan Origins and Modern Nationalist Discourse -- Nationalism and Historiography: General Comments -- The Aryans in Hindutva Ideology -- Stereotypes and Counterstereotypes -- Discourses of Suspicion -- Conclusion -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Works Cited -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- V -- W -- Z.

Sommario/riassunto

A study of how various Indian scholars, over the course of a century or more, have rejected the idea of an external origin of the Indo Aryans by questioning the very logic, assumptions and methods upon which the theory is based. In the process, Bryant presents a complete exposition and analysis of views addressing the issue of Indo-Aryan origins.