"The Sarasvati civilisation" by Maj. Gen. G. D. Bakshi - Every Indian should know!
This book is published by Garuda Prakashan in 2019.
Max Muller and Mortimer Wheeler decreed that Aryans were foreigners. As per them Aryans migrated to India around 1500 BCE and they composed Rigveda in India. Aryan invasion theory and Indo-Aryan migration theories were propounded by British to mitigate British foreignness. British had a policy of creating divide based on cast, creed and religion. Denying identity of India as a nation worked for 200 years. The very idea of India was rediculed. Author counters it.
Sacred river Sarasvati dried out around 1800 BCE. Rig Veda has several mentions of mighty Sarasvati in full flow which was around 1900 BCE. So Rigveda definitely predates 1500 BCE. Author emphatically states that theory of Aryans as outsiders was a deliberate attempt by British to justify their rule and to break Indian moral. A deliberate plan to inflict a sense of inferiority. He severely criticizes "leftist" Indian historians for following British narrative and ignoring huge and continuously mounting evidence to the contrary. Author vigorously contests and severely criticizes Tony Joseph's theory that agriculture and domestication of animals came to India from Mesopotamia 10,000 years ago. He emphasizes that Indians domesticated plants and animals indigenously.
More than 60% of sites of the so called Indus valley civilisation are located along the dried out course of the Sarasvati, not Sindhu.
Carbon dating of Rakhigiri and Bhirhana sites puts their age from 8500 to 9000 years. Remains of chariot in Baghpat are carbon dated to before purported Aryan invasion/ migration. Gene mapping does not support Aryan and Dravidian separation. On the contrary it indicates the migration of Aryans out of India, not into India. Thus Aryans didn't come from outside but were natives of India. Desiccation of Sarasvati caused migration of some eastward to the Ganga-Yamuna region and others westward to Afghanistan, Iran and Anatolia.
Sarasvati the mighty river, that was 4600 km long and 6-8 km wide (max width 20 km), is the cradle river of Indian civilisation. Yamuna and Sutlej were its tributaries. A series of tectonic events caused Sutlej to veer west and merge with Sindhu and Yamuna to veer east and merge with Ganga. This coupled with weakening of monsoons reduced Sarastvati to a string of lakes and pools. There are 75 mantras in Rigveda, 68 in Yajurveda, 2 in Samaveda eulogizing Sarasvati. In Atharvaveda she satiates and liberates souls of our ancestors. Is this progression indicative of reduction in Sarasvati's flow and thus its importance? Sarasvati remains in our collective memory for millenniums even after its desiccation? Surprising fact is that we have not deciphered the Indus language script even today. If it's deciphered, a lot of riddles will be solved.
Harappan civilization and Rigvedic civilization were one and the same. Author highlights some things from Harappan time that continue until today like ploughing pattern, shape of ploughs, shapes of cooking pots, tandoors, shapes of boats, design of bullock cart, bangles, red in hair partition, bindis, Yoga, Meditation etc.
Entire 9th mandala of Rigveda is devoted to Soma. Author states that Amanita Muscaria mushroom (a beautiful bright red mushroom with white dots) is identified as Vedic Soma. It's a mushroom known for it's hallucinogenic and mood altering properties.
Author approaches the subject from all angles like literary references, language, gene sequencing, archaeological evidence etc.
As far as DNA mapping is concerned, Matrilinier DNA studies support the theory that Aryans were natives of this land and migrated outwards. Western scholars (read Harvard) support Patrilinear studies and draw an opposite conclusion. More work is called for to settle this dispute.
Author calls for a multi disciplinary seminar - a Copenhagen style convention - on Indology.
At the end he wishes that the river linking project can enable Sarasvati to flow again. With many archeological sites along the course, Sarasvati pilgrimage tourism can flourish. He also calls for private sector participation in this project.
Author has around 10 to 15 points and he keeps repeating them again and again. This repetition is annoying and turns counter productive because it appears like a rhetoric.
This book does not provide too many references of research done by others by section, clause etc. in great detail. The references are limited to author and year of publication. So it can be inferred that author has made a deliberate attempt to not make it a research work and to retain genre of popular non fiction to make it appealing to masses.
Book cover is good. It shows Indian subcontinent without international borders and course of mighty Vedic Sarasvati river.
Vineet Bajpai has used this very theory of Aryans being natives and not outsiders for his famous fiction Harappa trilogy.
Why did I read this book? Subject
What I didn't like? Repetitions.
What did I like? Information.
Everyone should read at least the first chapter, if not all the book.
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