by
(ISBN:019565361-0 ~ Pub Year: 2002 ~ Pages:387 ~ Binding: Hardcover ~ Publisher: Oxford)
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As a result of the discovery of similarities between Sanskrit and the classical languages of Europe, scholars hypothesized the existence of an early 'proto-Indo-European' people, who spoke the language from which the others evolved. The solution to the Indo-European homeland problem has been one of the most consuming intellectual projects of the last two centuries. At first it was assumed that India was the original home of all the Indo-European.
Soon, however, western scholar were contending that the Vedic culture of ancient India must have been the by-product of an invasion or migration of 'Indo-Aryans' from outside the subcontinent. Over the years, Indian scholars have raised many arguments against this European reconstruction of their nation's history. Yet western scholars have generally been unaware or dismissive of these voices from India itself.
In this book, Edwin Bryant offers a comprehensive examination of this ongoing debate. He presents all of the relevant philological, archaeological, linguistic, and historiographical data and shows how they have been interpreted both to support the theory of Aryan migrations and to contest it. Bringing to the fore those hitherto marginalized voices that argue against the external origin of the Indo-Aryans, he shows how Indian scholars have questioned the very logic, assumptions, methods upon which the theory is based, and have used the same data to arrive at very different conclusions. By exposing the whole endeavor to criticism from scholars who do not share the same intellectual history as their European peers, Bryant's work newly complicates the Indo-European homeland quest. At the same time he recognizes the extent to which both sides of the debate have been driven by political, racial, religious, and nationalistic agendas.
The only complete and up-to-date survey of the evidence and arguments for and against the Indo-Aryan migration theory, this volume is of crucial importance to the study of early Indian history and the origins of Vedic culture.
The book will interest scholars and students of South Asia studies, Indo-European studies, ancient Indian history, linguistics, and comparative religions.
REVIEWS :
A balanced description and evaluation of the two century old debate dealing with the origins of the Indo-Aryan speaking people of South Asia. (Bryant) presents both sides of the issue, that is the traditional western, linguistic, and philological consensus of immigration from central Asia, and the more recent Indian position that denies any immigration and that asserts an indigenous South Asian origin. He probes for loopholes on both sides of the argument and present the multi-faceted evidence from linguistics, archaeology, texts, etc. in an even-handed manner. As such, the book not only is an important and very welcome introduction into recent Indian historical thought but also a valuable heuristic tool in re-evaluating many of the unspoken or un-reflected presuppositions on both sides.'
— Michael Witzel, Harvard University
The problem of Indo-Aryan origins has vexed scholars in both India and the West for well over a century and has touched every nerve of both academic and political discourse, so much so that many in the West have automatically dismissed any arguments to come 'out of India'. Edwin Bryant's 'The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture' investigates how these two worlds of scholarship came into being and systematically exposes the logical weaknesses of most of the arguments that support the consensus on either side. This is not only an important work in the field of Indo-Aryan studies but a long overdue challenge for scholarly fair play.'
—J.P. Mallory, Queen's University of Belfast
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