Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate

by

KOENRAAD ELST

Aditya Prakashan, New Delhi

Contents
Preface
Political aspects of the Aryan Invasion Debate
1.1 Politicizing a Linguistic Theory
1.2 The Aryan Invasion Theory in Indian Politics
1.3 Politicization as an Obstacle to Research
1.4 A Case Study in AIT Polemic
1.5 Some Red Herrings
1.6 Conclusion
Astronomic Data and the Aryan Question
2.1 Dating the Rg-Veda
2.2 Ancient Hindu Astronomy
2.3 The Precession of the Equinox
2.4 Additional Astronomical Indications
2.5 Conclusion
Linguistic aspects of the Indo-European Urheimat Question
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Origin of the Linguistic Argument
3.3 Direct Geographical Clues
3.4 Exchanges with other Languages Families
3.5 Conclusion
Miscellaneous aspects of the Aryan Invasion Debate
4.1 Demographical common sense
4.2 Textual Evidence
4.3 Where did the Kurgan People come from?
4.4 The Horse Evidence
4.5 Vedic Aryans in West Asia
4.6 Memory of the Urheimat
4.7 Indra and Shiva
4.8 Invasionist terms in the Vedas
4.9 The Evidence from physical anthropology
Some new Arguments
5.1 A Remarkable book
5.2 Evidence provided by physical anthropology
5.3 The Archaeological Evidence
5.4 Linguistic Arguments
5.5 The Evidence from Comparative Religion
5.6 Conclusion
Departing thoughts
6.1 Some false problems
6.2 Things to do
6.3 The Non-invasionist Model