Original Home of the Indo-Aryans

Author of this article is Dr. Raj Pal Singh

Original Home of the Indo-Aryans

Introduction

It must not be forgotten in considering race question that the terminologies of racial elements are often confusing. Among the terms 'Aryan', 'Dravidians' or 'Jews' the first two refer to linguistic groups while the third to not a racial but religious group. The situation is worse confounded when we find leading authorities adding to the confusion. Here we are concerned with the question of the term ARYAN. It must be remembered that the term 'Aryan' primarily denotes a linguistic concept and it has nothing to do with race. All the races of the people all over the globe belong to one mankind. So while discussing the olden times, we must not be misled by superiority of this race or inferiority of that race just to satisfy our prejudice and pre-conceived views. Rather, we must take into account the historic data with dispassionately to write objective history of the times and events.

It has rightly been asserted: The time has perhaps come in the world today when we have to seek a unity and brotherhood among cultures, brought about not through the obliteration of distinctnesses but through a process by which different cultures and peoples can retain their own way of life and thought, and yet remain in fraternal relationship with other communities striving in the same direction elsewhere. Therefore, our attempt to understand the original home of the Aryans is also to be understood in the light of the latest thought noted above.

The Swastika

Swastika symbol of Aryans

The Swastika is the universal sign of the Aryas .

Various Theories on 'Aryan' Original Home: Revisited

The quest to find the original home of the Indo-Aryans has been a puzzle for the historians for a pretty long time. In spite of many a years research by the scholars from time to time, the knot of identification of their ancient abode has not been cleared to the satisfaction of all. Herein under we would like to present our study which tries to relate the Uttarkuru-Devaloka-Pitar Loka as their most convincing place of origin. But before proceeding further, it is desirable to ponder over a few points which recur frequently in this paper. It would be followed by a quick glance at and re-examination of various theories regarding their original home which have appeared over the years.

The meaning of the term 'Arya'

One of the most important points which needs to be clarified at the very outset is the meaning of the term 'Indo-Aryan.' Generally the term is taken to mean a race of people who were pure and superior to others. This is a false notion propagated mostly by those people who did not possess adequate tools of historical research during the days, they worked on the issue of discussion. In fact the Term 'Aryan' denotes a linguistic concept as defined by Max Mullar, who is responsible for the vogue of the term. He had clearly said that "'Aryan, in scientific language, is utterly inapplicable to race. It means language and nothing but language."

The issues to be sorted out

1. Which region was the original home of the 'Aryans' and when did they migrate from the original home first and to which area did they go from their original home?

2. Was the migration of the 'Aryans' a one time phenomena or was it repeated with immigration and migration. If yes, then when to which region or country/continent?

3. What was the relation of the Jats with the 'Aryans' ?

4. If they were one of them, then, what was their role in the 'Devasura battles?'

5. Which place is identifiable with Devaloka and where do you place Rig Vedic Tridiva or the three provinces of the 'Devaloka' ?

6. Was Rig Vedic Indra denoted god or a commander or king or title of the leaders of the Aryanas during the course of long drawn Devasura battle or not?

7. Who were the Devas and who were their enemies Asuras? What was their relation with the Jats/their clans?

8. When did the Jat identity as a community/caste/people emerge as per historical sources?

9. Were there more than one generation of Indra which is repeatedly invoked by the Rig Vedic Aryans during their long drawn battle against the Asuras?

10. Where do we locate Uttrakurus, Uttra-Kaushals, Uttra-Kashi as referred to in the Puranic literature and the Mahabharata?

11. Where was the last battle between the Devas and Asura contwsted and with what results ?

Identification of Ancient abode

The issue of determining the abode of the origin of the Aryans has been a dilemma for the historians for a long time. Several attempts have been made by erudite scholars to identify one or the other region for their place of origin. In recent times several studies have appeared on the issue which have threadbare discussed the older theories in the light of new sources and arrived at narrowing the divergence of opinions on this crucial issue of historical studies. Here an attempt has been made to put some of the conclusions for further investigations by the scholars who are interested to attempt a convincing break through in the matter.

Let us first identify the old boundaries/frontiers of India in ancient times.

Identification as per Iranian traditions :

As per the Iranian tradition preserved in the Vendidad, Fargard I of the Zend -Avesta, there is reference to 16 good lands created by Ahura Mazda one after another whose names in order of creation are:

1. Airyyana Vaejo or Iranvej: The first god chosen land for which the word ‘Iranvej’ has been used. It means ‘the seed of the Iranians.’ Therefore, it may be equated with the cradle of Iranians and first created in the Vendidad as the good land. The research by Ernst Herzfeld says in this regard: ‘’From time immemorial, at least from the third millennium down to the middle of the second, the Aryans inhabited, as an undivided ethnical group, the vast plains of the Oxus and the Jaxtartes, the land of Eranvej of the two rivers Vahvi-Datiya and Ranha.” . However, Pithawalla says that Iranvej lay in the valley of Syr Darya.

2. Sughdha: the second god chosen land Sughdha is identified with Sogdiana or the Amu Darya valley and the valley of Zarafshan. [Now the god chosen land falls within the Steppe-Desert belt of Afrasia.

3. Moura: in the Avesta and Margu in the Achemanian inscriptions, Margiana for the Greeks is the region identified with Turkemenistan having medieaval times famous city Merv. N L Dey identified it with Sanskrit word ‘Mrga’ which name, according to him, has survived in Murg-Ab, the river of Merv. The whole region of Margiana lies in a fertile oasis between the Karakuram desert and the Kopet Mountains.

4. Bakhdhi: [Bakhtri in old Persian and Bactaria Greek]. It is same as Iranian Balkh and Indian Vahilka. This is the region lying between the river Oxus and the Hindukush comprises Pauranic Ketumala Varsa. The town of Bacteria, for Iranians--the mother of cities, was situated on the southern side of the river Oxus.

5. Nisaya: According to the location indicated in the Vendidad it lay between Mouru and Bakhdhi i.e., between Merv and Bacteria; but no such place as Nisaya has been explored so far hence it may be considered as yet to be explained.

6. Haroyu: or Haraiva [old Persian} or Areia {Greek} is the region comprising the valley of the river Harirud. Haroyu corresponds to Indian Sarayu. This is famous for its fruits production with principal town Heart, a town of antiquity.

7. Vaekereta stands for Seistan, lying to south of Harirud. The word Seistan is equivalent to Sanskrit Sakasthana, so known as it was later on conquered by the sakas also designated as Scythians.

8. Hrva or Urva identified by some with ‘Mesene, the region of the lower Eupharates’ orby others with the valley of Kabul.

9. Khenta was ancient Kandhar.

10. Harahvaiti: the name of the region through which the river Arghanbad flows. The region was known to the Greeks as Arachosia. [Does Harahvaiti stands for Skt. word Saraswati ? will be taken up for discussion separately].

11. Haetumant: or Greek Etumandros is equivalent to the Sanskrit word Setumanta and is now known as Helmand with the Chief town present Ghazni.

12. Ragha: or Raga [Old Persian] or Ragai [Greek] is Rae, now a suburb of Tehran, which is very old habitation according to the local legends.

13. Kakhra or Chakra [Sanskrit] is the region in the Kura valley in Azerbaijan.

14. Varena: Identification assigned to it is with Varena, modern Buner located above Attock and the Pangkora which joins the Kabul river before it falls in the Indus at Attock. Some identify it with Gilan also and others with Mt. Demavand or Verana in Kasmir.

15. Hapta Hendu: or Hepta Hindava which is Sanskrit Sapta Sindhu or the region of the Indus and its six tributaries.

16. Rangha: or Vedic Rasa. Identified by scholars variously with Tigris, Jaxtartes or Syr Darya or Pauranic Bhadrasoma.

Some scholars are of the view that this list of ‘’good lands’’ represents the actual order of migration and settlements of the old Iranian tribes from south and south east till they occupied Caspian Sea to the Arabian sea but others do not agree with this explanation.

Identification as per Indian Traditions :

There are several scholars, who have concluded that India was the cradle of the ancient Aryans and from this country they migrated to other countries of the world. Some of the latest studies on the topic are as follows:

Many historians do support this migration of the Aryas from east to west.

1. Sapat-Sindhu: Cradle of the Aryans:

According to A.C. Das, the original home of Aryans was the Sapt-Sindhu or the Punjab. To quote him, the Sapat-Sindhu was irrigated by seven rivers viz the Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Satluj and Sarswati. "The original cradle of the Aryans was, therefore, Sapt-Sindhu which included the beautiful valley of Kashmir on the North and Gandhara on the West. Its southern boundary was Rajputana [then it was not desert] and its eastern boundary covered the Gangetic trough. It was completely cut off from Southern India by sea, but it was covered by land with Western Asia in the direction of Gandhara and Kabulisatan through which waves after waves of Arya migration advanced to the west and to Europe."

2. B. B. Lal's support to the Theory: In his inagural address B B Lal, at the 19th International Conference on South Asian Archaeology, held at University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy on July 2-6, 2007 also talked about westward migration out of India. A quote from the above talk reads: "Ayu migrated eastwards. His (people) are the Kuru-Pancalas and the Kasi-Videhas. This is the Ayava (migration). Amavasu migrated westwards. His (people) are the Ghandhari, Parsu and Aratta. This is the Amavasu (migration).

According to the correct translation, there was no movement of the Aryan people from anywhere in the north-west. On the other hand, the evidence indicates that it was from an intermediary point that some of the Aryan tribes went eastwards and other westwards. This would be clear from the map that follows."

3. Dr. Talageri (2008) also supports B B Lal and holds the view that Migration of the Aryans occurred from India to the Western World.

So there continues discussion on westward migration, and both Talageri and B B Lal contend movement of Aryans did take place from somewhere near Punjab/Haryana after battle of 10 kings towards West.

In 2003, Sivaji Singh delivered a talk which he ended by saying that more research in coming years will be about people moving West out of India. And the discussion continues on the issue.

But this theory has not been accepted by the scholars of the world and has not been taken seriously so far.

Aryans in Syria and Upper Mesopotamia in 16th and 15th Centuries B.C.

There are strong evidences to show that in the sixteenth and the fifteenth centuries B.C., in Syria and Upper Mesopotamia , there were several colonies of men of Aryan Speech, some of whom at least worshipped Vedic gods. In the cuneiform tablets discovered at Tell-el-Amarna in Upper Egypt containing letters from the tributary Kings of Western Asia to Egyptian Pharaohs we find such Aryan na,es of chieftains: “Artamanya, chief of Ziribasani, probably about Basan; Bawarzana or Mawarzana [or perhaps Mayarzana], chief of Hazi, probably to the north of Palestine; Subandhu or Subandi, from Philistaea [cf. S. Subandhu]; Suwardata, the adversary of Abduhiba of Jerusalem, [cf. Svardatta]; Sutana or Suttarna, chief of Musihuma, ,probably in northern Palestine; Yasdata or Wasdata, probably from the neighbourhood of Megidda; Zirdamiasda, probably from Northern Palestine, and so forth. The name of the Kassite sun-god Suriaspoints to a similar Aryan element to the east of Babylonia….. The names of the Mitani kings are of the same kind. They are Sa-us-sa-tar, Aratama, Suttarna, Dusratta [or Tusratta]; Artassumara [or Artassuwara], and Mattuaza.”

Regarding the place of language of these names in the Indo-European family, Sten Konow observes: “I think that the explanation of these facts has been given by Professor Bloomfield, who considers it possible that the ‘Mitani and other Western Asiatic Iranoid proper names came from a dialect closely allied to Iranian but not yet exclusively Iranian, i.e. a dialect which did not change ‘S’ to ‘H’. It seems as if the change of S to H is not so old as the other Iranian characters. It only began after Iranian branch had separated itself from the common Aryan stock and did not at once spread over the whole Iranian area.

Identification and Extent of Aryanka or Airiyanam Vijo

There is some "proof of the fact that the original home of the Aryans," avers Dr. Buddha Prakash , that it "extended beyond the Indus and embraced a larger part of the Iranian world...In ancient times the country, called 'Arianne', bounded on the east by the Indus, on the south by the Indian Ocean from the mouth of the Indus to the Persian gulf, and on the west by an imaginary line, drawn from the Caspian Gates to Carmania, was peopled by the Arioi, living side by side with the Drangai, as Strabo informs us."

Kalhana designates this region by the name Aryanaka where king Lalitaditya Muktapida was said to have met his death as a result of excessive snowfall.

The historical evidences enshrined in the verses of the Rigveda have been gleaned by so many scholars over the years to test their hypotheses that it is not possible for any one of us to post all of them here.

Moreover, the testimony of the Vedic literature has been compared with other historical data and then the workable results of historical events and happenings of the yore in the locale inhabited by the Aryans--both Indo-Aryans and Indo-Iranians-- have been compared and correlated.

The upshot of this type of studies shows, says Dr. Buddha Prakash that "the Aryans of Iran call their homeland Eranvej or Airanam Vejo Vahhiviya Dathyaya. Vahvi is the same as Vai or Valhi and denotes the river Oxus. In ancient times the Oxus discharged into the Caspian Sea. It filled the depression of Sarykamysh, flowed through the bed of the Uzboi, south-east of the gap in the Balkhan hills, over 100 miles south-east of Kransnovodsk, and fell into the Caspian opposite the group of islands called Aghyrcha." Dr. Budh Prakash goes on to explain further that "the expression Vejo Vahviya Dathyaya signifies the lower course of the Oxus, marked by the bed of the river Uzboi, for here the river torrentially sallies forth and over-flows its bounds." He concludes that "it is clear that the region up to the shore of the old sea, encompassing the Caspian and the Aral, formed part of the Aryan homeland.

In nutshell one can say that the region from the Saraswati up to sea, encompassing the Caspian and the Aral, was the cradlelandof the Indo-Iranian peoples. It was inhabited by a large number of tribes and clans of these peoples speaking a variety of dialects of the Aryan speech and exhibiting different shades of a basic culture-complex.Their relations consisted of frequently changing associations and alliances often characterised by conflicts and bickerings. There were also displacements and movements among them from one region to another, presenting a spectacle of invasions and incursions."

These bickering and invasions are vividly described as discernible readers of the Rigvedic verses finds a lot of material praising or denouncing the contestant groups and the leaders of either party. Later Indian literature further testifies to the happening of Devasur battles.

[to be expanded.............]

Who were Deva-Asura

Generally meaning of the word Sura and Asura is taken as: Suras are gods and Asuras are demons or non gods. But this distinction did not obtain in the early Vedic period. Originally the deities, and especially Varuna and Mitra,were called Asuras, but in the later part of the Rig veda the term is applied chiefly to the enemies of the gods. In the Atharvaveda,as in subsequent Epic literature, the Asuras are simply demons and giants and goblins. No conclusive explanation can be offered as to how this remarkable change took place in the course of the centuries embraced by the vedic period. On the issue of change of meaning of the Sura and Asura as god and demon in later Vedic period, Donald A Mackenzie says that "it may have been primarily to sectarian strife between the religious teachers of those tribes which had been influenced by Babylonian modes of thought and those which clung tenaciously to the forms of primitive Aryan nature worship, and perhaps also worship of ancestors [Pitris]. In the old Persian language, which like Greek, places "h' before a vowel where "s" is used in Sanskrit, Ahura (=Asura) signifies god. The Zoroastrian chief god is called Ahura-Mazda, the wise Lord, as Varuna is addressed in early Rigvedic hymns, wise Asura and King, and all knowing Asura who established the heavens and fixed the limits of the earth". On the other hand daeva in the Iranian dialect, which is cognate with Sanskrit deva,god, came to mean demon.. Asura is derived from the root asu, to shine, or deiwo, heavenly.

Deva-Asura Battles

Indo-Aryan and Indo-Iranians, both groups lived in the earliest known times in the Central Asia; and, in due course of time with the increase in their population and tussle for leadership gradually developed and it later on assumed the form of battles which has found place in the traditions of the Aryans of the yore.

The Vedic Aryans/earlier known as Devas and Dasyus/Daitya/Danava Aryans belonged to the same stock of old Central Family of Aryas whose common head of progeny or Prajapati was 'Kashyapa'.

He is said to have married several daughters of Daksha Prajpati. Aditi became the mother of the Adityas, who in later ages came to be regarded as the true gods by the Vedic Aryans. The descendants of the two other wives of the Prajapati Kashyapa were:

Daityas are born of Diti, and Danavas were born from Danu, the two wives of the Kashyapa, Both the Daityas and the Danavas have together been coupled as 'Asuras' too in the literary traditions.

Therefore, it is wrong to say that either Divodas or Shamber was non Aryan.

Reality if Deva-Asura Yudhas happened between two groups of the Aryans and the earlier rulers Asuras were made to retreat several times from their earliest possessions and ultimately forced to cross over to Afghanistan and then proceed towards Indus Valley region where they laid foundation to one of the oldest civilisations of the world known as Harappan civilisation. Thus the founders of this civilisation were the descendants of Diti and Danu.

The coming of Devas to India in subsequent times resulted in pitched battles between the Vedic Aryans and Harappan aryans which has been alluded to in various old bookls including Rigveda.

These historic clues and data have to be examined with an objective study in mind if we are really interested to come out of the historic cob web of the yore.

D. P. Misra, who has studied Proto History of India, on the Devasura Wars writes: " The Puranas mention twelve Devasura Wars and give a separate name to each of them. They refer to the immediate cause in connection with a few of them but are silent about others. The first one, in which Narasimha, literally signifying 'a lion among men', killed Asura Hiranya Kashipu was, perhaps, fought in Devaloka itself. Narsimha, please with the righteous conduct of Hiranya Kashipu's son Prahlada crowned him as the 'Indra of the Asuras'. However, it is not clear whether Prahalada was allowed to retain the whole of Devaloka or onlyu a part of it.The doubt arises as his son Virochana, who succeeded him, is said to have ruled over the Fifth Patala, one of sevenregions bearing the name Patal."

Continuing the discussion on the issue, Dr. Misra states: " Another Devasura War is named TaraKamaya which was due to Soma eloping with (Tara) the wife of Brihaspati, a priest of the Angirasa clan and the preceptor of the Devas. In the course of theis was Virochana was killed by Indra and his son Bali had to migrate to another Patla, which is presumably Bacteria, also called Bali-Alaya or Bali-Sadma. Bali was perhaps the most illustrious or Asura rulers and fought many a war with the Devas with varying fortunes. Perhaps the most important of the wars was the once connected with Samudra-manthana or the churning of the Ksirasagaara."

The scholars have over the centuries undertaken studies on the incident/event of Deva-Asura Samudra-manthan [churning of the sea] with interest and flair for finding out the truth of the historic clues underlying this very important tradition recorded in the pages of so many ancient books.

The place of the event has been identified by some of the scholars with Caspian Sea, through which trade passed between India and China in the east and the lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea on the West. It may be that the control of this sea-route was the immediate cause of the renewed hostilities. In this war also the Asuras were beaten, but they recovered soon to challenge the Devas. It seems that it was not by force of arms but b trickery practised upon Bali by Vamana, that the Asuras were forced out of Bacteria to migrate to another Patala, situated in the Valley of the Indus."

These events described as Deva-Asura Battles engulfed the area extending from Central Asia to the sub-continent of India. The Devas seem to have succeeded in pushing the Asuras from Central Asian common home of the Devas and Asuras "constantly towards the south and south-east and the theaters of wars came to be spread over Eastern Iran, Afghanistan, Baluchistan and India." Jaiminiya Brahmana (1.154) testifies that "the Devas, Pitrs and men were on one side and the Asuras, Pisachas and Rakshasas on the other side."

Dr. Mistra quoting Taittirya Samhita states on the identification of the contesting parties reference writes :...the word 'pitrah' stands for the subjects of Yama (Iranian Yima) and 'manusyah' for the progeny or descendants of Manu. If any doubt still remains regarding India being one of the theaters of these wars, it may be set at rest by references in the Puranas to a number of kings both the Solar and the Lunar dynasties participating in them on behalf of the Devas."

Swami Dayanand Sarswati and Pargiter on Original Home of Aryans

Swami Dayanand Sarswati propunded the theory that the original home of the Aryans was Tibet.. The views expounded by Swamiji found support from Pargiter. But now this theory stands more or less rejected by the historians.

Dr. Hukam Singh Panwar on original home of the Aryans

For detailed analysis of the issue see Dr. Hukam Singh Panwar's book excerpt by log in: http://www.jatland.com/home/The_Jats:Their_Origin,_Antiquity_and_Migrations/The_migrations_of_the_Jats_to_the_North-Western_countries#Study_of_original_home_of_the_Aryans

Some excerpts are produced herein under for ready reference of the users:

Study of original home of the Aryans

The above discussion brings us to believe that a majority of the scholars have used, more than anything else, the linguistic evidence to prove their respective hypotheses. Though language has not entirely lost its validity as a tool in classifying groups of people, yet it has long been rejected as an acid test of a race. To determine the original home of a people, some rely only on the flora and fauna of a particular region since the time of their creation. But such writers ignore the most important fact that flora and fauna are not permanent and are ever changing. Impelled by the exigencies of climate, food, shelter and sudden physical changes not only man and animals, but even plants moved from one place to another in the Glacial, Interglacial and Post-glacial epochs. Logically, with such circumstances in view, if one mistakes an interim home of a migratory tribe or a people for their original home, it will historically be very incorrect. Moreover, in the Post-glacial present epoch the flora and fauna has, by and large, been the same from Ganga to Volga. It will, hence, be very difficult with our dependence on merely flora and fauna as tools to ascertain when and where a particular tribe or people had their first origin. Still others prefer archaeology to linguistic and ethnological evidence. Undoubtedly, this science proves or disproves linguistic and literary testimony. But Carbon dating (C-14), its chief weapon, is not always and everywhere infallible in determining antiquity of artifacts. In calculating data possible error of judgment and the operation of subjectivity are said to be its major snags yet to be surmounted. Common elements, similarities and parallels are often noticeable in artifacts excavated at different and distant sites in a country or in different countries that are contiguous or are situated far away. These similarities may either bethe result of independent or simultaneous growth or of the movement of ideas, peoples and goods from one place to another resulting from commercial contacts at a particular time. With the present state of our knowledge archaeology and craniology, with all their limitations, are considered the only infallible sciences to say the final word about the antiquity, place of birth of a culture and its authors. But, to place reliance only on their findings, particularly when there is a lack of unanimity among their interpreters, will be very hazardous. It becomes all the more risky if an expert in utter disregard of the genuine findings, sticks to his own conclusions and considers them as the most reliable. It is, there fore, suggested that inter-disciplinary and multidirectional approach may yield better results in the study of such a problem. We must, therefore, know the flora and fauna of a country in the earliest period of our present epoch, besides its geology, geography and ecology that influence its demography, its tribe, and peoples with their rudimentary taxonomy, their religion and mythology, their means of communication and transport, their language and literature, their occupations and pastimes, their food and drinks, their dress and ornaments, their tools and weapons, their mutual and external relations, their manners and customs, their trade and commerce, their social and political organisation, and their institutions and government, before it becomes possible for us to locate, with some certainty, the place where a particular people had once lived before they migrated to or were isolated in some other land. With all these points in view scholars such as Muir, A.C. Das, S. Srikanta Sastri, M.L. Bhargava, Rahul Sankritayana, and Kailashnath Dwivedi made an in depth study of the oldest source books of the Aryans i.e. the Rigveda and Avesta, and arrived at the conclusion that their internal evidence, especially geographic, unmistakably point to the situation of the original home of the Aryans in the Sapta Sindhu, which is, interestingly, also named as Sapta Saindhava country in R.V. (8,24,27). Unfortunately, the truth of this identification, borne out by the inherent evidence of the Rig Veda itself, is hardly palatable, with a few exceptions, to the western scholars for reasons best known to them even though they also admit these two holy books, especially the Rigveda, to be the oldest scripture of the Aryans to whom they, too, proudly claim to belong. At the most Meyer, Max Muller and a few others concede their origin "some where in the east (Max Muller) or precisely speaking the Pamir region (Meyer) which A.C. Das, as we have already shown, includes in Sapta Sindhu (Zend Avesta- Hapta Hendu) country.

Identification based on studies on Archaeology

1.While we discuss India's relations with outside world in the ancient times, one of the recorded evidence emerges in the form of Kassite Documents [c. 1760 B.C.] which shows names of Indo-Aryan dieties like Surias, Marutas, Bugas.

Moreover, it is found that these Kassites introduced the use of horse for drawing the chariots in Babylonia.

2. Tel-el-Amarna tablets [c. 1460 B.C.] refer to the rulers among the Mitanni on the Upper Euphrates who bore names like Atatama, Suttarna, Dusratta, which are Aryan. This evidence suggests that Mitannis were Aryan.

3.Boghaz-keui Inscriptions [1360 B C] record a treaty between the Hittite king and the Mitanni king who was defeated in a battle. The Mitanni gods [Indra, Uruwna or Aruna, Miittra, Nasaattiia] alongwith Babylonian deities are invoked to protecgt the treaty. There is another document from Bogha-keui which deals with horse breeding manual and contains a series of Aryan numerals-aika, teras, panzas, satta, nav. It may be noted that the words do not exhibit the changes which distinguish Iranians from the Indian forms, indicating that the words were borrowed either from the Indians or from their ancestors before bifurcation into Indians and Iranians.

These evidences suggests that 'there was in Mitanni, after about 1450 B C., a dynasty with Aryan names, worshiping Aryan gods, founded upon the power of their Aryan troops, the maryanni, and characterized by their superior horse breeding.'

On the basis of this evidence Macdonnell, Keith and others maintain that they were a branch of the Aryans on their way to India from Central Europe. But Jacobi, Pargiter, and Konow opine that the Mitanni must have reached Babylonia by sea and settled there.

---

Romila Thapar on Aryan Home

Prominent Indian Historian Romila Thapar had delivered a well researched talk before the College and University teachers at Academic Staff College, JNU, Delhi in 1999. She has exhaustively dealt with the issue with open mind and put the facts based on various historical tools. To read this useful information link

External Links

1. Some information on Rakhi garhi near Hissar. DNA studies results awaited as fb post https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2110723015853437&id=100007472764392

See also

• Indo-Aryan peoples
• Indo-Aryan origin of Jats‎

---