The theory that the Aryans were indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, rather
than immigrants from other lands. The
word Arya (“noble”) is the name used for
themselves by the people who composed the Vedas, the earliest Hindu religious texts.
Nineteenth-century European scholarship discovered structural relationships between Sanskrit and classical
European languages and speculated
that all these languages came from a
common parent. Based on further
analysis, these researchers hypothesized
that people speaking this parent language originated in central Asia, somewhere near the Caspian Sea. From there,
some went west to Europe, some went
southwest to Turkey, and some went
south toward Iran, and later to India.
The conclusion that these Indian pilgrims came from Iran is based on comparisons between the Avesta and the
Veda, the Iranian and Indian religious
texts. These texts show broad linguistic
similarities, and thus indicate that the
people speaking the languages were
closely related. This entire theory is thus
based solely on the observed similarities
between languages, and assumptions
about how it changed.
Indigenous Aryan theory supporters
reject this claim and maintain that the
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Aryans are the original inhabitants of
India, and as proof point to the artifacts
found in the Indus Valley civilization,
an ancient urban network in northeastern India. Both of these claims are highly
tenuous and do not address the philological evidence behind the original
Aryan theory. The Indigenous Aryan
theory has political implications that
have helped to spur its growth. Some
supporters are reacting against the
Aryan migration theory’s perceived
colonialist bias, since the theory was
developed by Europeans and assumes
that the dominant groups in modern
India must have come from outside.
Other supporters of this theory are the
proponents of Hindutva, who claim
that all Indians are “really” Hindus, and
thus one social group, whatever their
particular religious beliefs. This assertion has profound political implications in modern India, where Christians
and Muslims are not only religious communities, but social and political ones.
By connecting Hindu identity and good
Indian citizenship, Hindutva proponents are marginalizing Christians and
Muslims as outsiders.