Author: David Frawley
Publisher: Aditya Prakashan
Year: 2001
Language: English
Pages: 364
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8177420399
Description
This book attempts to clarify the historical aspects of the Rig Veda and reaches a conclusion that is both radical and significant.
In this book, Gods, Sages and Kings which appeared in 1991, David Frawley presented what was at that time a radical conclusion. The Rigveda, far from being a record of nomadic invaders from the steppes of Central Asia or Eurasia, is actually the poetry of a people who show great familiarity with the ocean and maritime activity. The present volume, The Rig Veda and the History of India, builds on this theme, and reaches a conclusion that is no less radical and significant. It holds that while the Rigveda was composed for the most part in the Saraswati heartland in the north, some of its sources, including much of its ancestry, its poetry and language go back to a maritime civilization in the south of India and possibly beyond.
There were two main Vedic cultures in ancient India. The first was a northern kingdom centered on the Sarasvati-Drishadvati river region dominated by the Purus and the Ikshvakus that produced the existent Veda texts that we have. The second was a southern culture along the coast of the Arabian Sea and into the Vindhya Mountains, dominated by the Turvashas and Yadus and extending into groups yet further south.
These northern and southern groups vied for supremacy and influenced each other in various ways as the Vedas and Puranas indicate. The northern or Bharata culture ultimately prevailed, making India the land of Bharata or Bharatavarsha and its main ancient literary record the Vedas, though militarily the Yadus remained strong throughout history. The southern culture was the older of the two with the Vedic people coming originally from the south, not the northwest. This was the basis of the maritime symbolism at the core of Vedic thought, which reflects an ancient heritage.
In addition, there was a third or northwest Vedic culture in Punjab and Afghanistan, that of the Anus and Druhyus, which was at first part of the northern kingdom but gradually developed its own identity. It was partly assimilated by the Bharatas that became the dominant northern people. Another portion of it extended north and west outside of the Indian subcontinent. Its influence was secondary to that of the northern and southern kingdoms and much of it passed out of the Indic sphere of culture. However, it was the basis of the most of the Indo-European and Iranian peoples and cultures that we find in Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East.
Therefore, we must look at the south and east connections to understand not only Indic civilization and Hinduism, but also to understand the Vedas themselves. The western connections to the Europeans and Iranians were more an outflow, while the southern connections were more original and enduring. Western scholars, dominated by a European mindset, only traced Indo-European culture from Europe and the Middle East to India as its eastern border. They failed to see that the boundary was only in their minds.
Contents
Foreword by N.S. Rajaram
Preface
PART I : INTRODUCTION
Summary of Conclusion
CHAPTER ONE
The Rig Veda as a Document of Both Rishis and Kings
CHAPTER TWO
The Early Era : Manu, Ila, Nahusha and Yayati
PART II : THE MAIN DYNASTIES OF THE RIG VEDA
CHAPTER THREE
The Main Bharata Divodasa-Bharadvaja Line of Kings
CHAPTER FOUR
The Trasadasyu Dynasty and the Ikshvakus
CHAPTER FIVE
The Srinjayas, the Main Dynasty of the Later Rig Veda
CHAPTER SIX
The Decline of the Srinjaya-Panchalas and the Rise of the Kurus
PART III : IMPLICATIONS
CHAPTER SEVEN
Expansions of the Vedic People
CHAPTER EIGHT
Geographical References : The Ocean and Soma
CHAPTER NINE
Lineages of the Sears of the Rig Veda
CHAPTER TEN
The Kuru Dynasty and Krishna
PART IV : CONCLUSIONS
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Related Peoples 1 : Iran, Mesopotamia and South India
CHAPTER TWELVE
Related People 2 : The Europeans. The Children of Danu
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Summary of Vedic-Puranic Concordance
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Sanskritization : A New Model of Language Development
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Establishing a Time Line
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Conclusion : Cultural Implications
Bibliography
Index