David Reich and the Aryan invasion theory

Here's what the DNA has to say about the "Aryan invasion". Maybe we should start calling it the Yamnaya invasion. Well I tend to believe the DNA evidence. It will be hard for the Sanatanis to accept. Especially since so much hinges on the "orientalist" critique.

 

 One of the things I rarely talk about is the Aryan invasion theory. It is one that is certainly a point of great contention and is generally considered a product of the "Orientalist" critique of cultural imperialism. A great deal of  current research in India has gone into "debunking the Aryan invasion theory." A brief Google search will show how even DNA evidence is being used in this debunking effort. This all arises out of an attempt to Hinduize Indian history since its leading proponents are all supporters of the Hindutva agenda.

The reason that I have not gone into the matter much is because I never thought it sufficiently important to wade through the immense amount of data and quibbling about the meanings of this or that archeological factotum. It always seemed to me, however, that the insights of the first European scholars on discovering the Indo-European family of language were cogent and based on facts rather than predisposition to their own racial superiority.

David Reich's new research is based on the accumulation of historical DNA samples that are growing in number and with the passage of time revealing more and more about population movements in Europe and the South Asian subcontinent over the past 10000 years. There were two great such movements--one whereby farmer populations from the middle east slowly displaced the earlier hunter-gatherers, mixing with them.  This started about 8500 years ago and was probably complete by the about 3000 BCE. At about this time a second group,  pastoral peoples that began in the steppes of Russia made their entry into Europe and this had a huge effect on the genetic makeup of the local population, becoming the dominant genetic strain. Reich calls these pastoral peoples the Yamnaya after the place where the skeletal remains, a "missing link" if you will, was found in the Samara Oblast in the Caucasus, a few hundred kilometers north of the Caspian Sea. 

The specialties of these people were the exploitation of the wheel and the horse. They exploited the steppes in a way that had never been done before and were thus extremely mobile traveling to the extremities of Europe in the West and as far as Mongolia in the East. Eventually, like so many others likely both before as well as after them,

Other DNA research, which is still in its beginnings as far as we can tell and is far less developed in India than in Europe due to historical reasons, reveals a similar process taking place there, though it was nowhere nearly as complete as in Europe. Nevertheless, the genetic evidence when correlated to Indian subgroups confirms the longtime existence of endogamy in the subcontinent, i.e., caste, as well as other correlations between language and larger population groups. 

So although not everything about the "Aryan Invasion Theory" has or can be confirmed, these new discoveries certainly are significant in trying to understand the ancient history and prehistory of India. Needless to say, Reich's interpretation of the new data that his and others' groups or researchers are uncovering is not going to be particular pleasing to the Hindutva promoters. In general I am not particularly opposed to the Hindutva agenda, but I tend to be more in favor of truth, satyam eva jayate.

When I posted the link to this video, one devotee friend wrote the following:

"They always invert / reverse / say the opposite of the truth. The ancient Rsis of Bharat traveled over the Himalayas to what is today called 'Russia' and that is how it got its name. This is not my assertion but was stated by Srila Prabhupada."

I was asked to give an opinion on this so I wrote the following:

Why do we need to disbelieve the Aryan invasion theory in order to exercise devotion to Bhagavan? Even Babaji and Haridas Shastri have stated that the stories of the Puranas need not be taken literally. If everything hangs onto the thread of belief in the literal truth of myths (even recent ones) then all hope is lost. It is like painting yourself into a corner with ever less people wanting to find themselves there with you.

I tend to believe the DNA evidence. 

Lately I was thinking about ISKCON because I visited the local temple for Nityananda Trayodasi. As a devotee who knew this temple when it was a driving force, it was sad to see the changes, even though in general I enjoyed the program.

I thought for a moment what can I do to help? But of course I don't think I could ever find a role in ISKCON -- even if someone were to forget my whole saga, give the green light and say, maybe Jagat could bring some substance to a community that is withering away -- I know that it would only take a few days before I would say something that would brush against the "Prabhupada said" purity police and I would be unceremoniously booted out.

And this is indeed ISKCON's problem in the West. Indian devotees can separate the cultural and intellectual aspects of their lives. Some of these young men and women have scientific training and so on, but they can chant and dance and serve the deity and take prasad and so on in perfect happiness. I might be wrong. But for those who have a more institutionalized consciousness and think that everything hinges on absolute loyalty to every last doctrine Prabhupada ever promulgated, they live in fear of disobedience to the Law. They gradually fade away into nothingness, as was happening to Hinduism in the time of Caitanya.

All this does not bode well for the future of devotion to Krishna and Caitanya in the Western world. I imagine there are ISKCON intellectuals who struggle with this conundrum. The most fanatically loyal to Prabhupada are the Ritviks in their various incarnations. ISKCON itself has an intellectual movement that keeps itself discreet but the conservative elements in India and Russia are dominant and make it difficult for anyone to deviate from that baseline. Purity is the force, and one's purity is measured by one's absolute loyalty to Prabhupada's word.

Even I keep my most radical thoughts quiet since I value the friendship of the devotees. But this was one reason that I admired Steve Bohlert because he had taken the plunge into the problems of post-Enlightenment theology and had some familiarity with the ways that Christians dealt with them. Eventually he became reenchanted with the Vaishnava tradition and raganuga bhakti but he could never find a place in traditional Vaishnava circles again. Perhaps the two worlds are too incompatible. It will certainly take a genius to transcend the divide.