Overview for The Aryans: Myth and Archaeology
The Aryan problem is probably the most controversial in human history. Numerous scholars have attempted to trace the homeland of Vedic Aryans but no solution is in sight in spite of the vast mass of literature. However, archaeological evidence of great significance has recently become available which throws a flood of light on the problem as it corroborates to a considerable extent the literary testimony and is even supported by that of the human skeletal biology. It has therefore become possible to locate the original homeland of the Ayans, the period of their migrations, the date of the composition of Rgveda, the flowering of the Vedic culture and finally their diaspora in different directions, not only in India but beyond its frontiers. The study thus represents a unique blend of the archaeological, literary and anthropological evidence.
M.K. Dhavalikar (Author)
Professor Madhukar Keshav Dhavalikar (b 1930) studied archaeology at Deccan College, University of Pune. After serving Archaeological Survey of India (1953-65), joined Nagpur University (1975-76) and was later Professor of Archaeology and Director, Deccan College Post-Graduate Research Institute (now a Deemed Univeristy) Pune, up to 1990. He carried out several excavations of protohistoric sites such a Kayatha, Inamgaon, Somnath and Kuntasi. He was President, Indian Archaeological Society, 1986, and is President, Indian History Congress, 1999. Environment and Culture: A Historical Perspective (2002), and Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology, vol. III (in press), besides excavation reports.
Bagchee
