By – Kavea Panneerselvam
The Europeans believed that everyone in the East lived in uncivilized, barbaric societies. When they found evidence of a highly developed civilization in the Indian subcontinent, with sophisticated architecture, agriculture, and language, they were shocked. Indeed, they must have become civilized with the influence of the East. Hence, the Aryan invasion theory was born. This is one of the many myths fed to Indians by the white man’s adamant ignorance and arrogance.
Scholars glibly repeated the theory and it became regarded as fact even though there was no concrete evidence. Eventually, Indian scholars adopted this idea and it became widespread. The theory was propagated by the thousands of Indians writing papers on the Aryan Invasion theory wanting to get their master’s degrees and doctorates, by citing previous papers written by British scholars, none of which offered any proof. There began the first step in western intellectual control of the Indians. Indians were made to believe that they had always been colonized by the West and were incapable of ruling themselves. The entire theory is based on the British disbelief that a civilization more advanced than theirs could have existed without Western invasion, as their history began with the ancient Greeks. The theory of an ancient Greek civilization has now been admitted to be a great hoax, by the historians themselves who propounded it.
The British, during their rule of India, could not accept that they owed their whole civilization to India. Instead they developed a theory that even the Rig Veda, the oldest of the Vedas, was actually about the life of the Aryans before they settled in India. They would use this evidence-less theory to convince themselves and the world that the Indians did not contribute to the advancement of civilization. Sadly, we see the effects of the theory today. The British succeeded in kidnapping the Hindu narrative. Now, schools across the West, teach Hindu history from a purely Western perspective.
Highly Developed and Advanced Civilization
French writer and philosopher Voltaire said, “I am convinced that everything has come down to us from the banks of the Ganges – astronomy, astrology, metempsychosis, etc.” He even claimed that over 2500 years ago, Pythagoras went to the banks of Ganga to learn geometry. And he certainly would not have made such a journey had the reputation of the Brahmins not been highly established in Europe.
There were also many similarities between Sanskrit and various European languages, namely German and English. Again, the Europeans could not admit that they owed their languages to the “barbaric” civilization from the east so they further supported this theory that Sanskrit was derived from their own languages. Even today, in many western universities, in order to get a doctorate in Sanskrit, proficiency in German is a prerequisite.
Misrepresentation of Texts
The Rig Veda talks of a struggle between “Arya” and darkness. This was interpreted to mean that the Aryans invaded and took over and then developed culture. In reality, “Arya”, as it is used in the Rig Veda means “light.” While the British took this quite literally to mean light skinned, the Vedas talk of a state of being. It refers to light that illuminates dark spaces and removes ignorance. The British, in their arrogance and obsession with light skin, misinterpreted and misrepresented the Vedas. It was then believed as acceptable to rationalize the British colonization of India as the next Aryan invasion. After all, the Indians were meant to be ruled by others. Instead of using facts to form a theory, they formed a conclusion and scavenged to find facts to support their conclusion. They then resorted to misinterpreting Sanskrit texts in order to legitimize their theory, a practice which is, unfortunately, still rampant today.
The concept of race played a big role in developing this theory. The Indians lived in a society of oneness. They didn’t see the “other.” Race is nothing but a social construct that is designed to keep us separate from one another. The so called division between the Aryans and Dravidians was only in the wily heads of the British. The British especially were happy to use this idea of race in order to legitimize their actions.
The Startling Truth
In reality no Aryan race ever existed! Like the ancient Greek history story, it is the greatest hoax Western academia has ruthlessly imposed on the world. Western historians simply took the word “Arya” and add an “n” to it. There was a desperate need for all colonizing countries of Europe, not just the British, to bring in a sophistry to their otherwise blood thirsty, blood curdling marauding history; to give legitimacy to the appalling acts, policies and bills, high taxes and looting of their subjugated colonies – especially the “jewel in the crown”, India. What better way than to take an enlightened word like “arya” from “Aryavarta” or Bharatavarsha and claim it as their own lineage!
Impact on Today’s Academia
Unfortunately, the effects of the Aryan invasion theory still prevail in the academia today. Even as the theory is being proven false, educational institutions have not updated their curricula. In India, the schools continue to teach history established by the British, using the British methods. For years together, a false version of history has been taught to the children, who have now grown into adults who have no reverence or respect for their own religion. Not very surprisingly, a huge segment of the Indian youth of today defies any proofs of the Aryan invasion theory being false, because they have grown up living and believing these lies. This theory has had far reaching effects on the whole psyche of Indians, by the method of “breaking them from the inside”. Anything, when taught as a part of ‘education’ is automatically accepted as true, and it takes years to alter those ‘facts’ in the minds of people.
In the West, Indian and Hindu history is being taught by non-Indian, non-Hindu “experts.” World history is written by Westerners who only recorded the history of their own small world and largely ignored other well-developed civilizations in the East. The time has come for India and Hinduism to reclaim their narrative.
References:
- The Invasion That Never Was – By Michel Danino and Sujata Nahar
- Hinduwisdom.info
- Why Britain Failed to Subvert the Hindu Narrative – By Bhaskar Menon
By – Kavea Panneerselvam