The Sarasvati, as modern land
studies now reveals, was indeed one of the largest rivers in India in
ancient times (before 1900 BC) and was perhaps the largest river in India (before 3000 BC). In early
ancient and pre-historic times, it drained the Sutlej and Yamuna,
whose courses were much different than they are today.(*13) However, the Sarasvati river went dry by the
end of the Harappan culture and well before the so-called Aryan
invasion or before 1500 BC.
How could the Vedic Aryans know of this river and establish their
culture on its banks if it dried up some centuries before they
arrived? Indeed the Sarasvati as described in the Rig Veda as a
green and fertile region appears to more accurately show the river as it
was prior to the Harappan culture as in the Harappan era it was already in
decline.
13. Studies from the Post-Graduate Research Institute of Deccan
College, Pune, and the Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI),
Jodhpur. Confirmed by use of MSS (multi-spectoral scanner) and
Landsat satellite photography. Note MLBD NEWSLETTER (Delhi,
India: Motilal Banarsidass), Nov. 1989.
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