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We have examined the chronology and geography of the Rigveda, and seen the expansion of the Vedic Aryans from their original, homeland in the east to the west and northwest.
But a basic question that remains is: who exactly were these Vedic Aryans and what was their historical identity?
According to the scholars, the Vedic Aryans were a branch of the Indo-Iranians of Central Asia; and these Indo-Iranians were themselves a branch of the Indo-Europeans of South Russia.
That is, the Indo-Europeans were originally a people in South Russia; one branch of these Indo-Europeans, the Indo-Iranians, migrated towards the east and settled down in Central Asia; much later, one branch of these Indo-Iranians, the Indoaryans, migrated southeastwards into the northwestern parts of India; and thus commenced the story of the Aryans in India.
These Indoaryans are called Vedic Aryans since they composed the hymns of the Rigveda during the period of their earliest settlements in the northwest and the Punjab, before they came into contract with other parts of India.
These Vedic Aryans were faceless and anonymous groups of people, whose only historical identity is that they were the ultimate ancestors of the different tribes, peoples, priestly families and royal dynasties found throughout the Sanskrit texts.
But all this is the version of the scholars. As we have already seen, the scholars are wrong in their fundamental proposition that the Vedic Aryans moved into India from the northwest. They are also wrong in their conclusions about the historical identity of the Vedic Aryans:
The Vedic Aryans were not the ultimate ancestors of the different tribes and peoples found in the Sanskrit texts: they were in fact just one of these tribes and peoples. They have a definite historical identity: the Vedic Aryans were the PUrus of the ancient texts.
Author : Shrikant G. Talageri
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