On Fri January 27 2006 19:30, Vardhini Shankar wrote: > I am no history buff, but what was taught in schools (20 years ago > atleast) is that the cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro were part of the > "native" indus civilization and that they went to ruin following > probable Aryan invasions. I did not think there was any established > proof that there is a direct link between the Aryans and the Indus > valley cultures.
There is no established link as you say. My "teaching" actually goes back a long way before that - about 40-45 years. I was taught about Mohenjo Daro and Aryans in 1963 to be precise - when I was 8. I actually remember the class and teacher. The issue has become a political battle in India. A lot of the information in history books is based on the writing of a few historians - one of whom is Romila Thapar. This lady is alleged to belong to a genre of left wing intellectuals of a kind generally associated with JNU or Jawaharlal Nehru University. Romila Thapar herself is no pushover and responds robustly to criticism of her work by invoking the "fundamenatlist rightwing" argument. The truth - whatever it is, gets lost along the way. My personal take on the issue is that history as "generally taught" in India encourages the belief that the Aryans came and violently replaced the poor Dravidians. This has become a convenient starting point for labelling all sorts of "oppression". In one story Aryans are Brahmins are foreigners and should be dealt with that way. This leads to the counter accusation that Thapar has dealt with the matter of Hindu genocide and temple destruction during Mughal invasions in a "softly softly" manner and hides the truth. Thapar of course says that this is a Hindu right wing plot to discredit her. It's a real mess.
