It is a sad commentary on the state of Itihasa of Bharatam Janam that some scholars like Witzel continue to harp on the 'mass migration' of 'Aryans' into ancient India to explain the identity of Bharatam Janam. Unless this sonorous harping is ended, Bharatam Janam will continue to be kept in the dark about their roots.

I have posited an alternative of mleccha, meluhha as Proto-Prakrits integral to the Indian sprachbund together with the chandas reciters and Samskritam speakers. Indus script has been deciphered as metalwork catalogs rendered rebus in meluhha/mleccha using hieroglyphs. That position has to take deep roots after BB Lal succeeds in convincing the researchers -- based on the archaeological and literary evidence -- that both mleccha and 'Aryan' speakers were indigenous to the ancient geographical domain called Hindustan aasetu himachalam (from Setu of Indian Ocean to Himalayas) in which the ancestors of present-day Bharatam Janam laid the foundations for dharma-dhamma, say, from 8th millennium BCE. (I suggest this date based on the archaeological evidence of Bhirrana and  https://friendsofasi.wordpress.com/writings/the-8th-millennium-bc-in-the-lost-river-valley/ The 8th Millennium BC in the ‘Lost’ River Valley -- Indian Civilization Evolved in the 8th Millennium BC in the ‘Lost’ River Valley – Dr  B. R.   Mani
.

I hope BB Lal's new book will set the contentious 'Aryan' problem on an evidence-based, falsifiable framework, devoid of racist or doctrinaire wild goose chase with repetitive assertions imagining an elusive urheimat of mythical (non-existent) proto-Indo-Europeans.

I say they were mleccha, meluhha who laid the roots of the Sarasvati-Sindhu (Hindu) civilization ca. 8th millennium BCE. Is this a good time-line to start the narration of Itihasa of Bharatam Janam on the Tin Road from Hanoi to Haifa traversing in caravans and seafaring merchants and traders on the Indian Ocean? Why the Tin Road? Because, bharatam janam means 'metalcaster folk'.

Kalyanaraman
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROToW9XpeGM (33:40)(1/2)

Nicholas Kazanas, " A Vedic Scholar " from Greece - interviewed by S. Kalyanaraman Published on Dec 11, 2012

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvr_jlXO8YQ (10:17) (2/2)
In Chennai on 1 March 2011, the interview covered a wide range of issues related to vedic civilization, sprachbund (language union or linguistic area), indian ocean community and vedic studies.

"Economic Principles in the Vedic Tradition" by N. Kazanas has been published in 1992 by Aditya Prakashan, www.adityaprakashan.com. The paper deals with economic principles as found in the more ancient sources of the Vedic period in so far as this is possible. Unlike a particular application of a law which may well be affected by circumstances and thus appear to be different from place to place and time to time, a principle has an unchanging, universal quality. Despite few economic terms used throughout the text like Land Value Taxation (which means simply taxing the value of land alone) there is nothing complex or complicated in this study and reading it does not require any training in Economics. By showing the relation of the Indic principles to certain modern concepts and particularly to Land Value Taxation the paper goes a long way in bringing into light many valuable economic concepts and practices supported by an institutional framework. Thus we meet the same concern about the distribution of wealth that occupies the mind of modern economists. How much does a man or a family need to earn and how much should be given to the royal treasury (i.e. the State) and how should these be determined? Or to put it in other terms, how should taxation be levied? Then, how should the State dispose of its revenue? Also, how should lending operate and what would be fair rates of interest? The lawgivers in ancient India were fully aware of all these issues. One aspect of modern economies that is not treated by the ancients is unemployment because this problem appeared as such, on a large scale, only with the increase of population, the land enclosures (=privatization) and the industrial revolution in Europe at the end of the 18th century. But the texts take it for granted that people should feel secure in their different employments. A most surprising feature is the principles of free access to land for all and the Land Value Tax which should be the source of Government revenue (and expenditure). It is surprising because Land Value Taxation is supposed to be a fairly modern concept.  (Download the PDF file - 264KB)

'Archaic Greece and the Veda' by N. Kazanas This paper examines many parallels in the archaic Greek culture and the Vedic one. These are themes, poetic techniques, motifs and ideas in literature, mythology, philosophy, religion and ritual. For example, it is obvious that the names Zeus (Gr) and Dyaus (Vedic) are closely related. As in Greek mythology there is dog Kerberos guarding the entrance to Hades, so in the Vedic myths there are two dogs watching the path to Yama's netherworld. Many of these parallels have affinities with similar motifs in other Indo-european cultures like Celtic, Germanic and so on. Most classicists ignore these affinities or similarities and claim ( as W. Burkert does extensively) that many such elements in the Greek culture derive from Near-eastern sources. Thus Burkert thinks that the practice in Greece of having a young man or a seer sprinkling with a branch of laurel or tamarisk a polluted person or place came from Mesopotamia. However, the same practice is found in early Vedic texts where an apamarga branch is used. Consequently this paper argues with many examples that where such motifs and practices in Greece are found in the Vedic and other Indo-european cultures, they are most probably inherited forms from the Proto-Indo-European period before the dispersal of the various branches.  (Download the PDF file - 180KB)

'The Collapse of the AIT and the prevalence of Indigenism' by N. Kazanas This essay The Collapse of the AIT and the prevalence of Indigenism: archaeological, genetic, linguistic and literary evidences by N. Kazanas refutes the theory of the Aryan invasion or immigration into India which was current for nearly 200 years.  (Download the PDF file - 14,3MB)

'Vedic and Avestan' by N. Kazanas In this essay the author examines independent linguistic evidence, often provided by iranianists like R. Beekes, and arrives at the conclusion that the Avesta, even its older parts (the gaθas), is much later than the Rigveda. Also, of course, that Vedic is more archaic than Avestan and that it was not the Indoaryans who moved away from the common Indo-Iranian habitat into the Region of the Seven Rivers, but the Iranians broke off and eventually settled and spread in ancient Iran. Vedic and Avestan was first published in Vedic Venues: Journal of the Continuity of Vedic Culture 2012, vol 1, published by Aditya Prakashan for the Kothari Charity Trust.  (Download the PDF file - 3,3MB)

'Rigvedic all-inclusiveness' by N. Kazanas The Rigveda contains and seems to preserve more common elements from the Proto-Indo-European Culture than any other branch of the family. This essay examines various points of language, poetry and philosophy but it focuses mainly on grammatical elements, lexical and syntactical, and on aspects of (fine) poetry. This is one aspect showing that Vedic and its culture is much closer to the PIE language and culture than any other branch in that family. Moreover, it shows that it is most unlikely that Vedic moved across thousands of miles over difficult terrains to come to rest in what is today N-W India and Pakistan, in Saptasindhu or the Land of the Seven Rivers. Certain other aspects show that Iranian moved away from Vedic and Saptasindhu and most probably the other branches did the same at a very distant but undetermined period. Finally, monotheism is also a notable feature in the RV despite its pronounced polytheism. The article has already been presented in two Conferences in India and will be published in the book Perspectives on Origin of Indian Civilization edited by Angela Marcantonio & Girish Nath Jha in association with the Center for Indic Studies, Dartmouth (USA).  (Download the PDF file - 4,51MB) On Sarasvati Here is Prof K.S. Valdiya's response to the comments made in 'In Indus Times, the River didn't Run Through It' by Lawler, Science 1 April 2011  (Download the PDF file - 84kB) An International Seminar on "How deep are the Roots of Indian Civilization: an Archaeological and Historical Perspective" was held in New Delhi during 25-27 November 2010. Eminent archaeologists and other scholars attended the Seminar. Dr M. Witzel misrepresents this event in his usual insulting way with the comments he posts in the group: Indo-Eurasian_Research. Here Dr Kazanas replies to him.  (Download the PDF file - 26kB) 'Indo-European Linguistics and Indo-Aryan Indigenism' by N. Kazanas The essay Indo-European Linguistics and Indo-Aryan Indigenism is included in the bookIndo-Aryan Origins and other Vedic Issues written by N. Kazanas, ed. Aditya Prakashan, Dec 2009, N. Delhi. It examines the general IE issue and argues in favour of Indoaryan indigenism against the AIT (Aryan Invasion/Immigration Theory) which has been mainstream doctrine for more than a century. The extreme positions that there was no PIE(=Proto-Indo-European) language or that this language is as currently reconstructed are refuted: the evidence suggests there was a PIE language but this cannot be reconstructed and all efforts in this reconstruction are misplaced. Since they are in no way verifiable, they should not be used as evidence for historical events. It is admitted even by rabid Indian nationalists that humans came to India from Africa sometime in the Pleistocene, and now there is evidence of change in the skeletal record of the region indicating that a new people may have entered c 6000-4500; even so, if these people were the IAs(=Indoaryans), they must, surely, be regarded as indigenous by 1700. Recent genetic studies do not suggest any entry of IAs within the last 10 000 years but state that the European peoples came out of South Asia after 50 000 B(efore)P(resent). Apart from such studies, other kinds of evidence and arguments will be used in full to demonstrate indigenism.  (Download the PDF file - 411kB) 'An Explanation' by N. Kazanas An additional piece by way of explanation for some points raised by readers of the 'Open Letter to Prof. Witzel'. (Updated on 7 March 2010 due to a minor correction.)  (Download the PDF file - 130kB)'Open Letter to Prof M. Witzel' by N. Kazanas Α new book by N. Kazanas has been published in December 2009 by Aditya Prakashan, N. Delhi with the title: Indo Aryan Origins and other Vedic Issues. Prof. Michael Witzel made some comments on this book in Yahoo Groups - Indo-Eurasian_research. Dr Kazanas replies with the Open Letter to Prof M. Witzel.  (Download the PDF file - 131kB) 'The RV predates the Sindhu-Sarasvati Culture' by N. Kazanas This paper was presented synoptically by Dr N. Kazanas at the Conference THE SINDHU-SARASVATI VALLEY CIVILIZATION: A REAPPRAISAL, in Los Angeles (Feb 2009). Argument: There are misconceptions about rigvedic pur, ratha and samudra based on the Aryan Invasion/Immigration myth. Then, there are some 10 characteristic features of the Sarasvati-Sindhu Culture which are not found in the Rig Veda. Moreover palaeoastronomical evidence (mainly N. Achar's work) places some BrAhmaNa texts c 3000 and the oldest layers of the MahAbhArata 3067. All this (and more) suggests that the (bulk of the) Rig Veda should be assigned to well before 3200 BCE - however unpalatable to mainstream thought this may be.  (Download the PDF file - 2.229kB) 'Genetics and the Aryan Debate' by Michel Danino This paper examines the latest genetic evidence which shows that there was no invasion or immigration into N-W India in significant numbers before 600 BCE. It was published in Puratattva, Bulletin of the Indian Archaeological Society, New Delhi, No. 36, 2005-06, pp. 146-154.  (Download the PDF file - 122kB) 'Indo-Aryan indigenism and the Aryan Invasion Theory arguments' (refuted) by N. Kazanas This paper examines the general IndoEuropean issue and argues in favour of Indoaryan indigenism against the AIT (Aryan Invasion/Immigration Theory) which has been mainstream doctrine for more than a century. The extreme positions that there was no ProtoIndoEuropean (PIE) language or that this language is as currently reconstructed are refuted: the evidence suggests there was a PIE language but this cannot be reconstructed and all efforts and confidence in this reconstruction are misplaced. Indeed, all reconstructions of Proto-languages seem futile and, since they are in no way verifiable, should not be used as evidence for historical events. Indeed all the data used as evidence by the AIT are wholly conjectural and arbitrary and often consist of misrepresentations and distortions, as will be clearly demonstrated in detail. All the arguments used for the AIT have been analytically presented by E. Bryant (2001) and summed up in his concluding chapter. These will be examined one by one and shown to be fallacious. We shall also refer to some material not in Bryant - e.g. genetic studies after 2001CE and mythological motifs never examined in this connection.  (Download the PDF file - 291kB) 'Indigenous Indoaryans and the Rigveda', by N. Kazanas In this paper I argue that the IndoAryans (IA hereafter) are indigenous from at least 4500 (all dates are BCE except when otherwise stated) and possibly 7000. In this effort are utilized the latest archaeological finds and data from Archaeoastronomy, Anthropology and Palaeontology. I use in addition neglected cultural and linguistic evidence. I find no evidence at all for an invasion. The new term "migration" is a misnomer since a migration could not have produced the results found in that area. The Rigveda (=RV) is neither post-Harappan nor contemporaneous with the ISC but much earlier, ie from the 4th millennium (with minor exceptions) and perhaps before. The bibliography of this study is available as a separate pdf file. This paper was published in the Journal of IndoEuropean Studies 2002.  (Download the PDF file - 300kB)  (Bibliography - Download the PDF file - 118kB) 'A new date for the Rgveda', by N. Kazanas. This was published in Philosophy and Chronology, 2000, ed G C Pande & D Krishna, special issue of Journal of Indian Coucil of Philosophical Research (June, 2001). A shorter, slightly different version with the title 'The Rgveda and Indo-Europeans' by N Kazanas was published in the Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (ABORI), vol 80, 1999 (Pune, India, 2000). It presents the thesis that the RV is far older than mainstream indologists maintain and ascribes the composition of the bulk of it to the fourth millennium BC (some hymns even earlier). It argues that the IndoAryans were natives of Saptasindhu (ie the land of the Seven Rivers in what is today north-west India and Pakistan) examining archaeological, literary, linguistic and comparative-mythological material. Some of the arguments would need reformulation in view of new and firmer (mainly archaeoastronomical) evidence, which in fact reinforce the conlusions on the early date of the RV.  (Download the PDF file - 136kB) 'Edmund Leach on Racism & Indology', by S Kak Sept 1999, with Prof. Kak's permission (kak@ee.lsu.edu).  (Download the PDF file - 92kB) 'What is the Aryan Migration Theory?', by V. Agarwal May 2001, with author's permission (vishalagarwal@hotmail.com)  (Download the PDF file - 428kB) 'The RV Date - a Postscript', by N. Kazanas This examines some of Prof M Witzel's (erroneous) notions which perpetuate the AIT (=Aryan Invasion Theory) and which had not been discussed in 'The RV and IndoEuropeans'. It presents some new evidence and new ideas for a pre-3100 BC date of the RV and the indigenous origin of the IndoAryans and criticizes Prof Witzel's vicious attacks on some Indian and non-Indian scholars, who promote the indigenist point of view.  (Download the PDF file - 78kB) 'AIT and Scholarship', by N. Kazanas N Kazanas wrote 'AIT and Scholarship' in May-June 2001. This was first posted here. It deals with some additional (erroneous) notions of Prof M Witzel and the major (but not all) aspects of his 'Autochthonous Aryans? The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts' (EJVS 7-3, pp 1-93, 2001). Apart from the AIT, this study examines other cases of corruption in academic disciplines like Egyptology, Anthropology etc, where evidence against maistream views is discarded, as well as the etymology of the terms 'academia' and 'academic' and the development from Plato's Academy in Athens to modern notions.  (Download the PDF file - 233kB) 'Reply to prof. Witzel', by N. Kazanas Prof Witzel wrote a very superficial critique of 'AIT and Scholarship' ignoring the title, lampooning the presentation of the development of modern academia and making all kinds of irrelevant remarks (5/7/01). So N Kazanas wrote a reply selecting some of the mosts salient points in 'Addendum to "AIT and Scholarship"': reply to Prof Witzel and incorporating some (lengthy) remarks of V Agarwal. All this was completed and posted in sept 2001 here. The most significant point, apart from Prof Witzel's irrelevances, is N Achar's firm discovery that some astronomical dates in the Mahabharata indicate the date of 3067 BC for the Great War.  (Download the PDF file - 138kB) 'Final Reply', by N. Kazanas. Reply to nine critics in the debate on Indoaryan Οrigins initiated by and published in theJournal of Indo-european Studies, 2002-2003.  (Download the PDF file - 170kB) 'A Reply to Michael Witzel's 'Ein Fremdling im Rgveda'' by Vishal Agarwal, 11 August 2003. (Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 31, No.1-2: pp.107-185, 2003). The " A Reply to Michael Witzel's 'Ein Fremdling im Rgveda'" was sent to us by V.Agarwal (Minesotta, USA). It was written in July 2003 as a reply to Prof M. Witzel's 'Ein Fremdling im Rgveda', 2003, Journal of Indo-European Studies, and was posted on the Journal's website. It provides supplementary material to N. Kazanas''Final Reply' covering various aspects not dealt with by, or unknown to the latter. One should note that when Kazanas mentions "black copper" (kRshNa-/karshaNa-ayas or Syama- 'swarthy metal') he nowhere means bronze as Witzel takes it (p 175) and Agarwal need not have elaborated the bronze-aspect.  (Download the PDF file - 596kB) 'Rigvedic Town and Ocean: Witzel vs Frawley', by N. Kazanas, March 2003. In this paper is examined the controversy between D. Frawley and M. Witzel in the newspaper The Hindu (June and July 2003). Frawley claimed that the Rigveda knew of both towns and ocean citing pur 'fort, town' and samudra 'ocean, sea'. Witzel attacked both claims writing that pur means only some mud-palisade or simple fortification whilesamudra means confluence or heavenly ocean. N Kazanas shows that pur means not a material structure at all but a magical, occult protective shield and that samudra does in many cases mean 'ocean'.  (Download the PDF file - 169kB) Rigvedic pur', by N. Kazanas, October 2004. This paper was published first by Adyar Library Bulletin in 2002. It was revised subsequently several times but found no acceptance (in the West). In 2006 Man and Environment published a revised version. The paper examines the use of pur and shows that in the RV it never denotes 'city, fort' as is usually taken to mean but a magical, occult defence in the non-material world.  (Download the PDF file - 75kB) 'Sanskrit and Proto-Indo-European' by N. Kazanas This essay is published in 2004 Indian Linguistics. It challenges many generally accepted notions in IndoEuropean linguistics like the 5-grade ablaut, labio-velar sounds, roots etc. At the same time it discloses the great antiquity of Sanskrit (or Vedic) and argues that the Sanskrit retroflex sounds are ProtoIndoEuropean, but lost in the other IE stocks.  (Download the PDF file - 159kB) 'Is There Evidence for the Indo-Aryan Immigration to India? ', by Vishal Agarwal The complete lack of mention of an Aryan immigration into India in the vast Vedic literature has been considered a moot point by historians for several decades. Recently however, some scholars have claimed that a Vedic text finally provides evidence for the migration of Indo-Aryan speakers from Afghanistan into India.  (Download the PDF file - 75kB) 'Vedic Religio-philosophical Thought', Sept. 2003 Part A of the study Vedic, Mesopotamian and Egyptian Religiophilosophical Thought (in print by PHISPC in the volume Chain of Golden Civilizations).  This paper is a study of Vedic thought tracing the theme of One and Many and Man's Self-realization from the RV to the Upanishads. In this the writer examines some ideas about the nature of 'civilization' and traces a unifying thread running through the RV, AV,Brahmanas and Upanishads, i.e. man's return to his source which is the Supreme Godhead, Itself unmanifest but the Primal Cause of all manifestations.  (Download the PDF file - 185kB) 'Vedic and Mesopotamian Cross-influences'. Published in Migration & Diffusion (Vienna) 2005 and after some minor revisions it was subsequently published by the Adyar Library Bulletin (2006: Olcott commemorative issue). This was incorporated in the study Vedic, Mesopotamian and Egyptian Religiophilosophical Thought (in print by PHISPC in the volume Chain of Golden Civilizations)  (Download the PDF file - 192kB) 'Vedic and Egyptian Affinities' This paper was written independently in 2002 and has been published in 2006 inPuratattva. This piece was incorporated in the study Vedic, Mesopotamian and Egyptian Religiophilosophical Thought (in print by PHISPC in the volume Chain of Golden Civilizations) There are more than 20 motifs/themes exhibiting close affinities in the religious texts of the Vedic and Egyptian peoples. Some like the Sungod's boat, the Water as a primal cosmogonic element, the Cow of plenty and the sacred Bull are common to the Mesopotamian culture too. Some are quite extraordinary and occur only here with some weak echoes in other Indoeuropean branches: the lotus-born one, the eye running off, etc, including many elements in the famous Isis-Osiris tale. These affinities are close and suggest either a common origin for both cultures or cross influences. However, most of the motifs, including the Isis-Osiris and Yama tales, have correspondences in other IE traditions: this fact suggests that the motifs are inherited in the Vedic texts and not borrowed from Egypt. Thus we must conclude either that Saptasindhu, the land of the Vedic people, influenced Egypt or that both cultures derive or borrow from a third unknown one. The former case is difficult to determine as there is no firm evidence for an early contact between Egypt and Saptasindhu. Consequently, without entirely ruling out the possibility of Vedic influences on Egyptian culture we must assume a devolution from an older unknown civilization.  (Download the PDF file - 121kB) 'Anatolian Bull and Vedic Horse' 'Anatolian Bull and Vedic Horse' was first published in the Adyar Library Bulletin (2003) but this version is revised and expanded. In this paper the writer examines the presence of bull and horse in the various IE branches. It is noteworthy that the IE stem for 'horse' is absent in Hittite while all other major branches have it. The horse has no place at all in the religion, ritual or mythology; the horse's function is taken over by the bull. This alone suffices to show that the Hittites are not indigenous in Anatolia as some scholars claim and that therefore, Anatolia is not the original PIE homeland. Other types of evidence are used from mythology and linguistics to support this conclusion. The myth of the Weather god killing the dragon, which is a common IE theme (India, Greece, Scandinavia etc), is quite swamped by Near-eastern material. The Hittite language itself has some IE relics but is otherwise flooded with Mesopotamian, Hurrian and Assyrian elements.  (Download the PDF file - 113kB) 'Diffusion of Indo-European Theonyms: what they show us' This paper was published in the Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society (Bangalore) Vol 97, No 1 (Jan-March 2006). In presenting this collection of 20 Vedic and Indo-European theonyms the writer discusses the derivation of some and argue that, since the Rigveda alone contains all these names, itmust be older than other IndoEuropean texts and more clearly indicative of the Proto-Indo-European culture, while Vedic is both older and closer to Proto-Indo-European than any other branch. Moreover, since the RV is richer in cultural and linguistic elements than other early IE traditions we can conclude that the Vedic speakers moved very little or not at all from the PIE homeland. These ideas have been published elsewhere and attracted some criticism mainly from J. P. Mallory; this is now being refuted.  (Download the PDF file - 164kB) 'Coherence and Preservation in Sanskrit' Published in VVRI 2006 (Updated Feb 2012) This paper examines more than 400 lexical items that have cognations in 3 or more IE branches (Vedic, Greek, Italic etc) and denote as far as possible invariable things, qualities and activities (bodily parts, relations and actions like breathing, dressing, rising etc). Sanskrit appears to have lost far fewer items and preserves much greater inner organic coherence than the other branches. This supports the general idea that Sanskrit is much closer to Proto-Indo-European and that, since this could happen only in sedentary conditions, the Indoaryan speakers of Sanskrit did not move (much) from the original homeland. Moreover, the criticism that this conclusion does not take into account the large literature in Sanskrit is shown to be fallacious. This collection of words is a good treasury for any comparisons.  (Download the PDF file - 488kB) 'The RV is pre-Harappan' This paper was presented as a talk in June 2006 at the Center for Indic Studies in theUniversity of Massachusetts. This paper presents the evidences and arguments for a Rigveda composed in its bulk in the 4th millennium BCE. A basic consideration (but not the only one) is that the RV has no knowledge at all of many features that characterise the Harappan culture which began to emerge solidly c3000. Since the bulk of the RV must be assigned to a period before 3000 and since this is by general consensus stated to have been composed in Saptasindhu, then the Indoaryans or Vedic people were present in that location before 3000 and must therefore be regarded as indigenous by 1500, when, they are alleged to move in by the Aryan Invasion/Immigration Theory.  (Download the PDF file - 1,05MB)