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The Rigveda: A historical analysis
Comprehensive study of the ôRgveda, Hindu canonical work.
520 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2000
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346 people want to read
About the author
Shrikant G. Talageri
5 books63 followersShrikant G Talageri was born in 1958, educated in Mumbai, India where he lives and works. Talageri has revolutionized the research into Rig Veda. He has successfully identified several historical information from Rig Veda, which he used to chronologically arrange the ten Mandalas of Rig Veda (6, 3, 7,, 4, 2, 5 and 8,9,10) . He explored the history of the kings and the sages who composed the Rigvedic hymns. Talageri utilized for his analysis, the Anukramanis in Rigveda, which are often neglected by scholars. He also studied the geographical basis of Rig Veda. As a corollary of his analysis, he establishes that Rig Veda was composed by sages living in Saraswati river valley between Saraswati and Ganga rivers (Hariyana) who were patrons of the kings who ruled in this area. These patron kings were especially the Puru and particularly the Bharata branch of the Purus. He also analyzed the probable location of origin (Punjab) of the Iranians and the Europeans. Talageri equates the Vedic-Aryans to the Purus and the Iranians to the Anus a sibling branch of the Purus. Other sibling branches includes the Drahyus, the Yadus and the Turvasus.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 28, 2021
A Book that questions the purportedly unassailable theory of AIT by making extensive use of linguistics. Well researched and exhaustive work on the fundamentals of the Aryan Debate.
One of the chief theory advanced is the chronology of the Rigveda i.e. how the ten mandalas line up, starting from the most ancient to the latest by examining the timeline of the composers, kings, and other contemporaries mentioned in the text and scrutinizing the development of the Sanskrit language as it progressed through the ages. Using this chronology and comparative study of Avesta along with a short investigation into other Indo-European languages, we arrive at the conclusion that the migration was from the East to the West instead of the generally claimed West-to-East one. Important point to heed here is this east-to-west movement is chiefly of the language. It's not the question of purity or superiority of any group of people whatsoever. Or any such nonsense of this category.
The question of the identity of the 'Aryans' is succinctly dealt with by locating them as the Bharata sub-tribe of the tribe Purus who lived in the vicinity of several other tribes such as Anus, Druhyus, Ikshvaku, Yadu, and Turvasa who they had constant interaction with: some of them friendly, others hostile.
The author also calls out the tendency among the AIT proponents to misinterpret the mythological themes to suit their agenda or getting into circular reasoning or the habit of putting anyone who challenges them into one-size-fits-all robe of saffron.
It is for the reader to decide whether the claims made by the author makes sense or not. However, the book undoubtedly is of high scholarly value and must be read by the students of Indian History at least once.
April 2, 2019
This book ends the debate on the origin of Rig Veda.
The Aryans have been a controversial topic amongst historians.
Before writing about this book, it is very important to understand how the Aryan theory emerged. The linguistic relationship between Sanskrit and European languages was rightly observed and noted by Europeans during the colonial times. To build the connection, there had to be some sort of migration or invasion sometime in history. Obviously, the narrative was set even before the debate that people from Europe (and later changed to Central Asia) came to India and made India the homeland. All the later studies of India scriptures were done with this narrative in mind. In the process, the European "scholars" (especially the Germans as they were having an identity crisis of their own compared to the French, English, Dutch), mistranslated and misinterpreted a lot of Indian texts, most notably the Rig Veda.
While doing my research on Aryan Migration (changed from Invasion because of the discovery of Indus valley civilization and difficulty in fitting the timelines of invasion and Rig Veda), I discovered that archaeology has provided zero evidence for migration, invasion and many archaeologists have now even stopped treating "Aryans" as a race. I found genetic studies showing that the genetic relationship between the so-called "Aryans" and "Dravidians" is far greater than the genetic relationship between so-called "Indo-Aryans" and "European Aryans" (Genetic studies, however, aren't conclusive yet because studies of the diverse Indian population hasn't been carried out in a comprehensive manner, look up for papers such as South Asian archaeology and the myth of Indo-Aryan invasions, by searching on google scholar for learning more on this subject). One aspect, where I struggled to find proper research was on Rig Veda.
And that's when this book came into the picture. First off, the book isn't easy to read. Author has done painstaking and thorough research and he doesn't hold back in showing his evidences. This at times makes it difficult for a layman reader to understand and comprehend. However, the book is important. Very, very important because the history and humanities academia are dominated by the Marxist historians. To counter the mistranslations and misinterpretations of Rig Veda, this book assumes utmost importance.
I will give an example. The argument that horses feature prominently in Rig Veda, Indian subcontinent didn't had high-quality breed of horses, therefore Rig Veda was written outside India becomes laughable. Rig Veda rarely mentions important animals west of Indus such as camels. However, it gives importance to elephants, peacocks, and of course cows. None of these animals is important west of Indus. Horses were most probably traded during ancient times (as was during medieval times into the Indian subcontinent). There are many examples.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who seriously wants to understand the history of Rig Veda. However, if you don't have time, just search for Shrikant sir's lectures on youtube. They are equally insightful and informative.
The Aryans have been a controversial topic amongst historians.
Before writing about this book, it is very important to understand how the Aryan theory emerged. The linguistic relationship between Sanskrit and European languages was rightly observed and noted by Europeans during the colonial times. To build the connection, there had to be some sort of migration or invasion sometime in history. Obviously, the narrative was set even before the debate that people from Europe (and later changed to Central Asia) came to India and made India the homeland. All the later studies of India scriptures were done with this narrative in mind. In the process, the European "scholars" (especially the Germans as they were having an identity crisis of their own compared to the French, English, Dutch), mistranslated and misinterpreted a lot of Indian texts, most notably the Rig Veda.
While doing my research on Aryan Migration (changed from Invasion because of the discovery of Indus valley civilization and difficulty in fitting the timelines of invasion and Rig Veda), I discovered that archaeology has provided zero evidence for migration, invasion and many archaeologists have now even stopped treating "Aryans" as a race. I found genetic studies showing that the genetic relationship between the so-called "Aryans" and "Dravidians" is far greater than the genetic relationship between so-called "Indo-Aryans" and "European Aryans" (Genetic studies, however, aren't conclusive yet because studies of the diverse Indian population hasn't been carried out in a comprehensive manner, look up for papers such as South Asian archaeology and the myth of Indo-Aryan invasions, by searching on google scholar for learning more on this subject). One aspect, where I struggled to find proper research was on Rig Veda.
And that's when this book came into the picture. First off, the book isn't easy to read. Author has done painstaking and thorough research and he doesn't hold back in showing his evidences. This at times makes it difficult for a layman reader to understand and comprehend. However, the book is important. Very, very important because the history and humanities academia are dominated by the Marxist historians. To counter the mistranslations and misinterpretations of Rig Veda, this book assumes utmost importance.
I will give an example. The argument that horses feature prominently in Rig Veda, Indian subcontinent didn't had high-quality breed of horses, therefore Rig Veda was written outside India becomes laughable. Rig Veda rarely mentions important animals west of Indus such as camels. However, it gives importance to elephants, peacocks, and of course cows. None of these animals is important west of Indus. Horses were most probably traded during ancient times (as was during medieval times into the Indian subcontinent). There are many examples.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who seriously wants to understand the history of Rig Veda. However, if you don't have time, just search for Shrikant sir's lectures on youtube. They are equally insightful and informative.
October 22, 2016
Best book which proves Indian origin theory and dis proves Aryan invasion theory.
Must book for people who still believes in Aryan invasion theory along with other two parts. (this part 2).
Can we get Shrikant similar analysis of other vedas?
Must book for people who still believes in Aryan invasion theory along with other two parts. (this part 2).
Can we get Shrikant similar analysis of other vedas?
July 22, 2019
Great book. Demolishes the AIT.
December 5, 2015
Very nice
May 31, 2021
The final book on Rgveda by Talageri which establishes the actual story of migration (as per the Rgveda) of Vedic Aryans. He uses references from the Rgveda to clarify many misunderstandings created by the AIT proponent people.
June 28, 2022
A fascinating read which provides historical and scientific analysis of Hymns of Rigveda pertaining to geographies across India and Asia and also emigration of Vedic people and traces across other literatures about such movements.
It also helps you understand a detailed picture about the ambit of Rigveda itself.
It also helps you understand a detailed picture about the ambit of Rigveda itself.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews