From: S. Kalyanaraman
Message: 18868
Date: 2003-02-18
The articles by Witzel (Open Page, The Hindu, Feb. 11 and Feb. 18 http://hinduonnet.com/thehindu/op/stories/2003021800050200.htm ) debate an ecological dimension to ancient historical chronology, to sustain his oft-repeated hypothesis of �Aryan� arrival into Bharat. The refrain is: �No Harappan horse, no Vedic pony, no Vedic ocean and now, no Sarasvati.� These questionable premises fly in the face of new perspectives in history emerging from findings of scientists from a variety of ecological disciplines ranging from oceanography, seismology, glaciology and hydrology to archaeo-astronomy, genetics, archaeobotany and anthropology.
A major Himalayan river system drained north-west Bharat, over a distance of 1600 kms., from Manasarovar glacier (Mt. Kailas) to Somnath (Gujarat), spanning diverse ecological zones � and climatic features -- such as glaciers, river-fed lakes (sarovars), deserts and coastal salty-marshes (rann) not excluding the formation of monsoons after the creation of the Gulf of Khambat about 10,000 years ago as a result of incursion of sea into the land submerging ancient courses of Rivers Narmada and Tapati. This was River Sarasvati, mightier than River Sindhu or River Ganga since the river was joined by the tributaries such as Sutlej, Yamuna, Markanda, Sarsuti, Drishadvati, Tamasa-Giri-Bata rivers (in Uttaranchal, Western Garhwal Himalayas, north of Paontadoon valley in Himachal Pradesh). Ecological studies have shown that because of river migrations caused by plate tectonics (of the kind which struck Bhuj on 26 January 2001 with the intensity of 8.2 on the Richter scale, which is said to be equivalent to energy released by the explosion of 220 hydrogen bombs), River Sarasvati lost the anchorage river tributary River Sutlej and River Yamuna before 1900 BCE and before 2500 BCE respectively. The evolutionary history of River Sarasvati has been explained in succinct scientific detail by Prof. KS Valdiya in his book: Sarasvati: The River that Disappeared (2002, Hyderabad, Universities Press). This is a follow-up on the scientific symposium held in Baroda earlier. (See BP Radhakrishna and SS Merh, eds., Vedic Sarasvati, Memoirs of Geological Society of India, 2000, Bangalore).
The palaeo-channels (ancient courses) of the river system range upto 6 kms. wide and at a place called Shatrana (60 kms. south of Patiala), the width of the channel as seen from IRS 1-C satellite images is 20 kms. Geo-morphological tests report that the Ghaggar river bed at a depth of 30 to 60 m. does contain Himalayan river sediments dated to circa 10,500 - 12,500 Before Present (cf. Singhvi et al). The work of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre scientists corroborates this evidence by tritium (an isotope of Hydrogen) tests of water samples from 800 deep wells around Pokharan. The work done by Central Groundwater Board through a Sarasvati Project in 1999 established the existence of aquifers about 30 to 60 m. below the ground; 23 of the 24 test tube-well drillings were successful in yielding potable waters at the spots indicated by satellite images of palaeo-channels and fault-lines. The Regional Remote Sensing Services Centre, Jodhpur has come out with a comprehensive mapping of the palaeo-channels over the entire stretch from Siwalik ranges to Rann of Kutch correlated with the archaeological sites. The glaciological work of Dr. VMK Puri and Prof. Valdiya establish that Yamuna tear (in Paontadoon valley) resulted from the lateral shift of the Siwalik ranges and the consequent diversion of the earlier Bata River waters through Tamasa-Giri-Yamuna which started flowing eastwards. In one phase, the Tamasa-Giri-Yamuna traversed through the present Drishadvati channel (which has the sites of Rakhigarhi and Kalibangan, apart from scores of other sites). (Puri, V.M.K. and Verma, B.C. 1998. Glaciological and Geological Source of Vedic Saraswati in the Himalayas, Itihas Darpan, vol. IV, No. 2, pp. 7-21). As observed by Prof. Yashpal in 1982 using LANDSAT images, River Sutlej took a 90-degree turn at Ropar and deflected in a north-westerly direction, leaving behind signature tunes of naiwals (river channels) moving away north-westwards from Shatrana. Geologists surmise that such deflections of rivers or migrations are generally attributed to tectonic events. The earthquake which shook Bhuj is seen to be a recurring event (as noted by Prof. Valdiya and Dr. JG Negi, in a 250-year recurrence, evidence Allah Bund); such plate tectonics (Indian-Eurasian plate clash which is dynamic even today since the Indian plate is moving northwards, at the rate of 7 cm. per year) which have a wave-form result in land uplifts and land submergences, not excluding sea incursions (witness submergence of Dwaraka). The Aravalli ranges parallel the fault line which has structural control over the entire North-west Bharat terrain; rivers east of the ranges tend to migrate eastwards, rivers west of the ranges tend to migrate westwards, thus resulting in a north-westerly tilt of the entire north-west Bharat terrain.
These findings establish the ground-truth of River Sarasvati, with a course independent of the Sindhu River system, running about 300 kms. east of the Sindhu course. The flow of R. Sarasvati in Gujarat beyond Rann of Kutch into Saurashtra is still an open question for further investigation by ecologists and historians alike. There are indications from the Gulf of Khambat discoveries by NIOT that the Saurashtra uplift might have occurred when the Gulf itself was formed about 10,000 years ago submerging the ancient channels of Rivers Narmada and Tapati. If so, River Sarasvati could as well have flowed through the Nal Sarovar, through Lothal, Padri, Rangapura up to Somnath (Prabhas Patan). All ancient texts are consistent that the sangamam of River Sarasvati with the saagara was at Prabhas Patan. The Great Epic also refers to the submergence of Dwaraka by the onrushing waves from the ocean in Mausala Parva with an exhortation from Sri Krishna to the residents of the city to move south of Prabhas Patan (Somnath). This may indeed correlate with a reference in Sangam literature text (Patirruppattu) that the Chera kings trace their lineage of 42 generations from Dwaraka (i.e. from circa 1500 BCE, assuming an average period of 25 years per generation). In the context of dating the river courses, in the context of settlements of people on river-banks, the most accurate dates are obtained from the over 2000 archaeological sites ranging between 3500 BCE (Dholavira, Kalibangan) to 1500 BCE (Dwaraka, Kunal). The largest sites of the civilization which have not been excavated are in Bhatinda district (Gurnikalan and Hasni). Rakhigarhi excavations are ongoing. Ganweriwala has not been excavated. Gurnikalan, Hasni, Rakhigarhi and Ganweriwala are larger than either Harappa or Mohenjodaro in extent.
A remarkable finding of domesticated agriculture is the discovery of a ploughed field in Kalibangan, on the banks of River Drishadvati (a tributary of River Sarasvati). The Latin/Greek word, oryza, is derived from Tamil arici, Kannada akki. Roxburgh (Flora Indica, ii. 200) notes that a wild rice, known as Newaree [Skt. nivara, Telugu. nivvari] grows abundantly about the lakes in the Northern Circars, and he considers this to be the original plant. Jarrige and Meadow note an indigenous Mehrgarh culture with cereal cultivation circa 6500 BCE and its gradual spread south-east to the Sindhu to develop into Harappan culture circa 3000 BCE. (�The ancetecedents of civilization in the Indus Valley,� in Scientific American, Aug. 1980, pp. 122-133). �Prolific use of rice (Cultivated- Oryza sativa; wild annual - Oryza nivara; and wild perennial- Oryza rufipogon) husk and chaff as pottery temper at Koldihwa ( PRL 224, ca. 6570 � 210 BC) and Mahagara (PRL-100, ca.5440 _+ 240 B.C., 4530 + 185 BC), and the discovery of rice grains of cultivated rice at Mahagara establish the cultivation of rice. Electron microscopic studies conducted by Vishnu-Mittre showed that both cultivated and wild species of Oryza were present at Mahagara. Neolithic settlement at Mahagara marks a considerable advance in the pattern of settlement perhaps as a result of an altered economy which led to the emergence of separate family house units planned around cattle pens.� (K.L.Mehra, http://www.hindunet.org/saraswati/Agriculture1.doc Agricultural foundation of Indus-Sarasvati Civilization) The diffusion of rice cultivation together with black-and-red ware is demonstrated from Lothal eastwards to Bengal. See map at http://www.hindunet.org/saraswati/html/ricediffusion.htm
Autochthonous evolution and continuity of culture
�There is no archaeological or biological evidence for invasions or mass migrations into the Indus Valley between the end of the Harappan phase, about 1900 BC and the beginning of the Early Historic Period around 600 BC.� (J.M. Kenoyer, 1998, Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, Karachi, OUP, p. 174). Shaffer and Lichtenstein confirm the continuity of indigenously evolved civilization. (1999, �Migration, philology & South Asian archaeology,� in J. Bronkhorst and M. Deshpande, eds., Aryan and Non-Aryan in South Asia, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard Oriental Studies, 239-260). There is no genetic trait flow from Bactria into Bharat circa 1800 BCE: �Parpola�s suggestion of movement of Proto-Rigvedic Aryan speakers into the Indus Valley by 1800 is not supported by our data. Gene flow from Bactria occurs much later and does not impact Indus Valley gene pools until the dawn of the Christian Era.� (Hemphill and Christensen, �The Oxus Civilization as a Link between East and West: A Non-Metric Analysis of Bronze Age Bactrain Biological Affinities�, paper read at the South Asia Conference, 3-5 November 1994, Madison, Wisconsin; p. 13). Kenneth A.R. Kennedy reaches similar conclusions from his physical-anthropological data. (K..A.R. Kennedy, �Have Aryans been identified in the prehistoric skeletal record from South Asia?� in George Erdosy, ed.: The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia, p.49).
Bolan and Son Valleys in the Ganga basin have provided evidence of wild horse circa 18000 and of domesticated horse between 6570 to 5430 BCE. (G.R. Sharma, History to Prehistory: Archaeology of the Vindhyas and the Ganga Valley, 1980, Allahabad Univ.). This is confirmed by R.S. Sharma who finds evidence for domesticated horse at 5000 BCE and some circa 1000 BCE (Looking for the Aryans, 1996, Hyderabad, Orient Longmans, p. 17). The Rigveda (RV 1,62,18) refers to a horse with 34 ribs. There is no evidence whatsoever to assume that the word as�va in the Rigveda connotes only an equus caballus (Arabian horse) and not a pony native to Siwalik ranges. Sarasvati is compared to a ratha: ratha iva br.hati_, �like a chariot big� (RV 6,61,13). The Rigvedic ratha is made of s�almali (RV 10,85,20), of khadira and sims�apa (RV 3,53,19) and the axle is made of aratu (RV 8,46,27). All these are heavy woods native to Bharat.
There is no reference to any shrinking of the river in any of the Rigvedic texts and certainly no textual basis to etymologize samudra of Rigvedic times, as a reference to lake(s). There could be other valid interpretations: �The word saras came to mean �pool� and this may refer to the sources of the river being lakes which formed as the ice was melting: considering the name was given when the river was at its grandest (from the mountains to the ocean), it would refer to lakes at the origin and not the terminal point�The root sr. and all its derivatives imply �motion, extension, running-on�; saras too originally meant most probably (not �pool� but) �whirlpool� or �eddy� in a river�s current. Sarasvati was the river with the mighty current and strong swirls�Hymn 10,75�is a list of the rivers from east to west and Sarasvati is in the correct place, after Ganges and Yamuna. More important, hymn 3,33 speaks of the two rivers Vipas� and S�utudri as rising from the mountains (parvata) and flowing down to the ocean, samudra. Or should we here also take samudra to be a �terminal lake�, as Witzel would have it for Sarasvati in RV 7,95,2? In both we have the rise of the rivers from mountains and their flow to samudra. But RV 1,71,7 also says samudram na sravatah sapta yahvi_h �(sacrificial offersings turn to Agni) like the 7 mighty rivers flowing to the samudra�: is this samudra too Sarasvati�s �terminal lake� into which turn/flow all seven rivers?�I find it more reasonable to take samudra as the �ocean� and that Sarasvati also flows there.� (Kazanas, Journal of Indo-European Studies, 2002, p. 40).
RV mandala 10, sukta 75 provides a list of river names, starting from east to west. �It is certain�that the Rigveda offers no assistance in determining the mode in which the Vedic Aryans entered India� the bulk at least [of the RV] seems to have been compared rather in the country round the Sarasvati river� (Keith, A.B., 1922, �The age of the Rigveda�, The Cambridge History of India, Vol. 1, 79). Kazanas notes: �Several scholars indulge in semantic conjurings saying that various names in the RV refer to places and rivers in Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Iran etc., but this is is not a very honest practice since by such interpreting (turning facts into metaphors and symbols, and vice versa) one can prove anything.� (�Indigenous Indo-Aryans and the Rigveda� in: The Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 30, Number 3 and 4, Fall/Winter 2002, p. 8). My detailed comments, establishing an east to west movement of peoples, are at http://hindunet.org/saraswati/dasyu.htm titled, �Dasyu were left behind on the left (i.e. south).�
The river and the coast-line along the Gulf of Khambat, Gulf of Kutch, Makran Coast (Karachi), Persian Gulf constituted a veritable water-way for long-distance trade transactions and cultural exchanges. The autochthonous evolution of a riverine, maritime culture is exemplified by s�ankha (turbinella pyrum, attested as an industry for making conch bangles, circa 6500 BCE north of Makran coast) with a habitat only in these locations, apart from Gulf of Mannar. (See S. Kalyanaraman, 2002, Sarasvati, Bangalore, Babasaheb Apte Smarak Samiti; Book review by Prof. KV Raman, in THE HINDU of May 1, 2001 http://www.the-hindu.com/2001/05/01/stories/13010179.htm ).
Kalyanaraman