Dear List,
This post is to announce the creation of a new directory of Internet
links named "Selected Internet Resources on the Aryan Migration
Theory (AMT) Debate (e-papers, e-books and Web pages)". The URL is:
http://www.eastwestcultural.org/public/amt/amt-internet.php
or, in tinyurl format:
http://tinyurl.com/mvw4a
The web directory is divided into several sections, whose titles are
the following:
Aryan Migration Theory (AMT) vs. Out-of-India Theory (OIT)
Archaeology of the Harappan (Indus Valley) Civilization
Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC)
Writing & literacy in Indus civilization
Linguistic prehistory of India
Astronomy and the dating of the Vedas
Horses, chariots and Vedic Indians
Sarasvati River
Science, mathematics and iron technology in ancient India
Afro-Dravidian connections
Austro-Asiatic connections
Genetics & prehistoric migrations of the Indian sub-continent
Sunken cities off the Indian coasts?
Here is the introductory note to my web directory written by Dr.
Dean Anderson, on whose East West Cultural Institute website the
resource in question is kindly loaded:
"It should be pointed out that, given the relative ease with which
one can post information on the internet, there is often wide
diversity in the accuracy of the information presented. The AMT
Debate is a highly technical subject that involves specialized
research from many disciplines. Yet for many people it is also
emotionally charged with strong political, nationalist and religious
overtones. In order to try to accurately portray the many
perspectives on this issue, Dr. Brighenti has chosen to present,
free of editorial comment, this subset of the vast resources on this
subject available on the internet. It is up to the reader to judge
for themselves the reliability of the opinions of the various
writers."
In his turn, Dr. Anderson has compiled another webpage
named "Selected Books on the Aryan Migration Theory (AMT) Debate",
with a list of links to the most relevant books relating to the
subject. The URL is:
http://www.eastwestcultural.org/public/amt/amt-books.php
or, in tinyurl format:
http://tinyurl.com/f58v8
Dr. Anderson's resource and mine complement each other inasmuch as
they provide a wealth of research references useful to those
concerned with the AMT vs. OIT debate .The following is Dr.
Anderson's introductory note to his own resource:
"This section does not discuss the political aspect of the AMT
Debate. Although the political aspect is admittedly important,
particularly regarding the politics of identity, it is, in the final
analysis, a modern debate. The modern political use to which the AMT
has been, and is being put, is ultimately a different topic than the
investigation of the ancient origins of the Indo-Europeans. Indo-
European and Indo-Aryan origins should be determined using only
objective methodologies such as archaeology and linguistics and such
research should be free from any modern political pressures."
To prevent some possible objections to my choice of lumping together
so many authors of different scholarly standard in one webpage, I
want to clarify that my directory of links is meant to serve as a
collection of Internet materials mirroring the `intellectual'
debate -- I would not at all define it a `scientific' or `scholarly'
one so far as positions clearly inspired by political-cum-religious
propaganda are concerned -- on ethnogenesis in pre- and proto-
historic South Asia. It goes without saying that my including in the
webpage the online materials authored by the most active and
notorious proponents of the so-called `Vedic Harappa' / Out-of-India
theories does not imply that I consider them as serious
intellectuals as the professional scholars who have opposed and
denounced their ideas for years now, or that I want to stick them in
my web directory with the latter on an equal plane. I am fully aware
that most of the `Vedic Harappa' / Out-of-India protagonists do not
belong to accredited universities (at least not in the capacity in
which they are acting when participating in the AIT vs. OIT debate),
and that the views they propagate are strongly supported by Hindutva
organizations in India and overseas.
My directory of links, intentionally free of editorial comment, aims
at representing faithfully the views held by the discussants on the
Internet `battlefield', not those discussed in academic debates.
List members are kindly invited to point out to me off-list any
relevant links I may have overlooked so that I can incorporate them
in my resource.
Thanks and best regards,
Francesco Brighenti