In my school days, the Aryans populating India were of central Asiatic origin who entered India from the north west. Then there was this hue and cry stating that this is a biased view of the white man and that we were existing in the subcontinent all along. The mitochondrial DNA studies gave this theory credence. However, the Y chromosome DNA seems to show that we were from the steppes.
The initial theory that we were from central Asia was on linguistic basis. So looks like point to the linguists.
What I find interesting is that the difference in the inference obtained from mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome DNA means the people migrating into India were predominantly male and they then cohabited with the local women to produce the current population. There is no evidence of a military campaign by these people of the steppes. If it was not military, then why did they not bring their womenfolk? It seems odd because, in military campaigns, men leave women behind with the intention of getting back to their families after the campaign. These men did not seem to have returned.
What happened to those women left behind in the steppes?
Secondly, if we are to accept that these were the Vedic people, then why do the older vedic rituals give importance to women? A man cannot conduct any religious ritual without his wife beside him. Rituals like marriage of children, shrardh of their parents most yagnas etc.(true even now. The wife has to start proceedings by giving light to the homam fire)
This is odd on two counts- one, they left their women behind and two they gave importance to "alien" women.
One hypothesis could be that they did not leave the women behind. The women were decimated for some reason- some gender specific epidemic or large scale abduction by the less civilised humans living around them. So these men came searching for peace and family life and found it here.
Well so much non-evidence-based conjecture !
But that's the good thing about a blog. One can write about whatever hypothesis one chooses!
The initial theory that we were from central Asia was on linguistic basis. So looks like point to the linguists.
What I find interesting is that the difference in the inference obtained from mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome DNA means the people migrating into India were predominantly male and they then cohabited with the local women to produce the current population. There is no evidence of a military campaign by these people of the steppes. If it was not military, then why did they not bring their womenfolk? It seems odd because, in military campaigns, men leave women behind with the intention of getting back to their families after the campaign. These men did not seem to have returned.
What happened to those women left behind in the steppes?
Secondly, if we are to accept that these were the Vedic people, then why do the older vedic rituals give importance to women? A man cannot conduct any religious ritual without his wife beside him. Rituals like marriage of children, shrardh of their parents most yagnas etc.(true even now. The wife has to start proceedings by giving light to the homam fire)
This is odd on two counts- one, they left their women behind and two they gave importance to "alien" women.
One hypothesis could be that they did not leave the women behind. The women were decimated for some reason- some gender specific epidemic or large scale abduction by the less civilised humans living around them. So these men came searching for peace and family life and found it here.
Well so much non-evidence-based conjecture !
But that's the good thing about a blog. One can write about whatever hypothesis one chooses!
