• In brief know about the Mohenjodaro, Harappan sites, Saraswati River and the debunked Aryan Invasion Theory.

Daya Ram Sahni and Rakhal Das Banerjee of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) discovered ancient sites at Harappa and Mohenjodaro in 1920 and 1921. This pushed back beginnings of civilization in India by more than 2,500 years to a time contemporaneous with civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Hereafter for eight decades, new sites were discovered and old sites excavated. Harappan sites have risen to more than 2,000 of which 800 are in Pakistan and 1,200 are in India. The cultural zone is more than 700,000 km. There are sites in Afghanistan, Khyber Pakhtunwa, Punjab, Sindh, and Baluchistan in Pakistan as well as Jammu, Punjab, Haryana, western UP, Rajasthan and Gujarat in India. Many sites are located along the Ghaggar-Hakra River identified by scholars as the ancient Saraswati mentioned in the Rig Veda.

Collating the radiocarbon dates from various sites, the chronology of the three phases is early Harappan, 3200-2600 BCE, mature Harappan 2600-1900 BCE and late Harappan from 1900-1300 BCE.

Initial excavations were made under Sir John Marshall, director-general of ASI (1902-1928). Earlier, in 1826, Charles Masson, an adventurer, stood on the mound of Harappa and was convinced this was the place where Alexander the Great defeated Porus.

In the 1850s, Alexander Cunningham, a military engineer, visited Harappa but was not impressed. He visited in 1872 as director-general, ASI, and was dismayed to find the mounds disturbed by railway contractors who were extracting bricks from the sites. Meanwhile, philologists found similarities between Sanskrit and European languages in the late 18^th century. People like Sir William Jones and European romantics were followed in the late 19^th century by imperialists – people who had very low opinion of all Asiatics. This gave rise to the Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT). According to this theory, the primitive people of India were subjugated by the Aryans who brought agriculture, horses, chariots, etc.

Prior to Buddha, India’s history was without material evidence. India’s own chronicles were considered myths or fables. This included the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. The discovery of Mohenjodaro and Harappa brought about a change. 

The Aryan Invasion theory found supporters in Mortimer Wheeler, who said that Indra stands accused of murdering the Harappans and destroying the towns.

After Independence in 1947, both Mohenjodaro and Harappa were lost to Pakistan. However, the ASI found hundreds of sites in Haryana, in Pakistan a number of early settlements were found in the Cholistan area of Bahawalpur, in the alluvial plains of Ghaggar-Hakra River. Corresponding sites on the Indian side are Rakhigarhi and Dhirana. Gradually, the river Saraswati as mentioned in the Rig Veda was discovered by aerial photography.

Saraswati and its tributary Drishadvati were found to be described in the Vedas as Brahmavarta – the abode of Brahmins. Even in Mahabharata, Saraswati is mentioned. Later, the river dried up, leaving a few isolated lakes along its coast which are seen even now. In the 60s of the last century, Indira canal turned large areas of Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab into a green belt along the Pakistan border. 

Recent attempts to convert ancient Saraswati River into a perennial stream are in the same direction. Recent excavations at Rakhigarhi have found a Harappan city more than twice the size of Mohenjodaro. The site of Bhirrana has found an urban civilization dating back to 6000-7000 BCE.

In the 19^th century, the propagation of Aryan Invasion Theory created a divide between Aryans and Dravidians. The traditional theory was that the Aryans were a warlike race from the Eurasian Steppes. In the Soviet/Russian terminology, the same people were named Yamnaya. They were physically very powerful but intellectually deficient – a far cry from the Vedic Aryans who could boast of the Vedas and Upanishads. 

During the last seventy years, archaeological finds at Rakhigarhi and Sinauli in western UP have deflated the Aryan Invasion Theory. It was earlier said that the Harappans were peace loving people who were easily overcome by the war-like Aryans. Sinauli has shown war chariots, swords, spears as part of the grave goods. This was definitely an abode of heroes. Sinauli has been dated 2200-1800 BCE up to the current level of excavations. If more layers are excavated, it would point to civilizations far older.

Human habitation in India dates to thousands of years. Unlike Europe and many other areas, India was never covered by ice sheets at any time. DNA analysis of the skeletons at Sinauli and Rakhigarhi has revealed very little infusion of the pastoralists. Both these places point to present day populations in Punjab and Haryana. Dating of events in prehistory has been related to astronomical positions of stars and planets. Dating of Rig Veda, Ramayana and Mahabharata has thus been attempted.

Mahabharata is predominantly a Bronze Age civilization while Ramayana and the Vedas may be of the Neolithic times. DNA analysis played a very important part. DNA is transmitted from father to son but not to daughter. DNA is transmitted from mother to both son and daughter. It is important to find both male and female skeletons. Extracting DNA from skeletons covered by earth for thousands of years is very difficult. Moreso when the ground above has been ploughed for centuries, irrigated, and fertilized.

History as a subject is now neglected at school level. To speculate on events that took place thousands of years earlier is risky. When philologist Sir William Jones found similarities between Sanskrit and European languages, he invented a ‘mythical creature’ called the ‘Arya’. India had faced invasions regularly, so Aryan invasion was not considered fanciful. Even 100 years ago it was considered scientific to measure ‘cephalic index’ of heads to determine whether a person is long-headed or round-headed, to find out shapes of noses, to determine if a person is ‘Aryan’ or not. DNA analysis, etc., are more recent concepts. 

History books have not been revised to include the latest archaeological finds at Rakhigarhi and Sinauli. Hardly any good textbooks are available in the market. There is a solitary exception – a book written by Upinder Singh, daughter of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. Those who want to know more about the subject should get hold of the book which should be a very good addition to their home library. Much information is available from Youtube. It only depends on the desire to know rather than available material. Average Indians have heard of Mohenjodaro and Harappa and are blissfully unaware that nearly 2,000 sites have been dug up by ASI and Pakistan during the last 75 years.

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Author Shri Tapan Ganguli  (age 83) is an Economics Graduate who joined IAS in 1964. Post a strong government career in various ministries, he took pre-mature retirement and worked in the Corporate Sector, leadership roles till 2000. He is based in Kolkata and interests include Culture, Current Affairs, International History, Personal Finance, Architecture and Photography.

Also read

1. Myth of Aryan Invasion Theory

2. A Journey from Kashmir Valley to Dwarka via Hastinapur and Saraswati River

3. Saraswati, the lost river