New theory on Harappans

By Lalit K. Jha

NEW DELHI, NOV. 27.

A retired archaeologist from Aligarh Muslim University, in a study sponsored by Indian Council for Historical Research, has propounded the theory that the inhabitants of the Harappan civilisation were Aryans and not Dravidians.

The revealing study by Prof. M.D.N. Sahi, which has brought sharp reaction from established archaeologists and ancient Indian historians, states that the root of the Harappan civilisation lay in the region between the Ganga and the Saraswati -- the Brahmarishidesh. By doing so he has questioned the existing proposition that the Harappan culture had its genesis near the Indus Valley.

Basing his analysis on excavations he carried out at various sites particularly in the Gangetic valley of Uttar Pradesh, Prof. Sahi claims that it was from this region that the earlier inhabitants of the Harappan civilisation moved westward towards Indus Valley, where the mature stage of the civilisation emerged.

``It is normally believed that the Kot Diji culture (a place near the historic Mohenjodaro on Indus river in South Pakistan) gave rise to the mature Harappan culture and is termed as Early Harappan. But, this is not so. It had the least role to play in the growth of the Harappan culture, rather it was not conducive to its growth,'' Prof. Sahi told The Hindu.

Prof. Sahi was in Delhi on his way to Aligarh from Vadodara, where he read his paper ``The Genesis of Harappan Civilisation'' at the Joint Annual Conference of IAS, ISPQS and IHCS, concluded on November 24.

``The study reveals that Gangetic basin OCP (Ochre Coloured Pottery) culture, in fact, represented the Early Harappan period. This is further confirmed by the fact that the graffiti marks on the potteries of sites of this area bore the characters of Harappan script,'' he said, adding: ``The script was also associated with this culture from the initial stage.''

Prof. Sahi said in the early stages, there existed two streams of culture in the region -- the Kot Diji culture and the one between Ganga and Saraswati, which was real Harappan in its infancy. ``This culture then spread westward and amalgamated and assimilated the Kot Diji culture. At times they even conquered Kot Diji people. This is reflected in the pottery remains,'' he said.

The mature Harappan civilisation, he said, grew through a natural organic evolutionary process represented by four stages -- infancy (3,500 BC to 3,100 BC), adolescence (3,100-2,700 BC) adulthood (2,700-2,500 BC) and mature urban phases (2,500-1,900 BC). ``With this all doubts about the genesis and evolution of the Harappan civilisation is now cleared,'' Prof. Sahi said.

Prof. Sahi, who has two theories to his credit -- use of iron in India started from the 16th Century BC and that there was no gap between the urbanisation of Harappan and Buddhist period -- claimed that literary and archaeological evidences indicated that Harappans were the early Aryans, having their ``indigenous origin'' in the region between the Sarasvati and the Ganga in the first half of the fourth millennium BC.

As regards the popularly believed theory that the Aryans came from outside and conquered the Dravidians and people of the Harappan civilisation, Prof. Sahi said: ``The dichotomy of Aryans and Dravidians is not justified. Both co-existed during the same period but in different regions. The Dravidians were not driven out by the Aryans.''

However, historians and archaeologists differ with the proposition of Prof. Sahi. Referring to the study which is funded by the ICHR, well-known ancient Indian historian from the University of Delhi, Prof. D.N. Jha, alleged: ``This is only part of a larger game plan of the fascist organisations like the RSS to prove that the Aryans were the original inhabitants of India and never came from outside.''

Asserting that the material culture of the Rig Vedic period and Harappan culture were completely different, Prof. Jha asked: ``Where is the evidence of what Mr. Sahi has said at the Vadodara conference?''

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