An important and insightful thread (as usual) from @AshaRangappa_. She (as usual) provides excellent legal context for current events.
From the @anthropology side, a bit of calibration, since the terminology of "Aryan" & "AIT" have been misused politically in both nations:
<1/n>
From the @anthropology side, a bit of calibration, since the terminology of "Aryan" & "AIT" have been misused politically in both nations:
<1/n>
2/n
The part of AIT (Aryan Invasion Theory) that has been debunked is the Invasion part: #Anthropology, #archeology & related disciplines view an "invasion" of modern-day #Punjab as unsupported by evidence.
The influx of a different ethnic group was real, but probably peaceful..
The part of AIT (Aryan Invasion Theory) that has been debunked is the Invasion part: #Anthropology, #archeology & related disciplines view an "invasion" of modern-day #Punjab as unsupported by evidence.
The influx of a different ethnic group was real, but probably peaceful..
3/n
...as demonstrated by #linguistics & #genetics, the communities of Northern India & Pakistan are quite distinct from the #Dravidian ones of Southern India. That part is uncontroversial. The (dangerous) controversy is over what this all means. That's where #AIT comes in...
...as demonstrated by #linguistics & #genetics, the communities of Northern India & Pakistan are quite distinct from the #Dravidian ones of Southern India. That part is uncontroversial. The (dangerous) controversy is over what this all means. That's where #AIT comes in...
4/n
For ~3,000 years, the version of history taught in #India was that taken from the Vedas & other ancient Sanskrit texts: They refer to "Aryans" (the ancestors of the people who wrote these texts) as fighting against darker-skinned "dasas" (seen as Dravidians & adivasis)...
For ~3,000 years, the version of history taught in #India was that taken from the Vedas & other ancient Sanskrit texts: They refer to "Aryans" (the ancestors of the people who wrote these texts) as fighting against darker-skinned "dasas" (seen as Dravidians & adivasis)...
5/n
...and this had (and has) commonly been seen as the foundation of the caste system. The very word "varna"-- the overarching classes into which castes (jatis) are slotted-- is Sanskrit for "color."
The mythic association of color/ethnicity/race with caste has ancient roots.
...and this had (and has) commonly been seen as the foundation of the caste system. The very word "varna"-- the overarching classes into which castes (jatis) are slotted-- is Sanskrit for "color."
The mythic association of color/ethnicity/race with caste has ancient roots.
6/n
...an idea that, in its American manifestation, @IsabelWilkinson explores in her excellent new book "Caste":
nytimes.com/2020/07/31/boo…
...an idea that, in its American manifestation, @IsabelWilkinson explores in her excellent new book "Caste":
nytimes.com/2020/07/31/boo…
7/n
Why the controversy over "AIT?"
-For scientists, it's describing the influx of non-Dravidians as an "invasion": Vedic texts describe a violent interaction, but the archeological record doesn't support this.
-#Hindutva supporters, however, have a different objection...
Why the controversy over "AIT?"
-For scientists, it's describing the influx of non-Dravidians as an "invasion": Vedic texts describe a violent interaction, but the archeological record doesn't support this.
-#Hindutva supporters, however, have a different objection...
9/n
THAT is why any discussion of #AIT goes down some dangerous rabbit-holes: it combines two very different arguments, one supported by science (the people of the Vedas came from outside the subcontinent, but didn't "invade"), one not (this people didn't "come from" outside)...
THAT is why any discussion of #AIT goes down some dangerous rabbit-holes: it combines two very different arguments, one supported by science (the people of the Vedas came from outside the subcontinent, but didn't "invade"), one not (this people didn't "come from" outside)...
10/n
...This doesn't even touch the whole question of what to call the people described as "Aryans" in the Sanskrit texts: The term & its underlying premise got twisted by 19th century European race-theorists (and, of course, horribly appropriated by Nazis in the 20th century)...
...This doesn't even touch the whole question of what to call the people described as "Aryans" in the Sanskrit texts: The term & its underlying premise got twisted by 19th century European race-theorists (and, of course, horribly appropriated by Nazis in the 20th century)...
11/11
...How to describe the historical people who wrote the Vedas is a topic far too long for Twitter. And #AIT tends to confuse the issue rather than explain it.
But @AshaRangappa_ 's points about #caste, #ethnicity, #race & the construct of #whiteness remain valid & vital.
...How to describe the historical people who wrote the Vedas is a topic far too long for Twitter. And #AIT tends to confuse the issue rather than explain it.
But @AshaRangappa_ 's points about #caste, #ethnicity, #race & the construct of #whiteness remain valid & vital.
