Thread by @JoeAgneya

Most IndoEuropean tribes did not remember where their homeland was by the time they composed literature. But the ancient Zoroastrian text Vendidad give a list of 16 ancestral lands, none of which are in mainland Iran, but most of them are spread over Afghan and & the Indus Valley

According to Aryan invasion theory the Indo-Iranians came from the steppes & split apart in Bactria & went their separate ways, Iranians entering Iran & IndoAryans entering Indus Valley. Under NO circumstance are the Iranians supposed to be in the Indus Valley. Yet here they are

Many of the important territories overlap with the Rig Vedic territories
Vaara- Vara Prithvya
Haroyu- Sarayu
Hapta-Hendu- Sapta Sindhu
Harahvaiti-Saraswathy

Can the eminent historians explain why the two oldest Indo-European texts describe the same places are their homeland?

The oldest home remembered in the Avesta is Airyana Vaeja. The Sanskrit equivalent is the river Iravati. Shrikant Talageri noticed that the territories seems to be listed in an Anti-clockwise direction, the last one being close to the 1st. The original home of Iranians is Kashmir

According to the Puranas the Anava tribe(proto-Iranians) inherited the northern lands from Yayati while the Paurava(Indo-Aryans) received the Southern lands. The literature leaves no doubt that Indo-Iranians lived together in the Indus Valley for a long time.

But when Zoroaster was born & he established monotheist Asura worship, hell broke loose & a great civil war happened. It was the Asura worshipping Atharvans vs the Angirasa, Paurava vs Anava, Zoroaster vs Rishi Rijisvan, King Vistaspa vs Maharaja Somaka. Iranians lost that war.

This great civil war is remembered by both Iranians and Indians as the 'Devasura' conflict. Ever since then, the word 'Asura' is evil in the Indian mind. And 'Deva' means demons among the Parsis.
This war probably happened shortly after the collapse of the Indus civilization.

You can read the descriptions of each of these sixteen lands and their Rig Vedic counterparts here.
takshasila.wikidot.com/article:sixtee…

The final Devasura war was fought in southern Afghanistan. Iranians lost. Zoroaster died in that battle. They were further pushed out of the Kabul valley and forced into modern Iran.
The Paurava forces were led by rishi Rjrasva Angirasa & his patron Maharaja Somaka Bharara

#KnowYourRishis
Rjrasva Angirasa, of the Kutsa Gotra. The man who made sure that all of South Asia was inherited by the followers of Vedic traditions.
(I do not support any kind of violence, but facts must be remembered)

*Name correction Somaka Bharata is the son of Sahadeva Bharata, descendent of Sudasa Bharata of book 7. By the end of the Devasura wars, these two Bharatas controlled the Indus and the Gangetic valley. All this information is preserved in book 4 of the Rig Veda.

It is hilarious to see scholars like @AudreyTruschke question the nationhood of Pre-modern India. Even in Rig Vedic times, kings of the Bharata dynasty of Haryana had sway over territories from Afghanistan till Bihar. That is how the name 'Bharath' came.

https://twitter.com/JoeAgneya/status/924917472897024001

@AudreyTruschke It appears many people are confused by the word 'Asura'. It does not= Rakshasa. It actually means 'divine'. Long story short, over 6000 years ago, long before even the Rig Veda was composed, the Proto-Indo-Europeans worshiped the 'old gods'- the Asuras.

@AudreyTruschke But suddenly, something happened and a new class of gods emerged in PIE society. Devas. This old gods vs new gods dichotomy is seen among many branches-
Greece- Titans vs Oympians
Norse- Aesir vs Vanir
Indo-Iranians- Asuras vs Devas
Dyaush Pita and Varuna were the greatest Asuras

@AudreyTruschke But the Anava(Iranians) and their Atharvan priests continued to worship the old Asuras. This caused great tension between them and the Paurava(Indians) and their priests the Angirasa. But they still co-existed peacefully for many centuries, only indulging in theological disputes.

@AudreyTruschke But Zarathustra, the Prophet of the Parsis, the great rebel, did something that changed human history itself. He was an Atharvan purohit by birth. But he rejected even the multiplicity of the Asura gods and said 'there is only one god and his name is Asura Medhi'(Ahura Mazda)

@AudreyTruschke Zoroaster according to Iranian tradition itself lived between 2000-1500 BCE. He created the first monotheist religion and turned all Indo-European traditions on it's head. This was the tipping point. Iranians and Indians could no longer co-exist. The last great Devasura war began

As with everything I say, I only intend to convey the gist of the topic in as few tweets as possible. For a proper understanding, do read 'Rig Veda: A historical analysis' by Shrikant Talageri. At the very least the chapter on the Indo-Iranian homeland.

Avesta records that he died in the war but ironically the name Zarathustra is not recorded Rig Veda. But all the other warriors are named in both sources-
Arjaspa- Rjrasva
Vistaspa- Ishtashva
Humayaka- Somaka
Bidarfsha- Ambarisha
Vandaremaini-Bhayamana

https://twitter.com/VenkatKodanda/status/924977262771892228

An enlightening map of the world in 500 BCE. I see 3 important things to learn of it-

1.Within around 1000 years of the last Devasura war, the exiled Anava(Proto-Iranians) went on to create the largest empire history had yet seen,making an opportunity out of adversity
Impressive

Everyone who stood in their way was vanquished. Ancient Egypt fell forever. The great Sumerian states,Assyria, Babylon, the last of the great Hittites, Elamites, even parts of Greece. They even took back Afghan from the Indians. We could never match the extent of this achievement

2. Note how much of mainland Europe was inhabited by the Celtic tribes. Their priestly class the Druids preserved many features of Vedic . They controlled vast territory then. The Teutons(proto-Germanics) hadn't yet begun to spread. English is a language derived from Germanic.

But under the Roman conquest and the later Germanic onslaught, the Celtic tribes would be wiped out of mainland Europe and cornered into the northern parts of modern UK(Ireland, Scotland). Today, Celtic languages are facing extinction, near totally replaced by English.

3. Of all the surviving branches of Indo-European tribes( Hittite is already dead) only three are civilized by 500 BC- Indo-Aryans, Iranians and Greeks-significant because these 3 were the last tribes in the homeland around 3500-3000 BCE according to linguistic chronology.

3500-3000 BCE was precisely when civilization was consolidating in India. It was the phase of Early Harappa. No wonder the last 3 were the 1st to get civilized long before the Celtic, Germanic or Slavic! The Greeks,Indians & Iranians enjoyed civilizing influence together awhile!

Few people know this.

The first clash between monotheism & polytheism happened in the Setumant valley of Afghanistan, 4000 years ago.

Proto-Parthian King Kavi Vistaspa(Istasva) & his priest Atharvan Zarathustra

vs

Sahadeva & Somaka Bharata with their Purohita Rjrasva Angiras

We may call it the 'Varsagira battle' or the 'Last Devasura war'. The results were significant-

1. Decisive Vedic victory

2. Permanent separation of the last two Indo European tribes

3. Death of Zoroaster

4. Contributive to the collapse of the Indus-Saraswathy civilization(?)

The cleverness of KakSIvAn Dairgatamas! Author of Rig Veda I.122. Usually Indra is praised when Vedic Arya defeat enemies. But here it is Mitra-Varuna!

Why?
Because Iranians revered Mitra & Varuna. He pours salt into the wounds of defeated Iranian tribes!

https://twitter.com/JoeAgneya/status/1102173731718221825

People don't realize how important the Varsagira battle was to human history. For the simple & singular reason that it was the culminating instance of Indo-Iranian separation, it sent massive ripples over history's timeline. Major Iranian tribes began an exodus out of South Asia.

Which were these tribes?
Parthava
Parsu
Madra(Medes)
Dasa(Dahae)
Drbhika of RV 2.14.3(Derbikes)
etc

The concurrent appearance of Indo-Aryans in the middle east-in the Kassites & Mittani ruling elite- may even be a result of Indo-Iranian conflicts or Harappan collapse or both.

It is a fashion nowadays to say 'Indians never invaded anyone'. How ignorant and naive! Look at the map of the Mittani empire by 1400 BCE. A small group of Vedic Arya who spoke sanskrit & worshipped Indra-Mitra-Varuna established an Empire across Anatolia, Syria & Assyria.

A very informative map of the Indo-Iranian sub family. Within the IE tree, Iranian is the closest group to Indo-Aryans.Their linguistic split cuts neatly across the Indus valley- Telling us that Sapta Sindhu is indeed the last place where Asura & Deva worshippers lived together.