{{OR}}
{{Indo-European}}

"'''Indo-Aryan migration'''" refers to the theory that speakers of [[Indo-Aryan languages]] migrated into the [[Indian subcontinent]] during the [[2nd millennium BCE]], as opposed to being autochthonous to the region.

Based on linguistic evidence, most scholars<ref>Mallory 1989 "the great majority of scholars insist that the Indo-Aryans were intrusive into northwest India"</ref> have argued that [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] speakers migrated to northern India following the breakup of [[Proto-Indo-Iranian]], which corresponds to an initial wave of [[Indo-Iranians|Indo-Iranian]] expansion out of [[Central Asia]]. These scholars argue that, in India, the Indo-Aryans were amalgamated with the remnants of the [[Indus Valley civilization]], a process that gave rise to [[Vedic civilization]].<ref>{{cite journal | first = Asko | last = Parpola | authorlink = Asko Parpola | year = 2005 | month = May | title = Study of the Indus Script | journal = 50th ICES Tokyo Session | url = http://www.helsinki.fi/~aparpola/tices_50.pdf}}</ref>

Archaeological data indicates that there was a shift of settlements from the Indus Valley region to the east and south during the later 2nd millennium BCE, but is inconclusive with regard to a preceding immigration into India.<ref>Shaffer and Liechtenstein 1995, 1999</ref>

The [[historical linguistics|linguistic]] facts of the situation are little disputed.{{fact}} However, linguistic data alone cannot determine whether this migration was peaceful or invasive. Different linguists have argued for either, or for a combination of both, on extra-linguistic grounds. 

==History and political background==
{{main|Aryan invasion theory (history and controversies)}}
In the earliest phase of [[Indo-European studies]], Sanskrit was assumed to be very close to (if not identical with) the [[Proto-Indo-European language]]. Its geographical location also fitted the then-dominant Biblical model of human migration, according to which Europeans were descended from the [[Japhetic|tribe of Japhet]], which was supposed to have expanded from [[Mount Ararat]] after the Flood. Iran and northern India seemed to be likely early areas of settlement for the Japhetites. 

In the course of the 19th century, as the field of [[historical linguistics]] progressed, and Bible-based models of history were abandoned, it became clear that Sanskrit could no longer be given priority. In line with late 19th century ideas, an Aryan 'invasion' was made the vehicle of the language transfer. [[Max Muller]] estimated the date to be around [[1500 BC|1500]]–[[1200 BC]]<ref>also adding that "Whether the Vedic hymns were composed in 1000 or 1500 or 2000 or 3000 BC, no power on earth will ever determine".</ref>, which is also supported by more recent scholars. 

The [[Indus Valley civilization]], discovered in the [[1920s]], was unknown to 19th century scholars.  The discovery of the [[Harappa]] and [[Mohenjo-daro]] sites changed the theory from an invasion of implicitly advanced Aryan people on an aboriginal population to an invasion of nomadic barbarians on an advanced urban civilization, an argument associated with the mid-20th century archaeologist [[Mortimer Wheeler]]. The decline roughly contemporaneous to the proposed migration movement was seen initially as an independent confirmation of these early suggestions (compare the causal relations between the decline of the [[Roman Empire]] and the Germanic [[Migration Period]]).

Among the archaeological signs claimed by Wheeler to support the theory of an invasion are the many unburied corpses found in the top levels of Mohenjo-daro. They were interpreted by Wheeler as victims of a conquest of the city, but Wheeler's interpretation is no longer accepted by many scholars (e.g. Bryant 2001). Wheeler himself expressed no certainty, but wrote, in a famous phrase, that "[[Indra]] stands accused".

In the later 20th century, ideas were refined, and so now migration and [[acculturation]] are seen as the methods whereby Indo-Aryan spread into northwest India around 1700 BCE. These changes are exactly in line with changes in thinking about language transfer in general, such as the migration of the [[Greeks]] into Greece (between 2100 and 1600 BCE), or the Indo-Europeanization of Western Europe (between 2200 and 1300 BCE). 

===Political debate===
The debate over such an invasion, and the proposed influx of elements of [[Vedic religion]] from Central Asia is still politically charged and hotly debated in India. [[Hindutva]] ([[Hindu nationalism|Hindu nationalist]]) organizations, especially, remain opposed to the concept, for political, religious, and scientific reasons, while many Indian Marxists and a fraction of the [[Dalit (outcaste)|Dalit]] Movement support the theory in opposition to the Hindu nationalists.<ref>However, the Marxist historian [[Romila Thapar]] is not an advocate of an Aryan "invasion", see Thapar (1966), though she supports the idea of a gradual migration of Aryan-speaking peoples from the Indo-Iranian borderlands into north-western India in line with the mainstream view.</ref>. Outside India, the question does not have such political connotations and is discussed in the larger framework of [[Indo-Iranians|Indo-Iranian]] and [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European]] expansion.

==Linguistics==
Linguists have several rules of thumb they use to gauge the place of origin of a family. One is that the area of highest linguistic diversity of a language family is usually fairly close to the area of its origin; thus, for example, while the modern nation with the highest number of speakers of [[Germanic languages]] is the [[United States]], the highest diversity of longstanding Germanic languages is found in northern [[Europe]]. By this criterion, India seems to be an exceedingly unlikely candidate for the origin of the Indo-European languages<ref>Mallory 1989 "It is far more logical to imagine that the Indo-Iranian languages had moved away from the mass of other Indo-European languages rather than the converse, and to argue otherwise is to engage in the same type of absurdity as assuming that the Finno-Ugric languages originated in Hungary."</ref> &mdash; it has only one Indo-European subfamily, Indo-Aryan, not counting recent introductions of European languages &mdash; and eastern Europe appears much more promising{{fact}}; conversely, the highest diversity in Dravidian is found among its Northern branches.{{fact}} However, extinctions of unrecorded languages may affect this measure. 
Most linguists believe Indo-European to have originated somewhere around the [[Black Sea]]:<ref>Mallory 1989:177–185</ref> a favorite candidate is the [[Kurgan hypothesis]].<ref>Mallory 1989 "The Kurgan solution to the Indo-European problem would thus appear to solve our problem economically by providing a homeland congruent with the Proto-Indo-European culture as reconstructed by linguistics and occupying a geographical situation compatible with the most plausible expansion of Indo-European speakers. The archaeological evidence for the expansion is not limited to a few traits which might be easily dismissed as the result of exchange, but is rather all the major features of a culture in the course of expansion into alien territory. The warlike society of these mobile invaders provides the Kurgan people with an appropriate means of expansion and an explanation for their success at colonizing vast areas.<br>"The Kurgan solution is attractive and has been accepted by many archaeologists and linguists, in part or total. It is the solution one encounters in the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' and the ''Grand Dictionnaire Encyclopédique Larousse''.…there is no alternative homeland from which archaeologists would derive all of the cultures of our late Indo-European territory."</ref>

The early formation of political states also affects the distribution of languages. The Punjab was in historical times settled by Iranians, [[Greeks]], [[Kushan]]s (replacing Greeks and their language), and [[Hephthalite]]s, yet Indo-Aryan languages dominate, probably due to the dominance of later Indian empires and states. Hence in regions where Persian and Indian empires dominated many languages died out. This process can be seen in the elimination of [[Saka]] and [[Tocharian]] languages through the influence of Persians, Buddhism (spreading [[Prakrit]] language), and Turks.

===Substrate influence===
Most of the languages of North India belong to a single [[language family]], the [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] subgroup of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] family of languages. The languages of South India belong to a different language family, the [[Dravidian languages]], which has not been proven to be linked with any other language family. 

The presence of [[retroflex consonant]]s (including L) in Vedic Sanskrit is generally taken by linguists<ref>Parpola 2005 "numerous loanwords and even structural borrowings from Dravidian have been identified in Sanskrit texts composed in northwestern India at the end of the second and first half of the first millennium BCE, before any intensive contact between North and South India. External evidence thus suggests that the Harappans most probably spoke a Dravidian language."</ref> to indicate the influence of a non-Indo-European speaking substratum population. 
*These sounds are found throughout Dravidian and [[Munda languages|Munda]] and are reconstructed for proto-Dravidian and proto-Munda. 
*They are neither reconstructible for proto-Indo-European nor for proto-[[Indo-Iranian]]. 
*They are also extremely rare among other Indo-European languages (they phonetically emerged in Swedish and Norwegian only in recent centuries). 
*Presence of words with Dravidian and [[Munda languages|Munda]] etymologies in Sanskrit (some of these etymologies have been challenged, though most have not).

Critics argue that the "substratum" influences from Dravidian and Munda could equally well be [[adstratum]] influences through mutual contact without conquest, or [[superstratum]] given the advanced nature of the precedent [[Mature Harappan]] culture.{{citation needed}}

While [[Dravidian languages]] are primarily confined to the South of India, there is a striking exception: the [[Brahui language|Brahui]] (which is spoken in parts of [[Balochistan (region)|Baluchistan]]), the linguistic equivalent of a [[relict]] [[population]], perhaps indicating that [[Dravidian languages]] were formerly much more widespread and were supplanted by the incoming Indo-Aryan languages.<ref>Mallory 1989 "The most obvious explanation of this situation is that the Dravidian languages once occupied nearly all of the Indian subcontinent and it is the intrusion of Indo-Aryans that engulfed them in north India leaving but a few isolated enclaves."</ref>

==Chronology==
[[Image:Indo-Iranian origins.png|thumb|300px|Archaeological cultures associated with [[Indo-Iranian migration]]s (after [[EIEC]]). The Andronovo, [[BMAC]] and Yaz cultures have often been associated with Indo-Iranian migrations. The [[GGC]], Cemetery H, Copper Hoard and [[PGW]] cultures are candidates for cultures associated with Indo-Aryan movements.]]The Indo-Aryan migration is dated ''subsequent'' to the Mature Harappan culture and the arrival of Indo-Aryans in the Indian subcontinent dated during the [[Late Harappan]] period. Based on linguistic data, many scholars argue that the Indo-Aryan languages were introduced to India in the 2nd millennium BCE. The standard model for the entry of the Indo-European languages into India is that this first wave went over the [[Hindukush]], forming the [[Gandhara grave culture]] or Swat culture , either into the headwaters of the [[Indus River|Indus]] or the [[Ganges]] (and probably, both). The language of the [[Rigveda]], earliest stratum of [[Vedic Sanskrit]] is assigned to about 1500-1200 BCE.<ref>Mallory 1989</ref>

The separation of Indo-Aryans proper from [[Proto-Indo-Iranian]]s has been dated to roughly [[2000 BCE]]–[[1800 BCE]]. It is believed Indo-Aryans reached [[Assyria]] in the west and the [[Punjab region|Punjab]] in the east before [[1500 BC]]: the Indo-Aryan [[Mitanni]] rulers appear from 1500, and the [[Gandhara grave culture]] emerges from 1600. This suggests that Indo-Aryan tribes would have had to be present in the area of the [[Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex]] (southern [[Turkmenistan]] / northern [[Afghanistan]]) from [[1700 BC]] at the latest (incidentally corresponding with the decline of that culture). 

The [[Swat culture]] is the most likely locus of the earliest presence east of the Hindukush of the bearers of Rigvedic culture, and Parpola (1999) based on this assumes an immigration to the Punjab ca. 1700-1400, but he also postulates a first wave of immigration from as early as 1900 BC, corresponding to the [[Cemetery H culture]].

Rajesh Kochhar <ref>(Kochhar2000:185-186)</ref> argues that there were three waves of Indo-Aryan immigration that occurred after the mature Harrapan phase : the Murghamu ([[BMAC]]) related people who entered Baluchistan at Pirak, Mehrgarh south cemetery etc and later merged with the post-urban Harappans during the late Harappans Jhukar phase; the Swat IV that co-founded the Harappan cemetery H phase in Punjab and the Rigvedic Indo-Aryans of Swat V that later absorbed the cemetery H people and gave rise to the PGW culture.  He dates the first two to 2000-1800 BCE and the third to 1400 BCE.

===Early Indo-Aryans===
{{seealso|Mitanni}}
The earliest written evidence for an Indo-Aryan language dates to about 1500 BCE<ref>Mallory and Mair 2000</ref> and is found in northern Syria<ref>Mallory 1989</ref> in [[Hittite]] records regarding one of their neighbors, the [[Hurrian]]-speaking Mitanni.<ref>Mallory and Mair 2000</ref> In a treaty with the Hittites, the king of Mitanni, after swearing by a series of Hurrian gods, swears by the gods Indara, Mitraśil, Naśatianna and Uruvanaśśil, who correspond to the Vedic gods Indra, Mitra, Nāsatya and Varuṇa.<ref>Mallory and Mair 2000</ref> Contemporary equestrian terminology, as recorded in a horse-training manual whose author is identified as "[[Kikkuli the Mitannian]]" contains Indo-Aryan loanwords.<ref>Mallory 1989</ref> The personal names and gods of the Mitanni aristocracy also bear traces of Indo-Aryan.<ref>Mallory 1989</ref> In 1960, Paul Thieme demonstrated to the satisfaction of most scholars that this vocabulary was specifically Indo-Aryan, as opposed to Iranian or Indo-Iranian.<ref>Bryant 2001:136</ref> Because of this association of Indo-Aryan with horsemanship and the Mitanni aristocracy, it is generally presumed that, after superimposing themselves as rulers on a native Hurrian-speaking population about the 15th-16th centuries BCE,<ref>Mallory 1989</ref> Indo-Aryan charioteers were absorbed into the local population and adopted the Hurrian language.<ref>Mallory and Mair 2000</ref>

Brentjes argues that there is not a single cultural element of central Asian, eastern European, or Caucasian origin in the Mitannian area and associates with an Indo-Aryan presence the peacock motif found in the Middle East from before 1600 BCE and possible as long ago as 2100 BCE.<ref>Bryant 2001:137</ref>

However, received opinion rejects the possibility that the Indo-Aryans of Mitanni came from the Indian subcontinent as well as the possibility that the Indo-Aryans of the Indian subcontinent came from the territory of Mitanni, leaving migration from the north the only likely scenario.<ref>Mallory 1989 "It is highly improbable that the Indo-Aryans of Western Asia migrated eastwards, for example with the collapse of the Mitanni, and wandered into India, since there is not a shred of evidence — for example, names of non-Indic deities, personal names, loan words — that the Indo-Aryans of India ever had any contacts with their west Asian neighbours. The reverse possibility, that a small group broke off and wandered from India into Western Asia is readily dismissed as an improbably long migration, again without the least bit of evidence."</ref>

There were also tribes (the [[Maiotes]] and [[Sindoi]]/Indoi) that spoke Indo-Aryan languages in the [[Ukraine]].<ref>Trubachov, Oleg N., 1999: Indoarica, Nauka, Moscow. [http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/articles/aid/keaitlin1.html]</ref> Kretschmer (1944) saw this as proof for the [[Pontic]] homeland hypothesis.<ref>Kretschmer, Paul, 1944: Inder am Kuban, Vienna.</ref>

==Textual References==
=== Rigveda ===
[[Image:Rigvedic geography.jpg|thumb|320px|Geography of the [[Rigveda]], with [[Rigvedic rivers|river names]]; the extent of the [[Swat culture|Swat]] and [[Cemetery H culture|Cemetery H]] cultures are indicated.]]
The [[Rigveda]] is by far the most archaic testimony of [[Vedic Sanskrit]]. It is often assumed that the Rigveda represents a pastoral or [[nomadic]]{{fact}}, mobile culture, still centered on the [[Indo-Iranian]] [[Soma]] cult and [[Agni|fire]] worship. With all the effort to glimpse historical information from the hymns of the Rigveda, it should not be forgotten that the purpose of these hymns is ritualistic, not historiographical or ethnographical, and any information about the way of life or the habitat of their authors is incidential and philologically extrapolated from the context.<ref>e.g. Edmund Leach 1990</ref>

==== Rigvedic society as pastoral society ====

The mobile nature of the [[Vedic religion]] is illustrated by the laying out of the ritual precinct as part of the ritual, rather than the existence of fixed temples. This holds for the invitation of [[Indra]] to the Soma ritual as well as for the [[Agnicayana]], the piling-up of the fire altar. Cities or fortresses (''{{IAST|púr}}'') are mentioned in the Rigveda mainly as the abode of hostile peoples, while the Aryan tribes live in ''{{IAST|vísa}}'', a term translated as "settlement, homestead, house, dwelling", but also "community, tribe, troops".<ref>Mallory 1989 "the culture represented in the earliest Vedic hymns bears little similarity to that of the urban society found at Harappa or Mohenjo-daro. It is illiterate, non-urban, non-maritime, basically uninterested in exchange other than that involving cattle, and lacking in any forms of political complexity beyond that of a king whose primary function seems to be concerned with warfare and ritual."</ref>

[[Indra]] in particular is described as destroyer of fortresses, e.g. RV 4.30.20ab:
:''{{IAST|satám asmanmáyinaam  / purâm índro ví asiyat}}''
:"Indra overthrew a hundred fortresses of stone."

The Rigveda does contain some phrases referring to elements of an urban civilization, other than the mere viewpoint of an invader aiming at sacking the fortresses. These references become increasingly frequent {{fact}} in the younger books 1 and 10, linguistically dated as contemporary to the early parts of the [[Atharvaveda]] and the mantras of the [[Yajurveda]]. Here, for example, Indra is compared to the lord of a city (''purapatis'') in RV 1.173.10, a ''ship with a hundred oars'' is mentioned in 1.116 and ''metal forts'' (''puras ayasis'') in 10.101.8. Since the Vedic books appear to have been composed over a long period of gradual change, rather than being a snapshot of society at one particular moment, these late Rigvedic books may indeed describe an urbanized amalgamation of pastoral Indo-Aryan culture with indigenous, Late Harappan elements even in the view of proponents of immigration, roughly representing the early phase of the [[Kuru (India)|Kuru]] kingdom (ca. [[12th century BC]]). Furthermore, there were also cities in the Post-Harappan period in the [[Punjab region|Punjab]] region. 

However, according to [[S.P. Gupta]] (1996), "ancient civilizations had both the components, the village and the city, and numerically villages were many times more than the cities. (...) if the Vedic literature reflects primarily the village life and not the urban life, it does not at all surprise us.". Gregory Possehl (1977) argued that the "extraordinary empty spaces between the Harappan settlement clusters" indicates that pastoralists may have "formed the bulk of the population during Harappan times" <ref>Bryant 2001: 195</ref>. Agriculturalists, pastoralists as well as the city and village life may have coexisted in the same region. Such a view would imply that the only testimony surviving of Harappan times is not from the urban centers, but preserves the rituals of rural pastoralists living between the cities.

==== Rigvedic reference to migration ====

There is no explicit mention of an outward or inward migration in the Rigveda. In RV 7.6.3, [[Agni]] turned the godless and the [[Dasyus]] westward, and not southward, as would be required by some versions of the AIT.<ref>Kazanas, A new date for the Rgveda, p.11</ref> Some of the tribes that fought against Sudas on the banks of the [[Parusni River]] during the Dasarajna battle have maybe migrated to western countries in later times, as they are possibly connected with some Iranian peoples (e.g. the [[Pakthas]], [[Bhalanas]]).<ref>e.g. MacDonnel and Keith, Vedic Index, 1912; Talageri 2000</ref> 

While the Avesta does mention an external homeland of the Zoroastrians, the Rigveda does not explicitly refer to an external homeland or to a migration. Later texts than the Rigveda (such as the [[Puranas]]) seem to be more centered in the [[Ganges]] region. This shift from the Punjab to the Gangetic plain continues the Rigvedic tendency of eastward expansion, but does of course not imply an origin beyond the Indus watershed. 

==== Rigvedic Rivers and Reference of Samudra====

[[Image:IVC_Map.png|thumb|250px|Cluster of Indus Valley Civilization site along the possible course of Sarasvati/Ghaggar-Hakra River. See [http://pubweb.cc.u-tokai.ac.jp/indus/english/map.html this] for a more detailed map.]]

{{main|Sarasvati River}}
{{main|Samudra}}
The geography of the Rigveda seems to be centered around the land of the [[Sapta Sindhu|seven rivers]]. While the geography of the [[Rigvedic rivers]] is unclear in the early mandalas, the [[Nadistuti]] hymn is an important source for the geography of late Rigvedic society.

The Sarasvati River is one of the chief [[Rigvedic rivers]]. The [[Nadistuti]] hymn in the [[Rigveda]] mentions the Sarasvati between the [[Yamuna]] in the east and the [[Sutlej]] in the west, and later texts like the [[Mahabharata]] mention that the Sarasvati dried up in a desert. 

Most scholars agree that at least some of the references to the Sarasvati in the Rigveda refer to the [[Ghaggar-Hakra River]], while the [[Helmand]] is often quoted as the locus of the early Rigvedic river. Whether such a transfer of the name has taken place, either from the Helmand to the Ghaggar-Hakra, or conversely from the Ghaggar-Hakra to the Helmand, is a matter of dispute. Identification of the early Rigvedic Sarasvati with the Ghaggar-Hakra before its drying up would place the Rigveda well before 1700 BC<ref>http://www.gisdevelopment.net/application/archaeology/site/archs0001pf.htm</ref>, and thus well outside the range commonly assumed by Indo-Aryan migration theory.

A non-Indo-Aryan [[substratum]] in the [[river]]-names and place-names of the Rigvedic homeland would support an external origin of the Indo-Aryans. However most place-names in the Rigveda and the vast majority of the river-names in the north-west of India are Indo-Aryan (Bryant 2001).

=== Iranian Avesta ===
The religious practices depicted in the ''Rgveda'' and those depicted in the ''[[Avesta]]'', the central religious text of [[Zoroastrianism]]—the ancient Iranian faith founded by the prophet [[Zarathustra]]—have in common the deity [[Mitra]], priests called ''hotr'' in the ''Rgveda'' and ''zaotr'' in the ''Avesta'', and the use of a [[hallucinogen]]ic compound that the ''Rgveda'' calls ''[[soma]]'' and the ''Avesta'' ''[[haoma]]''. However, the Indo-Aryan ''[[deva]]'', meaning 'god,' is cognate with the Iranian ''[[daeva]]'', meaning 'demon'. Likewise, the Indo-Aryan ''[[asura]]'', meaning 'demon,' is cognate with the Iranian ''[[ahura]]'', meaning 'god,' suggesting that, at some point, a rivalry between Indo-Aryans and Iranians that found religious expression, as the Indologist Thomas Burrow has proposed.<ref>Mallory 1989</ref>

Two alternative dates for Zarathustra can be found in Greek sources: 5000 years before the [[Trojan War]], i.e. 6000 BCE, or 258 years before [[Alexander]], i.e. the 6th century BCE, the latter of which used to provide the conventional dating but has since been traced to a fictional Greek source.<ref>Bryant 2001:131</ref> Linguists such as Burrow argue that the strong similarity between the [[Avestan language]] of the ''Gathas''—the oldest part of the ''Avesta''—and the [[Vedic Sanskrit]] of the ''Rgveda'' pushes the dating of Zarathustra or at least the ''Gathas'' closer to the conventional ''Rgveda'' dating of 1500–1200 BCE,<ref>Mallory 1989</ref> i.e. 1100 BCE, possibly earlier.<ref>Mallory 1989</ref> Boyce concurs with a lower date of 1100 BCE and tentatively proposes an upper date of 1500 BCE.<ref>Bryant 2001:132</ref> 
Gnoli dates the ''Gathas'' to around 1000 BCE,<ref>Bryant 2001:132</ref> as does [[J.P. Mallory]],<ref>Mallory 1989</ref> with the caveat of a 400 year leeway on either side,<ref>Mallory and Mair 2000</ref> i.e. between 1400 and 600 BCE. Therefore the date of the Avesta could also indicate the date of the Rigveda.

There is mention in the ''Avesta'' of ''[[Airyanem Vaejah]]'', the legendary homeland of the Aryans as well as Zarathustra himself.<ref>Bryant 2001:133</ref> Gnoli's interpretation of geographic references in the ''Avesta'' situates the ''Airyanem Vaejah'' in the [[Hindu Kush]].<ref>Bryant 2001:133</ref> For similar reasons, Boyce excludes places north of the [[Syr Darya]] and western Iranian places.<ref>Bryant 2001:133</ref> With some reservations, Skjaervo concurs that the evidence of the Avestan texts makes it impossible to avoid the conclusion that they were composed somewhere in northeastern Iran.<ref>Bryant 2001:133</ref> [[Michael Witzel]] points to the central Afghan highlands.<ref>Bryant 2001:133</ref> Humbach derives Vaejah from [[cognate]]s of the Vedic root "vij," suggesting the region of a fast-flowing river.<ref>Bryant 2001:327</ref> Gnoli considers the lower Oxus region, south of the [[Aral Sea]] to be an outlying area in the Avestan world.<ref>Bryant 2001:327</ref> However, according to Mallory and Mair, the probable homeland of Avestan is, in fact, the area south of the Aral Sea,<ref>Mallory and Mair 2000</ref> which just happens to be the region of a fast-flowing river.

=== Other Hindu texts ===
Indologists have noted that "there is no textual evidence in the early literary traditions unambiguously showing a trace" of an Indo-Aryan migration.<ref>Cardona 2002: 33-35; Cardona, George. The Indo-Aryan languages, RoutledgeCurzon; 2002 ISBN 0-7007-1130-9</ref> Texts like the Puranas and Mahabharata belong to a later period than the Rigveda, making their evidence less sufficient to be used for or against the Indo-Aryan migration theory.

According to the [[Yajur Veda]], [[Yajnavalkya]] (one of the Vedic Seers) lived in the eastern region of [[Mithila]].<ref>(Bryant 2001: 64)</ref> [[Aitareya Brahmana]] 33.6.1. records that [[Vishvamitra]]'s sons migrated to the north, and in [[Shatapatha Brahmana]] 1:2:4:10 the [[Asuras]] were driven to the north.<ref>Elst 1999, with reference to L.N. Renu</ref> 

[[Manu]] was said to be a king from [[Dravida]].<ref>e.g. Bhagavata Purana (VIII.24.13)</ref> In the legend of the flood he stranded with his ship in Northwestern India or the Himalayas.<ref>e.g. Satapatha Brahmana, Atharva Veda</ref> The vedic land (e.g. [[Aryavarta]], Brahmavarta) is located in Northern India or at the Sarasvati and [[Drsadvati River]], according to Hindu texts.<ref>e.g. RV 3.23.4., Manu 2.22, etc. Kane, Pandurang Vaman: History of Dharmasastra: (ancient and mediaeval, religious and civil law) -- Poona : Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1962-1975</ref> In the [[Mahabharata]] Udyoga Parva (108), the East is described as the homeland of the Vedic culture, where "the divine Creator of the universe first sang the Vedas."<ref>Talageri 1993, The Aryan Invasion Theory, A Reappraisal</ref> The legends of [[Ikshvaku]], [[Sumati]] and other Hindu legends may have their origin in [[South-East Asia]].<ref>Elst 1999, chapter 5, with reference to Bernard Sergent</ref> 

==== Puranas ====

The evidence from the [[Puranas]] is often disputed because they are a comparably late text. They are often dated from c.400 to c.1000 CE. The Rgveda dates from before 1200 BCE. Thus the Rgveda and the Puranas are separated by ''approximately'' 1600 to 2200 years, though scholars argue that some contents of the Puranas may date to an earlier period.<ref>e.g. Bryant 2001:139</ref><ref>There are also references to the Puranas in earlier texts like the [[Atharvaveda]] 11.7.24; [[Satapatha Brahmana]] 11.5.6.8. and 13.4.3.13; Chandogy Upanisad 3.4.1. Subhash Kak 1994, The astronomical of the Rgveda</ref>

The Puranas record that [[Yayati]] left [[Prayag]] and conquered the region of Saptha Sindhu.<ref>Talageri 1993, 2000; Elst 1999</ref> His five sons [[Yadu]], [[Druhyu]], [[Puru]], [[Anu]] and [[Turvashu]] became the main tribes of the Rigveda.

The Puranas also record that the [[Druhyus]] were driven out of the land of the seven rivers by [[Mandhatr]] and that their next king Ghandara settled in a north-western region which became known as [[Ghandara]]. The sons of the later Druhyu king [[Pracetas]] finally migrate to the region north of Afghanistan. This migration is recorded in several Puranas.<ref>[[Bhagavata Purana]] 9.23.15-16; [[Visnu Purana]] 4.17.5; [[Vayu Purana]] 99.11-12; [[Brahmanda Purana]] 3.74.11-12 and [[Matsya Purana]] 48.9.</ref><ref>see e.g. Pargiter [1922] 1979; Talageri 1993, 2000; Bryant 2001; Elst 1999</ref>

==== Vedic and Puranic genealogies ====
The Vedic and Puranic genealogies indicate a greater antiquity of the Vedic culture.<ref>see e.g. [[F.E. Pargiter]] [1922] 1979; [[P.L. Bhargava]] 1971, India in the Vedic Age, Lucknow: Upper India Publishing; Talageri 1993, 2000; Subhash Kak, 1994, The astronomical code of the Rgveda</ref> The Puranas themselves state that these lists are incomplete.<ref>Matsya Purana 49.72; Pargiter 1922; Kak 1994 The astronomical code of the Rgveda</ref> But the accuracy of these lists is disputed. In [[Arrian]]'s [[Indica]], [[Megasthenes]] is quoted as stating that the Indians counted from [[Shiva]] ([[Dionysos]]) to [[Chandragupta]] Maurya (Sandracottus) "a hundred and fifty-three kings over six thousand and forty-three years."<ref>Pliny: Naturalis Historia 6:59; Arrian: Indica 9:9</ref> The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (4.6.), ca. 8th century BCE, mentions 57 links in the [[Guru]]-[[Parampara]] ("succession of teachers"). This would mean that this Guru-Parampara would go back about 1400 years, although the accuracy of this list is disputed <ref>(see [[Klaus Klostermaier]] 1989 and [[Arvind Sharma]] 1995)</ref>. The list of kings in [[Kalhana]]'s [[Rajatarangini]] goes back to the 19th century BCE.<ref>Elst 1999, with reference to Bernard Sergent</ref>

==== Baudhayana Shrauta Sutra ====

Witzel (1989) quoted a passage of the [[Baudhayana Shrauta Sutra]] (BSS 18.44) as a "direct statement" of Indo-Aryan immigration. R.S. Sharma argued that this passage contains "the most explicit statement of immigration into the subcontinent".<ref>Ram Sharan Sharma. Advent of the Aryans in India. Manohar: New Delhi 1999.</ref> However, Witzel's translation of this passage was later criticized by Koenraad Elst, who wrote: "Far from attesting an eastward movement into India, this text actually speaks of a westward movement towards [[Central Asia]], coupled with a symmetrical eastward movement from India's demographic centre around the Saraswati basin towards the Ganga basin."<ref>Elst 1999</ref> Other Indologists like Cardona<ref>[[George Cardona|Cardona, George]]. The Indo-Aryan languages, RoutledgeCurzon; 1 edition (August 2002) ISBN 0-7007-1130-9</ref>, [[Willem Caland]], [[C.G. Kashikar]], [[D.S. Triveda]], [[Toshifumi Goto]] and [[Hans Hock]] translated the passage like Elst.<ref>[[Vishal Agarwal|Agarwal, Vishal]]: Is there Vedic evidence for the Indo-Aryan Immigration to India [http://www.omilosmeleton.gr/english/documents/VedicEvidenceforAMT.pdf]; Agarwal, Vishal. (2001) The Aryan Migration Theory Fabricating Literary Evidence [http://vishalagarwal.voiceofdharma.com/articles/indhistory/amt/index.htm]</ref> Since the BSS is a comparatively late text, its content is unsuitable as conclusive evidence regarding the hypothesis either way.

==Archaeology==
There is no clear evidence in the archaeological record for an intrusion of Indo-Aryan people into India.<ref>"There is no archaeological or biological evidence for invasions or mass migrations into the Indus Valley between the end of the Harappan Phase, about 1900 BC and the beginning of the Early Historic period around 600 BC." Kenoyer, J. Mark. 1998. Ancient cities of the Indus Valley Civilization. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-577940-1</ref> Many archaeologists argue that the available data reflects indigenous cultural developments.<ref>(see e.g. Shaffer 1984b, Bryant 2001)</ref> [[J. M. Kenoyer]] and many other archaeologists have pointed out that "current evidence does not support a pre- or proto-historic Indo-Aryan invasion of southern Asia. Instead, there was an overlap between Late [[Harappan]] and post-Harappan communities, with no biological evidence for major new populations."<ref>Kenoyer 1991a</ref> Furthermore, scholars like D. K. Chakrabarti have also pointed out that northwestern India always had cultural exchanges and trade contacts with Afghanistan and other western regions <ref>Chakrabarti 1977 cited in Bryant 2001: 233</ref>. According to Erdosy, cultural traits that have been associated with Vedic culture "originate in different places at different times and circulate widely" and it is therefore "impossible ... to regard the widespread distribution of certain beliefs and rituals ... as evidence of population movements." <ref>Erdosy 1995, cited in Bryant 2001: 214-215</ref>.

However, proponents of the theory believe that the Indo-Aryans were nomadic or at least peripatetic, following their herds of cows around from pasture to pasture. Consequently they had no permanent settlements; the RgVeda only mentions temporary huts{{cn}}}. These leave no archaeological record. So it is only to be expected that the migrations left no archaeological traces.{{cn}} The Huns are a comparable instance. No one doubts that the Huns actually ''invaded'' parts of western Europe on more than one occasion. Yet -- because the Huns were nomads -- they left no archaeological remains behind. The records come from other sources. 

===Proto-Indo-Iranians===
{{main|Indo-Iranians}}
Scholars commonly accept the identification of the Andronovo-[[Sintashta-Petrovka]] culture (ca. [[2200 BC]]&ndash;[[1600 BC]]) as Indo-Iranian, i.e. ancestral to both Indo-Aryans and Iranians.<ref>Mallory 1989 "The identification of the Andronovo culure as Indo-Iranian is commonly accepted by scholars."</ref> [[Proto-Indo-Iranian]]s are usually identified with the [[Sintashta-Petrovka]] culture of [[Russia]] and [[Kazakhstan]]. It is there that the earliest [[chariot]]s are found.<ref>Mallory and Mair 2000</ref> The follow-up [[Andronovo culture]] and [[BMAC]] correspond to the earliest phase of the rapid expansion that would reach into the [[Caucasus]], the [[Iranian plateau]], [[Afghanistan]], and the [[Indian Subcontinent]].

[[Asko Parpola]] (1988) has argued that the [[Dasa]]s were the "carriers of the [[Bronze Age]] culture of Greater [[Iran]]" living in the BMAC and that the forts with circular walls destroyed by the [[Vedic Aryans]] of the [[Rigveda]] were actually located in the BMAC. <ref>Parpola's hypothesis was also criticzed, see e.g. Sethna (1992) for a detailed critical review of Parpola's hypothesis.</ref> Other scholars have argued that cultural links between the BMAC and the Indus Valley can also be explained by reciprocal cultural influences uniting the two cultures.<ref>See e.g. Fussman, G.; Kellens, J.; Francfort, H.-P.; Tremblay, X. 2005; Bryant 2001:215-16</ref>

Other scholars<ref>like Brentjes (1981), Klejn (1974), Francfort (1989), Lyonnet (1993), Hiebert (1998), Bosch-Gimpera (1973) and Sarianidi (1993)</ref> have argued that the Andronovo culture cannot be associated with the Indo-Aryans of India or with the [[Mitanni]]s because the Andronovo culture took shape too late and because no actual traces of their culture (e.g. warrior burials or timber-frame materials of the Andronovo culture) have been found in India or [[Mesopotamia]].<ref>(see [[Edwin Bryant]] 2001)</ref> The archaeologist [[J. P. Mallory]] (1998) found it "extraordinarily difficult to make a case for expansions from this northern region to northern India" and remarked that the proposed migration routes "only gets the Indo-Iranian to Central Asia, but not as far as the seats of the [[Medes]], [[Persian Empire|Persians]] or Indo-Aryans" <ref>(Mallory 1998; Edwin Bryant 2001: 216)</ref>. The evidence disputing this argument, is both linguistic and archaeological (for linguistic arguments, see e.g. Hans Hock in Bronkhorst & Deshpande 1999)

===Indus Valley Civilization===
Indo-Aryan migration into the northern [[Punjab region|Punjab]] is thus approximately contemporaneous to the final phase of the decline of the [[Indus-Valley civilization]] (IVC). Many scholars have argued that the historical Vedic culture is the result of an amalgamation of the immigrating Indo-Aryans with the remnants of the indigenous civilization, such as the [[Ochre Coloured Pottery culture]]. Such remnants of IVC culture is not yet present in the Rigveda, with its focus on chariot warfare and nomadic pastoralism in stark contrast with an urban civilization. 

The decline of the IVC from about 1900 BC is not universally accepted to be connected with Indo-Aryan immigration. A regional cultural discontinuity occurred during the second millennium BC and many Indus Valley cities were abandoned during this period, while many new settlements began to appear in [[Gujarat]] and East Punjab and other settlements such as in the western [[Bahawalpur]] region increased in size. Shaffer and Liechtenstein stated that: "This shift by Harappan and, perhaps, other Indus Valley cultural mosaic groups, is the only archaeologically documented west-to-east movement of human populations in South Asia before the first half of the first millennium B.C..".<ref>(Shaffer and Liechtenstein 1995: 139)</ref> This could have been caused by ecological factors, such as the drying up of the [[Ghaggar-Hakra River]] and increased aridity in [[Rajasthan]] and other places. The Indus River also began to flow east and floodings occurred.<ref>(Kenoyer 1995: 224)</ref> Jim Shaffer and other scholars have argued that these "internal cultural adjustments" could reflect "altered ecological, social and economic conditions affecting northwestern and north-central South Asia" and do not necessarily imply migrations.<ref>Jim Shaffer 1986: 230</ref>

At [[Kalibangan]] (at the [[Ghaggar]] river) the remains of what some writers claims to be [[fire]] [[altar]]s have been unearthed. Some of their characteristics suggest that they could have been used for Vedic sacrifices. In addition the remains of a bathing place (suggestive of ceremonial bathing) have been found near the altars in Kalibangan.<ref>(B.B. Lal. Frontiers of the Indus Civilization.1984:57-58)</ref> S.R. Rao found similar "fire altars" in Lothal which he thinks could have served no other purpose than a ritualistic one.<ref>(S.R. Rao. The Aryans in Indus Civilization.1993:175)</ref>

===Horse and chariot ===
[[Image:Chariot spread.png|thumb|200px|<small>early 2nd millennium introduction of the chariot to India is consistent with the overall picture of the spread of this innovation (Mesopotamia 1700, China 1600, N Europe 1300).</small>]]

{{main2|History of the horse in South Asia|Ratha}}

The spread of Indo-Aryan languages has been connected with the spread of the [[chariot]] in the first half of the [[second millennium BC]]. Elements supposedly introduced to India in the course of the migration include the [[Soma]] cult, as well as the [[horse]] and [[chariot]]. 

About 1800 BCE, there is a major cultural change in the Swat Valley with the introduction of new ceramics and two new burial rites: flexed inhumation in a pit and cremation burial in an urn which, according to early Vedic literature, were both practiced in early Indo-Aryan society.<ref>Mallory 1989</ref> The economy of the [[Swat culture]] not only includes the horse, but there are two horse ''burials'' as well as other horse-trappings.<ref>Mallory 1989</ref>

Attempts of proponents of continuity to portray the Rigvedic culture as native to the subcontinent, such as identification of horses or chariots in Indus Valley Civilization art, have met with little or no acceptance.<ref>Mallory 1989 "horses and chariots were a technique of warfare apparently unknown to the Indus civilization."</ref>

==Archaeogenetics and physical anthropology==
{{main|Genetics and Archaeogenetics of South Asia}}

Kenneth Kennedy ([[1984]]), who examined 300 skeletons from the Indus Valley civilization, concludes that the ancient Harappans “are not markedly different in their skeletal biology from the present-day inhabitants of Northwestern India and Pakistan”(p.102).

A later study<ref>(Hemphill, Lukacs and Kennedy 1991, see also Kenneth Kennedy 1995)</ref> finds no evidence of discontinuities in the skeletal record during and immediately after the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization. The two discontinuities that Kennedy finds in the prehistoric skeletal record do not correspond to the second millennium BCE. The first of these discontinuities occurred between 6000-4500 BCE (a separation of the Neolithic and Chalcolithic inhabitants of [[Mehrgarh]]), and the second occurred after 800 BCE (between 800-200 BCE). He concludes that "there is no evidence of demographic disruptions in the north-western sector of the [[subcontinent]] during and immediately after the decline of the [[Harappan]] culture. If [[Vedic Aryans]] were a biological entity represented by the skeletons from [[Timargarha]], then their biological features of cranial and dental anatomy were not distinct to a marked degree from what we encountered in the ancient Harappans.” (1995: 54). Comparing the [[Harappan]] and [[Gandhara]] cultures, Kennedy remarks that: “Our multivariate approach does not define the biological identity of an ancient Aryan population, but it does indicate that the Indus Valley and [[Gandhara]] peoples shared a number of craniometric, odontometric and discrete traits that point to a high degree of biological affinity.” (1995: 49). The craniometric variables of prehistoric and living South Asians also showed an "obvious separation" from the prehistoric people of the Iranian plateau and western Asia (1995: 49).

Brian E. Hemphill and Alexander F. Christensen's study (1994) of the migration of [[Genetics|genetic]] traits does not support a movement of Aryan speakers into the Indus Valley around 1500 BC. According to Hemphill's study, "[[Gene]] flow from [[Bactria]] occurs much later, and does not impact Indus Valley gene pools until the dawn of the Christian era." In a more recent study, Hemphill concludes that "the data provide no support for any model of massive migration and gene flow between the oases of Bactria and the Indus Valley. Rather, patterns of phenetic affinity best conform to a pattern of long-standing, but low-level bidirectional mutual exchange."<ref>Hemphill 1998 "Biological Affinities and Adaptations of Bronze Age Bactrians: III. An initial craniometric assessment", American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 106, 329-348.; Hemphill 1999  "Biological Affinities and Adaptations of Bronze Age Bactrians: III. A Craniometric Investigation of Bactrian Origins", American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 108, 173-192</ref>

==Alternate Theories==

The opinion of the majority of professional archaeologists interviewed by [[Edwin Bryant]] in India during the 1990's was that there is no archaeological evidence to support external Indo-Aryan origins, or that the data is inconclusive.<ref>Bryant, E. "The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture." Oxford University Press, 2001.</ref> Kenoyer argued: "Although the overall socioeconomic organization changed, continuities in [[technology]], subsistence practices, settlement organization, and some regional [[symbols]] show that the indigenous population was not displaced by invading hordes of [[Indo-Aryan]] speaking people. For many years, the ‘invasions’ or ‘migrations’ of these Indo-Aryan-speaking Vedic/Aryan tribes explained the decline of the Indus civilization and the sudden rise of urbanization in the Ganga-[[Yamuna]] valley. This was based on simplistic models of culture change and an uncritical reading of Vedic texts..."<ref>J. M. Kenoyer: “The Indus Valley Tradition of Pakistan and Western India”, Journal of World Prehistory, 1991/4; cited in Bryant 2001:190</ref>

Even though several alternate theories have been proposed, Indo-Aryan migration theory, as described in this article remains to be the most accepted. Its main contenders are the [[Anatolian hypothesis]](1987) and [[Out of India theory]], and there are many lesser accepted{{fact}} suggestions such as the [[Paleolithic Continuity Theory]].

===Anatolian hypothesis===
The [[Anatolian hypothesis]] suggests that the speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) lived in Anatolia in the Neolithic, and associates the distribution of historical Indo-European languages with the expansion during the Neolithic revolution during the 7th and 6th millennia. For this theory to be consistent with Indo-Aryan presence in India during the [[Mature Harappan]] period, the Indo-Iranians would have had to migrate east around 3000 BC, reaching the Indus Valley before 2600 BC. The Iranians could have migrating back west after 1900 BC.

===Paleolithic Continuity Theory===
The [[Paleolithic Continuity Theory]] suggests that the Indo-European languages somehow originated in Paleolithic times in Europe.

===Out of India Theory===
An "[[Out of India Theory]]" is proposed by some scholars, (e.g. S.S. Misra<ref>Misra, Satya Swarup, The Aryan problem, a linguistic approach. New Delhi : Munshiram Manoharlal, 1992</ref>, [[David Frawley]]).<ref>[http://www.stephen-knapp.com/solid_evidence_debunking_aryan_invasion.htm Solid Evidence Debunking Aryan Invasion]</ref>. Based mainly on archaeological evidence and references in Hindu texts, the [[Out of India theory]] proposes the idea of the Indo-European languages originating in India. However, some linguists do not consider South Asia a serious candidate for Proto-Indo-European origin,<ref>Mallory 1989 "It is far more logical to imagine that the Indo-Iranian languages had moved away from the mass of other Indo-European languages rather than the converse, and to argue otherwise is to engage in the same type of absurdity as assuming that the Finno-Ugric languages originated in Hungary."</ref> though some astronomers differ citing [[Hindu]] texts and analyzing star patterns <ref>[http://www.umassd.edu/indic/press/origin_pr.cfm] "Scientists, Linguists Collide OVer Origin of Indian Civilization"</ref>, [[eclipses]], and the like to justify OIT and the [[historicity]] of [[Hindu]] texts.

== Notes ==
<div class="references-small">
<references/>
</div>
==Bibliography and References==
<!-- attributed, sort by author -->
<div class="references-small">
*{{cite journal | author=B. Brentjes | title=The Mitannians and the Peacock | journal=Ethnic Problems of the Histor of Central Asia in the Early Period | year=1981 | volume=Moscow:Soviet Committee on the Study of Civilization of Central Asia | pages=145-148}}
*[[Johannes Bronkhorst]] and M.M. Deshpande. 1999. Aryan and Non-Aryan in South Asia. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press.
* {{cite book | first=Edwin | last=Bryant | authorlink=Edwin Bryant | title=[[The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture]] | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2001 | id=ISBN 0-19-513777-9}}
* {{cite book|title=Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History|author=[[Edwin Bryant]] and [[Laurie L. Patton]] (editors)|year=2005|publisher=Routledge/Curzon|id=ISBN 0-7007-1463-4}} 
*[[D. K. Chakrabarti|Chakrabarti, D.K.]] The Early use of Iron In India. Dilip K. Chakrabarti.1992. New Delhi: The Oxford University Press. 
*Chakrabarti, D.K. 1977b. India and West Asia: An Alternative Approach. Man and Environment 1:25-38.
* Dhavalikar, M. K. 1995, "Fire Altars or Fire Pits?", in ''Sri Nagabhinandanam'', Ed V Shivananda and M. K. Visweswara, Bangalore.  
* {{cite book | first=Koenraad | last=Elst | authorlink=Koenraad Elst | title=[[Update on the Aryan Invasion Debate]] | publisher=Aditya Prakashan | year=1999 | id=ISBN 81-86471-77-4}} [http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/books/ait/index.htm], [http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/articles/aid.html]
*{{cite book | author=[[George Erdosy]] (ed.) | title=The Indo-Aryans of ancient South asia | publisher=Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter | year=1995 | id=ISBN 0948-1923 {{Please check ISBN|0948-1923}}}}
* {{cite book | first=David | last=Frawley | authorlink=David Frawley | title=The myth of the Aryan invasion of India | publisher=New Delhi: Voice of India | year=1995 | id=ISBN 81-85199-59-0}}; --[[In Search of the Cradle of Civilization]] 1995. Quest Books; --Gods, Sages and Kings. 1991.Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin ISBN 0-910261-37-7; --The Rigveda and the History of India. 2001.; --Vedic Aryans and the Origins of Civilization (with N.S. Rajaram). Quebec: W.H. Press. 1995.
*[[Gérard Fussman|Fussman, G.]]; Kellens, J.; [[Henri-Paul Francfort|Francfort, H.-P.]]; Tremblay, X.: Aryas, Aryens et Iraniens en Asie Centrale. (2005) Institut Civilisation Indienne ISBN 2-86803-072-6 
*[[S. P. Gupta|Gupta, S.P.]] 1996. The Indus Sarasvati Civilization. Delhi: Pratibha Prakashan.
* Hemphill & Christensen: ''“The Oxus Civilization as a Link between East and West: A Non-Metric Analysis of Bronze Age Bactrain Biological Affinities”'', paper read at the South Asia Conference, 3-[[5 November]] [[1994]], Madison, Wisconsin; p. 13.
*{{cite journal | author=[[B. E. Hemphill|Hemphill, B.E.]] ; Lukacs, J.R.; and Kennedy, K.A.R. | title=Biological adaptations and affinities of the Bronze Age Harappans. | journal=Harappa Excavations 1986-1990. (ed. R.Meadow) | year=1991 | volume= | pages=137-182}}
*[[Subhash Kak|Kak, Subhash]]. The Astronomical Code of the Rgveda; Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd (2000), ISBN 81-215-0986-6
* [[Kenneth A.R. Kennedy|Kennedy, Kenneth]] 1984. ''“A Reassessment of the Theories of Racial Origins of the People of the Indus Valley Civilization from Recent Anthropological Data.”'' In Studies in the Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology of South Asia (99-107). <!--Ed. K.Kennedy and G. Possehl. Oxford: American Institute of Indian Studies.-->
* --- 1995. ''“Have Aryans been identified in the prehistoric skeletal record from South Asia?”'', in George Erdosy, ed.: The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia, p.49-54.
*Kenoyer, J.M. 1991a. The Indus Valley Tradition of Pakistan and Western India. Journal of World Prehistory 5:331-385.
* [[Jonathan Mark Kenoyer|Kenyoer, J.M.]] : (1991b) "Urban Process in the Indus Tradition: A Preliminary Model from Harappa." In Harappa Excavations 1986-1990 (29-60)
*{{cite book | author=Kenoyer, J.M. | title=Interaction Systems, Specialized crafts and Culture Change | publisher=In: Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia. Ed. George Erdosy. | year=1995 | id=ISBN 0948-1923  {{Please check ISBN|0948-1923 }}}}
*[[Klaus Klostermaier|Klostermaier, Klaus]]. 1989. A Survey of Hinduism.Albany: State University of New ork Press.
*{{cite book | author=Kochhar, Rajesh | title=The Vedic People: Their History and Geography | publisher=Sangam Books | year=2000 }}
*Lal, B.B., (1984) Frontiers of the Indus Civilization.1984. 
*[[B. B. Lal|Lal, B.B.]], (1998) New Light on the Indus Civilization, Aryan Books, Delhi 1998
* Lal, B.B. 2005. The Homeland of the Aryans. Evidence of Rigvedic Flora and Fauna & Archaeology, New Delhi, Aryan Books International.
*Lal, B.B. 2002. The Saraswati Flows on: the Continuity of Indian Culture. New Delhi: Aryan Books International
*[[J. P. Mallory|Mallory, JP.]] ''In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology, and Myth''; 1989
*Mallory, JP. 1998. A European Perspective on Indo-Europeans in Asia. In: The Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Peoples of Eastern and Central Asia. Ed. Mair. Washingion DC: Institue for the Study of Man. 
* [[Stephen Oppenheimer|Oppenheimer, Stephen]]; (2003) "The Real Eve: Modern Man's Journey out of Africa" [http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/], [http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/realeve/realeve.html]
*[[F. E. Pargiter|Pargiter, F.E.]] [1922] 1979. Ancient Indian Historical Tradition. New Delhi: Cosmo.
*[[S. R. Rao|S.R. Rao]]. The Aryans in Indus Civilization.1993
* [[K.D. Sethna|Sethna, K.D.]] 1992. [[The Problem of Aryan Origins]]. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. ISBN 81-85179-67-0
* [[Jim G. Shaffer|Shaffer, Jim]] : (1984), The Indo-Aryan Invasions: Cultural Myth and Archaeological Reality, in John R Lukacs (ed.) The People of South Asia: The Biological Anthropology of India, Pakistan and Nepal, New York, Plenum Press, pp. 77-88.
*Shaffer, Jim. 1986. Cultural Development in the Eastern Punjab. In Studies in the Archaeology of India and Pakistan (195-235). Ed. Jerome Jacobson. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
*{{cite book | author=Shaffer, Jim G. | title=Cultural tradition and Palaeoethnicity in South Asian Archaeology | publisher=In: Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia. Ed. George Erdosy. | year=1995 | id=ISBN 0948-1923 {{Please check ISBN|0948-1923}}}}
*{{cite book | author=Shaffer, Jim G. | title=Migration, Philology and South Asian Archaeology | | publisher=In: Aryan and Non-Aryan in South Asia. Ed. Bronkhorst and Deshpande. | year=1999 | id=ISBN 1-888789-04-2}}
*[[Shrikant G. Talageri|Talageri, Shrikant]]: [[The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis]]. 2000. ISBN 81-7742-010-0 [http://voi.org/books/rig/]; --Aryan Invasion Theory and Indian Nationalism. 1993.
*[[Romila Thapar|Thapar, Romila]]. 1966. A History of India: Volume 1 (Paperback). ISBN 0-14-013835-8
*[[Thomas Trautmann|Trautmann, Thomas]]. The Aryan Debate in India (2005) ISBN 0-19-566908-8
</div>

==See also==
* [[Indo-Aryans]], [[Aryan]], [[Arya]], [[Aryavarta]], [[Indo-Aryan languages]]
* [[Rigveda]]
* [[Indo-Iranians]], [[Indo-Iranian languages]]
* [[BMAC]], [[Andronovo culture]]
* [[Mitanni]]
* [[Kurgan]]

==External links==
*[http://dmoz.org/Society/History/By_Region/Asia/South_Asia/Ancient_India/Aryan_Invasion_Theory/ DMOZ listing]
*[http://www.bharatvani.org/books/ait/ Elst, Koenraad: Update on the Aryan Invasion Theory - K. Elst's Online book], [http://koenraadelst.voiceofdharma.com/articles/aid.html Articles], [http://koenraadelst.voiceofdharma.com/reviews.html Book reviews]
*[http://members.tripod.com/ascjnu/aryan.html Thapar, Romila: The Aryan question revisited (1999)] 
*[http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/AryanHome.pdf Witzel, Michael: The Home of the Aryans]
* [http://www.omilosmeleton.gr/english/en_index.html Kazanas, Nicholas homepage] Articles by Nicholas Kazanas
* [http://www.svabhinava.org/AITvsOIT/ Web Index to AIT versus OIT debate]
*[http://www.omilosmeleton.gr/english/documents/VedicEvidenceforAMT.pdf Agarwal, Vishal: Is There Vedic Evidence for the Indo-Aryan Immigration to India?] (pdf)
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/history/history5.shtml  BBC The case against the Aryan invasion theory]

Archaeology
*[http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/research/possehl/ahar-banas.shtml Cache of Seal Impressions Discovered in Western India]
*[http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/03/nc/ht03nc.htm Central Asia 2000-1000BC (Metmuseum.org)]
*[http://www.geocities.com/ifihhome/articles/bbl001.html Lal, B.B.: The Homeland of Indo-European Languages and Culture: Some Thoughts] By Archaeologist B.B. Lal
*[http://micheldanino.voiceofdharma.com/indus.html Danino, Michel: The Indus-Sarasvati Civilization and its Bearing on the Aryan Question] Article by [[Michel Danino]]
*[http://www.indianscience.org/essays/26-%20E--ARYANS%20FOR%20INFINITY.pdf Agrawal, D.P.: The Indus Civilization = Aryans equation: Is it really a Problem?] By D.P. Agrawal (pdf)

Genetics
*[http://www.genome.org/cgi/content/full/11/6/994 Genetic Evidence on the origins of Indian Caste Population, Genome Research, 2001] 
*[http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0507714103v1  A prehistory of Indian Y chromosomes: Evaluating demic diffusion scenarios, PNAS paper, 2006]
*[http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/AJHG/journal/issues/v78n2/42812/brief/42812.abstract.html Polarity and Temporality of High-Resolution Y-Chromosome Distributions in India Identify Both Indigenous and Exogenous Expansions and Reveal Minor Genetic Influence of Central Asian Pastoralists, AJHG paper, 2006]

Religious and political aspects
*[http://www.atributetohinduism.com/aryan_invasion_theory.htm A Tribute to Hindusim - compilation]
*[http://www.hindubooks.org/david_frawley/myth_aryan_invasion/ Frawley, David: The Myth of the Aryan Invasion]

[[Category:Eurasian nomads]]
[[Category:History of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Indo-European]]