In Search of Vedic-Harappan Relationship

by Ashvini Agrawal

Although the idea of a Vedic-Harappan relationship was put forward as early as the 1920s, it is only recently that scholars have given it serious attention.

With the renewed interest in India's past, a number of works both by Indian and foreign scholars have been published on the subject. Where as a specific group of scholars continues to be sceptic about the idea, going to the extent of calling it a fundamentalist attempt, more scientifically inclined scholars around the world have taken up the issue seriously and are gradually coming to agree with the view that the Harappan civilization is a continuity of the Vedic culture.

The present anthology of articles on the Vedic-Harappan Relationship is a result of an in-depth study by some of the senior most scholars of the discipline who debated the issue at length in the international seminar organized by the Panjab University, Chandigarh. It encompasses views presented on scientific lines and studies from various angles - archaeology, history, literature, linguistics and other related aspects.

This book is sure to make a valuable contribution to the discipline and contains rich food for thought for students and scholars of the subject.

Table of Contents:

• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• List of Contributors
• Keynote Address - Search for Vedic-Harappan Relationship: New Perspectives
• Two Harappan Motifs and Their Vedic Affinity
• The Rigvedic Sarasvati
• Geographical References: The Ocean and Soma
• Vedic-Harappan Sanskriti
• The Sarasvati and the Homeland of Early Rigvedic Rishis: In the Light of Recent Scientific Researches
• Vedic vis-à-vis Harappan Culture: Some Thoughts
• The Mahabharata and the Sindhu-Sarasvati Tradition
• The Rigveda and Harappa
• Kunal Excavation: New Light on the Origin of Harappan Civilization
• The Peoples of India and the Dawn of Civilization in the Indian Subcontinent
• Were the Aryans Barbarians?
• Connections Between the Harappan Seals and the Vedic Literature
• Arya aur Anarya Bhed
• The Sarasvati-Sindhu Civilization and Vedic Co-relations
• Need of a New Paradigm: Ascertaining Rigvedic-Harappan
• Relationship
• Index.

About the Author:

Prof. Ashvini Agrawal, presently Dean, Faculty of Arts and Professor of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Panjab University, Chandigarh is a well known Indologist. He has distinguished himself as a meticulous researcher in various branches of the discipline. He has had dozens of research papers and book reviews published in reputed journals in India and abroad. Besides his magnum opus, 'The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas', he has authored and edited several other books on various aspects of Indological studies such as Working Women in Ancient India, Buddhist Art and Thought, Sarupa Saurabham, Ratna Chandrika, etc.