Aryan Race - Indo-Aryan Migration

Indo-Aryan Migration

Main article: Indo-Aryan migration See also: Out of India theory

Models of the Indo-Aryan migration discuss scenarios of prehistoric migrations of the early Indo-Aryans to their historically attested areas of settlement in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent and from there further across all of North India. Claims of Indo-Aryan migration are primarily drawn from linguistic evidence but also from a multitude of data stemming from genetics,(although more recent genetic studies cast doubt on the certitude of earlier claims), Vedic religion, rituals, poetics as well as some aspects of social organization and chariot technology.

All discussion of historical Indo-Aryan migrations or Aryan and Dravidian races remains highly controversial in India to this day, and continues to affect political and religious debate. Some Dravidians, and supporters of the Dalit movement, most commonly Tamils, claim that the worship of Shiva is a distinct Dravidian religion going back to the Indus Civilization, to be distinguished from Brahminical "Aryan" Hinduism. In contrast, the Indian nationalist Hindutva movement argues that no Aryan invasion or migration ever occurred, asserting that Vedic beliefs emerged from the Indus Valley Civilisation, which pre-dated the supposed advent of the Indo-Aryans in India, and is identified as a likely candidate for a Proto-Dravidian culture.

Some Indians were also influenced by the debate about the Aryan race during the British Raj. The Indian nationalist V. D. Savarkar believed in the theory that an "Aryan race" migrated to India, but he didn't find much value in a racialized interpretation of the "Aryan race". Some Indian nationalists supported the British version of the theory because it gave them the prestige of common descent with the ruling British class.