"A balanced description and evaluation of the two century old
debate dealing with the origins of the Indo-Aryan speaking peoples
of South Asia. [Bryant] presents both sides of the issue, that is
the traditional western, linguistic, and philological consensus of
immigration from Central Asia, and the more recent Indian position
that denies any immigration and that asserts an indigenous South
Asian origin. He probes for loopholes on both sides of the
argument
and presents the multi-faceted evidence from linguistics,
archaeology, texts, etc. in an even-handed manner. As such, the
book not only is an important and very welcome introduction into
recent Indian
historical thought but also a valuable heuristic tool in
re-evaluating many of the unspoken or un-reflected presuppositions
on both sides."--Michael Witzel, Harvard University
"The problem of Indo-Aryan origins has vexed scholars in both India
and the West for well over a century and has touched every nerve of
both academic and political discourse, so much so that many in the
West have automatically dismissed any arguments to come 'out of
India'[this book] investigates how these two worlds of scholarship
came into being and systematically exposes the logical weaknesses
of most of the arguments that support the consensus f either
side. This is not only an important work in the field of Indo-Aryan
studies but a long overdue challenge for scholarly fair
play."--J.P. Mallory, Queen's University of Belfast
". . . [A] groundbreaking book. . . . [Bryant] does an
extraordinary job of showing the ambiguity and uncertainty of both
linguistic and archeological evidence for either a migration of
indigenous presence of 'Aryans' in India (little has been
convincingly proved or disproved). . . . A must get for libraries
and must read for interested scholars."--Religious Studies
Review
"A balanced description and evaluation of the two century old
debate dealing with the origins of the Indo-Aryan speaking peoples
of South Asia. [Bryant] presents both sides of the issue, that is
the traditional western, linguistic, and philological consensus of
immigration from Central Asia, and the more recent Indian position
that denies any immigration and that asserts an indigenous South
Asian origin. He probes for loopholes on both sides of the
argument
and presents the multi-faceted evidence from linguistics,
archaeology, texts, etc. in an even-handed manner. As such, the
book not only is an important and very welcome introduction into
recent Indian
historical thought but also a valuable heuristic tool in
re-evaluating many of the unspoken or un-reflected presuppositions
on both sides."--Michael Witzel, Harvard University
"The problem of Indo-Aryan origins has vexed scholars in both India
and the West for well over a century and has touched every nerve of
both academic and political discourse, so much so that many in the
West have automatically dismissed any arguments to come 'out of
India'[this book] investigates how these two worlds of scholarship
came into being and systematically exposes the logical weaknesses
of most of the arguments that support the consensus f either
side. This is not only an important work in the field of Indo-Aryan
studies but a long overdue challenge for scholarly fair
play."--J.P. Mallory, Queen's University of Belfast
". . . [A] groundbreaking book. . . . [Bryant] does an
extraordinary job of showing the ambiguity and uncertainty of both
linguistic and archeological evidence for either a migration of
indigenous presence of 'Aryans' in India (little has been
convincingly proved or disproved). . . . A must get for libraries
and must read for interested scholars."--Religious Studies Review
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