B.G Tilak and his theories

[madhav.deshpande at um.cc.umich.edu]

     I would like to point out that one should not place B.G. Tilak and his
theory about the arctic home in the Vedas in the same boat as the theories
of some of the other names mentioned, and especially the theories coming
out of the RSS, VHP, BJP mode of scholarship.  While Tilak's theories may
safely be abandoned now, one needs to recognize that his theory was based
on considerations of astronomy etc. and not on considerations like the modern
politicized Aryanism of the VHP, BJP type authors.  In fact, at the beginning
of his work, Tilak clearly states that his ideas will displease a lot of
traditionalists for whom the eternal Vedas cannot contain any historical
information.  Additionally, he was willing to consider a home for the Aryans
outside of India proper, and that did not seem to hurt his individual pride.
Therefore, his motivations in proposing his theory were not of the same kind.
     Madhav Deshpande