The Aryans (again); 19th century discourse.

[Paul Kekai Manansala]

Edwin Bryant wrote:
>
> On Wed, 16 Dec 1998, J. E. Llewellyn wrote:
>
> > But then the idea of Aryan in Dayanand's usage still has something to do
> > with migratory groups.  In the eighth chapter of _Satyarth Prakash_ Dayanand
> > writes that humans first appeared in Tibet at the beginning of history.
> > Then an argument developed between the good people (the Aryans) and the bad
> > people (the Dasyus), and the Aryans were forced to migrate south into India.
> >
> This statement is the only comment I have encountered from Dayananda where
> he engages directly with western scholarship, however vaguely, on the
> Aryan issue.
>
> > Lest you think that this is just the standard European scholarly theory
> > about Aryan migration, but with a little bad geography thrown in, I should
> > add that Dayanand goes on to bring up the theory that the Aryans migrated
> > into India from Iran (a theory whose source he does not explicitly
> > identify), but he responds, "This idea is entirely false."
>
> I wonder if he is referring to William Jones, who held this view.  Muller
> simply held "somewhere in Asia."  Before a 'European homeland' was
> promoted by Gordon Latham around 1860, most scholars held that the
> 'homeland' was in the Pamir/Bactria area.
>
>

I believe the idea of a homeland in Tibet or Tian Shan arises from the
geographical location of Mt. Meru suggested in Indian astronomical and
Puranic texts. According to the astronomers, Meru lied on the same
meridian as Lanka, but far to the north.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala