Elst's review of Kochhar's Vedic People

[Michael Witzel]

>>India is not the natural habitat of the MODERN horse.There are no
>> wild horses in India .If India is the original home of the Aryans where did
>> they get horse from?

PK Manasala:>
>You might want to check a little deeper into specialized literature.
>In fact, Asiatic horses of today often show anatomical features
>related to the prehistoric Indian horse (Equus sivalensis).

That myth should be exploded. Last I heard, that horse was dead and gone 15
million years ago.

>For example, according to some Indologists 'Vedic Aryans' were supposed
>to be cattle herders from the Central Asian steppe who brought their
>herds and cow worship with them.

Whatever earlier Indologists might have thought, they cannot be accused for
not knowing recent genetics. (Cow worship by Rgvedic people??? Where, by
Indra,  does that come from?)

>Also, the steppe is really not suitable for cattle herders

So why do we have the (early) 300,000 horses (their bones) at Botai,
Kazakhstan? And cattle are of course found all over the steppes, from the
Ukraine eastwards, from at least c. 4000 BCE onwards. They did not go there
of their own volition. How to keep them during winter is another problem.

How long do we have to endure such statements as the one above??

> Goats, sheep, camels, etc. are the
>adaptable livestock.

You forget half-asses and real asses.

============
Michael Witzel
Department of Sanskrit & Indian Studies, Harvard University
2 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge MA 02138

ph. 617-496 2990 (also messages)
home page:     www.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/mwpage.htm

Elect. Journ. of Vedic Studies:         www1.shore.net/~india/ejvs