Rv/Mittani

[Rajesh Kochhar]

The following points need to be considered.

1> Rv may have been in composition for as long as 800 years,with the  youngest parts belonging to 900 BC.

2>The Indo-Iranian linguistic dispersion  may be older than the religious divide..It is likely that various Indo-Iranian  groups speaking different dialects were living  (in the  area between Euprates/Tigris and Indus ) within earshot of each other.  This is suggested by the following : Within the Indic speakers you have r-l divide,but they are all s-people. The Avestans are h-people, but like most Rv they are r-people. Also, selective rejection of  the Rgvedic ritual etc by Zarathustra pre-supposes familiarity with it.

What would the experts from different fields say to the followiong.?

The Indo-Iranian speaking groups arrive in Central Asia / Greater Iran about or a little later than 1700BC.A dialectal branch ( related to the Indic) moves westwards. Rv-related Indics and the Rv people themselves move eastwards in instalments.Around 1200BC(Give/take a century of two) come the Zarathstrian movement.