Here is a quotation from the Introduction, p.5:

The Beginnings of India’s History: Arche-
ological and Genetic History by Lavanya Vemsani utilizes the recently available data
to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the beginnings of Indian history. This
chapter traces the history of first Indians and their settlements utilizing archaeo-
logical and genetic data. India is postulated to have settlements of 2 major demo-
graphic events: The first, during 15 MYA (Million Years Ago) in the form of the first
human ancestors also known as archaic humans or hominids (Homo sapiens) catego-
rized as Sivapithecene and Ramapithecene (Dryopithecenes) in India. The next larger
impactful event is traced to the settlement event of the Anatomically Modern Humans
(Homo sapiens sapiens) about 170 KYA (Thousand Years Ago). Recent genetic and
1 Introduction to Handbook of Indian History 5
archeological research shows that these are the only two demographic events that
shaped the history of India. However, a new theory, colonial theory introduced in
19th century popularly known as the Aryan invasion/migration was propounded in
the twentieth century colonialist histories of India, which proposed a replacement
of the original prehistoric settlers of India by neolithic arrivals. However, this third
theoretical event merely remains a fictional theoretical proposal due to lack of archae-
ological and genetic evidence in India. This later migration event (Aryan invasion/
migration) has been disproved emphatically by Genetic history, which has already
transformed the understanding of Pleistocene human settlements of Anatomically
Modern Humans in India, and their contributions to the peopling of the rest of the
non-African world, referred to as Foundational event giving the name Founders Zone
to India. The legacy of these early prehistoric Founders remains entrenched in the
genetic make-up of the current residents of India, as analysis of MtDNA and Y
Chromosome heritage of present-day Indians shows, which will improve the under-
standing of prehistory and shed light on the early human migrations. This chapter
together with the other chapters included in this section helps allay the colonialist
assumption of Aryan invasions/migration.

This narrative asserts that there was never an Aryan migration into India and that, on the contrary, South Asians are responsible for populating the whole world except for Africa. This assertion is not supported by research discoveries in human genetics and archaeology.

The book does not cite or engage with the voluminous research that would contradict its assertions, including the foundational monograph by David Reich and other publications from his laboratory, nor the publications of Narasimhan et al., the classic works of David Anthony, the accessible account by Tony Joseph, etc. etc.

--

Prof. Dominik Wujastyk

University of Alberta

"The University of Alberta is committed to the pursuit of truth,

the advancement of learning, and the dissemination of knowledge

through teaching, research and other scholarly and creative activities and service."

-- Collective Agreement 3.01

On Fri, 22 Nov 2024 at 19:30, Lavanya Vemsani via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info> wrote:

Happy to share the news of our book: Handbook of Indian History

Further information on the book can be found here on the publisher's website:

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-97-6207-1

Thank you.

Lavanya

--

Dr. Lavanya Vemsani Ph.D. History (Univ. of Hyderabad) & Ph.D. Religious Studies (McMaster Univ.)

Distinguished University Professor of History, Department of Social Sciences

Shawnee State University

Portsmouth OH 45662

V:7403513233 F:7403513153 E:lvemsani@shawnee.edu

Editor, American Journal of Indic Studies

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