The terms “Vedic period” and “Arya” have captured the attention of historians and the general public in India and around the world since the 19th century. After the British established their presence in India, their historians maintained that an ethnic group called Arya migrated from Central Asia around 1500 BCE, claiming they were responsible for bringing horses and chariots to the region. This narrative, supported by India’s colonial oppression and a lack of archaeological evidence, helped to sustain the myth of Aryans arriving from Central Asia. However, discoveries made at the Sinauli Archaeological site in Uttar Pradesh during 2018-19 have challenged and disproven this narrative put forth by both European and Indian historians.
It was claimed that the so-called Aryans arrived from Central Asia in 1500 BCE and introduced chariots to India. However, the chariots discovered at Sinauli date back to 2000 BCE, predating this arrival. Additionally, the Rigveda, one of India’s oldest texts, describes chariots glowing in sunlight, which correlates with the copper inlay work found on the wheels of the Sinauli wooden chariots—symbolizing the sun’s illuminating rays. This indicates a connection between the chariots at Sinauli and those mentioned in the Rigveda. Regarding horses, the excavator of Sinauli noted that the dimensions and weight of the chariots suggest they could only be drawn by horses. Furthermore, horse remains have been discovered at various sites of the Saraswati Indus Civilization, including Surkotada, Lothal, Rangpur, and Shikarpur, with documentation available from the Archaeological Survey of India. The archaeological findings, along with the references in the Rigveda, confirm that chariots and horses existed in India well before 2000 BCE. Therefore, the argument about the arrival of Aryans based on chariots and horses is unfounded.
Excavations in Sinauli have revealed copper helmets used by warriors, which were found buried with the deceased. Previously, no helmets from this period had been discovered in India. The Rigveda’s sixth section mentions the Vedic deity Maruts donning helmets during battles, suggesting that these archaeological finds reflect the Vedic traditions of the Sinauli people. Among the various burials, one site contained a wooden coffin adorned with nine carved copper faces, each featuring crowns with bull horns, indicating a potential religious significance. The Rigveda also references deities Indra and Agni being crowned with bull horns, leading archaeologists to associate these carved faces with those deities. There is a common misconception in Indian society that cremation is the only tradition for dealing with the dead, yet the Rigveda’s tenth chapter includes many references to burial practices.
Some Western scholars have attempted to connect the Sinauli chariots to the so-called Aryans from Central Asia, previously dated to 1500 BCE, but now pushed back to 2000 BCE. However, these historians overlook that the DNA from the Sinauli skeletons matches that of skeletons from 2500 BCE found at Rakhigarhi. Therefore, labelling the Sinauli inhabitants as Aryans from Central Asia is unfounded. Research by American anthropologists Lucox and Kennedy indicates that no Central Asian DNA has been found in the population of North-West India until 800 BCE, consistent with recent DNA studies.
The burial traditions mentioned in the Rigveda, along with the similarities between the burial sites and findings in Sinauli and the corresponding verses, suggest that the people inhabiting Sinauli 4000 years ago adhered to Vedic customs. Moreover, the matching DNA from the skeletons at Rakhigarhi and Sinauli provides undeniable evidence that no group referred to as Aryans arrived in India from Central Asia with horse-drawn chariots around 1500 BCE. Rather, the Vedic followers were the original inhabitants of India long before that time.
(Author is Assistant Professor, Department of History, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College at Delhi University. Feedback [email protected])
