How old is the Vedic Civilization?

Out of the many myths that are associated with Sanatana Dharma the main myth to discredit is the “Aryan invasion theory”. Many European scholars during the colonial times noticed that there were many similarities between Sanskrit, Central Asian and European languages. There were many words that were common to Sanskrit & European languages and these languages had a similar grammatical structure. Please see the list shown below for some examples.

Similarity between English & Sanskrit

1. Bind, Bandhi
2. Brother, Bhatr
3. Come, Gam
4. Genus, Janus
5. Mega, Maha
6. Man, Manu
7. Mortal, Mrta
8. Mother, Matr
9. Voice, Vaca
10. Same, Sama

 The early European scholars believed in the supremacy of Europeans and this Euro-centric behaviour prevented them from examining all facts. They couldn’t tolerate the fact that their culture developed out of India; instead, they came up with the Aryan invasion theory according to which a group of light skinned people from Europe came to India and established the Vedic Civilization. It can be seen that this theory was only based on racial bias. They claimed that Sanskrit developed from European languages and grouped it as a Indo-European language. All the early  European scholars immediately accepted the Indo-European origin as it was easier for them to think that India was civilized by a group of people who had migrated from central Asia/Europe. This was better compared to the fact that their civilization developed from India. By the twentieth century most German scholars had created the invading Aryans to be blue-eyed, blond &light skinned people. Max Muller strongly supported the Aryan Invasion theory. He was a Christian Missionary and he wrote in a letter to his wife that, “The translation of the Veda will hereafter tell to a great extent on the fate of India and on the growth of millions of souls in that country. It is the root of their religion, and to show them what the root is, I feel sure, is the only way of uprooting all that has sprung from it during the last 3,000 years.” (Ref: Origins of Vedic Civilization by Kenneth Chandler.)

Muller believed in the creational account given in the bible and accepted the date for creation as 4004 B.C. He believed that the great flood occurred around 1500 B.C. Hence, he dated the Rig Veda to belong to a later time. He also accepted that Buddhism originated from Sanatana Dharma ; since, Buddha lived during 500 B.C he along with other German scholars put the date of Vedic Civilization & Rig Veda at 1200 B.C. This assignment of date to the Vedic Civilization is not based on scientific evidence; the date was fabricated to fit the biblical account of creation and great flood.

Continued On: Sanathana Dharma: How old is the Vedic Civilization? (thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.com)