Political Aspects of the Aryan Invasion Debate

Abstract

The debate on the Aryan Invasion Theory is not logically affected by the political motives of some of its participants, though these motives are sometimes palpable through the rhetoric used. Mapping these motives as a matter of history of ideas (and not as a way to decide the AIT question itself by means of political association) allows us to point out the following: on the pro-AIT side, justification of European colonialism, delegitimation of Hinduism as India's native religion by missionaries of foreign religions, Indian Marxist attempts to delegitimize Indian nationalism, and several separatisms in India seeking to bolster the case against Indian unity; and on the anti-AIT side, Indian nationalism seeking to make India's civiliza-tional unity more robust, and to score a point against the aforementioned "anti-national forces".