Noted Indologist and author Shrikant Talageri was awarded Honorary D.Litt. (Doctor of Letters) by Indus University, Ahmedabad at the 4th Convocation of the University. Author of several books, Shrikant Talageri was honoured with D.Litt. in recognition of his scholarly work and valuable contribution to the Aryan Debate concerning the origin and homeland of the Indo-European languages. The Convocation was held on 18th of January, 2020. Noted Indologist and author of many books, Dr. Koenraad Elst was also present at the occasion.
Shrikant Talageri’s work is considered ground-breaking in challenging and discrediting the colonialist and racially motivated Aryan Invasion Theory. Talageri is a strong proponent of the Out of India Theory. Through his impeccable research in Linguistics, Philology and comparative analysis of the Rigveda and the Avesta, Talageri has presented evidence establishing that Sanskrit and Proto Indo-European language originated in India and spread across Eurasia afterwards. His work has not been challenged and refuted so far.
At 19h35 on 18 January 2020, Shrikant Talageri has received an honorary doctorate from the Indus University, Ahmedabad. This is a great breakthrough to recognition for the Out-of-India Theory of the Indo-European Homeland.
— Koenraad Elst (@Koenraad_Elst) January 18, 2020
Shrikant Talageri was born and brought up in Mumbai. His literary sense was highly developed while he was studying in school and he used to write stories. When he was first asked to recite one of his stories in his childhood, he was praised but encouraged to write it in his mother-tongue – Konkani.
Talageri accepted the challenge but writing in Konkani made him aware of the many linguistic problems involved, and he developed a strong interest in linguistics (learning different alphabets, reading about the languages of the world, etc). He had even invented an alphabet for Konkani.
This is when he came up against the Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT) and found it extremely dubious. The kinship between the languages spoken by most Indians and by most Europeans, jointly known as the Indo-European (IE) language family, is usually explained through the Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT). He has made a special study of the Konkani language, his mother tongue. He has devoted several years, and much study, to the theory of an Aryan invasion of India, debunking it without an iota of doubt. He has also interpreted the Vedas with the help of the internal chronology of Rig Vedic Rishis within Rig Veda with the help of genealogical records.
He establishes that Rig Veda was composed by sages living in Saraswati river valley between Saraswati and Ganga rivers (Haryana), who were patrons of the kings who ruled in this area. These kings were especially the Puru and particularly the Bharata branch of the Purus. Talageri equates the Vedic-Aryans to the Purus and the Iranians to the Anus, a sibling branch of the Purus. Other sibling branches include the Drahyus, the Yadus and the Turvasus.
Shrikant Talageri is one of those scholars who have come forward in recent years to challenge the colonial missionary model imposed on world history during the era of Western-Christian imperialism. In his book, The Aryan Invasion Theory: A Reappraisal, he had conclusively established that India was the original homeland of the Indo-European family of languages. In Aryan Invasion Theory and Indian Nationalism, he has confirmed equally emphatically that India was also the original homeland not only of the Indo-Aryans but also of the Indo-Iranians and the Indo-Europeans.
The location of the Original Homeland of the Indo-European family of language is the single most significant problem in the study of World History. This language family has members all across Europe and Asia. The question of the homeland of this diverse family has been hotly debated among linguists, historians, archaeologists and, especially in India, also among political writers of every brand.
In Rigveda and the Avesta: The Final Evidence, claiming to present “the final evidence” on the Indo-European Homeland question, Shrikant Talageri goes a long way indeed in disproving the Aryan Invasion Theory and establishing India as the land of origin of the migrations that spread the Indo-European language family over half of the Eurasian continent, from Bengal to Portugal and from Lanka to Norway. Thus, his theory, generally categorized under out of India (OIT) theory of the origin of IE Family, is firm and a strong contender to the well-established IE homeland theories.
Talageri has written five books so far- The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis 2000; The Aryan Invasion Theory: A Reappraisal; The Rigveda and the Avesta: The Final Evidence; Aryan Invasion Theory and Indian Nationalism and Genetics & The Aryan Debate: “Early Indians” Tony Joseph’s Latest Assault’.
Shrikant Talageri debunked the Aryan Invasion Theory and Aryan Migration Theory so completely and conclusively that there remains no iota of doubt about it. And he achieved this against all odds. He worked in a bank his entire working career, which was his source of livelihood. He did his scholarship only in his spare time. Without the benefit of the resources of a University and without the recognition that the paraphernalia of the University system provides, Talageri laboured against all odds and against all academic hostility, slander and opposition.
