In Search of the Cradle of Civilization: New Light on Ancient India

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Quest Books, Sep 25, 2001 - History - 359 pages
For decades, schoolbooks have taught that Sumer was the cradle of civilization. Conventional scholarship has also held that Aryan civilization came to India by way of invasions from the north. But in this ground-breaking book, three renowned scholars show that there was no "Aryan invasion," and that India, not Sumer, was the cradle of civilized humanity. Through exploring the rich symbols, metaphors, and myths of the Vedas, this book also examines the wealth of India's spirituality and its relevance for today's world.

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Contents

Revisioning the Past Envisioning the Future
3
The Vedas Pyramids of the Spirit
13
The Aryans Exploding a Scientific Myth
45
An Archaeological Surprise The Cities of the Indus Valley
61
The Great Catastrophe and the Reconstruction of the Early Indic Civilization
77
The Vedic Peoples in the Land of the Seven Rivers The Literary Perspective
101
Deciphering the IndusSarasvati Script
127
The Dawn of the Indic Civilization The Neolithic Town of Mehrgarh
143
The Spiritual Heritage of Ancient India
165
The Birth of Science in Ritual
195
Vedic Myths and Their Astronomical Basis
229
India and the West
249
The Vedas and Perennial Wisdom
269
Notes
287
Select Bibliography
305
Index
313

Why the Aryan Invasion Never Happened Seventeen Arguments
153

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About the author (2001)

Subhash Kak is an Indian-American computer scientist and a Hindutva-based historical revisionist.

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