The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis

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The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis is a book by Shrikant G. Talageri. It was published by Aditya Prakashan, New Delhi in 2000. ISBN 81-7742-010-0

The book gives Talageri's examination and interpretation ot the Rig Veda. In the eight chapter Talageri discusses the interpretations of the Rig Veda by scholars and philosophers like Ralph T.H. Griffith, F.E. Pargiter, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Ambedkar, Vivekananda, Dayananda Sarasvati and Aurobindo. In the ninth chapter he gives a critique of Michael Witzel's interpretation of the Rig Veda. Witzel in a review in turn described Talageri's book as a pseudoscientific Hindutva-inspired "historical fantasy" (see external links).

Talageri gives also his views on controversial topics like the chronological order of the Mandalas. Talageri's order for the first seven Mandalas is as follows: 6, 3, 7, 4, 2, 5 and 8.

Talageri argues in this book that the Indo-Iranian Airyanem Vaejah lies in Kashmir. He suggests that the Indo-Iranians migrated from there to the Punjab and later to Central Asia. According to Talageri, the rigvedic Aryans lived in Haryana, from where they migrated to the Sarasvati River region.

[edit] Contents

Preface
I. The Rigveda
- 1. The Anukramanis
- 2. The composers of the Rigveda
- 3. The chronology of the Rigveda
- 4. The geography of the Rigveda
- 5. The historical identity of the Vedic Aryans
II. Beyond the Rigveda
- 6. The Indo-Iranian homeland
- 7. The Indo-European homeland
III. Appendices
- 8. Misinterpretations of Rigvedic history
- 9. Michael Witzel--an examination of western Vedic scholarship
- 10. Sarama and the Panis--a mythological theme in the Rigveda