The Puranic data on the Original Home of the Indo-Aryans
By R. B. Pandey
Summary
Reassessing theories about the Indo‑Aryan homeland, the author argues that Indologists have erred by assuming a foreign origin. Drawing on the Purāṇas, he locates the original home of the Indo‑Aryans in Madhyadeśa (mid‑India) and reconstructs their expansion from Ayodhya and Pratiṣṭhāna into eastern Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Central India. He contends that the Aryans moved westward from this core region into the north‑western frontier and beyond, crossing passes into Afghanistan, Central Asia and Western Asia. The article critiques the work of F. E. Pargiter, who posited an Aryan invasion from the north‑west, and argues instead that matrimonial alliances and shared rituals described in the Purāṇas show the Aryans and other groups such as the Manavas to be culturally homogeneous. The author concludes that the Aryans were indigenous to the Indo‑Gangetic plain and that their migration patterns explain the diffusion of Indo‑Aryan culture beyond India.
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Conclusion
By situating the Indo‑Aryans in Madhyadeśa and emphasising outward expansion, the paper challenges migration theories that place the Aryan homeland outside India. It shows that Puranic genealogies, when read critically, support an indigenous origin and encourage scholars to reconsider long‑held assumptions about Indo‑Aryan history.