The major questions considered in this book are these: Are the Indo-Aryans outsiders or insiders? Did they migrate into India from Central Asia, and if not, where did they originate? Even more crucially, what is at stake in these accounts of ancient history? What issues of South Asian identity are involved? Can those of Indo-Aryan descent claim indigenous status? To what extent are the accounts of colonial historians valid? What is the role and authority of Indian scholarship in the post-colonial period? The scope and purpose of this volume is not to resolve this debate, but to survey the...

The major questions considered in this book are these: Are the Indo-Aryans outsiders or insiders? Did they migrate into India from Central Asia, and if not, where did they originate? Even more crucially, what is at stake in these accounts of ancient history? What issues of South Asian identity are involved? Can those of Indo-Aryan descent claim indigenous status? To what extent are the accounts of colonial historians valid? What is the role and authority of Indian scholarship in the post-colonial period? The scope and purpose of this volume is not to resolve this debate, but to survey the...