Sarasvati River And The Vedic Civilization

The Indian subcontinent was the scene of dramatic upheavals a few thousand years ago. The Northwest region entered an arid phase, and erosion coupled with tectonic events played havoc with river courses. One of them disappeared. Celebrated as -Sarasvati' in the Rig Veda and the Mahabharata, this river was rediscovered in the early nineteenth century through topographic explorations by British officials. Recently, geological and climatological studies have probed its evolution and disappearance, while satellite imagery has traced the river's buried courses and isotope analyses have dated ancient waters still stored under the Thar Desert. In the same Northwest, the subcontinent's first urban society"the Indus civilization"flourished and declined. But it was not watered by the Indus alone: since Aurel Stein's expedition in the 1940s, hundreds of Harappan sites have been identified in the now dry Sarasvati's basin. The rich Harappan legacy in technologies, arts and culture sowed the seeds of Indian civilization as we know it now. Drawing from recent research in a wide range of disciplines, this book discusses differing viewpoints and proposes a harmonious synthesis"a fascinating tale of exploration that brings to life the vital role the -lost river of the Indian desert' played before its waters gurgled to a stop.

The Indian subcontinent was the scene of dramatic upheavals a few thousand years ago. The Northwest region entered an arid phase, and erosion coupled with tectonic events played havoc with river courses. One of them disappeared. Celebrated as -Sarasvati' in the Rig Veda and the Mahabharata, this river was rediscovered in the early nineteenth century through topographic explorations by British officials. Recently, geological and climatological studies have probed its evolution and disappearance, while satellite imagery has traced the river's buried courses and isotope analyses have dated ancient waters still stored under the Thar Desert. In the same Northwest, the subcontinent's first urban society"the Indus civilization"flourished and declined. But it was not watered by the Indus alone: since Aurel Stein's expedition in the 1940s, hundreds of Harappan sites have been identified in the now dry Sarasvati's basin. The rich Harappan legacy in technologies, arts and culture sowed the seeds of Indian civilization as we know it now. Drawing from recent research in a wide range of disciplines, this book discusses differing viewpoints and proposes a harmonious synthesis"a fascinating tale of exploration that brings to life the vital role the -lost river of the Indian desert' played before its waters gurgled to a stop.

Who were the Harappans? How are they related to present-day Indians? Was there never an "Aryan Invasion"? The Sarasvati Civilization: A New Paradigm in Ancient Indian History brings together evidence from satellite imagery, geology, hydrodynamics, archaeology, epigraphy, textual hermeneutics, and DNA research to place together ancient Indian history in the light of new discoveries and facts which were simply not available to colonial historians of the 19th century and have been overlooked thereafter. At the heart of the ancient Indian Civilization was the mighty Sarasvati river which was in full flow 5000-6000 years ago. 60-80 % of the so-called Indus Valley Civilisation sites which have been discovered are not on the banks of the Indus but on the course of the Sarasvati. The drying-out of the river is the most significant factor in the history and migrations of the ancient Indians. With new evidence, the time has come for a significant paradigm shift in Indology. This book breaks new ground to lay the foundation for an authentic Indian history.

This Book Is About The River Saraswati That Vanished More Than 2000 Years Ago. Written In Simple Language Shorn Of Technical Jargon, It Explores The Existence Of A Mighty, Snow-Fed River, Traces Its Course From The Foothills Of The Himalayas To The Shores Of The Arabian Sea And Outlines The History Of Human Settlements Along This River. It Finally Highlights The Geological Events That Overtook The Land Leading To The Disappearance Of The River That Was Once The Lifeline Of The People That Inhabited Its Floodplain. It Is Lavishly Illustrated In Both Colour And Black And White.

Contributed papers presented at a conference held at IIC, New Delhi from Oct. 24 to 26, 2008.

The Lost Saraswati Civilization is an edited work of Deo Prakash Sharma and madhuri Sharma. Till today around 2668 Harappan and its associated sites have been reported in north-West south Asia in which 1100 sites are located on dry banks of river Saraswati and its tributaries. During 3rd millennium B.C. Hindon was a tributary of river Saraswati and around 250 Harappan sites have been reported on the banks of river Hindon, mandi, Hulas, Alamgirpur, Sanuoli Toppal are important Harappan sites located on the bank of river Hindon which is now a tributary of yamuna. We have excavated 208 Harappan sites. Ganweriwala is the largest (350 hectares) Harappan site located on dry bank of Saraswati (or Hakra) in Cholistan (Pakistan) . Few excabvated harappan sites in Saraswati region are Desalpur, Dholavira, kalibangan, Bhirrana, Barror, Dhalewan, Banawali, Kunal and Rakhigarhi. Saraswati or Hakra or Ghaggar was a holy river. From 6000 B.C. to 1800 B.C. Saraswati flowed from south of Siwalik through Himachal, Haryana, Punjab, Northern Rajasthan and Finally was joining Desalpur in Arabian sea. Due to tectonic disturbance in the Siwalik, Saraswati river course moved streadily in the clockwise direction eventually flowing eastsouth east rather than south. The stream captured by the emerging Yamuna river compromised its water shed and river Saraswati began to dry up around 1800 B.C. Archeologists observed after analyzing literature and remote sensing images that river Saraswati flowed through Rajasthan desert. This lost river Saraswati was 1500 km. Long and between 3 to 12 km. Wide. This volume includes 27 papers.