Comments by "M Shastri" (@libshastra) on "World of Antiquity" channel.

Fun fact: The Indus Delta used to flow into present day Rann of Kutch (about 250-300 kms east of the current Delta) until a 19th century earthquake diverted it's course. So it's not unusual for rivers in the Indian subcontinent to shift it's course wildly. Also, Thank you Dr. Miano.
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One of the most fascinating theories about the language of IVC comes from Iravathan Mahadevan. He believe IVC is proto-proto Tamil and Tamil is the closest candidate. That position recently got support from Asko Parpola
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South Asia is still ignored ☹️
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@Censurba270 Asko himself moved away from teh Alamite position. He now thinks IVC is likely a Dravidian language like proto Proto Tamil.
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I must say, if you abandon the political tropes, antiquity Indian history is fascinating and intriguing. I've been reading a lot of books about that era, the writing is disappointing. There are constant references to "(not) concede space to Hindu nationalists" and that unfortunately taints how Indian history is taught and understood. Unfortunately, it has also led to the proliferation of a lot of bargain basement theories of history. Thanks for this video. Btw, have you read Sumit Guha's book 'Beyond Caste: Identity and Power in South Asia, Past and Present'?
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@WorldofAntiquity fair enough. But the urban civilization claim is used to dismiss plausible Rigvedic connections with IVC (That's rather dismissive). In other words since IVC is urban and Rigveda describes rural life hence, it's synthesis has no connection to IVC. That claim is equally incorrect and lacks evidence - to reiterate is also a confirmation bias. P.S.: I think your video and your scholarship is great.
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People like Frawley are a result of the Indian academic system. India never invested much in tertiary education particularly when it comes to subjects like liberal arts and history - basic sciences was the priority. This left a huge vacuum in this space for Frawley to come and capture the discourse. Let us back up a bit. So in India, history is taught as one single truth of dates rather than as a science that evolves based on archeology, artefacts and analysis. The other issue is the entire academic foundation is built on rote learning rather than subjective analysis or critical thinking. So any interpretation outside of word to word reproduction of textbook would get you a failing grade. The entire teaching system is geared towards passing exams based on memorization. It is a criminal way to teach any subject especially history. So this system dictates one interpretation and doesn't let the student explore their subject and test out ideas. The system also hasn't updated itself in a long long time. The grade 8 history textbooks are still the same as they were 25 years ago when I was in grade 8. My university syllabus and it's textbooks hasn't changed much in the past 15 years. So that should you give an idea of what it's like to study in India. :-/ So when new evidence doesn't present itself in textbooks as one would expect, they blame the historians on top. And to add more fuel to the fire, some of these historians openly stated that they will interprete it in a Marxist manner. This is where the notion that Indian history is written by Marxists comes from. It is very unfortunate because a rich history which needs due attention gets mired in nonsense because the Indian State never bothered to invest in education. Good video.
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Nilesh Oak is in the same bucket as David Frawley. He is too a victim of the Indian education system and occupies the vacuum created by the Indian education system. Sigh, my culture's history is getting tainted by grifters and charlatans like Frawley, Oak while folks like Vasant Shinde (from Deccan College) have to beg around for funding and Institutes like Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute barely get any recognition for the work they do (Critical edition of Mahabharata) for pennies. His target audience is Indians who want to know more about our own ancient history. The same Indians who grew up in an education system that forced a single perspective down their throats, a system that never let them explore, learn or test their hypothesis.
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@WorldofAntiquity It was a rhetorical statement.
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Harappan civilization definitely had a rural life. We just haven't discovered it. At it's peak, Harappa was 6 million, there's no way you can sustain that population without a countryside. We know they were great traders and agriculturalists. It's not too far from the truth to imagine there were pastoralists as well. Insisting that Harappan civilization is an urban civilization is form of confirmation bias.
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@WorldofAntiquity no problem. I think you are doing a good job. Just thought I'd share, why do many Indians believe in a lot of basement theories. It might help you understand some of the comments too.
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@WorldofAntiquity check out the article titled, "Babri, Saraswati, Aryans – There are rival Indian histories now and campuses are the warzone" published on the Print.
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What are the chances that we might find a Rosetta stone of IVC script?
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I wonder how much funding NIOT got from the Govt of India by making these spurious claims. 80 and 90s India was exceptionally poor, Govt basically stopped paying for services domestically (look up Budget Jugaad).
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