In Search of the Cradle of Civilization: A book review

Once upon a time, the Aryans, utopian, blue-eyed and intellectually ‘superior’ beings of the West, invaded the Indus Valley Civilization, a peace-loving and serene settlement. Sounds like a short and simple story, doesn’t it? Unfortunately (or fortunately for mystery lovers), it isn’t that simple. The so-called ‘Aryan invasion’ has been debated extensively in the past century with various new theories coming up. Droughts, floods, massacres, diffusion of cultures are few of the theories which scholars have come up. The Aryan invasion has often been criticized citing ‘Western worldview’. ‘In Search of the Cradle of Civilization’ by Subhash Kak, Georg Feuerstein and David Frawley makes an attempt to erode the widely accepted Aryan invasion theory, and put forward the ‘Eastern worldview’ on the issue. The authors propose that the Indic and Vedic people were, in fact the same.

The book is divided into two parts: the first one elucidating the main argument regarding the decline of the Harappans, and the second one focusing on the spiritual heritage of India.

A great introduction to the book and the concepts keeps the reader gripped to the first part. The language is quite analytical, and forces the reader to question what she is reading, for every argument is unique and almost unheard of by most common readers. The first part describes the similarities between the Vedic and Indic cultures, the ambiguous definition of the word ‘Aryan’, the excavation of the Indic cities, etc. A perfect summary of the arguments is the last chapter of this part, which is named: Why the Aryan invasion never happened: Seventeen Arguments.

The second half of the book describes the cultural and spiritual legacy of India. Everything from spiritual heritage, Vedic psychology, astronomical basis of myths, and the birth of Vedic science is covered. This part focuses more on explaining the metaphorical aspect of the legends and writings, rather than the common literal aspect. Spectacular revelations about so many common legends are made, and they will leave you spellbound.

The book is quite well-written and an interesting read overall. However, it isn’t particularly neutral. It is quite focused on eroding the Western worldview, and emphasizes on this idea quite frequently. The reader, hence needs to be cautious. If you wish to read this book for research purposes, read it from a neutral point of view, without any biases. Do not get swayed by the Western view or the Eastern counterviews on the issue, rather study the evidences in both cases and come up with your conclusion. Forget the Eastern or Western worldviews, or any such other biases, and read the book from a state of mind which allows you to take in information and evidences, not opinions. The book is quite old, and a couple of theories put forward become either more substantive or unacceptable citing the recent discoveries such as Rakhigarhi or Bronze chariots. So, do not read blindly. Research, revise, understand, question and interact with the ideas in the book. That’s when it becomes fun.

What are you waiting for? Get that copy now and go on a horse ride with the ’Aryans’ to the ancient past!