An Introduction To Indian Classical Music - The Origin
Indo European Migration |
 The Origin - Pg 1
 Ancient History
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The originThe origin - Pg 2
In recent times there is little support for the theory of an invading army of Aryans coming down from Eurasia and destroying the cities of settlers on the Indus valley or elsewhere. There is no archaeological evidence for destruction of IVC civilization by invading armies in Indus Valley civilization sites or elsewhere. AIT has been replaced by a migration theory, which talks about movement of people from Steppe of Central Asia to Europe and south and east Asia, spreading Indo-European languages (The Spread of Indo-European and Turkish Peoples off the Steppe). Indian civilization is thought to be the product of these migrating people and those who already existed here ( Romila Thapar - The Aryan Question Revisited). Now it is thought that Indus Valley Civilization was abandoned because of shift in river courses rather than because of an invading army of Aryans. Tributeries of Saraswathi diverted to join Jamuna around 1700 BC, leading to drying up of Saraswathi, probably causing the abandonment of settlements and eventual decline of IVC.
Some writers, aligned with the ideology of Hindutva, dismiss Aryan Invation Theory as colonial propaganda. The writers include Shrikant G. Talageri (The RigVeda - A Historical Analysis ), David Frawley ( The myth of Aryan Invation Of India), Dr. Dinesh Agrawal (Demise of Aryan Racial/Invasion Theory), Dr Subhash Kak ( The Aryans and Ancient Indian History ), N.S. Rajaram (Aryan Invasion), Dr. S. Kalyanaraman ( Sarasvati-Sindhu Civilization), Koenraad Elst ( The Vedic Harappans in writing) and Dr. S.R. Rao (The Lost City of Dvaraka). They have proposed that Aryans are original to India and spread through out Asia and Europe. We can call this the Out Of India theory (OIT).
Max Muller's scholarship and integrity have been questioned (Max Muller - A Missionary Bigot) , and he has been daemonized, by the backers of OIT. OIT proponents argue that Muller and other 19th century Eurpoean scholars believed in divine origin of life as given in the Bible. Archbishop of Ireland had decreed in 1664 that creation took place at 9 a.m. on 23-10-4004 BC and one who will say anything else about it will be considered a heretic. Since, life on earth only started around 4000 B.C., according to their beliefs, they had to make everything else fit into that time frame.
Also, several new sites along rivers other than Indus have been excavated in Pakistan, Rajastan and Gujarat in the last two decades. Many of the sites are on the banks of a dried up river, which the OIT backers assert is the river Sarasvti mentioned extensively in the RigVeda. Thus, the Indus Valley Civilization has been renamed as Sindhu - Sarasvati Valley Civilization by the backers of OIT ( Sarasvati Sindhu (Vedic / Indus) Civilization, Language and Script). They assign the Age of Vedas between 6000BC to 4000BC (chronology of sarasvati river).
Many modern vedic scholars do not agree with this OIT (Autochthonous Aryans? The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts ). They point to lack of positive evidence and political inclination of the proponents of OIT. Ofcourse, OIT tremendously benefits the Hindutva proponents of the sangh parivar. Some writers like Rajaram, went to the extent of manufacturing evidence to support their theory ( Horseplay in Harappa). Infact OIT proponents seem to be guilty of exactly the same thing they accuse Muller and other scholars of - writing history to suit their ideology.
Prof. Michael Witzel (Age of the Veda) gives the date of RigVeda between 1700 BC and 1200 BC based on the following.
- RigVeda is a pre-iron age (copper/bronze) age text of the Greater Panjab (incl. parts of Afghanistan). SamaVeda, which is slightly later than RigVeda, mentions iron. This sets a late date of c. 1200 for RigVeda, the earliest iron in India.
- The date of the demise of the Indus civilization is c. 1900 BC. RigVeda is post Indus Civilization.
- Chariots of Indo Aryan type first occur around 2000 BC west and east of the Ural mountains
- Horses are indeed not found in South Asia before 1700 BC
Sama Veda
Though, Vedas are considered the source of Indian Music, it should not be assumed that classical music in its present form was fully developed by then. Infact, concept of Raga, Tala, Shruti or even Nava Rasas come only later.
All except SamaVeda were sung using only three notes, Anudaatta (low), Udaatta(middle) and Svarita(high). As used today the Anudaatta, Udaatta and Svarita svaras of RigVeda, can be equated with Ni, Sa, and Ri of the North Indian Kafi scale (Kharaharapriya of the Carnatic). In early manuscrpts of RigVeda, the text was written along with accent notes. Anudaatta is marked with an underline and Svarita is marked with a small vertical line above the syllable. Udaatta is left unmarked.
Sama Veda consists of about 1900 verses, called samans. Ninety-five percent of the verses of Sama Veda Samhita are in Rig Veda Samhita. One can see from the text of the Sama Veda mantra that the chanting notation in it is much more elaborate than that in the corresponding Rig Veda mantra. SamaVeda was chanted using all seven notes (prathama, dvitheeya, tritheeya, chathurtha, panchama, shashta and sapthama), in descending order, of the Vaidika scale (or of sama gana) which have been equated to (Ma,Ga,Ri,Sa,Dha,Ni,Pa) of the Laukika or Gandhara scale in later classical sanskrit texts like NaradiyaShiksha.
RigVedic hymns are directed at Gods, to be chanted during sacrifices to please them. It is possible Gods were thought to be fond of music and that it would be easier to please them if the hymns were sung rather than just chanted. Thus, many of the Rig Vedic hymns were set to music and sung and were known as samans, rather than just hymns (Rik). The chanted Sama-Veda hymns or Samans were believed to possess the supernatural qualities capable of petitioning and even supporting the deities that controlled the forces of the universe. Since Rig Vedic hymns are just metered they could not be sung using all the seven notes. Thus started a tradition of insertion of a number of seemingly `meaningless' words or syllables (stobha) for musical and lyrical effect, such as o, hau, hoyi, va, etc. It was these stobha syllables which were extended vocally with long duration on various notes of the Sama-Veda scale by the priests who had the special function of summoning the gods to the celebration through the use of droning (monotone) on a number of these tones, believing them to hold magical properties. The wife of the chief sacrificer (i.e. chief priest, brahmana) would play the Vina, during sacrifices.
Precise methods of singing the Samans were established and preserved in three different schools, the Kauthumas, Ranayaniyas, and the Jaiminiyas, the oldest. Each has maintained a distinct style with regard to vowel prolongation, interpolation and repetition of stobha, meter, phonetics, and the number of notes in scales. Accordingly, there has been a fervent regard for maintaining continuity in Sama-Veda singing to avoid misuse or modification over many years. Since written texts were not in use, in fact prohibited, the priests memorized the chants with the aid of accents and melodies, and passed this tradition down orally from one generation to the next for over three thousand years ( Hinduism and Music).
The Origin - Pg 1
Ancient History
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