Title: The Lost River – On the Trail of the Sarasvati
Author: Michel Danino
Publisher: Penguin, 2010 (First)
ISBN: 978-0-14-306864-8
Pages: 293
Every Indian is brought up on the legend of a
river that mysteriously disappeared in its course and made it through a
subterranean way to the confluence at Allahabad. The Rig Veda sings in praise
of the mighty, perennial river that was one of the lifelines of the vedic
society. The Sarasvati river is no more, but the legends about it are so full
of life that even today’s societies in Rajastan and Haryana states harbor many
of them, rich with embellishments. But, what was the real picture? Was there
such a river, that desiccated over the centuries in the hostile sands of the
Thar desert? Read the book for the answer, which turns out to be a resounding
‘Yes’. Michel Danino has gone through a slew of reference material to compile
information from history, archeology, religion, linguistics and even folk
legend to piece together an eminently readable text that appeals to any
category of readers. The author, originally from France, has made India his
home and participates in the works of Sri Aurobindo. He convened the
International Forum for India's Heritage (IFIH) with the mission of promoting
the essential values of India's heritage in every field of life. The author has
put forward many ideas, some of them having solid foundations, some others not
so strong and still some others that are quite flimsy. Whatever may be the
impression one retains at the end of reading this volume, there is no denying
that they are witnessing the work of a great Indophile. Danino’s outlook is so
thoroughly Indian.
Scholars traditionally accepted river Ghaggar
as Sarasvati. But this is not convincing as we see tributaries to this river
with strikingly similar names like Sarsuti, which are still flowing. The river
was sacred for the Vedic poets, as there are 45 Rigvedic hymns in which the
river is mentioned, 72 mentions elsewhere and three hymns dedicated exclusively
to the river. Naturally, the river which flowed through the interfluve of
Yamuna, which flowed east to the Ganges and Sutlej, which ran west to the Indus.
Present day Ghaggar is a poor stream, that loses itself in the sand dunes of
the Rajastan desert. Why then did the Vedic bards sing richly about it? Danino
gives a convincing solution to the problems even though the concepts involve
geological and tectonic postulates. He argues that Sutlej changed its course
many times in the past, as evidenced by the paleo-channels that crisscross
Punjab. Indeed, the numerous streams through which the river flowed made the
ancient poets call her Shatadru (with a hundred channels). This proto-Sutlej
ran through the beds of Ghaggar and Hakra (which is in Pakistan and totally
lost to the deserts), and flowed clear of Indus through its east and emptied
into the Arabian Sea at Rann of Kutch. Sutlej is a mighty river, and the dried
beds of Hakra are having a width of 4-6 km for a length of 250 km! Danino
further speculates that the Yamuna also had a link to the Sarasvati system, and
a major portion of its water flowed into Sarasvati, before changing direction
to the east as at present. The issue of why the river changed its course is
tricky and involves much guess work. But Danino’s arguments are balanced and
plausible. He cites the sharp bend of present day Sutlej at Ropar to the west
was the event that marked the end of it draining to Sarasvati. It may be due to
earth quakes, lifting up of terrain or more gradual processes of rivers in
general. The diversion of Yamuna is a clearer geological event as the diversion
occurred at higher altitudes, which is due to earth quake. Indeed, fresh water
is still available in wells along the ancient beds of Sarasvati in the Rajastan
desert (Cholistan desert in Pakistan). The water table of these places is still
not very deep, suggesting the might of the ancient river and the abundance with
which it carried water.
Danino turns next to the archeological
remains of the great civilization that flowered on the river banks of the Indus
system. Between about 3200 and 1900 BCE, a notably large spread of chalcolithic
townships blossomed out of the river valleys. The discovery of the fist site at
Harappa was rather fortuitous, when labourers ransacked the remains to gather
bricks as ballast to Lahore – Multan railway line! At the time of partition of
the country, 40-odd sites were identified of which everything except two minor
sites went to Pakistan. Free India suddenly found itself bereft of its legacy.
Nehru’s government was stung into action and archeologists made a beeline to
the Rajastan desert to dig. The effort was eminently fruitful – hundreds of
sites, both major and minor – were located, with Kalibangan, Dholavira and
Lothal being the major ones. Looking at the mushrooming of sites on the Sarasvati
– Drishadvati system, Danino proposes to rename the civilization as Indus –
Sarasvati civilization. The suggestion, no doubt appeals to the Indian mind.
The author also postulates on the probable causes that brought about its
downfall. Aryan invasion now appears to be old fashioned and desiccation seems
to be the plausible cause. We must be aware that research which runs contrary
to this assumption is also available. But on a minimum, we may accept the following
scenario. Ancient Sarasvati was fed by Sutlej and Yamuna. Tectonic shifts
resulted in Yamuna joining the Ganges system. The north Indian plain is
notoriously plain, like a few centimeters in a kilometer and any slight uplift
is sufficient to alter riverine course. To add to the diminished waters due to
realignment of Yamuna, Sutlej also withdrew from Sarasvati and joined the
Indus. The resulting arid geography obliterated the vestiges of civilization
that was then wrapped up by sand dunes.
Danino proposes that there is no
discontinuity in the religio-cultural progress from Harappan civilization to
the Vedic age as established by Sanskrit scholars like Max Muller. He suggests
several archeological and constructional features that are common between the
periods. However, this is not very convincing. To conclude the point, the
authors rake up several ratios between lengths, breadths and heights. The
picture we form of the attempt is that Danino will go to any length (no pun
intended) to get his ratio right. There will naturally be several values
associated with a structure and there is reason to suppose that a few of them
may turn up to 5/4, the predominant parameter of construction of the Harappan
system. And also, there is another serious issue if we allow the author’s time
for Sarasvati’s drying up. It is given in the text that the river totally dried
up around 1900 BCE. So, the flattering hymns about the river contained in Rig veda
must be at least a few centuries earlier than this date, probably 2200 BCE, but
linguists and historians concur on a date of 1500 BCE for the Aryan invasion,
and a date nearer to 1000 BCE for the oldest Veda. How can this be accommodated?
Danino resorts to the easiest recourse. He claims that the Veda was at least a
millennium older in composition than is otherwise thought and that the theory
of Aryan invasion (or migration, as he says) never took place.
The
author makes a good contribution to the hypothesis that the two stages of
urbanization in ancient India, the Indus phase (during 3rd – 2nd
millennium BCE) and the Ganges phase (1st millennium BCE) are
culturally continuous. Detailed analysis of structural dimensions are conducted
and declared as proof of the similarity. However, the extensively threadbare
analysis of the ratios of lengths and breadths of buildings slightly push the
argument to the side of trivia. Also, arguments like buildings were a
reflection of the microcosm and macrocosm are sure to attract the label of
occultism to an otherwise reasonable work.
The
book’s irrational pre-occupation with finding magical ratios at every nook and
cranny of proto-historic sites brings down the rating by a notch. The author’s
attempts are too feeble and forced. Also, his association with Vedic sacrifices
performed in recent times like his presence at Panjal, Kerala, which he himself
mentions, clubs him in the company of a few authors who desire to assign a
greater antiquity on Indian culture than is warranted by evidence.
The
book is highly recommended.
Rating:
3 Star
No comments:
Post a Comment