Civilization of the Indus Valley
4000-2000 BCE
The first archaeological evidence of yoga’s existence is found in stone seals engraved with yogi-like figures that were excavated in the early 1920’s CE from the Indus Valley. One famous seal depicts a human figure seated in lotus posture. These artifacts are dated around 3000 BCE. and are linked to the Indus-Sarasvati civilization, named after the two rivers that originally flowed through this area, now part of northern India and Pakistan. This civilization is considered to be one of the world’s greatest civilizations – the largest in the ancient world and exceptionally modern for its time. It was highly organized with planned cities, multistory buildings, a sewage system, bronze tools and geometrically arranged roads made with standardized bricks. According to historians, the structure of their cities were so far advanced that it was not surpassed until the mid-1800s in Europe. This society appeared to have some form of conservative, centralized government as there is much standardization throughout and there was little change over many centuries. Their native language is tentatively identified as Dravidian and they used an early form of writing based on hieroglyphs. This amazing maritime society subsisted on farming and engaged in commerce with other countries.
Historians differ as to whether this society was invaded by outsiders or not. The traditional viewpoint is that this civilization was invaded around 2000 BC by a group of nomadic tribes from South Russia and Turkistan. The outsiders were referred to as Aryans and they spoke a language called Sanskrit. These migrators colonized northwest India and subsequently, the Aryan culture was assimilated into the local culture. They introduced their gods, such as Agni, the God of Fire and Indra, the God of Battle; their threefold division of society into priests, warriors and cultivators which later developed into the Indian caste system; and a mysterious substance called soma, which may have been either an intoxifying plant extract or a hallucinogenic mushroom which induced some form of ecstatic trance. For many years the Aryans were blamed for the decline of the Indus-Sarasvati culture but modern technology provides a new hypothesis. Today’s satellite photography indicates a dry riverbed running through the vast Thar Desert, believed to be the former site of the great Sarasvati River, Now, researchers attribute the decline of the Indus-Sarasvati civilization to the dramatic climatic changes that occurred with a major tectonic shift. This changed the course of the two rivers and eventually led to the drying up of the Sarasvati around 1900 BCE. Once India’s largest river, the many settlements of this ancient maritime culture now lie buried under the sand. Scholars believe the great loss of this fertile river caused the populations to migrate to areas of the country with more resources available – east toward the Ganges River and south into Central and Southern India. As they moved into other lands, their fusion of Aryan and non-Aryan culture, beliefs and practices (including yoga) spread with them.
Ayurvedic expert David Frawley, yogic scholar George Feurstein, and some contemporary historians offer a different historical scenario. They hypothesize that the Aryans were not invaders after all, that perhaps the Aryans and Indus-Sarasvati civilization are one and the same. Frawley states that there is no archaeological or literary evidence indicating an outside culture. There are no distinct differences between skeletal remains excavated from the Indus Valley as would be apparent if foreigners did indeed invade. The accounts in the Rig Veda of warfare, which traditional historians use to support the idea of Aryan invasion, may more likely be descriptions of battles between the native subcultures within the region. Frawley theorizes that it is more likely the Aryans were the native people of India and that they migrated northward into other parts of the continent, not the other way around. He believes that the theory of Aryans invading the native Indian culture was motivated by the biased viewpoint of Eurocentric historians. In general, Frawley’s theory is still controversial yet may in time, with increasing evidence, become more and more accepted.
The Indus-Sarasvati civilization is significant to yoga history for several reasons. This is the civilization that composed the Vedas, India’s most revered scriptures. The Vedas contain the first recorded yoga teachings and are the fountainhead for much of Indian spirituality. This culture is also believed to be the source of Sanskrit writing – the language that has traditionally documented yoga teachings. But perhaps most significant of all is that yoga evolved from what is considered a very advanced ancient culture, both technologically and spiritually. A culture that evolved into present day India, the oldest enduring civilization in the world.
Aryans
The term Aryan comes from a Sanskrit word meaning “noble” and is used to designate the Indo-European race. The Aryans were believed to be part of a great migratory movement from South Russia and Turkistan during 2000 BC that spread throughout Northwest India, Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. It is believed that after the Aryans invaded, their language (Sanskrit), culture and beliefs were quickly absorbed into (or forced upon) the local culture. Much later in the early 20th century, the Nazis of Germany incorporated the idea of Aryan conquest into their own racist literature, as they believed German descent could be traced back to Aryan ancestry. The Nazis also perverted the original meaning of the Aryan symbol for noble, the swastika. The rotation of the symbol represents many ideas, but primarily describes the four directions rotating in a harmonious whole, symbolizing the stability of Brahman and sometimes also of Surya, the sun.
Study Guide Questions and Personal Reflections
- Where was the first archaeological evidence of yoga found?
- Name three things about the Indu/Sarasvati/Aryan culture that are significant to yoga?
Vocabulary
- Aryan
- Sanskrit
- Swastika