The Return of the Aryans

Gidwani provides a comprehensive account of the Aryans leaving the Indus valley in around 5000 BC and returning to their homeland millennia later.

Bhagwan Gidwani’s The Return of the Aryans was first published in 1994. At that time my journey in Hinduism had not commenced. I was taught in school that the Aryans were a foreign race that invaded India, then settled there and started the Vedic way of life. Hinduism and the Aryan Influence provides insights on this theory. Gidwani advocates that the Aryans were first Hindus and left India in about 5000 BC to find a better life outside India. I initially viewed the book as another attempt to make money by being anti-establishment.

As I engaged in my discovery of Hinduism, I began to realize that there is merit in Gidwani’s viewpoint. The Reverse Aryan Invasion elaborates on this point of view. Several times I thought of reading the novel, but stayed away for two reasons. First I did not have sufficient exposure to Hinduism to make an independent assessment of Gidwani’s take. Though Gidwani’s novel was based on extensive research, I felt I needed to read more on the early history of Hinduism before taking up the novel. The second reason was that at almost 1000 pages the novel would have intruded on my other commitments.

Now I have started on the book. It moves at a brisk pace but I do not know how long I will take to complete it. There is an issue I am especially looking forward to. It is universally advocated that the term Hindu is a Persian corruption of the word Sindhu; the ancient name of the river Indus. Gidwani does not hold this to be true. He claims that the term Hindu evolved organically from within the Vedic culture. His reasoning would be interesting.

Undoubtedly there will be more blogs on The Return of the Aryans.