Skip to content

Rajesh Kochhar

Author of The Vedic People ( Orient BlackSwan), English Education in India, 1715-1835 (Routledge), and (jointly with Jayant Narlikar) of Astronomy in India (INSA)

Hell with Max Muller. Long live Max Muller

Rajesh Kochhar 21/08/2016 No Comments

Rajesh Kochhar

Germany-born, Oxford-based, Sanskritist Professor Max Muller was an influential figure of his time. The eminent Indian Sanskrit scholar of the day, Rajah Radha Kant Deb, called him a Bhatt and Sanskritized his name to Moksha Muller. In 1895 when a dispute broke out between Sanatan Dharmis and Arya Samajis in the north Indian town of Vazirabad on the Shraadha ritual, both the sides agreed to send their essays to Max Muller for arbitrations. Max Muller’s reply which quoted extensively from the Vedas went in favour of the Sanatanis. At this the Arya Samajis hired drummers to pace up and the down the town claiming that Max Muller’s signatures were forged by their opponents. Significantly, no aspersions were cast on Max Muller’s credentials.

In the 19th century, archaeology was still into the future so that Indology comprised analysis of and speculation on the content of the ancient sacred texts. Max Muller conjectured that the Aryans came into India through invasion and took up the composition of the most ancient of all texts, the Rigveda, in about 1500 BCE. For this he has been severely condemned.

Max Muller also conjectured on the identity of the celebrated Rigvedc river Sarasvati. He suggested that Sarasvati be identified with the Old Ghaggar which he presumed received waters from snow-fed Satluj and Yamuna in the Vedic times. Not all scholars agreed with Max Muller on this. Alfred Hillebrandt for instance placed Rigvedic Sarasvati in Afghanistan.

Here is the irony. While Max Muller has been reviled for one of his conjectures (Aryan invasion), the Sarasvati conjecture has been not only uncritically accepted but also made into state policy and a basis for executive action.

India is very proud of its ancient heritage. And yet it is unable to develop scholarship on its own. What is worse it is still stuck in the 19th century, accepting or rejecting conjectures not on the basis of any reasoned thinking but on the basis of jerks of the knee.

Blogs (Articles)
Aryan invasion | Max Muller | OLd Ghaggar | Sarasvati

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

Recent Posts

  • Faqir Chand Kohli (1924-2020) 06/12/2020
  • Caste discrimination: India must disown parts of ancient texts that contradict the Constitution 27/10/2020
  • BANSI LAL(1927-2006): Haryana Chief Minister 26/08/2020
  • Panjab University Chandigarh 1947-2007 15/08/2020
  • A schizophrenic India cannot advance scientifically 08/08/2020
  • World of tech-savvy Ganesha (The Tribune (Life style) Chandigarh 6 Apr. 2007) 25/07/2020

  • BAKED NEWS
  • CV: Brief
  • CV: Detailed
  • INVENTIONS, etc
  • Jokes (updated 22-Mar-2017)
  • Lectures delivered in India and abroad since 2006
  • Photographs
  • Rajesh Kochhar: List of select publications, with hyperlinks

Archives

Downloads

  • 1. Papers/Book Chapters/Lecture Texts
  • Blogs (Articles)
  • Reflections and Insights

Tags

Ancient India Aryabhata astronomy Avesta chandrayaan China colonial history Colonial India colonialism colonial science CSIR dhokra East India Company eclipse education English education globalization Government College Lahore Hinduism India Indian science innovation internet IPR IT Ketu Kodaikanal Observatory Mahatma Gandhi Nobel prize outsourcing P.C. Ray Panjab University pesticides Punjab University Lahore Rahu Rigveda Ruchi Ram Sahni science science education science policy seductive orientalism sextant technology Thomas Godfrey traditional knowledge
January 2021
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Dec    

Recent Comments

  • Rajesh Kochhar on On the origin of the Punjabi Khatris
  • DESH PAL ALAGH on On the origin of the Punjabi Khatris
  • vinay vig on On the origin of the Punjabi Khatris
  • Rajesh Kochhar on On the origin of the Punjabi Khatris
  • Rajesh Kochhar on On the origin of the Punjabi Khatris
Copyright © 2021. Rajesh Kochhar
Powered By WordPress and Silver Quantum