Often when we think of the term “Aryan”, we think of the primarily blond-haired and blue-eyed race that German officials sought after during the second world war, and sparks a somewhat negative connotation. Historically, though, the term has more than one meaning. The Aryans once led a magnificent civilization located in the Indus river valley of the Indian subcontinent. It is speculated that the mysterious civilization faced hardships during their reign in South India. Eventually, however, they urbanized Indian civilization and would continue to leave a legacy throughout history.
No one really knows where the Aryans came from, although some have predicted that they descended from present-day Iran. We don’t even really know if the Aryans actually existed, although if they really did, they would have lead a prosperous empire in present-day India. Before the territory could have been seized by the Aryans, though, at least two critical civilizations have been proven to live there and be, almost, if not equally, advanced as the Aryans. These civilizations called themselves the Harappans and the Mohenjo-Daro, and they settled along the fertile Indus River-Valley.
No one knows exactly how the Aryan migration happened. No one really knows if such thing as the Aryans even existed. However, it has been theorized that if the Aryans did exist and did indeed migrate to India, the effects would have been tremendous. The chief evidence backing the theory is linguistic claims. As written in “Aryan Invasion/Migration Theory”, “North Indian languages are distinctly different from South Indian Languages: North Indian languages derived from Sanskrit, South Indian languages derived from an unknown proto-Dravidian language.” Simply put, if Sanskrit originated in India, and no one quite knows where the proto-Dravidian language derived from, the logical explanation for the origin of the latter language could possibly be the Aryans, who migrated from a region only to be speculated upon to the Deccan plateau region on India, which happens to be in the South- the very area where the Proto-Dravidian languages can be found.
The Harappan civilization situated itself in the heart of Southern region of India. As Ferguson wrote in “Aryan Migration: 1500-1200 BC”, “The Harappan Civilization was the largest civilization in the world during its reign from 3000 to 1500 BC.” This all happened before the alleged Aryans migrated to, or invaded, the region. No evidence suggests that the Harappans had any type of central government, but despite this, the civilization seemed to be a peaceful one, its focus being on agriculture and trade rather than going to war. Its location happened to be prime estate for agricultural civilizations such as history suggests it to be, as it laid itself out right on the river valley, where the land became fertile from annual floodings. Due to mysterious causes, the civilization began to lose influence in about 2000 BC. Around this time, some say that Aryan warriors began to migrate onto Harappan territory. It’s disputed whether the Aryans took the civilizations over by force and then settled there, or if the Aryans peacefully migrated, assimilated and coexisted with the Harappans until the latter civilization’s decline, and later, disappearance.
The notorious Mohenjo-Daro civilization also faced the effects of the Aryan migration during its decline. This civilization, like the Harappa, the Mohenjo-Daro arose around 2500 BC and fell nearly a millennium later- in many respects, the two civilizations seems to be intertwined or closely. Historians suggest that the Aryans migrated and took over this civilization, as well as the Harappans. This in itself can be used as evidence in the case for the Aryan migration theory: If not the Aryans, how could both these civilizations face a mysterious decline, both at the same time?
The Harappans and Mohenjo-Daro, as agricultural settlements, taught the new settlers, the Aryans, how to use the fertile soils of the river valley to their advantage. To cattle herders such as the Aryans, this information was vital to grow an empire. In hindsight, the Aryans couldn’t have picked a more strategic place to settle- the Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro built two of the largest empires for their time, and had peaceful inhabitants, willing to show the new settlers how to work the land. The empire was already complete with advanced brick infrastructure, from lined streets to sewer systems. The land was fertile, and perfect to raise crops and herd cattle. In short, if anyone would’ve wanted to overthrow an empire and settle there, they would’ve wanted to settle in the river valley, because all the resources could already be found there, and, for the time, could be described as almost perfect.
Although they left little to no archaeological records, leading some