Skip to content

Contrary to the common notion that Indo-Aryan speaking peoples invaded the subcontinent and obliterated the culture of the Indus people; we now believe that there was no outright invasion; the decline of the Indus cities was the result of many complex factors.

— Jonathan Mark Kenoyer

Another quote →

More quotes by Jonathan Mark Kenoyer

‘It is clear that this period of more than 700 years was not a chaotic Dark Age, but rather a time of reorganization and expansion.’

To be precise, ‘current studies of the transition between the two early urban civilizations claim that there was no significant break or hiatus.’

Episodes of aggression and conflict probably occurred, but armed conflict was not a major activity, nor does the integration of the Indus Valley seem to have been achieved through military coercion.

This suggests that the changes and discontinuities reflect a transformation of the local population rather than the appearance of new people and the eradication of the Harappan inhabitants.

Culture change during the Late Harappan period at Harappa: new insights on Vedic Aryan issues (2005)

There is no archaeological or biological evidence for invasions or mass migrations into the Indus Valley between the end of the Harappan Phase, about 1900 B.C. and the beginning of the Early Historic period around 600 B.C.

All Jonathan Mark Kenoyer quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Jonathan Mark Kenoyer (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.