The Original Homeland of the Aryans According to Rajbali Pandey: A Historical Analysis

Abstract

The problem of the original homeland of the Aryans is one of the most debated issues in Indian historiography. While Western scholars like Max Müller, Gordon Childe, and others have proposed theories of an external origin – Central Asia, Arctic region, South Russia – Indian historians have challenged this view. Among them, Prof. Rajbali Pandey (1907–1974), a renowned historian of Banaras Hindu University, presented a strong case for the indigenous origin of the Aryans within India. In his seminal works like Hindu Samskaras and Ancient India, Pandey argued that the Sapta Sindhu region – Punjab and the Indo-Gangetic divide – was the original homeland of the Aryans and not a place of immigration. This paper examines Pandey’s opinion, his arguments based on Vedic literature, Puranic tradition, linguistic and archaeological evidence, and his critique of the foreign origin theory. It argues that Pandey’s view, though rooted in nationalist historiography, provides a crucial methodological alternative to colonialist models of Indian history.