Arctic hypothesis

B. G. Tilak in his book “The Arctic Homeland in the Vedas” ^[3] (1903) tries to prove that the texts of the Vedas and the Upanishads recorded astronomical realities of the Arctic latitudes, therefore, in his opinion, the ancestral home of the Aryans was located there. He's writing:

In the Rig Veda (X.89.2-4), the god Indra “supports the heavens and the earth, like the wheels of a cart supported by an axis” and rotates the “distant sphere, like the wheels of a cart”. If we combine these two indications that the sky is supported on the axis and moves like a wheel, we will clearly see that the described movement is related only to that celestial hemisphere, which can only be observed at the North Pole . In the Rigveda (I.24.10), the constellation Ursa Major is described as upright, which indicates a position visible only in the circumpolar region.

The assertion that the day and night of the gods last for 6 months is extremely widespread in ancient Indian literature.

“The gods see the sun on Meru after its one-time ascent along its path, equal to half of its revolution around the earth” ^[5] .

In “ Taittiriya-brahmana ” (III, 9, 22.1) and Avesta (Vendidad, Fargard II), the year is compared with one day, since the sun sets and rises only once a year ^[5] .

A large number of Rigveda hymns are dedicated to the goddess of the morning dawn - Ushas . Moreover, it is said that the dawn lasts a very long time, that dawns are very numerous and they move along the horizon, which may indicate the circumpolar regions ^[6] .

Tilak quotes his predecessor, William F. Warren , a professor of comparative theology and philosophy of religion at Boston University. In 1885, he published the book “Paradise Found at the North Pole”, in which, on the basis of various mythological traditions, he substantiated the origin of mankind from the Arctic. ^[7] . Similar ideas in 1910 were expressed by the Russian biologist of Serbian origin E. A. Jelacic ^[8] .

The weak point of this hypothesis is the almost complete lack of the ability to connect it with any archaeological culture.

G. M. Bongard-Levin and E. A. Grantovsky note that mythologemes associated with the north, the northern country, most likely appeared among the Aryans in their ancestral home during contacts with their northern Finno-Ugric neighbors ^[9] .

The famous toponymist , Doctor of Chemistry , A. L. Shilov criticized A. V. Kuznetsov and S. V. Zharnikov for using Sanskrit in deciphering North Russian place names, not only of an obscure origin, but also, in his opinion, quite transparent Baltic Finnish or Sami etymology . For example, Gangozero - cf. Karelian. hoanga "fork" or hanhi "goose"; Sagarev stream - from the Karelians. and Veps. sagaru "otter" ^[10] .

• B. G. Tilak - Indian nationalist, one of the leaders of the independence movement;
• N. R. Guseva - Indologist and ethnographer, Doctor of Historical Sciences, laureate of the International Prize named after Jawaharlal Nehru, author of over 150 scientific papers on the culture and ancient forms of Indian religion;
• V. N. Dyomin - writer, Doctor of Philosophy, member of the Union of Writers of Russia, organizer of amateur expeditions to the Kola Peninsula, author of more than 100 works of scientific, scientific, artistic and fiction content, including 20 books;
• S. V. Zharnikova - ethnographer, candidate of historical sciences, member of the International Club of Scientists;
• G. N. Bazlov - ethnographer, candidate of historical sciences, member of the board of the Russian Folklore Union ^[11] .

• Boreal language
• Theory of Paleolithic Continuity
• Indo-Ural hypothesis
• Praindo-Europeans
• Indo-Hittite hypothesis
• Pre-Indo-European substrate
• Indo-Europeans
• Indo-Ural hypothesis # See also
• Pra-Indo-European language
• Indo-European languages
• Theory of Exodus from India
• Pre-Indo-European substrate
• Ancestral homeland # Ancestral homeland Indo-European language family
• Anatolian hypothesis
• Gamkrelidze - Ivanov hypothesis
• Balkan hypothesis
• Kurgan hypothesis

• Bryant, Edwin & Laurie L. Patton (2005), The Indo-Aryan controversy: evidence and inference in Indian history , Routledge, ISBN 0700714626 , < https://books.google.com/books?id=ui3nAXVstroC >

Criticism

• Bongard-Levin G.M. , Grantovsky E.A. From Scythia to India. Ancient arias: myths and history . - M .: Thought, 1974. - 206 p.
• Shnirelman V. A. "Bright Aryans" and "messengers of dark forces": notes on the characteristics of modern anti-Semitic and racist propaganda
• Chubur A. A. The Stone Age of Eastern Europe in the Curved Mirror of Russian Pseudoscience

Supporters' Materials

• Tilak B.G. Arctic homeland in the Vedas / Per. from English N.R. Guseva . M .: FAIR-PRESS, 2001.525 p.
• Guseva N. R. Russians through the Millennium. Arctic theory. M .: White Alves, 1998.160 s.
• Zharnikova S. Who are we in this old Europe? // Science and life. 1997. No. 5.
• List of articles on Arctic theory