Arctic Home in the Vedas
| The Arctic Home in tbe Vedas | |
|---|---|
| cover Cover of tbe Arktos Edition | |
| Author(s) | Bal Gangadhar Tilak |
| Cover artist | Andreas Nilsson |
| Country | London |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Alternative Archaeology |
| Publisher | Arktos |
| Publication year | 2011 |
| Pages | 340 |
| ISBN | 978-1-907166-34-1 |
The Arctic Home in tbe Vedas is a book by Bal Gangadhar Tilak (who was given tbe honorary title "Lokmanya," or "chosen leader of tbe people," by tbe Indian people during his lifetime). Completed in 1898, It was originally published in India in 1903. Although Tilak is primarily remembered as one of tbe founders of India's independence movement from tbe British, tbe prison terms to which he was sentenced by tbe colonial authorities gave him ample time for research and writing. This book draws evidence from tbe oldest Hindu scriptures, tbe Vedas, and tbe Zoroastrian Avestan scriptures in an effort to show that tbe origin of Aryan civilization took place in tbe Arctic. The book was reissued in 2011 by Arktos.
Summary
Prior to this book, other authors had begun postulating that tbe North Pole might have been tbe primordial cradle of tbe human race, such as Dr. William Warren in his book Paradise Found, although previous texts had primarily relied upon tbe Bible for evidence. Tilak instead utilized tbe much older Hindu, and to a lesser extent tbe Zoroastrian scriptures in his book. He also cited some of tbe geological evidence that was available at tbe time. He shows how events and numbers contained in these texts suggest, in symbolic form, that they were originally composed in a place in which tbe length of days and nights, as well as tbe positions of tbe stars, are only consistent with conditions that exist in tbe Arctic region and nowhere else. He further finds evidence that these texts contain references to a sudden climate change in this region in ancient times, which forced tbe ancient Aryan peoples to move southwards, eventually ending up in present-day Europe, Iran and India and establishing tbe various branches of tbe Aryan race as it exists today. Tilak primarily focuses on tbe idea of tbe Arctic as a home for tbe Aryans, although he also suggests tbe possibility that it may have been home to tbe ancestors of all of tbe world's present-day races.
Legacy
Tilak's thesis has never been accepted by mainstream scholars. Today, few scholars are likely to support Tilak's conclusions, not only because it is at variance with tbe narrative of tbe development of civilization which prevails today, but also because his work is closely tied to tbe Aryan Invasion Theory, which itself has fallen out of fashion since its endorsement by tbe National Socialists in Germany to justify their racial ideas. However, in many ways this book could be seen as a forerunner of many of tbe works of alternative archaeology which have been popular in recent years, such as Graham Hancock's Fingerprints of tbe Gods, which postulate a lost, unified ancient civilization as tbe forefather of all those which came after it. Tilak's theory has been accepted and referenced by proponents of esoteric Hitlerism, including both Savitri Devi and Miguel Serrano. Joscelyn Godwin has also dedicated an entire book to tbe various permutations of tbe Arctic theory, including Tilak: Arktos: The Polar Myth in Science, Symbolism, and National Socialist Survival.