The Arctic Home in the Vedas

Bal Gangadar Tilak
London: Arktos, 2011
342 pages

only in paperback: $30

The idea of a lost ancient civilization located at the North Pole at a time when its climate was friendlier to human habitation is suggested in many of the world’s oldest myths and sacred scriptures. Drawing upon his vast knowledge of the Hindu Vedas and the Zoroastrian Avesta, Bal Gangadar Tilak makes a painstakingly detailed analysis of the texts and compares them with the geological, astronomical, and archaeological evidence to show the plausibility of the Arctic having been the primordial cradle of the Aryan race before changing conditions forced the Aryans southward into present-day Europe, Iran, and India. Although this theory has never gained widespread acceptance among mainstream scholars since it was first published in 1903, Tilak has made a compelling case which is not easily refuted.

CONTENTS

Prehistoric Times
The Glacial Period
The Arctic Regions
The Night of the Gods
The Vedic Dawns
Long Day and Long Night
Months and Seasons
The Cow’s Walk
Vedic Myths — The Captive Waters
Vedic Myths — The Matutinal Deities
The Avestic Evidence
Comparative Mythology
The Bearing of our Results on the History of Primitive Aryan Culture and Religion

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856–1920), who was given the honorary title Lokmanya (“chosen leader of the people”), was one of the fathers of India’s independence movement in opposition to British colonial rule. He was imprisoned several times for his vocal advocacy of violent revolt against the colonial authorities on the basis of Vedic scripture. His time in prison gave him time to work on his more scholarly projects, such as the present book. Although he did not live to see the ultimate victory of the movement he had helped to establish, he is widely acknowledged as having been one of the main driving forces behind it due to his influence on Gandhi and the other leaders who saw his mission through to its end in 1947.