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'''''In Search of the Cradle of Civilization: New Light on Ancient India''''' is a ] book by ], ], and ] that argues against the theories that Indo-European peoples arrived in India in the middle of the second millennium BC (]) and supports the notion of "]". Published by Quest Books, a branch of the ].
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==Content==
Contradicting early ] views, the authors argue that ] grew out of the "Indus-Sarasvati civilization", or ]. The authors enumerate fifteen arguments for their revisionist views. Several of these arguments emphasize ], ], cultural, ], and ] continuity between Harappan culture, the ], and post-Vedic ]. They also argue that it is improbable that the Vedas were the product of a ] or semi-nomadic group. Early opinion considered the ] as containing memories of an earlier nomadic period, whilst the later ] were the product of a society native to India. The authors argue that this early viewpoint of the ] is based on mistaken and speculative interpretations, and that in actuality the ] also describes society native to India.

The authors leave open the view that ] is the '']'' (original homeland) of the ] (the "]"), saying that "the ]s could just as well have been native to India for several millennia, deriving their ]ic language from earlier Indo-European dialects."

The authors find continuity in Indian spiritual and religious artifacts from ], one of the first cities in the world, to the present. It should be noted that ] does not rule out elements of cultural continuity in spite of language change, so that such claims, likewise, are not in conflict with mainstream opinion. In the view of the authors, however, this alleged continuity rules out the later influx of another ethnic group.

New age writer ] hailed the book as "ground-breaking"<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.questbooks.net/title.cfm?bookid=246 In Search of the Cradle of Civilization|title=In Search of the Cradle of Civilization |work=Quest Books |publisher= The Theosophical Publishing House}}</ref>.

==Criticism==
] (2006) quotes Feuerstein, Kak, Frawley (1995) as an example of Hindutva ideology that rejects "Western" scientific method as arbitrary, and aims to put in its place a claim of universality of "Vedic" science instead,<ref> "The Vedas are the earliest available expression of the perennial philosophy, or universal spirituality", Feuerstein, Kak, Frawley 1995, p. 274; "ccording to Vedic tradition, science and religion are not only compatible but essentially identical, because both endeavor to know the truth." ibid., p. 279</ref> an approach which he argues is ] (p. 41) and ]:
:"Any findings of modern science that undermine the Vedic metaphysics are either discreetly ignored or else ascribed to Western materialist and monotheistic prejudices. In this way, Hindutva ideologues attempt to have their cake and eat it too." (p. 41)

:"It would be the stuff of comedy, were the context - destruction of the mosque at ] by Hindu mobs, repeated ] against Muslims and other religious minorities, the potential of nuclear confrontation between India and ] - not so serious." (p. 44)

==Bibliographic information==
*], ], ], ''In Search of the Cradle of Civilization: New Light on Ancient India'', ] (October, 1995), ISBN 0-8356-0720-8.
*2001 reprint, Quest Books, ISBN 978-0835607414.
*2005 reprint, ], ISBN 978-8120820371.

==See also==
*'']'' (1993)
*'']'' (1999)
*'']'' (2000)

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book|author=Meera Nanda|title=Prophets Facing Backward: Postmodern Critiques of Science and Hindu Nationalism in India|publisher= Rutgers University Press |year=2003|id=ISBN 0813533589}}
*], in: {{citebook|title=Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public|publisher= Routledge |author=Garrett G. Fagan |year=2006|id= ISBN 0415305934}}

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