A number of issues regarding the study of ancient India have recently emerged in the public domain. The most important of them are the Sarasvati Project, Aryan invasion theory, the textbook controversy in India and California and the language of the Indus civilization.

The intensity of debate on each of these issues is reminiscent of religious clashes. Much of this debate is also not limited to professional historians and archaeologists. The mass of data and opinions, which are currently available on the internet and have frequently been published in the media, can no longer be ignored by anybody interested in ancient India. Some professional analysis of this development has long been called for. This book is in response to this need.