Editing Subhash Kak (section)

==Indology==

===Indigenous Aryanism===
Kak primarily advocates for an [[wikt:autochthonous|autochthonous]] origin of the Indo-Aryans from Punjab{{sfn|Witzel|2001}} ("[[Indigenous Aryans]]" hypothesis) in contradiction of the scholarly consensus about the validity of [[Indo-Aryan migration theory]]; Kak reads the promotion of the latter theory to stem from racist tendencies.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sIYpx9mzd4gC&pg=PA217|title=Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public|last=Fagan|first=Garrett G.|date=2006|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=9780415305921|pages=217|language=en}}</ref> Scholars have noted his charges to be without any basis, lacking in any critical examination and primarily intended to promote [[Hindu supremacy]].<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MXkb4OZMW1oC|title=Tactical Biopolitics: Art, Activism, and Technoscience|last1=Sur|first1=Abha|last2=Sur|first2=Samir|publisher=MIT Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-262-51491-0|editor-last=Costa|editor-first=Beatriz Da|pages=210|language=en|chapter=In Contradiction Lies the Hope|doi=10.7551/mitpress/9780262042499.001.0001|editor-last2=Philip|editor-first2=Kavita}}</ref>

===Ancient astronomy in the Rig Veda===
Kak has also claimed to find evidences of advanced computing and astronomy in the [[Rigveda|Rig Veda]], in what [[Noretta Koertge]] deems to be a "social constructivist and postmodern attack on modern science".<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Scientific values and civic virtues|url=https://archive.org/details/scientificvalues00koer|url-access=limited|first=Noretta|last=Koertge|date=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0195172256|pages=[https://archive.org/details/scientificvalues00koer/page/n242 231], 232|oclc=803903015}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Prophets Facing Backward: Postmodern Critiques of Science and Hindu Nationalism in India|first=Meera|last=Nanda|date=2004|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=9780813536347|pages=110, 111|oclc=1059017715}}</ref> He insists that Vedic scientists discovered the physical laws by Yogic meditation and that it is a valid scientific method which can be only evaluated within the paradigm of Vedic assumptions and by those who have attained Yogic enlightenment.<ref name=":2" /> According to [[Meera Nanda]], Kak believes in the superiority of Hindus over Muslims.<ref name="Nanda 2004 98">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UyoqbCobZOMC&q=%22military+empires%22+%22cultural+empires%22+hindu+muslim&pg=PA98|title=Prophets Facing Backward: Postmodern Critiques of Science and Hindu Nationalism in India|last=Nanda|first=Meera|date=2004|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=9780813536347|pages=98|oclc=1059017715}}</ref> In a 2004 critique, she summarized some of Kak's views on the matter: according to Kak, Hindus built "cultural empires" without military conquest, in contrast to Muslim "military empires" reliant on conquest.<ref name="Nanda 2004 98"/>

===Reviewed works===

====Archaeoastronomy – ''The Astronomical Code of the Rigveda''====
In the book, Kak proposes that the organization of hymns in the Rig Veda was dictated by an astronomic code concerning the courses of planets—length of solar year and lunar year, the distance between sun and earth et al.{{sfn|Witzel|2001}}<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|title=Prophets Facing Backward: Postmodern Critiques of Science and Hindu Nationalism in India|first=Meera|last=Nanda|date=2004|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=9780813536347|pages=112|oclc=1059017715}}</ref> He then leverages the proposition to argue for the existence of a tradition of sophisticated observational astronomy as far back as 3000 or 4000 BCE.{{sfn|Witzel|2001}} Kak also states that the construction of fire-altars were a coded representation of their astronomic knowledge{{sfn|Witzel|2001}} and that the Vedic civilisation were aware of the speed of light.<ref name=":4"/> He prepared the section on archaeoastronomical sites in India for the thematic study on ''Heritage Sites of Astronomy and Archaeoastronomy in the context of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention'' prepared for [[UNESCO]] by the [[International Council on Monuments and Sites|International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)]] and the [[International Astronomical Union|International Astronomical Union (IAU)]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Kak|first=Subhash|title=Heritage Sites of Astronomy and Archaeoastronomy in the context of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention: A Thematic Study|pages=99–107|year=2010|editor-last=Ruggles|editor-first=Clive|chapter=India|chapter-url=http://openarchive.icomos.org/267/|place=Paris|publisher=ICOMOS / IAU|isbn=978-2-918086-07-9|editor2-last=Cotte|editor2-first=Michel|editor-link=Clive Ruggles}}</ref>

While Kak's interpretation has been included in recent overviews of astronomy in the Vedic period in India and the West,<ref>In S. Wolpert (ed.), "Encyclopedia of India." Scribner's, 2005.</ref> his chronology and astronomical calculations have been critiqued by several Indologists, such as [[Michael Witzel]],{{sfn|Witzel|2001}} and the noted historian of mathematics [[Kim Plofker]].<ref name="Plofker_Centaurus">{{ Citation | last = Plofker | first = Kim | author-link = Kim Plofker | date = December 1996 | title = Review of Subash Kak, ''The Astronomical Code of the Ṛgveda'' | journal = Centaurus | volume = 38 | issue = 4 | pages = 362–364 | issn = 0008-8994 | doi = 10.1111/j.1600-0498.1996.tb00021.x }}</ref>

Kim Plofker rejected Kak's probabilistic analysis of the presence of planetary period numbers in the Rigveda's hymn number combinations, showing that Kak's apparent matches have "no statistical significance whatever".<ref name="Plofker_Centaurus" /> Witzel has rejected his analysis to be suffering from several shortcomings and questioned his usage of arbitrary multiplication factors to lead to the results.{{sfn|Witzel|2001}} Kak's method depends on the structure of the Rigveda as redacted by the [[shakha]]s in the late [[Brahmana]] period, well within the Indian [[Iron Age]], when it was organized into [[mandala]]s ("books"). According to Witzel, this leaves Kak's approach attempt to date the text flawed, because this process of redaction took place long after the composition of the individual hymns during the ''samhita prose'' period.{{sfn|Witzel|2001}} Witzel concludes that the entire issue boiled down to an over-interpretation of some facts that were internally inconsistent and more, to the creativeness of Kak who was pre-motivated to find evidence of astronomy at every verse of Rig Veda.{{sfn|Witzel|2001}}{{sfn|Kurien|2007|p=255}} Meera Nanda criticized the arbitrary and absurd nature of Kak's analysis at length and noted his method to be "breathtakingly ad hoc" which "reads like [[numerology]]."<ref name=":5" /> M A Mehendale, in a review over ''Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute'', criticized the book for its many shortcomings which did not stand the scrutiny of rigor and remarked it to contain inaccurate and misleading statements.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mehendale|first=M. A.|date=1996|title=Review of THE ASTRONOMICAL CODE OF THE ṚGVEDA|journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute|volume=77|issue=1/4|pages=323–325|issn=0378-1143|jstor=41702197}}</ref> [[S. G. Dani]], a [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology|Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar prize]] recipient rejected Kak's hypothesis as unscientific and highly speculative with extremely vague details and whose results were statistically insignificant.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dani|first=S. G.|date=1994|title=The astronomical code of the Rigveda|journal=Current Science|volume=66|issue=11|pages=814|issn=0011-3891|jstor=24095698}}</ref>

[[Klaus Klostermaier]] in his book ''A Survey of Hinduism'' praised Kak, for opening up an "entirely new approach to the study of Vedic cosmology from an empirical astronomical/mathematical viewpoint".<ref>Klaus Klostermaier, A Survey of Hinduism, Second Edition. State University of New York Press, 1995, pp. 129.</ref> Klostermaier's books have been heavily criticized for offering pro-Hindu views that have little currency in scholarship.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Joel P. Brereton|year=1991|title=A Survey of Hinduism by Klaus K. Klostermaier (Review)|journal=Journal of Asian History|volume=25|pages=86–87|jstor=41930803|number=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Knut A. Jacobsen|year=1997|title=A Survey of Hinduism by Klaus K. Klostermaier (Review)|journal=Numen|volume=44|pages=97–98|jstor=3270387|number=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Patricia M. Greer|year=2002|title=A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism by Klaus K. Klostermaier (Review)|journal=International Journal of Hindu Studies|volume=6|pages=92–94|jstor=20106796|number=1}}</ref>

Kak's work influenced Raja Ram Mohan Roy's 1999 book ''Vedic Physics: Scientific Origin of Hinduism,'' which sought to prove that the RigVeda was coded per the laws of quantum and particle physics.<ref name=":4" /> Kak wrote the foreword to this book commending Roy's interpretations as a new way of looking at Vedic Physics.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":6" /> Meera Nanda, one of Kak's foremost critics, noted the result to be a "shameful demeaning of physics as well as the Vedas" and resembling "ravings of mad men".<ref name=":4" />

====''In Search of the Cradle of Civilization''====
Kak co-authored ''In Search of the Cradle of Civilization'' with [[Georg Feuerstein]] and [[David Frawley]], equating the Vedic Aryans with the Harappans and thus, participating in the political controversy around the "Indigenous Aryans" theory.<ref>[[Edwin Bryant (author)|Edwin Bryant]], [[The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture]]: The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate. Oxford University Press, 2001.</ref><ref name="dhavalikar96">{{cite journal|author=M. K. Dhavalikar|author-link=Madhukar Keshav Dhavalikar|year=1996|title=Untitled <nowiki>[</nowiki>review of In Search of the Cradle of Civilization: New Light on Ancient India, by Georg Feuerstein, Subhash Kak, & David Frawley<nowiki>]</nowiki>|journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute|publisher=[[Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute]]|volume=77|issue=1/4|pages=326–327|issn=0378-1143|jstor=41702199}}</ref> The chronology espoused in this book is based on the archaeoastronomical readings obtained by correlating textual references and archaeological remains.

A review by Indian archaeologist [[Madhukar Keshav Dhavalikar|M. K. Dhavalikar]] over ''Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute'' noted it to be a "beautifully printed" contribution that made a strong case for their indigenous theory against the supposed migratory hypotheses, but chose to remain silent on certain crucial aspects which need to be convincingly explained.<ref name="dhavalikar96" /> Guy Beck showered glowing praises on the book in his review over the ''[[Yoga Journal]].''<ref name="beck96">{{cite journal|last=Beck|first=Guy|author-link=Guy Beck|date=Sep–Oct 1996|title=Origins of Yoga <nowiki>[</nowiki>review of In Search of the Cradle of Civilization: New Light on Ancient India, by Georg Feuerstein, Subhash Kak, & David Frawley<nowiki>]</nowiki>|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WekDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA116|journal=[[Yoga Journal]]|volume=130|issue=130|pages=116–117|issn=0191-0965}}</ref> Klostermaier et al. praised the book.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ece.lsu.edu/kak/rev-cradle.html|title=Reviews|website=www.ece.lsu.edu|access-date=2019-03-22}}</ref> [[Prema Kurien]] noted that the book sought to distinguish expatriate Hindu Americans from other minority groups by demonstrating their superior racial and cultural ties with the Europeans.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A place at the multicultural table the development of an American Hinduism|url=https://archive.org/details/placeatmulticult00kuri|url-access=limited|author=Kurien, Prema A.|date=2007|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=9780813540559|pages=[https://archive.org/details/placeatmulticult00kuri/page/n257 242]|oclc=703221465}}</ref>

===Reception===
[[Edwin Bryant (author)|Edwin Bryant]] calls him a well read and articulate spokesman for the [[Indigenous Aryans|Indigenous Aryan]] hypothesis and for other issues concerning ancient Indian science and culture.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gSV-BwAAQBAJ&pg=PT507|title=The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate|last=Bryant|first=Edwin|date=2001-09-06|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199881338|language=en}}</ref>

Scholars have rejected his theories in entirety and his writings have been heavily criticized.{{sfn|Witzel|2001}} Acute misrepresentation of facts coupled with wrong observations, extremely flexible and often self-contradictory analysis, cherry picking of data and forwarding of easily disprovable hypotheses have been located.{{sfn|Witzel|2001}}<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Guha|first=Sudeshna|date=2007|title=Review of The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society|volume=17|issue=3|pages=340–343|issn=1356-1863|jstor=25188742|doi=10.1017/S135618630700733X|s2cid=163092658}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kazanas|first=Nicholas|date=1999|journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute|volume=80|issue=1/4|pages=15–42|issn=0378-1143|jstor=41694574|title=The Ṛgveda and Indo-Europeans}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Prophets Facing Backward: Postmodern Critiques of Science and Hindu Nationalism in India|first=Meera|last=Nanda|date=2004|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=9780813536347|pages=118|oclc=1059017715}}</ref> His understanding of linguistics and subsequent assertion have been challenged.{{sfn|Witzel|2001}}<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OtCPAgAAQBAJ|title=The Indo-Aryan Languages|last1=Jain|first1=Danesh|last2=Cardona|first2=George|date=2007-07-26|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135797119|pages=35, 36|language=en}}</ref> [[Romila Thapar]] calls Kak an amateur historian whose views on the Indus Civilization were fringe and who was part of a group that had more to do with waging political battles at the excuse of history.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2000-01-01|title=Romila Thapar: On historical scholarship and the uses of the past (interview with Parita Mukta)|journal=Ethnic and Racial Studies|volume=23|issue=3|pages=594–616|doi=10.1080/014198700329006|s2cid=151335964|issn=0141-9870}}</ref> [[Michael Witzel]] noted him to be a revisionist and part of a "closely knit, self-adulatory group", members of which often write together and/or profusely copy from and cite one another, thus rendering the whole scene into a virtually indistinguishable hotchpotch.{{sfn|Witzel|2001}} [[Garrett G. Fagan]], a noted critic of [[pseudoarchaeology]] has concurred with Witzel.<ref name=":0" /> Meera Nanda writes about Kak being revered as a stalwart of Hindutva and one of the leading "intellectual Kshatriyas".<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=Prophets Facing Backward: Postmodern Critiques of Science and Hindu Nationalism in India|first=Meera|last=Nanda|date=2004|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=9780813536347|pages=114|oclc=1059017715}}</ref> Similar concerns of his being a Hindutva-based revisionist have been echoed by other writers.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i4TDAgAAQBAJ|title=Hindu Perspectives on Evolution: Darwin, Dharma, and Design|last=Brown|first=C. Mackenzie|date=2012-01-19|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136484667|pages=239|language=en}}</ref> In a critique of faulty scientific reasoning in Hindutva ideologies and theories, [[Alan Sokal]] sarcastically criticized Kak as "one of the leading intellectual luminaries of the [[Hindu nationalism|Hindu-nationalist diaspora]]".<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title=Archaeological fantasies: how pseudoarchaeology misrepresents the past and misleads the public|last=Sokal|first=Alan|publisher=Routledge|year=2006|isbn=978-0-415-30593-8|editor=Garrett G. Fagan|page=317|chapter=Pseudoscience and Postmodernism: Antagonists or Fellow-Travelers?}}</ref> Koertge as well as Meera Nanda have remarked that Kak's work advances a Hindutva-based esoteric pseudoscience narrative that seeks to find relatively advanced abstract physics in Vedic texts and assign Indian indigenousness to the Sanskrit-speaking Indic Aryans in a bid to prove the superiority of the ancient Hindu civilization.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />