Raja Ram Mohan Roy

I am a seeker in search of the true history and heritage of India. I have strong scientific background (B.Tech. in Metallurgical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from The Ohio State University, USA) and a deep interest in ancient Indian texts. My work on Indology spans three different fields: cosmology, astronomy, and history. My first book “Vedic Physics: Scientific Origin of Hinduism” details the cosmological framework in which the Rigveda, first book of humankind, is to be understood. Anyone who has read the Rigveda with an open mind will know that the book does not make sense if taken literally as it is full of rich symbols. Many of these symbolic and mysterious sounding passages start to make perfect sense in the light of my discovery of the Rigveda as a coded book of cosmology. My in-depth work on Hindu astronomy enabled by my science background led me to realize that if great Indian astronomer Varahmihira is placed in 6th century CE as stipulated by many Indic scholars, both western and some Indian, then that essentially means that the boundaries of sidereal Hindu and western zodiacs do not match and have a difference of about 10°. The search for the origin of this discrepancy led me to reassess the boundaries of nakshatras and identifications of yogataras. In my book “Zero Points of Vedic Astronomy: Discovery of the Original Boundaries of Nakshatras” I show that the original boundary of Ashwini nakshatra is at 8° from Hamal or 10° from Revati. This crucial discovery synchronizes the sidereal Hindu and western zodiacs. My book “Zero Point of Jain Astronomy: The Origin of Malava Era” addresses the important question of the origin of Malava Era. Jain astronomy provides an important link between Vedic astronomy and classical Hindu astronomy. In my book on Jain astronomy, important features of Jain astronomy have been discussed and compared with Vedic astronomy and classical Hindu astronomy. Based on the changing position of sun in the background of stars during solstices and equinoxes, the date of the astronomical observations described in Jain texts has been estimated. It is proposed that the zero point of Jain astronomy as well as Malava era coincides with the yogatara of Ashwini, Hamal, being at vernal equinox in 702 BCE. As one of the inspirations of my work on Indian astronomy stems from my desire to understand the timing of the great astronomer Varahamihira, this harmonization of Indian and western zodiacs firmly establishes Varahmihira in the first century BCE, consistent with the Indian tradition that places him in the court of Emperor Vikramaditya. Once again, while Indian tradition fondly pays homage to the extraordinary valour of Emperor Vikramaditya in protecting India from the invaders by still counting time from 57 BCE called Vikrama era, yet regrettably many modern historians without evidence claim that there was no Vikramaditya in first century BCE. The search for Emperor Vikramaditya, in whose memory Vikrama era has been established, led me to reexamine the very foundations of Indian history. My books “India before Alexander: A New Chronology”, “India after Alexander: The Age of Vikramadityas”, “India after Vikramaditya: The Melting Pot” and “An Alternative Timeline of Indian History: From Buddha and Mahavira to Bappa Rawal” detail an alternative timeline of Indian history derived from in-depth analysis of source materials. Most of the pre-Islamic chronology is based on counting backward and forward from two sheet anchors of Indian history - the identification of Sandrokottos of Greek accounts with Chandragupta Maurya and the identification of Devanampriya Priyadarshi of major rock edicts with Ashoka Maurya. With extensive background research, in my books I show that Sandrokottos of Greek accounts should be identified with Chandragupta I of Imperial Gupta dynasty and Devanampriya Priyadarshi of major rock edicts should be identified with Kumaragupta I, the great grandson of Chandragupta I. In my work, I take extreme care in keeping my research transparent unlike some Indic researchers who give vague references and mislead readers by presenting their interpretations as evidence. In my books I fully explain the background needed to understand the subject matter, state of current scholarship, and why my thesis differs from others. You may or may not agree with my conclusions, but I hope that my books and articles will make you question the conventional history presented as facts with dubious evidence. This unscientific and dogmatic version of the history has been propagated by many Indic historians suffering from colonial mindset. It is also my sincere hope that my work will encourage others to use science as a critical tool to evaluate and understand Indian history.