When Did the Mahabharata War Happen? by Nilesh Nilkanth Oak

The date of the Mahabharata War (also known as the Kurukshetra War), if it was a factual event, is not known. Various proposals have been made as to when this famous conflict of ancient India took place. In this review, Dr. Miano looks at a theory offered by Nilesh Oak and evaluates its merits.

CORRECTION: In the video, it is said that Nilesh Oak posits 5651 BCE as the date of the Mahabharata War, when he actually says 5561 BCE.

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[umeshshankara]

Mr. David Miano,
I have tried to answer few of your questions about your assumptions made by Nilesh Oak, and I also have few questions which I expect an answer from you if possible.
Few comments about the stuff you mentioned as assumptions by Mr. Nilesh Oak.
Q1. Why did the people in antient time mentioned the astronomical observations?
- It is the tradition followed even today in India that every major event will be recorded based on planatary positions, it is called kundali.
Almost every practicing hindu will have the kundali of his birth, marriage etc.,
- Every major event is performed after finding an muhurtha (auspicious time) based on planetary positions, even all 100+ rocket launch for space mission in India happened on a muhurtha.
- the same way of finding auspicious time for all important events is mentioned in all the Hindu texts of Ramayana, Mahabharata and other stories.
Q2. Astronomy was invented is much later, how they were able to mention the astronomical observations in antient period?
- Please read the books called Surya Siddantha, Shata patha Brahmana.
Which speaks about the astronomical knowledge of antient Indian's, which also speaks about the pole star which changed with the change in inclination of earth's axis (which happens once in 26000 years) and also a detailed chapter on how to make astronomical instruments/devices for accurate readings of planetary positions. The antiquity of the book is said to be about 3000 years old as per Wikipedia, but it is debated to much older as the last pole start change happened about 5000 years ago which is mentioned in the book.
Q3. Why is Mahabharatha assumed as History and not a mythological story?
- Vedas are said to be the oldest extant texts/documents available in the world so far, among which Rigveda is said to be the written around 2000-4500 years ago, the section which contains the Mahabharata section called "Itihasa" which means History in Sanscrit.

If you are aware, the position based number system using Zero which is being used world wide was invented in India, even before that there was base 10 number system with concept of zero was in use as per bakshali manuscript found.
Oldest extant text of the world is from India.

So about 5000 years ago Indian had the knowledge of planetary knowledge(Surya Siddantha), they had the tradition of documenting events(Vedas).
They had knowledge about medicine and Surgery (Ayurveda).

My questions to you.
1. Do you think all these knowledge of astronomy, mathematics, scripting develops overnight? If it can be done 5000 years ago, what makes you think it cannot happen 7000 years ago?
2. Why do you want to think that everyone like to make a fake claim like the Western people made while spreading their religion using fairytale like genesis etc., ?
3. Did you find any of the astronomical observations mentioned in the book as false?
4. Did you find any of the supporting evidence mentioned in the book is baseless or non conclusive?
5. Why do you think a Chemical engineer cannot become a historian based on his interst?

If you really think you are happy to debate and analyse the facts in his book, we can try and arrange for a live meet between you and Mr. Nilesh Oak, please let me know if you are happy with it.

[hm]

I have been a physicist for over 45 years, and the one major rule I have found for scientific research is that one has to value being correct above getting any particular result. To go a step farther, if one has a desired outcome in a research program, this creates a real moral hazard for the scientist. Science is about understanding the world, not validating your world view.

[unarealtaragionevole]

I have always wondered about the name "Minoan." I understand we don't really know what they called themselves, I understand how Evans called them Minoans and the name stuck; however, I don't understand how historians and archaeologists never seriously challenged this name at the time...or since really...when even in Evan's time we might have had potential place names for the island from other cultures who had some contact with them. For example Egyptians called the island Keftiu and the Akkadians called the island Kaptara. Since both languages have a similar word for the place name, wouldn't the "K + vowel + F/P + T" name construction seem like a good place to start searching for what they may have called themselves? I been looking for current projects or specialists for this topic and I just can't seem to find any serious work being down to locate what they called themselves. Do you know, or could you recommend, any works, names, or projects?

[aryanyadav]

Wow Nilesh Oak wants you to have a discussion in which you asked him first in comment section, go on if you're not biased towards Mahabharata

[arvindmishra]

Nakshatra system of time was there even in Ramayana

[dharmeshparikh]

Interesting video. What do you think about the age of the book "Mahabharta " as per most accepted modern historians / archeologists (if applicable)?. From childhood I have been fining multiple dates like 5000 years old, 7000 😅, I don't know what's the actual age it would be great if you can answer that.

[kkr]

5:12 sorry, I didn't understood what you mean (Or your statement is saying MB might have happened way before and 5K BCE is referring to when it was written?)

[HaritDoshi]

If you believe that Vashishth was just a sage then can you explain us whether Vashishth and Arundhati were characters of Mahabharata or not?Why you are believing that Nakshatra system were not developed at the time he is referring to? Are you just taking it for granted that Nakshatra in Indian astronomy were not developed till that time? You said that you found hard to match and understand the reference he gave you for claims he made. If you were not able to understand and match the observations then how you were able to conclude that whatever he claimed was totally wrong?

[adityatyagi]

You should set up a debate with Mr. Oak and see if you can "prove" to him in real time why he's wrong and you are right. These types of video reviews have limited value because the author does not have a chance to respond. Will you accept a challenge to debate? Side note: you say Oak claims 5651 BCE as the year of the MB War. No, he claims 5561 BCE. I won't hold it against you, however, and will just attribute it to lack of attention to detail.

[harrysahota_hh]

You need an open mind to look at Indian civilization because it has been mispresented and misinterpreted by british to divide India and introduce caste system so it would have been easy to rule. Sadly there has been no attempt by the Indian governments to question it as it fits their propaganda of divide and rule, which is really evident in todays politics. Your argument that 5600 BC is before urbanization is incorrect. We have found ancient city of rakhigarhi which was part of Indus valley civilization dated 7500 BCE and was an urban city. I'm glad you accepted the 1st assumption because you cannot date something that never happened. 2nd assumption that you disregarded with your colonial mind set indeed is a topic of debate however there are books like Vedang Jyotisham which were written around 1500 BC accurately talks about nakshatra dating system. This system originated from Vedas and has been practiced in India since the beginning of vedic civilization. For the 3rd argument I agree with you as we cannot say that The book was written within 18 years. 4th argument that all astronomical details were accurate and visual is indeed a fact, and goes back to the ancient science mentioned in Vedas that's still followed in india and has been followed for 1000s of years.

[god-of-logic]

You seem very knowledgeable on this matter would you explain the gotra system found in Hinduism and how far it dates back to. I am a suryavanshi ksatriya belonging to the kasyapa gotra, lord Ram of the famous Iksawaku dynasty belonged to the same gotra.

[GandarDooM]

I would like to hear your opinion about the Serbian calendar, which now counts 7533 years

[dipakbose]

You are not presenting any proof that refute the assumptions of Oak. His calculations are based on the astronomical charts presented in the book Mahabharata. How can you refute those charts?

[kedardesai]

It's not 5651 BC, it's 5561 BCE.

[lightyagami_yt]

sir please reply, i have a lot of intrest in ancient indian history, archaerologists dated dwaraka it came out to be roughly 8k bce, which fits with his dates, and the sunken city of dwaraka is exactly at the place where mahabharata text mentions, so what is your opinion about this, and one more thing this is not related to this video, but i think indus valley may be a vedic civilixation, many people argue that there is no palace or any higher status buildings, but as i looked upon this ancient indians ( i mean befor turks even before shakas and scythians ) didnt build palaces, there are temples built by raja raja chola which even stand today but there is no evidence of fort or palace of him and chandragupta also didnt have, artha shastra a religious text says that the main duty of a king is to make his kingdom prosper and rich, but the kings shouldnt spend money on himself, even in ithasas there is no such great mention of palaces, so i dont this is a coincidence or what, but this fits exactly and even indus had swords daggers and spears, sir what do you think about this

[mandarbhome]

Sir, between astronomical evidences and on ground archeological evidences, what would you weigh more on for dating ancient events? Numerous times the archeological evidences used for dating ex. Carbon dating is based on a very minute little sample. Or DNA. How reliable would it be? Do you believe that Mahabharata references to various planets like Saturn, Mars, etc. are actually astronomical evidences?

[mandarbhome]

Sir, can you please let us know when tthe Nakshatra system was founded? Is there any reference you can provide?

[rameshramanujamsrinivasan]

Continuing with my earlier comments on your conclusions there is a very fresh presentation by Dr.Raj Vedam even disputing the PIE.
This presentation is on a topic titled Ancient India and the vedas.This is presented as recently as 11th Mar. 2022[Dr.Raj Vedam RTF lecture]

[truth_seeker]

Do you know Nakshatra meaning?
Answer: No I don't know, I don't need to know but I'm sure this book is based on assumptions.

[larrygrimaldi]

Must be true, or they would not have named Oak Island after him.