The Younger Dryas Gap

In Oak's framework, the 6,648-year gap between the Ramayana (12,209 BCE) and the Mahabharata (5,561 BCE) is explained by the Younger Dryas — a 1,300-year cold snap that devastated ecosystems globally between approximately 12,800 and 11,500 BP. Oak employs anupalabdhi (non-evidence as evidence from Nyaya logic): the absence of datable Indian events during this period is itself evidence of civilizational disruption.

The Younger Dryas is confirmed by ice core data (GISP2), ocean sediments, and global paleoclimate records. Temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere dropped 5-10°C within decades. In South Asia, monsoon patterns were severely disrupted, affecting agriculture and settlement. The cause remains debated: the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (comet/airburst) has suffered setbacks with key papers retracted in 2025–26, while ice dam failure and volcanic activity remain competing explanations.

During this gap, the archaeological record shows gradual recovery: Mehrgarh's farming begins ~7,000 BCE, Göbekli Tepe is built ~9,600 BCE, and the Natufian-to-PPNA agricultural revolution transforms the Levant. The gap is not empty — it is the period of post-catastrophic rebuilding.

The anupalabdhi argument is philosophically interesting but empirically weak on its own. Its strength comes from the convergence of astronomical dates on either side of the gap: if both the Ramayana (12,209 BCE) and Mahabharata (5,561 BCE) dates are astronomically robust, the gap between them demands explanation, and the Younger Dryas provides one.