Who popularised the theory of arctic region as the original home of aryans?

Answer 1

The Arctic Home in the Vedas is a seminal work on the origin of Aryans presented by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a mathematician turned astronomer, historian, journalist, philosopher and political leader of India during 1880 to 1920. It propounded the theory that North Pole was the original home of Aryans during pre-glacial period which they had to leave due to the ice deluge around 8000 B.C. and had to migrate to the Northern parts of Europe and Asia in search of lands for new settlements. In support to his theory Tilak has presented certain Vedic hymns, Avestic passages, Vedic chronology and Vedic calendars with interpretations of the contents in detail. The book was written at the end of 1898 but was first published in March 1903 in Pune. (From Google)

Answer 2

The theory that the Arctic region was the original home of Aryans was popularized by the Austrian geographer and ethnographer, Karl Penka, in the late 19th century. Penka proposed that the Aryans migrated southward from the Arctic into Europe and Asia. His theory has been largely discredited by modern scholarship.