Aryans

(noun)

A nomadic, Indo-European tribe called the Aryans suddenly overwhelmed and conquered the Indus Valley Civilization.

Related Terms

Examples of Aryans in the following topics:

  • The Indo-Aryan Migration and the Vedic Period

    • Scholars debate the origin of Indo-Aryan peoples in northern India.
    • Many have rejected the claim of Indo-Aryan origin outside of India entirely, claiming the Indo-Aryan people and languages originated in India.
    • These Indo-Aryans were a branch of the Indo-Iranians, who originated in present-day northern Afghanistan.
    • Organized into tribes, the Vedic Aryans regularly clashed over land and resources.
    • The Indo-Aryans settled various parts of the plain during their migration and the Vedic Period.

  • The Caste System

    • A caste system developed among Indo-Aryans of the Vedic Period, splitting society into four major groups.
    • The caste system in India may have several origins, possibly starting with the well-defined social orders of the Indo-Aryans in the Vedic Period, c. 1750-500 BCE.
    • As the Aryans expanded their influence, newly conquered groups were assimilated into society by forming a new group below the Sudras, outside the caste system.
    • The caste system that influenced the social structure of Aryan India has been maintained to some degree into modern-day India.
    • The Rig-Veda influenced the development of the patriarchal society and the caste systems in Aryan India.

  • Disappearance of the Indus Valley Civilization

    • Scholars have put forth differing theories to explain the disappearance of the Harappans, including an Aryan Invasion and climate change marked by overwhelming monsoons.
    • According to one theory by British archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler, a nomadic, Indo-European tribe, called the Aryans, suddenly overwhelmed and conquered the Indus River Valley.
    • The theory suggested that by using horses and more advanced weapons against the peaceful Harappan people, the Aryans may have easily defeated them.
    • Many scholars came to believe in an Indo-Aryan Migration theory stating that the Harappan culture was assimilated during a migration of the Aryan people into northwest India.
    • An early 20th-century depiction of Aryan people settling in agricultural villages in India.

  • The Rise of Hinduism

    • Hinduism evolved as a synthesis of cultures and traditions, including the Indo-Aryan Vedic religion.
    • However, Vedic ritualism, a composite of Indo-Aryan and Harappan culture, contributed to the deities and traditions of Hinduism.
    • The Indo-Aryan Vedas remain the oldest scriptures of the Hindu religion, which has grown culturally and geographically through modern times to become one of the world’s four major religions.
    • The Aryan pantheon of gods is described in great detail in the Rig Veda.
    • However, the religious practices and deities are not uniformly consistent in these sacred texts, probably because the Aryans themselves were not a homogenous group.

  • The Vedas

    • The Indo-Aryan Vedas remain the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, which is considered one of the oldest religions in the world.
    • Vedic ritualism, a composite of ancient Indo-Aryan and Harappan culture, contributed to the deities and traditions of Hinduism over time.
    • There are four Indo-Aryan Vedas: the Rig Veda contains hymns about their mythology; the Sama Veda consists mainly of hymns about religious rituals; the Yajur Veda contains instructions for religious rituals; and the Atharva Veda consists of spells against enemies, sorcerers, and diseases.
    • The Aryan pantheon of gods is described in great detail in the Rig Veda.
    • However, the religious practices and deities are not uniformly consistent in these sacred texts, probably because the Aryans themselves were not a homogenous group.

  • The Sramana Movement

    • The Vedic Period refers to the time period from approximately 1750-500 BCE, during which Indo-Aryans settled into northern India, bringing with them specific religious traditions.
    • Vedas, meaning "knowledge," were composed by the Aryans in Vedic Sanskrit between 1500 and 500 BCE, in the northwestern region the Indian subcontinent.
    • There are four Indo-Aryan Vedas: the Rig Veda contains hymns about their mythology; the Sama Veda consists mainly of hymns about religious rituals; the Yajur Veda contains instructions for religious rituals; and the Atharva Veda consists of spells against enemies, sorcerers, and diseases.

  • Sanskrit

    • Sanskrit is a standardized dialect of Old Indo-Aryan, originating as Vedic Sanskrit as early as 170001200 BCE.
    • Sanskrit traces its linguistic ancestry to Proto-Indo-Iranian and ultimately to Proto-Indo-European languages, meaning that it can be traced historically back to the people who spoke Indo-Iranian, also called the Aryan languages, as well as the Indo-European languages, a family of several hundred related languages and dialects.
    • Believed to be direct revelations to seers among the early Aryan people of India, the four chief collections are the Rig Veda, Sam Veda, Yajur Vedia, and Atharva Veda.

  • Jainism

    • Some scholars claim Jainism has its roots in the Indus Valley Civilization, reflecting native spirituality prior to the Indo-Aryan migration into India.
    • However, other scholars believe the Sramana traditions were separate and contemporaneous with Indo-Aryan religious practices of the historical Vedic religion.

  • The Holocaust

    • The basic motivation [of the Holocaust] was purely ideological, rooted in an illusionary world of Nazi imagination, where an international Jewish conspiracy to control the world was opposed to a parallel Aryan quest.

  • Hitler's Germany

    • The Germanic peoples (the Nordic race) were considered by the Nazis to be the purest branch of the Aryan race, and were therefore viewed as the master race.