…In 2019, two major studies were published which gave some of the strongest evidence yet to the theory.

…So while Proto-Indo-Europeans expanded out of the Pontic-Caspian Steppe in all directions, it was their later Northern European branch which mixed with native European farmers that then expanded back eastward and became the founders of Vedic civilisation.

…Written between 1,500-1,000 BC, the Rigveda is one of the foundational Hindu texts — one of the four Vedas, and the oldest Vedic Sanskrit text. It records the story of the Aryan incursion into India and their encounter with the local populations.

The Indo-Iranian peoples apparently referred to themselves as “Aryans”, meaning “noble” or “civilised”. An inscription on the tomb of Darius the Great uses the term “Ariya” to describe the Iranian people, apparently describing Darius as an “Aryan of Aryan descent.” In Avestan, the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism, “Airyanem Vaejah” is used to describe an ancient “Aryan expanse” which was the homeland of the Iranian people. Similarly, the Sanskrit term ārya, meaning noble, is used throughout the Rigveda to describe the conquerors who subdued the native Indians, who are referred to as Dasa/Dasyu.

I am a bit disappointed in this essay because it misses so much of what really happened in the ancient world, but it is worth reading due to the genetic information presented and its discussion of the Rigveda.

‘Aryan’ is the root source of the name Chinese use for themselves to this day — ‘huaren‘ (華人). It is also the source for the name of the earliest Chinese dynasty, the Xia Dynasty (夏朝). This shows that the expanse of ancient Aryan peoples included also Tocharians in Northeast Asia, where they had a very significant influence on the development of Chinese, Korean, Mongolian and Japanese civilizations.

Aryan peoples are largely synonymous with Scythians, who ruled Central Asia for many centuries, dating back to their invention of the chariot, circa 2,000 BCE, which is why horses were so important in their spread and dominance. It is entirely ridiculous to feel proud today that you have Aryan ancestry (many people do) or that Indian civilization owes nothing to the Aryans.

Incidentally, the Buddha himself was Aryan or Scythian. When he is called Shakyamuni, the name literally means ‘sage of the Scythians’. The Buddha is often referred to as an Aryan in traditional Buddhist texts. The only physical description we have of Shakyamuni Buddha says his eyes were blue. It is ridiculous to be either proud of ancestry from Aryans or ashamed of not being Aryan or having been conquered by them. All peoples everywhere have been conquered and enslaved, and conquered and enslaved others.

Read the works of Christopher Beckwith for a much more detailed and expansive take on this subject. For Buddhists, I highly recommend his book, Greek Buddha: Pyrrho’s Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia. Beckwith claims Aryan dominance and deep influence in all of the cultures bordering Central Asia was not particularly violent but rather resulted from Aryan/ Scythian males settling in a region and mating with the local women. This led to the formation of many creole languages with prominent Indo-European words and features. ABN