The Aryans have been a topic of discussion for a long time due to the changing meaning of the word Aryan. Some use it to define a whole different race of people, some to define a group of linguists.
The meaning of the term keeps changing, bending to the will of different people to suit their theories.
Meaning of Aryan:
The word Aryan in today's world has been used in many references. With time the meaning has been changing. However, originally the word was to refer to people who used to speak the language of the Indo-European region.
The mention of Aryan can be found in the Vedas. The word Arya is used for the people who could speak the language of the Indo-European region in Sanskrit.
In old Iranian languages, the word 'airya' referred to the people who belonged to ancient Iran. It was designated to the people who belonged to Aryan stock (ethnic Iranian), spoke the language, and followed the religion practiced by Aryans.
By the 4th century BC, the word took the meaning of 'noble'. And as the years will go on its meaning will keep on changing.
Who were Aryans?
As we have seen above the word Aryan referred to the people who belonged to ancient Iran. We might know the meaning of the word 'Aryan but there are still unanswered questions about the people, the way of their life, the societies they developed.
According to widely popularly accepted theories we know that the Aryans belonged to Central Asia, the Acadians lived in the north of them, the Yellow people lived in the east, the Dravidians in the south, the Semitic and the Coptic people in the west.
Ethnologists believe that Aryans were a fair tall race, with a strong muscular frame, and very high brainpower. Aryans excelled the other nations of their time through their spiritualistic civilization. Aryans did not have any temples or idols.
They knew the uses of some metals and their major wealth was cattle. They lived in villages, not in towns as we see today. Their houses were made of leaves and mud.
Trade and commerce is a great tool of any civilization. The Aryans had trade relations with other nations. They traveled to different parts of the continent and brought all helpful information with them.
Soon the Aryans were inclined to conquer the rest of the nations. Before long they had captured many of the nations like Assyria, Babylon, and the northern part of India.
The Aryan Invasion Theory:
It was proposed by Friedrich Max Muller. He was a German linguist and came across this theory when he was translating the Rig Veda. In the Vedas, it is mentioned that India was invaded by a foreign group, which he called Aryan.
He was careful when he used the word Aryan to describe the group. He used it to describe them as a linguist category and not a racial one.
According to his theory, Aryans invaded the Indus valley civilization, and because of this, the civilization came to an end. Some people fled to the south. Later on, his theory of the Aryan invasion was furthered by many scholars.
Aryanism and Racial Theory:
Arthur de Gobineau, the author of the influential Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races (1853), observed that Aryans were a superior race. He considered that Aryans were a civilized race.
According to him Aryans hailed from North Europe and founded civilizations around the continent. The decline of Aryans was a cause of their mixing with the native people, whom he considered inferior.
Houston Stewart Chamberlain, British-German writer, author of 'The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century. In this, he theorized the existential war between the superior German-Aryan race and the inferior Jew race.
Nazi Racial Theory:
Being influenced by Chamberlain and Arthur's theory of German-Aryan racial superiority, Nazi propaganda was made. Hitler twisted the theories according to his whims and benefits.
According to Nazi racial theory, the word Aryan described Germans. They considered purest Aryans belonged to the Nordic race. The Nordic race, a hypothetical race, was descendants of Aryans.
Under the Nazi racial doctrine, an individual race could be determined by their physical appearance. Like the Aryans were tall, fair-skinned, had blue-colored eyes, and had blond hair.
Nazi racial theorists said that everyone in Germany was not of the Aryan race; they had a mixed population with inferior races. This was later on used as a tool to separate the Nordic race people from other races like Jews, gypsies, and the Slavic.
Later on when World War II ended the world knew about the holocaust. The holocaust was an inhumane policy of Nazis to get rid of Jews. The holocaust was known as 'The Final Solution, under which the Nazis captured the Jews and locked them away.
Later on, these people were killed in gas chambers and concentration camps. According to studies, the Nazis killed every 2 Jews out of 3 in Europe.
Written by: Priyanshu Bhardwaj
Edited by: Gourav Chowdhury
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