https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Indo-Aryan_peoplesIndo-Aryan peoples - Revision history2026-07-31T10:13:04ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Indo-Aryan_peoples&diff=397104&oldid=prevWikiDwarfBOT at 03:11, 22 July 20232023-07-22T03:11:46Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indo-European ethnolinguistic groups primarily concentrated in South Asia}}<br />
<br />
{{Original research|date=January 2021}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}}<br />
{{Indo-European topics}}<br />
<br />
{{Infobox ethnic group<br />
| group = Indo-Aryan peoples<br />
| image = [[File:Indo-Aryan language map.svg|240px]]<br />
| caption = 1978 map showing geographical distribution of the major Indo-Aryan languages. ([[Urdu]] is included under Hindi. [[Romani language|Romani]], [[Domari language|Domari]], and [[Lomavren language|Lomavren]] are outside the scope of the map.) Dotted/striped areas indicate where [[multilingualism]] is common.{{hidden| |<br />
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}<br />
{{legend|#fe933c|[[Central Indo-Aryan|Central]]}}<br />
{{legend|#fd15ac|[[Dardic languages|Dardic]]}}<br />
{{legend|#effe27|[[Eastern Indo-Aryan languages|Eastern]]}}<br />
{{legend|#ad27fe|[[Northern Indo-Aryan languages|Northern]]}}<br />
{{legend|#274ffe|[[Northwestern Indo-Aryan languages|Northwestern]]}}<br />
{{legend|#3bed69|[[Western Indo-Aryan|Western]]}}<br />
{{legend|#fe1e1e|[[Southern Indo-Aryan languages|Southern]]}}<br />
}}<br />
| population = ~1.5 billion {{citation needed|date=January 2021}}<br />
| popplace = <br />
| region1 = {{flagcountry|India}}<br />
| pop1 = over 911 million<br />
| ref1 = <ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/india/ |title=India |work=The World Factbook |date=16 November 2021 }}</ref><br />
| region2 = {{flagcountry|Pakistan}}<br />
| pop2 = over 233 million<br />
| ref2 = <ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/pakistan/ |title=Pakistan |work=The World Factbook |date=4 February 2022 }}</ref><br />
| region3 = {{flagcountry|Bangladesh}}<br />
| pop3 = over 160 million<br />
| ref3 = <ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/bangladesh/ |title=Bangladesh |work=The World Factbook |date=4 February 2022 }}</ref><br />
| region4 = {{flagcountry|Nepal}}<br />
| pop4 = over 26 million<br />
| region5 = {{flagcountry|Sri Lanka}}<br />
| pop5 = over 14 million<br />
| region6 = {{flagcountry|Myanmar}}<br />
| pop6 = over 1 million<br />
| region7 = {{flagcountry|Mauritius}}<br />
| pop7 = over 725,400<br />
| region8 = {{flagcountry|Maldives}}<br />
| pop8 = over 300,000<br />
| region9 = {{flagcountry|Bhutan}}<br />
| pop9 = over 240,000<br />
| ref8 = <ref name=UNHCR1>{{cite web |url = http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,MARP,,BTN,,469f386a1e,0.html |title=Population of Lhotshampas in Bhutan |year=2004 |publisher=[[UNHCR]] |access-date=23 March 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121016143502/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country%2C%2CMARP%2C%2CBTN%2C%2C469f386a1e%2C0.html |archive-date=16 October 2012 }}</ref><br />
| langs = [[Indo-Aryan languages]]<br />
| rels = [[Indian religions]] (Mostly [[Hindu]]; with [[Buddhism|Buddhist]], [[Sikh]] and [[Jain]] minorities) and [[Islam]], [[Christianity|Christian]]s and some non-religious [[atheist]]/[[agnostic]]<br />
| related = |||||||<br />
}}<br />
'''Indo-Aryan peoples''' are a diverse collection of [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] [[people]]s speaking [[Indo-Aryan languages]] in the [[Indian subcontinent]]. Historically, [[Aryan]]s were the [[Indo-Iranians|Indo-Iranian speaking]] [[Pastoralism|pastoralists]] who [[Indo-Aryan migrations|migrated]] from [[Central Asia]] into [[South Asia]] and introduced the [[Proto-Indo-Aryan language]].{{sfn|Anthony|2007}}{{sfn|Erdosy|2012}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-46616574|title=How ancient DNA may rewrite prehistory in India|publisher=bbc|date=23 December 2018|access-date=23 November 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/theres-no-confusion-the-new-reports-clearly-confirm-arya-migration-into-india/article61986135.ece|title=New reports clearly confirm 'Arya' migration into India|publisher=thehindu|date=13 September 2019|access-date=23 November 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/aryans-or-harappans-who-drove-the-creation-of-caste-system-dna-holds-a-clue/686393/|title=Aryans or Harappans—Who drove the creation of caste system? DNA holds a clue|publisher=theprint|date=29 June 2021|access-date=23 November 2022}}</ref> Today, the Indo-Aryan language speakers are found across the modern-day regions of [[Bangladesh]], southern-[[Nepal]], eastern-[[Pakistan]], [[Sri Lanka]], [[Maldives]] and northern-[[India]].<ref>{{cite book|url=|title=The Indo-Aryan Languages|page=2|year=2007|author=Danesh Jain, George Cardona|publisher=Routledge}}</ref><br />
<br />
==History==<br />
=== Proto-Indo-Iranians ===<br />
{{main|Indo-Iranians|Proto-Indo-Europeans|Aryan|Indo-European migrations|Indo-Aryan migrations}}<br />
{{Further|Genetics and archaeogenetics of South Asia|Peopling of India}}<br />
<br />
[[File:Indo-Iranian origins.png|thumb|right|Archaeological cultures associated with [[Indo-Iranians|Indo-Iranian migrations]] (after [[Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture|EIEC]]). The [[Andronovo]], [[BMAC]] and [[Yaz culture]]s have often been associated with Indo-Iranian migrations. The [[Gandhara grave culture|GGC]], [[Cemetery H]], [[Copper Hoard culture|Copper Hoard]], [[Ochre Coloured Pottery culture|OCP]], and [[Painted Grey Ware culture|PGW]] cultures are candidates for cultures associated with [[Indo-Aryan migration]]s.]]<br />
<br />
The introduction of the [[Indo-Aryan languages]] in the Indian subcontinent was the result of a [[Indo-Aryan migrations|migration of Indo-Aryan people]] from Central Asia into the northern [[Indian subcontinent]] (modern-day [[Bangladesh]], [[Bhutan]], [[India]], [[Nepal]], [[Pakistan]], and [[Sri Lanka]]). These migrations started approximately 1,800 BCE, after the invention of the war chariot, and also brought Indo-Aryan languages into the [[Levant]] and possibly [[Inner Asia]].{{sfn|Anthony|2009|p=49}} Another group of the Indo-Aryans migrated further westward and founded the [[Mitanni]] kingdom in northern Syria;{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=454}} (c. 1500–1300 BC) the other group were the Vedic people.{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|p=33 note 20}} [[Christopher I. Beckwith]] suggests that the [[Wusun]], an [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European]] [[Caucasian race|Caucasian]] people of [[Inner Asia]] in [[Ancient history|antiquity]], were also of Indo-Aryan origin.{{sfn|Beckwith|2009|p=376-7}}<br />
<br />
The [[Indo-Iranians|Proto-Indo-Iranians]], from which the Indo-Aryans developed, are identified with the [[Sintashta culture]] (2100–1800 BCE),{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=390 (fig. 15.9), 405–411}}{{sfn|Kuz'mina|2007|p=222}} and the [[Andronovo culture]],{{sfn|Anthony|2009|p=49}} which flourished ca. 1800–1400 BCE in the steppes around the [[Aral Sea]], present-day Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The Proto-Indo-Aryan split off around 1800–1600 BCE from the Iranians,{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=408}} moved south through the [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex|Bactria-Margiana Culture]], south of the Andronovo culture, borrowing some of their distinctive religious beliefs and practices from the BMAC, and then migrated further south into the [[Levant]] and north-western India.<ref>George Erdosy (1995). "The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity", p. 279</ref>{{sfn|Anthony|2007}} The migration of the Indo-Aryans was part of the larger diffusion of [[Indo-European languages]] from the [[Proto-Indo-European homeland]] at the [[Pontic–Caspian steppe]] which started in the 4th millennia BCE.{{sfn|Anthony|2007}}<ref>Johannes Krause mit Thomas Trappe: ''Die Reise unserer Gene. Eine Geschichte über uns und unsere Vorfahren.'' Propyläen Verlag, Berlin 2019, p. 148 ff.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/all-indoeuropean-languages-may-have-originated-from-this-one-place/|title=All Indo-European Languages May Have Originated From This One Place|website=IFLScience|date=24 May 2018 |language=en|access-date=26 December 2019}}</ref> The [[Gandhara grave culture|GGC]], [[Cemetery H]], [[Copper Hoard culture|Copper Hoard]], [[Ochre Coloured Pottery culture|OCP]], and [[Painted Grey Ware culture|PGW]] cultures are candidates for cultures associated with Indo-Aryans.<br />
<br />
The Indo-Aryans were united by shared cultural norms and language, referred to as ''aryā'' 'noble'. Over the last four millennia, the Indo-Aryan culture has evolved particularly inside India itself, but its origins are in the conflation of values and heritage of the Indo-Aryan and indigenous people groups of India.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Avari |first=Burjor |url= |title=India: The Ancient Past: A History of the Indian Sub-Continent from c. 7000 BC to AD 1200 |date=2007-06-11 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-25161-2 |pages=xvii |language=en}}</ref> Diffusion of this culture and language took place by patron-client systems, which allowed for the absorption and acculturation of other groups into this culture, and explains the strong influence on other cultures with which it interacted.<br />
<br />
While the Indo-Aryan linguistic group occupies mainly northern parts of India, genetically, all South Asians across the Indian subcontinent are descendants of a mix of South Asian hunter-gatherers, Iranian hunter-gatherers, and Central Asian steppe pastoralists in varying proportion.{{sfn|Reich et al.|2009}}{{sfn|Narasimhan et al.|2019}} Additionally, Austroasiatic and Tibeto-Burmese speaking people contributed to the genetic make-up of South Asia.{{sfn|Basu et al.|2016}}<br />
<br />
[[Indigenous Aryanism]] propagates the idea that the Indo-Aryans were indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, and that the Indo-European languages spread from there to central Asia and Europe. Contemporary support for this idea is ideologically driven, and has no basis in objective data and mainstream scholarship.{{sfn|Witzel|2001|p=95}}{{sfn|Jamison|2006}}{{sfn|Guha|2007|p=341}}{{sfn|Fosse|2005|p=438}}{{snf|Olson|2016|p=136}}<br />
<br />
== List of historical Indo-Aryan peoples ==<br />
{{See also|List of ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes}}<br />
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}<br />
* [[Anga]]<br />
* [[Bahlikas]]<br />
* [[Bharatas (tribe)|Bharatas]]<br />
* [[Cedī (tribe)|Caidya]]s<br />
* [[Dewa (people)|Dewa]]<br />
* [[Gandhāra (kingdom)|Gāndhārī]]s<br />
* [[Gangaridai]]<br />
* [[Kambojas]]<br />
* [[Kalinga (historical kingdom)|Kalinga]]<br />
* [[Kasmira Kingdom|Kasmira]]<br />
* [[Kekaya]]<br />
* [[Khasas]]<br />
* [[Kikata Kingdom|Kikata]]<br />
* [[Koliya]]<br />
* [[Kosala]]<br />
* [[Kuru (kingdom)|Kurus]]<br />
* [[Licchavi (tribe)|Licchavi]]s<br />
* [[Madra Kingdom|Madra]]<br />
* [[Magadha|Magadhis]]<br />
* [[Malavas]]<br />
* [[Malla (tribe)|Mallaka]]s<br />
* [[Matsya (tribe)|Mātsyeya]]s<br />
* [[Moriya (tribe)|Moriya]]<br />
* [[Nishadha Kingdom|Nishadhas]]<br />
* [[Odra Kingdom|Odra]]<br />
* [[Pakthas]]<br />
* [[Panchala]]<br />
* [[Pundra Kingdom|Paundra]]<br />
* [[Puru (Vedic tribe)|Puru]]<br />
* [[Salva (India)|Salva]]<br />
* [[Salwa Kingdom|Salwa]]<br />
* [[Saraswata Kingdom|Saraswata]]<br />
* [[Sindhu-Sauvīra|Sauvira]]<br />
* [[Shakya]]<br />
* [[Sindhu-Sauvīra|Sindhu]]<br />
* [[Sudra Kingdom|Sudra]]<br />
* [[Surasena]]<br />
* [[Trigarta Kingdom|Trigarta]]<br />
* [[Utkala Kingdom|Utkala]]<br />
* [[Vanga Kingdom|Vanga]]<br />
* [[Vatsa]]<br />
* [[Vidarbha Kingdom|Vidarbha]]<br />
* [[Videha]]<br />
* [[Yadava]]<br />
* [[Yadu]]<br />
{{div col end}}<br />
<br />
== Contemporary Indo-Aryan people ==<br />
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}<br />
* [[Assamese people]]<br />
* [[Awadhi people]]<br />
* [[Banjara|Banjara people]]<br />
* [[Bengali people]]<br />
* [[Bhil people]]<br />
* [[Bhojpuri people]] <br />
* [[Bishnupriya Manipuri people]]<br />
* [[Brokpa|Brokpa people]]<br />
* [[Chakma people]]<br />
* [[Deccani people]]<br />
* [[Dhivehi people]]<br />
* [[Dogra people]]<br />
* [[Garhwali people]]<br />
* [[Gujarati people]]<br />
* [[Halba (tribe)|Halba people]]<br />
* [[Haryanvi people]]<br />
* [[Jaunsari people]]<br />
* [[Kalash people]]<br />
* [[Kashmiri people]]<br />
* [[Khas people]]<br />
* [[Kho people]]<br />
* [[Kohistani people]]<br />
* [[Konkani people]]<br />
* [[Kumauni people]]<br />
* [[Kutchi people]]<br />
* [[Magahi people]] <br />
* [[Muhajir (Pakistan)|Muhajir people]]<br />
* [[Maithils|Maithil people]]<br />
* [[Marathi people]]<br />
* [[Marwari people]]<br />
* [[Nagpuria people]]<br />
* [[Odia people]]<br />
* [[Pashayi people]]<br />
* [[Punjabi people]]<br />
* [[Rajasthani people]]<br />
* [[Romani people]]<br />
* [[Rohingya people]]<br />
* [[Sadan people]]<br />
* [[Saraiki people]]<br />
* [[Saurashtra people]]<br />
* [[Shina people]]<br />
* [[Sindhi people]]<br />
* [[Sinhalese people]]<br />
* [[Tharu people]]<br />
* [[Thori (tribe)|Thori people]]<br />
* [[Warli|Warli people]]<br />
{{div col end}}<br />
<br />
== See also ==<br />
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}<br />
*[[Proto-Indo-Europeans]]<br />
*[[Indo-Iranians]]<br />
*[[Dardic peoples]]<br />
*[[Aryan]]<br />
*[[Indo-Aryan languages]]<br />
*[[Indo-Aryan migrations]]<br />
*[[Indigenous Aryanism]]<br />
*[[Aryan race]]<br />
*[[Aryavarta]]<br />
*[[Dasa]]<br />
*[[Dravidian peoples]]<br />
*''[[Early Indians]]''<br />
*[[Indian diaspora]]<br />
{{div col end}}<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
== Sources ==<br />
{{refbegin|40em}}<br />
<!-- A --><br />
* {{cite book |last = Anthony | first = David W. |year = 2007 |title = The Horse The Wheel And Language. How Bronze-Age Riders From the Eurasian Steppes Shaped The Modern World | publisher = Princeton University Press }}<br />
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* {{cite book |last=Beckwith |first=Christopher I. |author-link = Christopher I. Beckwith |title= Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-Ue8BxLEMt4C |date=16 March 2009 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=978-1400829941 |access-date=30 December 2014 }}<br />
* {{Cite book| last=Bryant | first=Edwin | author-link=Edwin Bryant (author) | title=The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2001 | isbn=0-19-513777-9}}<br />
<!-- E --><br />
* {{Citation | editor-last =Erdosy | editor-first =George | year =2012 | title = The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity | publisher =Walter de Gruyter}}<br />
<!-- F --><br />
* {{Citation | last =Fosse | first =Lars Martin | year =2005 | chapter =ARYAN PAST AND POST-COLONIAL PRESENT. The polemics and politics of indigenous Aryanism | editor-last1 =Bryant | editor-first1 =Edwin | editor-last2 =Patton | editor-first2 = Laurie L. | title =The Indo-Aryan Controversy. Evidence and inference in Indian history | publisher =Routledge }}<br />
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* {{Citation | last =Guha | first =Sudeshna | year =2007 | title =Review. Reviewed Work: The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History by Edwin F. Bryant, Laurie Patton | journal = Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |series=Third Series |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=340–343 | doi =10.1017/S135618630700733X | s2cid =163092658 }}<br />
<!-- J --><br />
* {{cite journal | last =Jamison | first =Stephanie W. | title =The Indo-Aryan controversy: Evidence and inference in Indian history (Book review) |url=http://www.safarmer.com/Indo-Eurasian/Bryant_Patton.review.pdf |journal=Journal of Indo-European Studies | volume =34 | year=2006 |pages=255–261 }}<br />
<!-- K --><br />
* {{citation |last=Kuz'mina |first=Elena Efimovna |author-link=Elena Efimovna Kuzmina |editor=J. P. Mallory |editor-link=J. P. Mallory |title = The Origin of the Indo-Iranians |publisher=Brill |year=2007 |isbn=978-9004160545 }}<br />
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* {{cite book |last1=Loewe |first1=Michael |last2=Shaughnessy |first2=Edward L. |author-link1=Michael Loewe |author-link2=Edward L. Shaughnessy |title=The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=cHA7Ey0-pbEC |year=1999 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=0-5214-7030-7 |pages=87–88 |access-date=1 November 2013 }}<br />
<!-- M --><br />
* Mallory, JP. 1998. "A European Perspective on Indo-Europeans in Asia". In ''The Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Peoples of Eastern and Central Asia''. Ed. Mair. Washington DC: Institute for the Study of Man.<br />
<!-- N --><br />
* {{Citation | last1 =Narasimhan | first1 =Vagheesh M. | last2 =Patterson | first2 = N.J. |last3=Moorjani|first3=Priya|last4=Rohland|first4=Nadin| display-authors =etal | year =2019 | title = The Formation of Human Populations in South and Central Asia | journal =Science | volume =365 | issue =6457 | page = 7487 | url = https://scholar.harvard.edu/vagheesh/centralsouthasia| doi =10.1126/science.aat7487 | pmid =31488661 | pmc =6822619 | ref={{sfnref|Narasimhan et al.|2009}}}}<br />
<!-- R --><br />
* {{citation | last1=Reich | first1=David | year=2009 | last2=Thangaraj | first2=Kumarasamy | last3=Patterson| first3=Nick | last4=Price| first4=Alkes L.| last5=Singh| first5=Lalji | title = Reconstructing Indian population history | journal=Nature | volume=461 | issue=7263| pages=489–494 | issn=0028-0836 | doi=10.1038/nature08365 | pmid=19779445 | pmc=2842210 | bibcode= 2009Natur.461..489R | ref={{sfnref|Reich et al.|2009}} }}<br />
<!-- T --><br />
* Trubachov, Oleg N., 1999: Indoarica, Nauka, Moscow.<br />
<!-- W --><br />
* {{Citation | last = Witzel | first = Michael | title = Autochthonous Aryans? The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts | journal = Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=1–115 |year=2001 | url = http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/EJVS-7-3.pdf }}<br />
* {{Citation | last = Witzel | first = Michael | year =2005 | chapter = Indocentrism | editor1-last = Bryant | editor1-first = Edwin | editor2-last = Patton | editor2-first = Laurie L. | title = The Indo-Aryan Controversy. Evidence and inference in Indian history | publisher = Routledge | url = https://archive.org/details/EdwinBryantLauriePattonIndoAryanControversyEvidenceAndInferenceInIndianHistoryRoutledge2005 }}<br />
{{refend}}<br />
<br />
== External links ==<br />
*[http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/RAJARAM/Har1.pdf Horseplay at Harappa – People Fas Harvard – Harvard University] (PDF)<br />
*[http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl1723/17231220.htm A tale of two horses] – ''[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]]''<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Indo-Aryan Peoples}}<br />
[[Category:Indo-Aryan peoples| ]]<br />
[[Category:Indo-European peoples]]<br />
[[Category:Modern Indo-European peoples| ]]<br />
[[Category:Ancient peoples of India]]<br />
[[Category:Ancient peoples of Pakistan]]<br />
[[Category:Ancient peoples of Nepal]]</div>WikiDwarfBOT