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Aryan race

The 4th edition of Meyers Konversationslexikon (Leipzig, 1885-1890) shows the Caucasian race (in blue) as being made up of Aryans, Semites and Hamites. Aryans are further split into European Aryans and Indo-Aryans. The people called "Indo-Aryans" on this 1890 map are today known as Indo-Iranians, and "Indo-Aryan" is only used today for those Indo-Iranians from northern India.

The Aryan race is an idea that was formed in the 19th and 20th centuries. The term "Aryan" comes from the Rig Veda, where it described a group of people in ancient Persia and India who spoke an Indo-European language.

The word "Aryan" has been used to describe people of Iranian and Indian descent, but there is no record of Aryans in European history. Later it was used for Germanic peoples because of new ideas about the Aryans.[1][2]

The term Aryan comes from the ancient Sanskrit word ārya. Sanskrit-speaking people used this word to distinguish themselves from other races. The Iranians also used this word, and the name Iran means "land of the Aryans".[3]

The idea of an Aryan race was later used by occult movements like Theosophy; by the Nazis; and by white supremacists.

  1. Merriam-Webster Dictonary: Aryan. Retrieved: 25.07.2016. Url: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Aryan
  2. David W. Anthony (2010): The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World. Princeton University Press. P. 7-10. Retrieved 25.07.2016.
  3. Trautmann, Thomas R. Aryans and British India Yoda Press New Dehli 1997 page xxxii

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