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Concept
Aryan
Summary
Aryan or Arya (ˈɛəriən; Indo-Iranian arya) is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (an-arya). In Ancient India, the term ā́rya was used by the Indo-Aryan speakers of the Vedic period as an endonym (self-designation) and in reference to a region known as Āryāvarta ('abode of the Aryas'), where the Indo-Aryan culture emerged. In the Avesta scriptures, ancient Iranian peoples similarly used the term airya to designate themselves as an ethnic group, and in reference to their mythical homeland, Airyanǝm Vaēǰō ('expanse of the Aryas' or 'stretch of the Aryas'). The stem also forms the etymological source of place names such as Iran (Aryānām) and Alania (Aryāna-).
Although the stem arya may be of Proto-Indo-European (PIE) origin, its use as an ethnocultural self-designation is only attested among Indo-Iranian peoples, and it is not known if PIE speakers had a term to designate themselves as 'Proto-Indo-Europeans'. In any case, scholars point out that, even in ancient times, the idea of being an Aryan was religious, cultural, and linguistic, not racial.
In the 1850s, the term 'Aryan' was adopted as a racial category by French writer Arthur de Gobineau, who, through the later works of Houston Stewart Chamberlain, influenced the Nazi racial ideology. Under Nazi rule (1933–1945), the term applied to most inhabitants of Germany excluding Jews, Roma, and Slavs such as Czechs, Poles or Russians. Those classified as 'non-Aryans,' especially Jews, were discriminated against before suffering the systematic mass killing known as the Holocaust. The atrocities committed in the name of Aryanist supremacist ideologies have led academics to generally avoid the term 'Aryan', which has been replaced in most cases by 'Indo-Iranian', although the South Asian branch is still known as 'Indo-Aryan'.
The term Arya was first rendered into a modern European language in 1771 as Aryens by French Indologist Abraham-Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron, who rightly compared the Greek arioi with the Avestan airya and the country name Iran.
Official source
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