due to the lack of evidence for the use of arya as an ethnocultural self-
designation outside the Indo-Iranian world.[29]
Contemporary scholarship
In contemporary scholarship, the terms 'Aryan' and 'Proto-Aryan' are
still sometimes used to designate the prehistoric Indo-Iranian peoples
and their proto-language. However, the use of 'Aryan' to mean 'Proto-
Indo-European' is now regarded as an "aberration to be
avoided".[87] The 'Indo-Iranian' subfamily of languages – which
encompasses the Indo-Aryan, Iranian, and Nuristani branches – may
also be referred to as the 'Aryan languages'.[88][43][29]
However, the atrocities committed in the name of Aryanist racial
ideologies during the first part of the 20th century have led academics
to generally avoid the term 'Aryan', which has been replaced in most
cases by 'Indo-Iranian', although its Indic branch is still called 'Indo-
Aryan'.[89][90][16] The name 'Iranian', which stems from the Old
Persian * Aryānām , also continues to be used to refer to
specific ethnolinguistic groups.[20]
Indo-Aryan refers to the populations speaking an Indo-Aryan
language or identifying as Indo-Aryan; they form the predominant
group in Northern India.[91] The largest Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic
groups are Hindi–
Urdu, Bengali, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Rajasthani, Bhojpuri, Ma
ithili, Odia, and Sindhi. More than 900 million people are native
speakers of an Indo-Aryan language.[92]
Iranian (or Iranic) is used to designate the speakers of Iranian
languages or the peoples who identify as "Iranians", especially
in Greater Iran. Modern Iranian ethnolinguistic groups
include Persians, Pashtuns, Kurds, Tajiks, Balochs, Lurs, Pamiris, Za