Historical Background Of Aryan Race & Relation
Of The Clan with them
Etymology
One of the earliest epigraphically attested
reference to the word arya occurs in the 6th-century BC Behistun
inscription, which describes itself as having been composed
"in arya [language or script]" (§ 70). As is also the case for all other
Old Iranian language usage, the arya of the inscription does not
signify anything but "Iranian".[17]
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. A German translation of
Anquetil-Duperron's work led to the introduction of the term Arier in
1776.[18] The Sanskrit word ā́rya is rendered as 'noble' in William Jones'
1794 translation of the Indian Laws of Manu ,[18] and the
English Aryan (originally spelt Arian ) appeared a few decades later, first
as an adjective in 1839, then as a noun in 1851.[19]
Indo-Iranian
The Sanskrit word ā́rya (आर्य) was originally an ethnocultural term
designating those who spoke Vedic Sanskrit and adhered to Vedic
cultural norms (including religious rituals and poetry), in contrast to an