Iran or Persia, which one is correct?

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Arya (Sanskrit ārya; Pāli: ariya) is a term used in Buddhism that can be translated as "noble", "not ordinary", "valuable", "precious",[a] "pure",[2] "rich". Arya in the sense of "noble" or "exalted" is frequently used in Buddhist texts to designate a spiritual warrior or hero.

>> zum Begriff: protosanskrit/ sanskrit, indoeuropäisch: ārya: ā+ā-ra+_-ya: All-es(ā) ((von-Anfang (a) bis-Ende (a) bei-Alldem/All-em(ā/a) )) Er-reichen (â-ra) (((>ā-ra: (deutsch "Aar"):er-reich-en,er-greifen;er-fassen,begreifen;...jagen;morden)(: immer "zweideutig": "+//-")) _-werden(:_-ya: bringen) ((bringen, werden;(bringen-) werden, bringen (-werden) ))

Aryan or Arya (/ˈɛəriən/;[1] 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 ā‌rya 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,[8] 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

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 ā‌rya 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

The Sanskrit word ā‌rya (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 outsider, or an-ā‌rya ('non-Arya').[20][4] By the time of the Buddha (5th–4th century BCE), it took the meaning of 'noble'.[21] In Old Iranian languages, the Avestan term airya (Old Persian ariya) was likewise used as an ethnocultural self-designation by ancient Iranian peoples, in contrast to an an-airya ('non-Arya'). It designated those who belonged to the 'Aryan' (Iranian) ethnic stock, spoke the language and followed the religion of the 'Aryas'.[5][6]

These two terms derive from the reconstructed Proto-Indo-Iranian stem *arya- or *āryo-,[22] which was probably the name used by the prehistoric Indo-Iranian peoples to designate themselves as an ethnocultural group.[2][23][24] The term did not have any racial connotation, which only emerged later in the works of 19th-century Western writers.[9][10][25] According to David W. Anthony, "the Rigveda and Avesta agreed that the essence of their shared parental Indo-Iranian identity was linguistic and ritual, not racial. If a person sacrificed to the right gods in the right way using the correct forms of the traditional hymns and poems, that person was an Aryan."[25]

Since Adolphe Pictet (1799–1875), a number of scholars have proposed to derive the Indo-Iranian stem arya- from the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European (PIE) term *h₂erós or *h₂eryós, variously translated as 'member of one's own group, peer, freeman'; as 'host, guest; kinsman'; or as 'lord, ruler'.[8] However, the proposed Anatolian, Celtic and Germanic cognates are not universally accepted.[26][27] In any case, the Indo-Iranian ethnic connotation is absent from the other Indo-European languages, which rather conceived the possible cognates of *arya- as a social status, and there is no evidence that Proto-Indo-European speakers had a term to refer to themselves as 'Proto-Indo-Europeans'

Early PIE: *h₂erós,[30]

Anatolian: *ʔor-o-, 'peer, freeman',[31]

Hittite: arā-, 'comrade, peer, companion, friend'; arāwa-, 'free from'; arawan(n)i-, 'free, freeman (not being slave)'; natta ara, 'not proper to the community',[23][28][31]

Lycian: arus-, 'citizens'; arawa-, 'freedom',[28][31]

Late PIE: *h₂eryós,[30]

Indo-Iranian: *arya-, 'Aryan, Indo-Iranian',[20][30]

Old Indo-Aryan: árya-, 'Aryan, faithful to the Vedic religion'; aryá-, 'kind, favourable, true, devoted'; arí-, 'faithful; devoted person, ± kinsman';[20][30]

Iranian: *arya-, 'Aryan, Iranian',[32]

Avestan: airya- (pl. aire), 'Aryan, Iranian',[20][33][30]

Old Persian: ariya-, 'Aryan, Iranian',[20][32][28]

Celtic: *aryo-, 'freeman; noble'; or perhaps from *prio- ('first > prominent, eminent'),[34][26][27]

Gaulish: ario-, 'freeman, lord; foremost',[35][36]

Old Irish: aire, 'freeman, chief; noble';[35][36]

Germanic *arjaz, 'noble, distinguished, esteemed',[37]

Old Norse: arjosteʀ, 'foremost, most distinguished'.[35][37][38]

The term *h₂er(y)ós may derive from the PIE verbal root *h₂er-, meaning 'to put together'.[39][28] Oswald Szemerényi has also argued that the stem could be a Near-Eastern loanword from the Ugaritic ary ('kinsmen'),[40] although J. P. Mallory and Douglas Q. Adams find this proposition "hardly compelling".[28] According to them, the original PIE meaning had a clear emphasis on the in-group status of the "freemen" as distinguished from that of outsiders, particularly those captured and incorporated into the group as slaves. In Anatolia, the base word has come to emphasize personal relationship, whereas it took a more ethnic meaning among Indo-Iranians, presumably because most of the unfree (*anarya) who lived among them were captives from other ethnic groups.[28]

Proto-Indo-Iranians

The term *arya was used by Proto-Indo-Iranian speakers to designate themselves as an ethnocultural group, encompassing those who spoke the language and followed the religion of the Aryas (Indo-Iranians), as distinguished from the nearby outsiders known as the *Anarya ('non-Arya').[3][25][24] Indo-Iranians (Aryas) are generally associated with the Sintashta culture (2100–1800 BCE), named after the Sintashta archaeological site in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia.[25][41] Linguistic evidence show that Proto-Indo-Iranian (Proto-Aryan) speakers dwelled in the Eurasian steppe, south of early Uralic tribes; the stem *arya- was notably borrowed into the Pre-Saami language as *orja-, at the origin of oarji ('southwest') and årjel ('Southerner'). The loanword took the meaning 'slave' in other Finno-Permic languages, suggesting conflictual relations between Indo-Iranian and Uralic peoples in prehistoric times.[42][43][44]

The stem is also found in the Indo-Iranian god *Aryaman, translated as 'Arya-spirited', 'Aryanness', or 'Aryanhood'; he was known in Vedic Sanskrit as Aryaman and in Avestan as Airyaman.[45][46][47] The deity was in charge of welfare and the community, and connected with the institution of marriage.[48][47] Through marital ceremonies, one of the functions of Aryaman was to assimilate women from other tribes to the host community.[49] If the Irish heroes Érimón and Airem and the Gaulish personal name Ariomanus are also cognates (i.e. linguistic siblings sharing a common origin), a deity of Proto-Indo-European origin named *h₂eryo-men may also be posite

Vedic Sanskrit speakers viewed the term ā‌rya as a religious–linguistic category, referring to those who spoke the Sanskrit language and adhered to Vedic cultural norms, especially those who worshipped the Vedic gods (Indra and Agni in particular), took part in the sacrifices and festivals, and practiced the art of poetry.[52]

The 'non-Aryas' designated primarily those who were not able to speak the āryā language correctly, the Mleccha or Mṛdhravāc.[53] However, āryā is used only once in the Vedas to designate the language of the texts, the Vedic area being defined in the Kauṣītaki Āraṇyaka as that where the āryā vāc ('Ārya speech') is spoken.[54] Some 35 names of Vedic tribes, chiefs and poets mentioned in the Rigveda were of 'non-Aryan' origin, demonstrating that cultural assimilation to the ā‌rya community was possible, and/or that some 'Aryan' families chose to give 'non-Aryan' names to their newborns.[55][56][57] In the words of Indologist Michael Witzel, the term ārya "does not mean a particular people or even a particular 'racial' group but all those who had joined the tribes speaking Vedic Sanskrit and adhering to their cultural norms (such as ritual, poetry, etc.)".[58]

In later Indian texts and Buddhist sources, ā‌rya took the meaning of 'noble', such as in the terms Āryadésa- ('noble land') for India, Ārya-bhāṣā- ('noble language') for Sanskrit, or āryaka- ('honoured man'), which gave the Pali ayyaka- ('grandfather').[59] The term came to incorporate the idea of a high social status, but was also used as an honorific for the Brahmana or the Buddhist monks. Parallelly, the Mleccha acquired additional meanings that referred to people of lower castes or aliens

Ancient Iran

In the words of scholar Gherardo Gnoli, the Old Iranian airya (Avestan) and ariya (Old Persian) were collective terms denoting the "peoples who were aware of belonging to the one ethnic stock, speaking a common language, and having a religious tradition that centred on the cult of Ahura Mazdā", in contrast to the 'non-Aryas', who are called anairya in Avestan, anaryān in Parthian, and anērān in Middle Persian.[59][33]

By the late 6th–early 5th century BCE, the Achaemenid king Darius the Great and his son Xerxes I described themselves as ariya ('Arya') and ariya čiça ('of Aryan origin'). In the Behistun inscription, authored by Darius during his reign (522 – 486 BCE), the Old Persian language is called ariya, and the Elamite version of the inscription portrays the Zoroastrian deity Ahura Mazdā as the "god of the Aryas" (ura-masda naap harriia-naum).[59][33] In the sacred Avesta scriptures, the stem can also be found in poetic expressions such as the 'glory of the Aryas' (airyanąm xᵛarənō ), the 'most swift-arrowed of the Aryas' (xšviwi išvatəmō airyanąm), associated with the mythical archer Ǝrəxša, or the 'hero of the Aryas' (arša airyanąm), attached to Kavi Haosravō

The self-identifier was inherited in ethnic names such as the Parthian Ary (pl. Aryān), the Middle Persian Ēr (pl. Ēran), or the New Persian Irāni (pl. Irāniyān).[60][32] The Scythian branch has Alān or *Allān (from *Aryāna; modern Allon), Rhoxolāni ('Bright Alans'), Alanorsoi ('White Alans'), and possibly the modern Ossetian Ir (adj. Iron), spelled Irä or Erä in the Digorian dialect.[60][7][61] The Rabatak inscription, written in the Bactrian language in the 2nd century CE, likewise uses the term ariao for 'Iranian'.[33]

The name Arizantoi, listed by Greek historian Herodotus as one of the six tribes composing the Iranian Medes, is derived from the Old Iranian *arya-zantu- ('having Aryan lineage').[62] Herodotus also mentions that the Medes once called themselves Arioi,[63] and Strabo locates the land of Arianē between Persia and India.[citation needed] Other occurrences include the Greek áreion (Damascius), Arianoi (Diodorus Siculus) and arian (pl. arianōn; Sasanian period), as well as the Armenian expression ari (Agathangelos), meaning 'Iranian'.[59][33]

Until the demise of the Parthian Empire (247 BCE–224 CE), the Iranian identity was essentially defined as cultural and religious. Following conflicts between Manichean universalism and Zoroastrian nationalism during the 3rd century CE, however, traditionalistic and nationalistic movements eventually took the upper hand during the Sasanian period, and the Iranian identity (ērīh) came to assume a definite political value. Among Iranians (ērān), one ethnic group in particular, the Persians, were placed at the centre of the Ērān-šahr ('Kingdom of the Iranians') ruled by the šāhān-šāh ērān ud anērān ('King of Kings of the Iranians and non-Iranians').

دانشفر زرتشت ستودِ KFP:

Ethical and ethnic meanings may also intertwine, for instance in the use of anēr ('non-Iranian') as a synonymous of 'evil' in anērīh ī hrōmāyīkān ("the evil conduct of the Romans, i.e. Byzantines"), or in the association of ēr ('Iranian') with good birth (hutōhmaktom ēr martōm, 'the best-born Arya man') and the use of ērīh ('Iranianness') to mean 'nobility' against "labor and burdens from poverty" in the 10th-century Dēnkard.[59] The Indian opposition between ārya- ('noble') and dāsá- ('stranger, slave, enemy') is however absent from the Iranian tradition.[59] According to linguist Émile Benveniste, the root *das- may have been used exclusively as a collective name by Iranian peoples: "If the word referred at first to Iranian society, the name by which this enemy people called themselves collectively took on a hostile connotation and became for the Aryas of India the term for an inferior and barbarous people

Place names

In ancient Sanskrit literature, the term Āryāvarta (आर्यावर्त, the 'abode of the Aryas') was the name given to the cradle of the Indo-Aryan culture in northern India. The Manusmṛiti locates Āryāvarta in "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the Eastern (Bay of Bengal) to the Western Sea (Arabian Sea)".[65]

The stem airya- also appears in Airyanəm Waēǰō (the 'stretch of the Aryas' or the 'Aryan plain'), which is described in the Avesta as the mythical homeland of the early Iranians, said to have been created as "the first and best of places and habitations" by the god Ahura Mazdā. It was referred to in Manichean Sogdian as ʾryʾn wyžn (Aryān Wēžan), and in Old Persian as *Aryānām Waiǰah, which gave the Middle Persian Ērān-wēž, said to be the region where the first cattle were created and where Zaraθuštra first revealed the Good Religion.[59][66] The Sasanian Empire, officially named Ērān-šahr ('Kingdom of the Iranians'; from Old Persian *Aryānām Xšaθram),[67] could also be referred to by the abbreviated form Ērān, as distinguished from the Roman West known as Anērān. The western variant Īrān, abbreviated from Īrān-šahr, is at the origin of the English country name Iran.[20][59][68]

Alania, the name of the medieval kingdom of the Alans, derives from a dialectal variant of the Old Iranian stem *Aryāna-, which is also linked to the mythical Airyanem Waēǰō.[69][7][61] Besides the ala- development, *air-y- may have turned into the stem ir-y- via an i-mutation in modern Ossetian languages, as in the place name Iryston (Ossetia), here attached to the Iranian suffix *-stān.[59][70]

Other place names mentioned in the Avesta include airyō šayana, a movable term corresponding to the 'territory of the Aryas', airyanąm dahyunąm, the 'lands of the Aryas', Airyō-xšuθa, a mountain in eastern Iran associated with Ǝrəxša, and vīspe aire razuraya, the forest where Kavi Haosravō slew the god Vāyu.[59][66]

Personal names

Main articles: Arya (name) and Aryan (name)

Old Persian names derived the stem *arya- include Aryabignes (*arya-bigna, 'Gift of the Aryans'), Ariarathes (*Arya-wratha-, 'having Aryan joy'), Ariobarzanēs (*Ārya-bṛzāna-, 'exalting the Aryans'), Ariaios (*arya-ai-, probably used as a hypocorism of the precedent names), or Ariyāramna (whose meaning remains unclear).[71] The English Alan and the French Alain (from Latin Alanus) may have been introduced by Alan settlers to Western Europe during the first millennium CE.[72]

The name Aryan (including derivatives such as Aaryan, Arya, Ariyan or Aria) is still used as a given name or surname in modern South Asia and Iran. There has also been a rise in names associated with Aryan in the West, which have been popularized due to pop culture. According to the U.S. Social Security Administration in 2012, Arya was the fastest-rising girl's name in popularity in the U.S., jumping from 711th to 413th position.[73] The name entered the top 200 most commonly used names for baby girls born in England and Wales in 2017

In Latin literature

The word Arianus was used to designate Ariana,[75] the area comprising Afghanistan, Iran, North-western India and Pakistan.[76] In 1601, Philemon Holland used 'Arianes' in his translation of the Latin Arianus to designate the inhabitants of Ariana. This was the first use of the form Arian verbatim in the English language

19th and early 20th century

The term 'Aryan' was initially introduced into the English language through works of comparative philology, as a modern rendering of the Sanskrit word ā‌rya. First translated as 'noble' in William Jones' 1794 translation of the Laws of Manu, early-19th-century scholars later noticed that the term was used in the earliest Vedas as an ethnocultural self-designation "comprising the worshipers of the gods of the Brahmans".[79][18] This interpretation was simultaneously influenced by the presence of the word Ἀριάνης (Ancient Greek) ~ Arianes (Latin) in classical texts, which had been rightly compared by Anquetil-Duperron in 1771 to the Iranian airya (Avestan) ~ ariya (Old Persian), a self-identifier used by the speakers of Iranian languages since ancient times. Accordingly, the term 'Aryan' came to refer in scholarship to the Indo-Iranian languages, and, by extension, to the native speakers of the Proto-Indo-Iranian language, the prehistoric Indo-Iranian peoples.[84]

During the 19th century, through the works of Friedrich Schlegel (1772–1829), Christian Lassen (1800–1876), Adolphe Pictet (1799–1875), and Max Müller (1823–1900), the terms Aryans, Arier, and Aryens came to be adopted by a number of Western scholars as a synonym of '(Proto-)Indo-Europeans'.[85] Many of them indeed believed that Aryan was also the original self-designation used by the prehistoric speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language, based on the erroneous assumptions that Sanskrit was the oldest Indo-European language and on the linguistically untenable position that Ériu (Ireland) was related to Arya.[86] This hypothesis has since been abandoned in scholarship 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, Maithili, 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, Zazas, and Ossetians. An estimated 150 to 200 million people are native speakers of an Iranian language.[93]

Some authors writing for popular consumption have kept on using the word "Aryan" for all Indo-Europeans in the tradition of H. G. Wells,[94][95] such as the science fiction author Poul Anderson,[96] and scientists writing for the popular media, such as Colin Renfrew.[97] According to F. B. J. Kuiper, echoes of "the 19th century prejudice about 'northern' Aryans who were confronted on Indian soil with black barbarians [...] can still be heard in some modern studies."

Arya, also spelled Aarya or Ariya (Sanskrit: आर्य/आर्या ārya/āryā; Old Persian: 𐎠𐎼𐎡𐎹 Persian: آریا ariya) or as Aryo or Ario, is an Indo-Iranian name. The Sanskrit word Arya is a surname and a masculine (आर्य ārya) and feminine (आर्या āryā) given name, signifying "honorable" or "noble".[3][4][5] In India and Iran it is a popular masculine given name and a popular surname. In the historically Indianized country of Cambodia, it is usually a name given to girls. In Indonesia, Arya is also commonly used as a masculine given name, usually in Java, Bali, and other places. In Javanese it becomes Aryo, Ario, or Aryono. It is a common name amongst Hindus and Muslims.

Notable persons

From India

Arya Bhatta (476–550), Indian mathematician

Aditi Arya (born 1993), Indian model

Aditya Arya, Indian photographer

Arya (actor) (born 1980), south Indian actor

Aarya Ambekar (born 1994), Marathi playback singer

Aarya Babbar (born 1981), Indian actor

Arya Gopi, Indian Malayalam-language poet

Arya Rohit, Indian actress

A. S. Arya, Indian structural engineer

Anita Arya, Indian politician from the BJP

Chaudhari Kumbharam Arya (1914–1995), Indian freedom fighter and popular leader

Ishan Arya, Indian cinematographer and producer

Mangilal Arya (1918–1992), Indian freedom fighter and social reformer

Satyadeo Narain Arya, Indian politician from Bihar

Shraddha Arya, Indian actress from the Telugu film industry

Shubhavi Arya (born 1998), Indian animator

S. N. Arya, Indian physician and writer

S. P. Y. Surendranath Arya, Indian independence activist

Yashpal Arya, Indian politician from the National Congress

From Indonesia

Arya Penangsang, Sultan of Demak (1549–1554)

Ario Soerjo (1898–1948), murdered Indonesian politician

Arya Maulana Aldiartama (born 1995), Indonesian badminton player

I Ngurah Komang Arya (born 1985), Indonesian footballer

Aryo Danusiri, Indonesian film director

Aryo Djojohadikusumo, Indonesian politician

Bima Arya (born 1972), Indonesian politician

From Iran

Aryo Barzan, an Achaemenid prince who was born in 368 BC and died in 330 BC

Aryandes, satrap of Persian Egypt

Ariamnes, satrap of Cappadocia

Ariyāramna, a minor king in pre-imperial Persia (Pars region) and great-grandfather of Darius I

Ariobarzanes I of Media Atropatene, ruled from 65 BC to 56 BC

Ariobarzanes II of Atropatene, grandson of Ariobarzanes I, king of Media Atropatene from 20 BC to 8 BC

Ariobarzanes I of Cappadocia, king of Cappadocia from 93 BC to ca. 63 or 62 BC

Akram Monfared Arya (born 1946), first Iranian female pilot

Fatemeh Motamed-Arya (born 1961), Iranian actress

Arya Aramnejad (born 1983), Iranian singer

Arya Aziminejad (born 1973), Iranian composer

Arya Nasimi-Shad (born 1999), Iranian swimmer

Ariya Daivari (born 1989), Iranian-American professional wrestler

From other origins

Arya Mitra Sharma (born 1959), German doctor

Chandra Arya, Canadian politician

Airyanem Vaejah (Avestan: Airyanəm Vaēǰah; Pahlavi: Ērān-wēz; Persian: Irānwēj; Parthian: Aryānwēžan, 'expanse[note 1] of the Aryans') is considered in Zoroastrianism to be the homeland of the early Iranians and the place where Zarathustra received the religion from Ahura Mazda.[1] The Avesta also names it as the first of the "sixteen perfect lands" that Ahura Mazda created for the Iranians.[2]

Based on these descriptions, modern scholarship initially foccused on Airyanem Vaejah in an attempt to determine the homeland of the Iranian peoples in general.[3] Among these early attempts, the region of Khwarezm emerged as a likely locale.[4] More recent scholarship, however, no longer agrees as to where Airyanem Vaejah might have been located or to what extent it is a mythological rather than a specific historical place.

Etymology and related words

The Avestan Airyanəm Vaējah and the Pahlavi: Ērān-wēz are compound terms where the first part is the adjective of Avestan airiia or genitive plural of Middle Persian ēr, respectively.[8][9] Both these terms derive from a reconstructed Old Iranian term *āryah. This word also appears in Vedic Sanskrit ārya as the self designation of the people of the Vedas.[10] Within the context of Iran, however, the term *āryah and its derivatives in other Iranian languages simply mean Iranian.[11] However, the exact meaning of the second part vaējah or wēz is uncertain.[8] Friedrich Carl Andreas derives it from a hypothetical Old Iranian *vyacah which he connects to Vedic Sanskrit vyacas "territory, region".[12] On the other hand, Émile Benveniste connects it to the Avestan term vaig (brandish, throw (a weapon)) which would be cognate to Vedic Sanskrit vega (vehement movement, irruption, flow) and, therefore, would give vaējah the meaning of "extent" or "expanse".[13] It may also be related to Vedic Sanskrit vej/vij (to move with a quick darting motion, speed, heave (said of waves)), suggesting the region of a fast-flowing river.[14]

Zoroastrian tradition knows at least two other terms that associate the Iranian people with a geographical region. The first is found in the Avesta specifically in the Mihr Yasht. Vers Yt. 10.13 describes how Mithra reaches Mount Hara and overlooks the Airyoshayana (Avestan: airyō.šayana, 'Iranian lands'). This term is usually interpreted to refer to the entire land inhabited by Iranians which would make it an umbrella term for the Iranian regions mentioned in the following verse Yt. 10.14.[15] However, Gherardo Gnoli notes the ambiguity of the text, such that Airyoshayana, like Airyanem Vaejah, may only refer to a specific country, one that occupies a prominent place among the Iranian countries from verses Yt. 10.13-14.[16] The second term is the Pahlavi Ērān-shahr (𐭠𐭩𐭥𐭠𐭭𐭱𐭲𐭥𐭩) and Ērān (𐭠𐭩𐭥𐭠𐭭). This word is the origin of the Modern Iranian term Iran. However, a possible Old Iranian origin *aryānām xšaθra- has not been established and the term may be an innovation of the Sassanians.[9]

When investigating the historical reality behind Airyanem Vaejah, modern scholarship is faced with the fact that many references appear in a clearly mythical context, while others may point to a specific historical location.[25][26] Airyanem Vaejah has, therefore, been compared to Mount Hara, a mountain that both appears in Zoroastrian mythology and has been variously identified with real geographical locations.[27] Modern scholarship is thus trying to distinguish between these mythical and historical elements in the Zoroastrian sources and to find out how the early Iranians conceived of their world in each respective context.[20][28]

Since the Bundahishn (29.12) specifically places Airyanem Vaejah near Adarbaygan, it is clear that during Sassanian times Iranians believed it to be located in Western Iran.[8] Some early modern scholars tended to accept this localisation, assuming that it also reflected the understanding of Iranians at the much earlier time of the Avesta, i.e., the time when the earliest sources were produced.[29] However, this notion has been criticised due to the observation that all place names in the Avesta that can be reliably identified with modern places are found in the eastern and northeastern part of Greater Iran.[30] As a result, more recent scholarship mostly favours an eastern localisation of Airyanem Vaejah.[31]

One hypothesis that has attracted considerable interest identifies Airyanem Vaejah with Khwarezm.[32] It was proposed early on by Wilhelm Geiger[33] and Josef Markwart[34] and a number of arguments have been voiced in its favor over the years. First, Airyanem Vaejah is described as having long and cold winters and Khwarezm is among the coldest regions of Greater Iran.[35] Next, Airyanem Vaejah is described as the original homeland of the Iranians and Khwarezm has been proposed as an early center of Iranian civilization.[36] This point has been widely discussed within the search for "the traditional homeland" or "the ancient homeland" of the Iranians, perpetuating interpretations of the Airyanem Vaejah as Urheimat des Awestavolkes, Urland of the Indo-Iranians[37] or the Wiege aller iranischen Arier.[38] Another argument builds on a comparison between the list of Iranian countries in the Vendidad (Vd. 1.1.-1.19) and the Mihr Yasht (Yt. 10.13-14). As Christensen has argued, the place occupied by Khwarezm in the Mihr Yasht seems to be occupied by Airyanem Vaejah in the Vendidad.[39] Taken together, these reasons have made the Khwarezm hypothesis very popular and scholars like Mary Boyce,[40] Nasser Takmil Homayoun, [41] and Elton L. Daniel[42] have endorsed it more recently.

However, this hypothesis has also seen a number of criticisms and counter proposals. For instance, Vogelsang has noted that the notion of Khwarezm as an important center of early Iranian civilization is not substantiated by recent evidence and places Airyanem Vaejah in the general region of Transoxiania.[43] Frantz Grenet has interpreted the cold of Airyanem Vaejah as referring to a mountainious rather than a northern region and places it in the upper course of the Oxus river at the pre-Pamirian highlands.[44] According to Michael Witzel, however, Airyanem Vaejah lies at the center of the 16 lands mentioned in the Vendidad - an area now in the central Afghan highlands (around Bamyan Province).[45] He also concludes that the idea of finding the "Aryan homeland" in the Avesta should be abandoned and one should rather focus on how both the earlier (Yasht 32.2) and later Avestan texts themselves regarded their own territory.[28] Finally, some scholars like Skjaervo have concluded that the localization of Airyanem Vaejah is insolveable

Early Pahlavi sources have traditionally located many of these countries in the western Iranian regions; a tendency that was followed by much of 20th century scholarship.[10] This changed with the work of Gherardo Gnoli who argued that all place names in the Vendidad are located in the eastern part of Greater Iran, i.e. centered around modern day Afghanistan and Tadjikistan.[11] Since then, a number of revisions of Gnoli's work have been proposed, often attempting to derive the position of the more uncertain place names from an assumed arrangement according to which countries appear in the list.[12][13][14] The following list presents these place names and discusses the different localization attempts made by scholars throughout the years:

Airyanem Vaejah, by the good river Daitya (airiianəm vaẽjō vahuii dåitiiaii): The identity of both Airyanem Vaejah and the river Daitya are not universally agreed upon. Iranian sources have traditionally located Aryanem Vaejah in around Azerbaijan, a hypothesis that was shared, e.g., by James Darmesteter.[15] In contrast, historians such as Walter Bruno Henning,[16] Josef Markwart,[17] and Mary Boyce believe its location to be in Chorasmia or northeast Iran around the Aral Sea and the Oxus River. Yet according to Michael Witzel, Airyanem Vaejah should be located at the center of the sixteen lands,[18] specifically in what are now the central Afghan highlands (around modern Bamyan Province).[19] One of arguments in favor of locating Airyanem Vaejah in central Afghanistan is that a mountainous region explains its severe climate (Vd. 1.2.3) better than does its supposed location in Chorasmia.[20] According to Gnoli,[21] it was situated between the Helmand River and the Hindu Kush Mountains, while historians like Skjaervo have declared the localization of Airyanem Vaejah to be insolveable

The Fravardin Yasht is the longest of the Yashts and is dedicated to the veneration of the Fravashi, a unique Zoroastrian concept similar to and connected with the concept of the soul (urvan). In Yt. 13.143-44, the Fravashi of the righteous living in the lands of five different peoples are praised:

We worship the Fravashis of the holy men in the Aryan countries;

We worship the Fravashis of the holy women in the Aryan countries.

We worship the Fravashis of the holy men in the Turanian countries;

We worship the Fravashis of the holy women in the Turanian countries.

We worship the Fravashis of the holy men in the Sairimyan countries;

We worship the Fravashis of the holy women in the Sairimyan countries

The Arya (airiia, 'Iranians') are the main ethnic group mentioned in the Avesta, where they are typically equated with the Zoroastrian community in general. This ethnic epithet appears both in the Avesta as well as in early Iranian history as the self designation of the Iranian people.[63][64] This interpretation is, however, context specific, since all people mentioned in the Avesta appear to be speakers of Iranian languages and would therefore be Iranian in a linguistic sense.[65] Moreover, the term Arya (Sanskrit: ārya) also appears in ancient India as the self-designation of the people of the Vedas. The Arya of the Vedas show many similarities with the Arya of the Avesta and must have formed a single people at one point.[66] Their relationship at the time of the Avesta is, however, unknown.

The Turya (tūiriia, 'Turanians') are the second major ethnic group mentioned in the Avesta. They are commonly known as the Turanians from later Pahlavi sources as well as Iranian legend. While some Turanians in the Fravardin Yasht are depicted as faithful followers of Ahura Mazda, most passages in the Avesta as well as later Iranian tradition depicts them in a consistently antagonistic role. Their homeland is typically located in Transoxiania. After Turkic peoples began to spread in Central Asia, the term Turanian was increasingly applied to them.[67] Regardless, the Turanians at the time of the Avesta were Iranian.

Aria was a general geographical term used by some Greek and Roman authors of the ancient period for a district of wide extent between Central Asia[1] and the Indus River,[2] comprising the eastern provinces of the Achaemenid Empire[3] that covered the whole of modern-day Afghanistan, as well as the easternmost part of Iran and up to the Indus River in Pakistan.[4][5] Ariana is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek Ἀρ(ε)ιανή Ar(e)ianē (inhabitants: Ariani; Ἀρ(ε)ιανοί Ar(e)ianoi),[6] originating from the Old Persian word Ariyanem (Ariana) meaning 'the Land of the Aryans', similar to the use of Āryāvarta.

At various times, various parts of the region were governed by the Persians (the Achaemenids from 550 to 330 BC, the Sasanians from 275 to 650 AD and the Kushano-Sasanians from 345 to 450 AD), the Macedonians, the Seleucids from 330 to 305 BC, the Maurya Empire from 305 BC to 184 BC, then the Greco-Bactrians from and the Indo-Greeks from 155 to 90 BC), the Indo-Scythians from 90 BC to 20 AD, the Parthians from 160 BC to 225 AD including the Indo-Parthians from 20 to 225 AD and the Kushans from 110 BC to 225 AD, the Xionites (the Kidarites from 360 to 465 AD and the Hephthalites from 450 to 565 AD) and various other Huna peoples.

The Greek term Arianē (Latin: Ariana), a term found in Iranian Avestan Airiiana- (especially in Airyanem Vaejah, the name of the Iranian peoples' mother country).[2] The modern name Iran represents a different form of the ancient name Ariana, which was derived from Airyanem Vaejah and implies that Iran is the Ariana itself, a word that is found in Haxamaneshian language,[7] a view supported by the traditions of the country preserved in the Muslim writers in the 9th and the 10th centuries.[8] The Greeks also referred to Haroyum/Haraiva (Herat) as Aria, which is one of the many provinces found in Ariana.[9][10][11]

The names Ariana and Aria and many other ancient titles, of which Aria is a component element, are connected with the Avestan term Airya-, and the Old Persian term Ariya-, a self-designation of the peoples of Ancient Iran[12] and Ancient India, meaning 'noble', 'excellent' and 'honourable'