Migration of Aryans

The authors of the Vedic hymns were the Aryans. But who were the Aryans? In the 19th century, Aryans were considered a race. Now it is thought of as a linguistic group of people who spoke Indo-European language from which later emerged Sanskrit, Latin, and Greek.

This is reflected from the words in these languages which are similar in sound and meaning. Thus, the Sanskrit words matri and pitri are similar to the Latin mater and pater. Similarly, Inar of the Hittite (Turkey) language is similar to Indra of the Vedas. Suryyas and Maruttash of the Kassite (Mesopotamia) inscriptions are equivalent of the Vedic Surya and Marut.

Originally the Aryans seem to have lived somewhere in the Steppes stretching from southern Russia to Central Asia. From here, a group of them migrated to northwest India and came to be called Indo-Aryans or just Aryans. The archaeological evidence of migrations comes from what is known as Andronovo Culture situated in southern Siberia. This Culture flourished in the second millennium BC. From here people moved to north of Hindukush (the area known as Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex) and from here they entered India.

During the period between 1900 BC and 1500 BC we get, in these regions, evidence of horses, spoked wheels, fire cult and cremation which formed important parts of Aryan life in India. Apart from these, the artifacts and ceramics also suggest movement of people from Central Asian region to South Asian region. Some scholars still argue that the Aryans were the indigenous people of India and that they did not come from outside.

The new people came in several batches spanning several hundred years. All this while interaction between the indigenous inhabitants and the newcomers continued. One of the important results of this process of interaction was that the Vedic form of the Aryan language became predominant in the entire Northwestern India. The texts composed in this language are popularly known as the Vedic Texts.