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Rig Veda
Rig Veda
The hymns of the Rig Veda are considered the oldest and most important of the Vedas, having been composed between 1500 BC and the time of the great Bharata war about 900 BC. More than a thousand hymns are organized into ten mandalas or circles of which the second through the seventh are the oldest and the tenth is the most recent. The Hindu tradition is that even the Vedas were gradually reduced from much more extensive and ancient divine revelations but were perverted in the recent dark age of Kaliyuga. As the only writings from this ancient period of India, they are considered the best source of knowledge we have; but the ethical doctrines seem to have improved from the ancient hymns to the mystical Upanishads.
Essentially the Rig Veda is dominated by hymns praising the Aryan gods for giving them victories and wealth plundered from the local Dasas through warfare. The Aryans apparently used their advances in weaponry and skill in fighting to conquer the agricultural and tribal peoples of the fading Harappan culture. Numerous hymns refer to the use of horses and chariots with spokes which must have given their warriors a tremendous advantage. Spears, bows, arrows, and iron weapons are also mentioned. As a nomadic and pastoral culture glorifying war, they established a new social structure of patriarchal families dominated by warriors and, eventually with the power of the Vedas themselves, by priests also.
The Rig Veda does mention assemblies, but these were probably of the warrior elite, which may have had some controlling influence on the kings and the tribal priest called a purohita. The gods worshiped resemble the Indo-European gods and were headed by the powerful Indra, who is often credited with destroying ninety forts. Also popular was Agni, the fire-god considered a messenger of the gods. Varuna and Mitra, the gods of the night and day sky, have been identified with the Greek Uranos and the Persian Mithras respectively. Dyaus, who is not mentioned nearly as often, has been correlated with the Greek Zeus. Surya the sun-god is referred to as the eye of Varuna and the son of Dyaus and rides through the sky on his chariot led by his twin sons, the Asvins who represent his rays; Ushas the dawn is his wife or daughter. Maruts are storm-gods shaped by Rudra, who may have been one of the few indigenous deities adopted by the Aryans. Like the Iranian Avesta, the Rig Veda refers to the thirty-three gods.
Generally the hymns of the Rig Veda praise the gods and ask them for worldly benefits such as wealth, health, long life, protection, and victory over the Dasa peoples.
He, self-reliant, mighty and triumphant,
brought low the dear head of the wicked Dasas.
Indra the Vritra-slayer, Fort-destroyer,
scattered the Dasa hosts who dwelt in darkness.
For men hath he created earth and waters,
and ever helped the prayer of him who worships.
To him in might the Gods have ever yielded,
to Indra in the tumult of battle.
When in his arms they laid the bolt,
he slaughtered the Dasyus
and cast down their forts of iron.1
They call upon Brihaspati or Brahmanaspati, who has been related to a Hittite thunder-god, to avenge the sinner and protect them from the deceitful and wicked man. The Aryans did have a concept of eternal law called rita, which the immortal Agni in serving the gods is said to never break (Rig Veda III:3:1).
In Rig Veda III:34:9 Indra killed the Dasyus and "gave protection to the Aryan color." Not only did the Aryans shamelessly pray for booty in war, but they based their militarily won supremacy on the lightness of their skin color compared to the dark colors of the native Dasyus. They arrogantly proclaimed, "Let those who have no weapons suffer sorrow." (Rig Veda IV:5:14.)
Renowned is he when conquering and when slaying:
'tis he who wins cattle in the combat.
When Indra hardens his indignation
all that is fixed and all that moves fear him.
Indra has won all kine, all gold, all horses, -
Maghavan, he who breaks forts in pieces;2
Indra is praised for killing thousands of the abject tribes of Dasas with his arrow and taking great vengeance with "murdering weapons." (Rig Veda IV:28:3-4) One hymn mentions sending thirty thousand Dasas "to slumber" and another hymn sixty thousand slain. A hymn dedicated to the weapons of war (Rig Veda VI:75) refers to a warrior "armed with mail," using a bow to win cattle and subdue all regions, "upstanding in the car the skillful charioteer guides his strong horses on whithersoe'er he will." The arrows had iron mouths and shafts "with venom smeared" that "not one be left alive." Hymn VII:83 begins, "Looking to you and your alliance, O ye men, armed with broad axes they went forward, fain for spoil. Ye smote and slew his Dasa and his Aryan enemies."
Only occasionally did the authors of these hymns look to their own sins.
Free us from sins committed by our fathers,
from those wherein we have ourselves offended.
O king, loose, like a thief who feeds the cattle,
as from the cord a calf, set free Vasishtha.
Not our own will betrayed us, but seduction,
thoughtlessness, Varuna! wine, dice or anger.
The old is near to lead astray the younger:
even sleep removes not all evil-doing.3
A hymn to the frogs compares the repetitions of the priests around the soma bowl to the croaking of the frogs around a pond after the rains come. (Rig Veda VII:103)
The basic belief of the prayers and sacrifices is that they will help them to gain their desires and overcome their enemies, as in Rig Veda VIII:31:15: "The man who, sacrificing, strives to win the heart of deities will conquer those who worship not." Some awareness of a higher law seems to be dawning in the eighth book in hymn 75: "The holy law hath quelled even mighty men of war. Break ye not off our friendship, come and set me free." However, the enemies are now identified with the Asuras and still are intimidated by greater weapons: "Weaponless are the Asuras, the godless: scatter them with thy wheel, impetuous hero." (Rig Veda VIII:85:9)
Many of the hymns refer to the intoxicating soma juice, which is squeezed from the mysterious soma plant and drank. All of the hymns of the ninth book of the Rig Veda are dedicated to the purifying soma, which is even credited with making them feel immortal, probably because of its psychedelic influence. The first hymn in this book refers to the "iron-fashioned home" of the Aryans.
In the first book of the Rig Veda the worshipers recognize Agni as the guard of eternal law (I:1:8) and Mitra and Varuna as lovers and cherishers of law who gained their mighty power through law (I:2:8). In the 24th hymn they pray to Varuna, the wise Asura, to loosen the bonds of their sins. However, the prayers for riches continue, and Indra is thanked for winning wealth in horses, cattle, and gold by his chariot. Agni helps to slay the many in war by the hands of the few, "preserving our wealthy patrons with thy succors, and ourselves." (Rig Veda I:31:6, 42) Indra helped win the Aryan victory:
He, much invoked, hath slain Dasyus and Simyus,
after his wont, and laid them low with arrows.
The mighty thunderer with his fair-complexioned friends
won the land, the sunlight, and the waters.4
Control of the waters was essential for agricultural wealth. Indra is praised for crushing the godless races and breaking down their forts. (Rig Veda I:174)
In the tenth and last book of the Rig Veda some new themes are explored, but the Dasyus are still condemned for being "riteless, void of sense, inhuman, keeping alien laws," and Indra still urges the heroes to slay the enemies; his "hand is prompt to rend and burn, O hero thunder-armed: as thou with thy companions didst destroy the whole of Sushna's brood." (Rig Veda X:22)
One unusual hymn is on the subject of gambling with dice. The speaker regrets alienating his wife, wandering homeless in constant fear and debt, envying others' well-ordered homes. He finally warns the listener not to play with dice but recommends cultivating his land. (Rig Veda X:34) Hymn 50 of this most recent last book urges Indra to win riches with valor "in the war for water on their fields." Now the prayer is that "we Gods may quell our Asura foemen." (Rig Veda X:53:4) A wedding ceremony is indicated in a hymn of Surya's bridal, the daughter of the sun. (Rig Veda X:85)
The first indication of the caste system is outlined in the hymn to Purusha, the embodied human spirit, who is one-fourth creature and three-fourths eternal life in heaven.
The Brahmin was his mouth,
of both his arms was the Rajanya made.
His thighs became the Vaisya,
from his feet the Sudra was produced.5
The Brahmin caste was to be the priests and teachers; the Rajanya represents the king, head of the warrior or Kshatriya caste; Vaishyas are the merchants, craftsmen, and farmers; and the Sudras are the workers. In hymn 109 the brahmachari or student is mentioned as engaged in duty as a member of God's own body.
The hymn to liberality is a breath of fresh air:
The riches of the liberal never waste away,
while he who will not give finds none to comfort him.
The man with food in store who,
when the needy comes in miserable case
begging for bread to eat,
Hardens his heart against him -
even when of old he did him service -
find not one to comfort him.6
Yet later we realize that the priests are asking for liberality to support their own services, for the "plowing makes the food that feeds us," and thus a speaking (or paid) Brahmin is better than a silent one.
The power of speech is honored in two hymns.
Where, like men cleansing corn-flour in a cribble,
the wise in spirit have created language,
Friends see and recognize the marks of friendship:
their speech retains the blessed sign imprinted.7
In hymn 125 of the tenth mandala Vak or speech claims to have penetrated earth and heaven, holding together all existence.
A philosophical hymn of creation is found in Rig Veda X:129. Beginning from non-being when nothing existed, not even water nor death, that One breathless breathed by itself. At first this All was concealed by darkness and formless chaos, but by heat (tapas) that One came into existence. Thus arose desire, the primal seed and germ of Spirit. Sages searching in their hearts discovered kinship with the non-existent. A ray of light extended across the darkness, but what was known above or below? Creative fertility was there with energy and action, but who really knows where this creation came from? For the gods came after the world's creation. Who could know the source of this creation and how it was produced? The one seeing it in the highest heaven only knows, or maybe it does not.
The hymns of the Rig Veda are considered the oldest and most important of the Vedas, having been composed between 1500 BC and the time of the great Bharata war about 900 BC. More than a thousand hymns are organized into ten mandalas or circles of which the second through the seventh are the oldest and the tenth is the most recent. The Hindu tradition is that even the Vedas were gradually reduced from much more extensive and ancient divine revelations but were perverted in the recent dark age of Kaliyuga. As the only writings from this ancient period of India, they are considered the best source of knowledge we have; but the ethical doctrines seem to have improved from the ancient hymns to the mystical Upanishads.
Essentially the Rig Veda is dominated by hymns praising the Aryan gods for giving them victories and wealth plundered from the local Dasas through warfare. The Aryans apparently used their advances in weaponry and skill in fighting to conquer the agricultural and tribal peoples of the fading Harappan culture. Numerous hymns refer to the use of horses and chariots with spokes which must have given their warriors a tremendous advantage. Spears, bows, arrows, and iron weapons are also mentioned. As a nomadic and pastoral culture glorifying war, they established a new social structure of patriarchal families dominated by warriors and, eventually with the power of the Vedas themselves, by priests also.
The Rig Veda does mention assemblies, but these were probably of the warrior elite, which may have had some controlling influence on the kings and the tribal priest called a purohita. The gods worshiped resemble the Indo-European gods and were headed by the powerful Indra, who is often credited with destroying ninety forts. Also popular was Agni, the fire-god considered a messenger of the gods. Varuna and Mitra, the gods of the night and day sky, have been identified with the Greek Uranos and the Persian Mithras respectively. Dyaus, who is not mentioned nearly as often, has been correlated with the Greek Zeus. Surya the sun-god is referred to as the eye of Varuna and the son of Dyaus and rides through the sky on his chariot led by his twin sons, the Asvins who represent his rays; Ushas the dawn is his wife or daughter. Maruts are storm-gods shaped by Rudra, who may have been one of the few indigenous deities adopted by the Aryans. Like the Iranian Avesta, the Rig Veda refers to the thirty-three gods.
Generally the hymns of the Rig Veda praise the gods and ask them for worldly benefits such as wealth, health, long life, protection, and victory over the Dasa peoples.
He, self-reliant, mighty and triumphant,
brought low the dear head of the wicked Dasas.
Indra the Vritra-slayer, Fort-destroyer,
scattered the Dasa hosts who dwelt in darkness.
For men hath he created earth and waters,
and ever helped the prayer of him who worships.
To him in might the Gods have ever yielded,
to Indra in the tumult of battle.
When in his arms they laid the bolt,
he slaughtered the Dasyus
and cast down their forts of iron.1
They call upon Brihaspati or Brahmanaspati, who has been related to a Hittite thunder-god, to avenge the sinner and protect them from the deceitful and wicked man. The Aryans did have a concept of eternal law called rita, which the immortal Agni in serving the gods is said to never break (Rig Veda III:3:1).
In Rig Veda III:34:9 Indra killed the Dasyus and "gave protection to the Aryan color." Not only did the Aryans shamelessly pray for booty in war, but they based their militarily won supremacy on the lightness of their skin color compared to the dark colors of the native Dasyus. They arrogantly proclaimed, "Let those who have no weapons suffer sorrow." (Rig Veda IV:5:14.)
Renowned is he when conquering and when slaying:
'tis he who wins cattle in the combat.
When Indra hardens his indignation
all that is fixed and all that moves fear him.
Indra has won all kine, all gold, all horses, -
Maghavan, he who breaks forts in pieces;2
Indra is praised for killing thousands of the abject tribes of Dasas with his arrow and taking great vengeance with "murdering weapons." (Rig Veda IV:28:3-4) One hymn mentions sending thirty thousand Dasas "to slumber" and another hymn sixty thousand slain. A hymn dedicated to the weapons of war (Rig Veda VI:75) refers to a warrior "armed with mail," using a bow to win cattle and subdue all regions, "upstanding in the car the skillful charioteer guides his strong horses on whithersoe'er he will." The arrows had iron mouths and shafts "with venom smeared" that "not one be left alive." Hymn VII:83 begins, "Looking to you and your alliance, O ye men, armed with broad axes they went forward, fain for spoil. Ye smote and slew his Dasa and his Aryan enemies."
Only occasionally did the authors of these hymns look to their own sins.
Free us from sins committed by our fathers,
from those wherein we have ourselves offended.
O king, loose, like a thief who feeds the cattle,
as from the cord a calf, set free Vasishtha.
Not our own will betrayed us, but seduction,
thoughtlessness, Varuna! wine, dice or anger.
The old is near to lead astray the younger:
even sleep removes not all evil-doing.3
A hymn to the frogs compares the repetitions of the priests around the soma bowl to the croaking of the frogs around a pond after the rains come. (Rig Veda VII:103)
The basic belief of the prayers and sacrifices is that they will help them to gain their desires and overcome their enemies, as in Rig Veda VIII:31:15: "The man who, sacrificing, strives to win the heart of deities will conquer those who worship not." Some awareness of a higher law seems to be dawning in the eighth book in hymn 75: "The holy law hath quelled even mighty men of war. Break ye not off our friendship, come and set me free." However, the enemies are now identified with the Asuras and still are intimidated by greater weapons: "Weaponless are the Asuras, the godless: scatter them with thy wheel, impetuous hero." (Rig Veda VIII:85:9)
Many of the hymns refer to the intoxicating soma juice, which is squeezed from the mysterious soma plant and drank. All of the hymns of the ninth book of the Rig Veda are dedicated to the purifying soma, which is even credited with making them feel immortal, probably because of its psychedelic influence. The first hymn in this book refers to the "iron-fashioned home" of the Aryans.
In the first book of the Rig Veda the worshipers recognize Agni as the guard of eternal law (I:1:8) and Mitra and Varuna as lovers and cherishers of law who gained their mighty power through law (I:2:8). In the 24th hymn they pray to Varuna, the wise Asura, to loosen the bonds of their sins. However, the prayers for riches continue, and Indra is thanked for winning wealth in horses, cattle, and gold by his chariot. Agni helps to slay the many in war by the hands of the few, "preserving our wealthy patrons with thy succors, and ourselves." (Rig Veda I:31:6, 42) Indra helped win the Aryan victory:
He, much invoked, hath slain Dasyus and Simyus,
after his wont, and laid them low with arrows.
The mighty thunderer with his fair-complexioned friends
won the land, the sunlight, and the waters.4
Control of the waters was essential for agricultural wealth. Indra is praised for crushing the godless races and breaking down their forts. (Rig Veda I:174)
In the tenth and last book of the Rig Veda some new themes are explored, but the Dasyus are still condemned for being "riteless, void of sense, inhuman, keeping alien laws," and Indra still urges the heroes to slay the enemies; his "hand is prompt to rend and burn, O hero thunder-armed: as thou with thy companions didst destroy the whole of Sushna's brood." (Rig Veda X:22)
One unusual hymn is on the subject of gambling with dice. The speaker regrets alienating his wife, wandering homeless in constant fear and debt, envying others' well-ordered homes. He finally warns the listener not to play with dice but recommends cultivating his land. (Rig Veda X:34) Hymn 50 of this most recent last book urges Indra to win riches with valor "in the war for water on their fields." Now the prayer is that "we Gods may quell our Asura foemen." (Rig Veda X:53:4) A wedding ceremony is indicated in a hymn of Surya's bridal, the daughter of the sun. (Rig Veda X:85)
The first indication of the caste system is outlined in the hymn to Purusha, the embodied human spirit, who is one-fourth creature and three-fourths eternal life in heaven.
The Brahmin was his mouth,
of both his arms was the Rajanya made.
His thighs became the Vaisya,
from his feet the Sudra was produced.5
The Brahmin caste was to be the priests and teachers; the Rajanya represents the king, head of the warrior or Kshatriya caste; Vaishyas are the merchants, craftsmen, and farmers; and the Sudras are the workers. In hymn 109 the brahmachari or student is mentioned as engaged in duty as a member of God's own body.
The hymn to liberality is a breath of fresh air:
The riches of the liberal never waste away,
while he who will not give finds none to comfort him.
The man with food in store who,
when the needy comes in miserable case
begging for bread to eat,
Hardens his heart against him -
even when of old he did him service -
find not one to comfort him.6
Yet later we realize that the priests are asking for liberality to support their own services, for the "plowing makes the food that feeds us," and thus a speaking (or paid) Brahmin is better than a silent one.
The power of speech is honored in two hymns.
Where, like men cleansing corn-flour in a cribble,
the wise in spirit have created language,
Friends see and recognize the marks of friendship:
their speech retains the blessed sign imprinted.7
In hymn 125 of the tenth mandala Vak or speech claims to have penetrated earth and heaven, holding together all existence.
A philosophical hymn of creation is found in Rig Veda X:129. Beginning from non-being when nothing existed, not even water nor death, that One breathless breathed by itself. At first this All was concealed by darkness and formless chaos, but by heat (tapas) that One came into existence. Thus arose desire, the primal seed and germ of Spirit. Sages searching in their hearts discovered kinship with the non-existent. A ray of light extended across the darkness, but what was known above or below? Creative fertility was there with energy and action, but who really knows where this creation came from? For the gods came after the world's creation. Who could know the source of this creation and how it was produced? The one seeing it in the highest heaven only knows, or maybe it does not.
Atharva Veda
High Truth, unyielding Order, Consecration,Ardor and Prayer and Holy Ritualuphold the Earth, may she, the ruling Mistressof what has been and what will come to be,for us spread wide a limitless domain.Untrammeled in the midst of men, the Earth,adorned with heights and gentle slopes and plains,bears plants and herbs of various healing powers.May she spread wide for us, afford us joy!On whom are ocean, river, and all waters,on whom have sprung up food and plowman's crops,on whom moves all that breathes and stirs abroad -Earth, may she grant to us the long first draught!To Earth belong the four directions of space.On her grows food; on her the plowman toils.She carries likewise all that breathes and stirs.Earth, may she grant us cattle and food in plenty!On whom the men of olden days roamed far,on whom the conquering Gods smote the demons,the home of cattle, horses, and of birds,may Earth vouchsafe to us good fortune and glory!Bearer of all things, hoard of treasures rare,sustaining mother, Earth the golden-breastedwho bears the Sacred Universal Fire,whose spouse is Indra - may she grant us wealth!Limitless Earth, whom the Gods, never sleeping,protect forever with unflagging care,may she exude for us the well-loved honey,shed upon us her splendor copiously!Earth, who of yore was Water in the oceans,discerned by the Sages' secret powers,whose immortal heart, enwrapped in Truth,abides aloft in the highest firmament,may she procure for us splendor and power,according to her highest royal state!On whom the flowing Waters, ever the same,course without cease or failure night and day,may she yield milk, this Earth of many streams,and shed on us her splendor copiously!May Earth, whose measurements the Asvins marked,over whose breadth the foot of Vishnu strode,whom Indra, Lord of power, freed from foes,stream milk for me, as a mother for her son!Your hills, O Earth, your snow-clad mountain peaks,your forests, may they show us kindliness!Brown, black, red, multifarious in hueand solid is this vast Earth, guarded by Indra.Invincible, unconquered, and unharmed,I have on her established my abode.Impart to us those vitalizing forcesthat come, O Earth, from deep within your body,your central point, your navel, purify us wholly.The Earth is mother; I am son of Earth.The Rain-giver is my father; may he shower on us blessings!The Earth on which they circumscribe the altar,on which a band of workmen prepare the oblation,on which the tall bright sacrificial postsare fixed before the start of the oblation -may Earth, herself increasing, grant us increase!That man, O Earth, who wills us harm, who fights us,who by his thoughts or deadly arms opposes,deliver him to us, forestalling action.All creatures, born from you, move round upon you.You carry all that has two legs, three, or four.To you, O Earth, belong the five human races,those mortals upon whom the rising sunsheds the immortal splendor of his rays.May the creatures of earth, united together,let flow for me the honey of speech!Grant to me this boon, O Earth.Mother of plants and begetter of all things,firm far-flung Earth, sustained by Heavenly Law,kindly and pleasant is she. May we everdwell on her bosom, passing to and fro!...Do not thrust us aside from in front or behind,from above or below! Be gracious, O Earth.Let us not encounter robbers on our path.Restrain the deadly weapons!As wide a vista of you as my eyemay scan, O Earth, with the kindly help of Sun,so widely may my sight be never dimmedin all the long parade of years to come!Whether, when I repose on you, O Earth,I turn upon my Right side or my left,or whether, extended flat upon my back,I meet your pressure from head to foot,be gentle, Earth! You are the couch of all!Whatever I dig up of you, O Earth,may you of that have quick replenishment!O purifying One, may my thrust neverreach Right into your vital points, your heart!Your circling seasons, nights succeeding days,your summer, O Earth, your splashing rains, your autumn,your winter and frosty season yielding to spring---may each and all produce for us their milk!...From your numberless tracks by which mankind may travel,your roads on which move both chariots and wagonsyour paths which are used by the good and the bad,may we choose a way free from foes and robbers!May you grant us the blessing of all that is wholesome!She carries in her lap the foolish and also the wise.She bears the death of the wicked as well as the good.She lives in friendly collaboration with the boar,offering herself as sanctuary to the wild pig....Peaceful and fragrant, gracious to the touch,may Earth, swollen with milk, her breasts overflowing,grant me her blessing together with her milk!The Maker of the world sought her with oblationswhen she was shrouded in the depth of the ocean.A vessel of gladness, long cherished in secret,the earth was revealed to mankind for their joy.Primeval Mother, disperser of men,you, far-flung Earth, fulfill all our desires.Whatever you lack, may the Lord of creatures,the First-born of Right, supply to you fully!May your dwellings, O Earth, free from sickness and wasting,flourish for us! Through a long life, watchful,may we always offer to you our tribute!O Earth, O Mother, dispose my lotin gracious fashion that I be at ease.In harmony with all the powers of Heavenset me, O Poet, in grace and good fortune!9
Saturday, August 26, 2006
tocharians
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Tocharians
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source new!
The Tocharians were an Indo-European people who inhabited the Tarim basin in what is now Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, northwestern People's Republic of China from the 1st millennium BCE to the end of the 1st millennium CE.
Archaeology
The Tarim mummies suggest that precursors of these easternmost speakers of an Indo-European language may have lived in the region of the Tarim Basin from around 1800 BCE until finally they were assimilated by Uighur Turks in the 8th century CE. There is evidence both from the mummies and Chinese writings that some of them had blond or red hair and blue eyes, characteristics also found in present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Central Asia, due to the populations' high genetic diversity. (The high frequency of blonds in Europe today is due to selection, with Finns having the highest; though in ancient times, it seems the Thracians were commonly regarded as the original blonde race.) This suggests the possibility that they were part of an early Indo-European migration that ended in what is now the Tarim Basin in western China. According to a controversial theory, early invasions by Turkic speakers may have pushed Tocharian speakers out of the Tarim Basin and into modern Afghanistan, India, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
The Tarim Basin mummies (1800 BCE) and the Tocharian texts and frescoes from the Tarim Basin (800 CE) have been found in the same general geographical area, and are both connected to an Indo-European origin. The mummies and the frescoes both point to Caucasian types with light eyes and hair color. There is no evidence that directly connects them however, as no texts were recovered from the grave sites.
A recent article (Hemphill and Mallory, 2004) reaches the following conclusions.
"This study confirms the assertion of Han (1998) that the occupants of Alwighul and Krorän are not derived from proto-European steppe populations, but share closest affinities with Eastern Mediterranean populations. Further, the results demonstrate that such Eastern Mediterraneans may also be found at the urban centers of the Oxus civilization located in the north Bactrian oasis to the west. Affinities are especially close between Krorän, the latest of the Xinjiang samples, and Sapalli, the earliest of the Bactrian samples, while Alwighul and later samples from Bactria exhibit more distant phenetic affinities. This pattern may reflect a possible major shift in interregional contacts in Central Asia in the early centuries of the second millennium B.C."
However, another theory states that the earliest Bronze Age settlers of the Tarim and Turpan basins originated from the steppelands and highlands immediately north of East Central Asia. These colonists were related to the Afanasievo culture which exploited both open steppelands and upland environments employing a mixed agricultural economy. The Afanasievo culture formed the eastern linguistic periphery of the Indo-European continuum of languages whose centre of expansion lay much farther to the west, north of the Black and Caspian seas. This periphery was ancestral to the historical Tocharian languages. See: (J. P. Mallory and Victor H. Mair, The Tarim Mummies - 2000 Thames and Hudson Ltd ISBN 0-500-05101-1)
Textile analysis has shown some similarities to the Iron Age civilizations of Europe dating from 800BC, including woven twill and tartan patterns strikingly similar to Celtic tartans from Northwest Europe. One of the unusual finds with one of the mummies was a classical "witch's hat", worn by the witches of European myth, suggesting very ancient Indo-European roots for this tradition. Similar hats were traditionally worn by women of Lapland, and perhaps coincidentally, the Mi'kmaw people of Atlantic Canada. Tocharian women also wore the same kind of skirts as have been found preserved in graves from the Nordic Bronze Age. Pointed hats were also worn in ancient times by Saka (Scythians),and shown on Hindu temples and Hittite reliefs.
Language
Main article: Tocharian languages
The Tocharians spoke a group of Indo-European languages called the Tocharian languages, also sometimes referred to as Kuchean. Their nearest linguistic relative appears to be Hittite, used in Asia minor from ca. 1600 BC to 1100 BC.
Besides the religious Tocharian texts, the texts include monastery correspondence and accounts, commercial documents, caravan permits, medical and magical texts. Their late manuscript fragments, of the 7th and 8th centuries, suggest that they were no longer either as nomadic or as barbaric as the Chinese had considered them.
Historic role
The Tocharians, living along the Silk Road, had contacts with the Chinese and Persians, and Turkic, Indian and Iranian tribes. They may have been the same as, or were related to, the Indo-European Yuezhi who fled from their settlements in the eastern Tarim Basin under attacks from the Xiongnu in the 2nd century BCE (Shiji Chinese historical Chronicals, Chap. 123) and expanded south to Bactria and northern India to form the Kushan Empire.
The Tocharians who remained in the Tarim Bassin adopted Buddhism, which, like their alphabet, came from northern India in the first century of the 1st millennium, through the proselytism of Kushan monks. The Kushans and the Tocharians seem to have played a part in the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism to China. Many apparently also practised some variant of Manichaeanism.
Protected by the Taklamakan desert from steppe nomads, the Tocharian culture survived past the 7th century. The Kingdom of Khotan was one of the centers of this ancient civilization.
Naming
The term Tocharians has a somewhat complicated history. It is based on the ethnonym Tokharoi (Greek Τόχαροι) used by Greek historians (viz. Ptolemy VI, 11, 6). These are identified with the Kushan Empire, and the term Tokharistan usually refers to 1st millennium Bactria (Chinese Daxia 大夏). Today, the term is associated with the Indo-European languages known as "Tocharian". Based on a Turkic reference to Tocharian A as twqry, these langauages were associated with the Kushan ruling class, but the exact relation of the speakers of these languages and the Kushan Tokharoi is uncertain, and some consider the "Tocharian languages" a misnomer. Tocharian A is also known as East Tocharian, or Turfanian (of the city of Turfan), and Tocharian B is also known as West Tocharian, or Kuchean (of the city of Kucha)
The term is so widely used, however, that this question is somewhat academic. Tocharians in the modern sense are, then, defined as the speakers of the Tocharian languages. These were originally nomads, and lived in today's Xinjiang (Tarim basin), known by the Chinese as the Yuezhi, first mentioned by Chinese historians in the 3rd century BCE as having been defeated and displaced by the Xiongnu. The native name of the historical Tocharians of the 6th to 8th centuries was, according to JP Mallory, possibly kuśiññe "Kuchean" (Tocharian B), "of the kingdom of Kucha and Agni", and ārśi (Tocharian A); one of the Tocharian A texts has ārśi-käntwā, "In the tongue of Arsi" (ārśi is probably cognate to argenteus, i.e. "shining, brilliant"). According to Douglas Q. Adams, the Tocharians may have called themselves ākñi, meaning "borderers, marchers".
See also
Tocharian languages
Tarim mummies
References
Note: The recent discoveries have rendered obsolete René Grousset's classic The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia, published in 1939, which still provides the broad background against which to assess more modern detailed studies.
Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. 1999. The Mummies of Ürümchi. London. Pan Books.
Mallory, JP and Mair, Victor H. 2000. The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West. Thames & Hudson, London. ISBN 0500051011
Hemphill, Brian E. and J.P. Mallory. 2004. "Horse-mounted invaders from the Russo-Kazakh steppe or agricultural colonists from Western Central Asia? A craniometric investigation of the Bronze Age settlement of Xinjiang" in American Journal of Physical Anthropology vol. 125 pp 199ff.
Walter, Mariko Namba 1998 Tocharian Buddhism in Kucha: Buddhism of Indo-European Centum Speakers in Chinese Turkestan before the 10th Century C.E. Sino-Platonic Papers No. 85. October, 1998.
Xu, Wenkan 1995 “The Discovery of the Xinjiang Mummies and Studies of the Origin of the Tocharians” The Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 23, Number 3 & 4, Fall/Winter 1995, pp.357-369.
Xu, Wenkan 1996 “The Tokharians and Buddhism” In: Studies in Central and East Asian Religions 9, pp. 1-17.http://61.54.131.141:8010/Resource/Book/Edu/JXCKS/TS010057/0001_ts010057.htm
External links
Tocharian alphabet.
Tocharian alphabet
Modern studies are developing a Tocharian dictionary.
Mark Dickens, 'Everything you always wanted to know about Tocharian'.
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View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
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Tocharians
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The Tocharians were an Indo-European people who inhabited the Tarim basin in what is now Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, northwestern People's Republic of China from the 1st millennium BCE to the end of the 1st millennium CE.
Archaeology
The Tarim mummies suggest that precursors of these easternmost speakers of an Indo-European language may have lived in the region of the Tarim Basin from around 1800 BCE until finally they were assimilated by Uighur Turks in the 8th century CE. There is evidence both from the mummies and Chinese writings that some of them had blond or red hair and blue eyes, characteristics also found in present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Central Asia, due to the populations' high genetic diversity. (The high frequency of blonds in Europe today is due to selection, with Finns having the highest; though in ancient times, it seems the Thracians were commonly regarded as the original blonde race.) This suggests the possibility that they were part of an early Indo-European migration that ended in what is now the Tarim Basin in western China. According to a controversial theory, early invasions by Turkic speakers may have pushed Tocharian speakers out of the Tarim Basin and into modern Afghanistan, India, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
The Tarim Basin mummies (1800 BCE) and the Tocharian texts and frescoes from the Tarim Basin (800 CE) have been found in the same general geographical area, and are both connected to an Indo-European origin. The mummies and the frescoes both point to Caucasian types with light eyes and hair color. There is no evidence that directly connects them however, as no texts were recovered from the grave sites.
A recent article (Hemphill and Mallory, 2004) reaches the following conclusions.
"This study confirms the assertion of Han (1998) that the occupants of Alwighul and Krorän are not derived from proto-European steppe populations, but share closest affinities with Eastern Mediterranean populations. Further, the results demonstrate that such Eastern Mediterraneans may also be found at the urban centers of the Oxus civilization located in the north Bactrian oasis to the west. Affinities are especially close between Krorän, the latest of the Xinjiang samples, and Sapalli, the earliest of the Bactrian samples, while Alwighul and later samples from Bactria exhibit more distant phenetic affinities. This pattern may reflect a possible major shift in interregional contacts in Central Asia in the early centuries of the second millennium B.C."
However, another theory states that the earliest Bronze Age settlers of the Tarim and Turpan basins originated from the steppelands and highlands immediately north of East Central Asia. These colonists were related to the Afanasievo culture which exploited both open steppelands and upland environments employing a mixed agricultural economy. The Afanasievo culture formed the eastern linguistic periphery of the Indo-European continuum of languages whose centre of expansion lay much farther to the west, north of the Black and Caspian seas. This periphery was ancestral to the historical Tocharian languages. See: (J. P. Mallory and Victor H. Mair, The Tarim Mummies - 2000 Thames and Hudson Ltd ISBN 0-500-05101-1)
Textile analysis has shown some similarities to the Iron Age civilizations of Europe dating from 800BC, including woven twill and tartan patterns strikingly similar to Celtic tartans from Northwest Europe. One of the unusual finds with one of the mummies was a classical "witch's hat", worn by the witches of European myth, suggesting very ancient Indo-European roots for this tradition. Similar hats were traditionally worn by women of Lapland, and perhaps coincidentally, the Mi'kmaw people of Atlantic Canada. Tocharian women also wore the same kind of skirts as have been found preserved in graves from the Nordic Bronze Age. Pointed hats were also worn in ancient times by Saka (Scythians),and shown on Hindu temples and Hittite reliefs.
Language
Main article: Tocharian languages
The Tocharians spoke a group of Indo-European languages called the Tocharian languages, also sometimes referred to as Kuchean. Their nearest linguistic relative appears to be Hittite, used in Asia minor from ca. 1600 BC to 1100 BC.
Besides the religious Tocharian texts, the texts include monastery correspondence and accounts, commercial documents, caravan permits, medical and magical texts. Their late manuscript fragments, of the 7th and 8th centuries, suggest that they were no longer either as nomadic or as barbaric as the Chinese had considered them.
Historic role
The Tocharians, living along the Silk Road, had contacts with the Chinese and Persians, and Turkic, Indian and Iranian tribes. They may have been the same as, or were related to, the Indo-European Yuezhi who fled from their settlements in the eastern Tarim Basin under attacks from the Xiongnu in the 2nd century BCE (Shiji Chinese historical Chronicals, Chap. 123) and expanded south to Bactria and northern India to form the Kushan Empire.
The Tocharians who remained in the Tarim Bassin adopted Buddhism, which, like their alphabet, came from northern India in the first century of the 1st millennium, through the proselytism of Kushan monks. The Kushans and the Tocharians seem to have played a part in the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism to China. Many apparently also practised some variant of Manichaeanism.
Protected by the Taklamakan desert from steppe nomads, the Tocharian culture survived past the 7th century. The Kingdom of Khotan was one of the centers of this ancient civilization.
Naming
The term Tocharians has a somewhat complicated history. It is based on the ethnonym Tokharoi (Greek Τόχαροι) used by Greek historians (viz. Ptolemy VI, 11, 6). These are identified with the Kushan Empire, and the term Tokharistan usually refers to 1st millennium Bactria (Chinese Daxia 大夏). Today, the term is associated with the Indo-European languages known as "Tocharian". Based on a Turkic reference to Tocharian A as twqry, these langauages were associated with the Kushan ruling class, but the exact relation of the speakers of these languages and the Kushan Tokharoi is uncertain, and some consider the "Tocharian languages" a misnomer. Tocharian A is also known as East Tocharian, or Turfanian (of the city of Turfan), and Tocharian B is also known as West Tocharian, or Kuchean (of the city of Kucha)
The term is so widely used, however, that this question is somewhat academic. Tocharians in the modern sense are, then, defined as the speakers of the Tocharian languages. These were originally nomads, and lived in today's Xinjiang (Tarim basin), known by the Chinese as the Yuezhi, first mentioned by Chinese historians in the 3rd century BCE as having been defeated and displaced by the Xiongnu. The native name of the historical Tocharians of the 6th to 8th centuries was, according to JP Mallory, possibly kuśiññe "Kuchean" (Tocharian B), "of the kingdom of Kucha and Agni", and ārśi (Tocharian A); one of the Tocharian A texts has ārśi-käntwā, "In the tongue of Arsi" (ārśi is probably cognate to argenteus, i.e. "shining, brilliant"). According to Douglas Q. Adams, the Tocharians may have called themselves ākñi, meaning "borderers, marchers".
See also
Tocharian languages
Tarim mummies
References
Note: The recent discoveries have rendered obsolete René Grousset's classic The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia, published in 1939, which still provides the broad background against which to assess more modern detailed studies.
Barber, Elizabeth Wayland. 1999. The Mummies of Ürümchi. London. Pan Books.
Mallory, JP and Mair, Victor H. 2000. The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West. Thames & Hudson, London. ISBN 0500051011
Hemphill, Brian E. and J.P. Mallory. 2004. "Horse-mounted invaders from the Russo-Kazakh steppe or agricultural colonists from Western Central Asia? A craniometric investigation of the Bronze Age settlement of Xinjiang" in American Journal of Physical Anthropology vol. 125 pp 199ff.
Walter, Mariko Namba 1998 Tocharian Buddhism in Kucha: Buddhism of Indo-European Centum Speakers in Chinese Turkestan before the 10th Century C.E. Sino-Platonic Papers No. 85. October, 1998.
Xu, Wenkan 1995 “The Discovery of the Xinjiang Mummies and Studies of the Origin of the Tocharians” The Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. 23, Number 3 & 4, Fall/Winter 1995, pp.357-369.
Xu, Wenkan 1996 “The Tokharians and Buddhism” In: Studies in Central and East Asian Religions 9, pp. 1-17.http://61.54.131.141:8010/Resource/Book/Edu/JXCKS/TS010057/0001_ts010057.htm
External links
Tocharian alphabet.
Tocharian alphabet
Modern studies are developing a Tocharian dictionary.
Mark Dickens, 'Everything you always wanted to know about Tocharian'.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
Free software! Get instant dictionary, thesaurus, and encyclopedia access from most Mac and Windows programs.
Indicates Premium content, which is available only to subscribers.
Advertisement
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Copyright © 2006, Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Hittites
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Jump to: navigation, search
For the people of the Hebrew Bible, see Biblical Hittites.
Relief of Suppiluliuma II, last known king of the Hittite Empire
Enlarge
Relief of Suppiluliuma II, last known king of the Hittite Empire
The Hittites were an ancient people who spoke Hittite, an Indo-European language, and established a kingdom centered in Hattusa (Hittite URUḪattuša) in north-central Anatolia from the 18th century BC. In the 14th century BC, the Hittite empire was at its height, encompassing central Anatolia, north-western Syria as far as Ugarit, and upper Mesopotamia. After 1180 BC, the empire disintegrated into several independent "Neo-Hittite" city-states, some of which survived until as late as the 8th century BC.
The term "Hittites" is taken from the KJV translation of the Hebrew bible, translating חתי HTY, or בני-חת BNY-HT "Children of Heth". The archaeologists who discovered the Anatolian Hittites in the 19th century initially identified them with these Biblical Hittites. Today, their identification with either the Hittite Empire proper[citation needed] or the Neo-Hittite kingdoms is a matter of dispute.
The Hittite kingdom, or at least its core region, was apparently called Hatti by the Hittites themselves. However, the Hittites should be distinguished from the Hattians, an earlier people who inhabited the same region until the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, and spoke a non-Indo-European language conventionally called Hattic. The native term of the Hittite language was Nesili, the language of Nesa, the seat of the Hittite kings before the conquest of Hattusa. Many of the modern city names in Turkey are derived from their original Hittite names, such as Sinop and Adana, showing the impact of Hittite culture in Anatolia.
The Hittites were also famous for their skill in building and using chariots. The Hittites were pioneers of the Iron Age, manufacturing iron artifacts from as early as the 14th century BC, making them possibly even the first to do so
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For the people of the Hebrew Bible, see Biblical Hittites.
Relief of Suppiluliuma II, last known king of the Hittite Empire
Enlarge
Relief of Suppiluliuma II, last known king of the Hittite Empire
The Hittites were an ancient people who spoke Hittite, an Indo-European language, and established a kingdom centered in Hattusa (Hittite URUḪattuša) in north-central Anatolia from the 18th century BC. In the 14th century BC, the Hittite empire was at its height, encompassing central Anatolia, north-western Syria as far as Ugarit, and upper Mesopotamia. After 1180 BC, the empire disintegrated into several independent "Neo-Hittite" city-states, some of which survived until as late as the 8th century BC.
The term "Hittites" is taken from the KJV translation of the Hebrew bible, translating חתי HTY, or בני-חת BNY-HT "Children of Heth". The archaeologists who discovered the Anatolian Hittites in the 19th century initially identified them with these Biblical Hittites. Today, their identification with either the Hittite Empire proper[citation needed] or the Neo-Hittite kingdoms is a matter of dispute.
The Hittite kingdom, or at least its core region, was apparently called Hatti by the Hittites themselves. However, the Hittites should be distinguished from the Hattians, an earlier people who inhabited the same region until the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, and spoke a non-Indo-European language conventionally called Hattic. The native term of the Hittite language was Nesili, the language of Nesa, the seat of the Hittite kings before the conquest of Hattusa. Many of the modern city names in Turkey are derived from their original Hittite names, such as Sinop and Adana, showing the impact of Hittite culture in Anatolia.
The Hittites were also famous for their skill in building and using chariots. The Hittites were pioneers of the Iron Age, manufacturing iron artifacts from as early as the 14th century BC, making them possibly even the first to do so
Monday, August 21, 2006
Windows Live Mail Managed Beta Ends!
It seems the Windows Live Mail Managed beta just ended, and this has been confirmed on the newsgroups and by mails recieved by testers. This means the product will come out of beta very soon. The team said, still in the newsgroups:
“We’re ready to say goodbye to our baby and send it off into the world”
So, the next update, featuring the usual Windows Live interface, will in fact be the final build which will be released to all hotmail users around the world.
Of course, this takes place to much speculation about the availability of @live.com and @windowslive.com e-mail addresses, since most people assume they will be released at the same time or so.
News Source: JCXP
It seems the Windows Live Mail Managed beta just ended, and this has been confirmed on the newsgroups and by mails recieved by testers. This means the product will come out of beta very soon. The team said, still in the newsgroups:
“We’re ready to say goodbye to our baby and send it off into the world”
So, the next update, featuring the usual Windows Live interface, will in fact be the final build which will be released to all hotmail users around the world.
Of course, this takes place to much speculation about the availability of @live.com and @windowslive.com e-mail addresses, since most people assume they will be released at the same time or so.
News Source: JCXP
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Friday, August 18, 2006
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
IranShahr
Demystifying Aryans
Ali Yadegaar
May 27, 2005
iranian.com
The recent article of Mr. Madadi had some factual and statistical errors ["Are Iranians really Aryans?"]. Thankfully the article by Mr. Jahanparvar has answered most of the inaccuracies of that article ["On the Aryan trail"]. For example Mr. Madadi first poses the question are we Aryans and then in the same article he responds to himself by saying that the majority of Iranians are not Aryans. This is while the name Iran itself means the land of the Arya. “Ari/Arya/Ir” in Iranian languages is equivalent to the term “Aryan” in the English language. It is an established fact that Aryan is an ethno-linguistic term, which designates the Indo-Iranian (Aryans) speaking people.
According to the The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition:
It is one of the ironies of history that Aryan, a word nowadays referring to the blond-haired, blue-eyed physical ideal of Nazi Germany, originally referred to a people who looked vastly different. Its history starts with the ancient Indo-Iranians, Indo-European peoples who inhabited parts of what are now Iran, Afghanistan, and India. Their tribal self-designation was a word reconstructed as *arya- or * rya-. The first of these is the form found in Iranian, as ultimately in the name of Iran itself (from Middle Persian r n ( ahr), “(Land) of the Iranians,” from the genitive plural of r, “Iranian”). The variant * rya- is found unchanged in Sanskrit, where it referred to the upper crust of ancient Indian society. These words became known to European scholars in the 18th century.
As the dictionary correctly asserts Aryans means the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-Europeans.
Let us review some of the old sources that explicitly establish why Iran (the land of Arya) and Iranians are Aryans (Iranians) and why the Academia still uses this terms for the Indo-Iranians. Herodotus in his Histories remarks that: “These Medes were called anciently by all people Arians; “ (7.62). So here we have a foreign source that refers to part of the Iranians as Arya.
Native sources also describe Iranians by this ethnonym. Old Persian which is a testament to the antiquity of the Persian language and which is related to most of the languages/dialects spoken in Iran including modern Persian, Kurdish, Gilaki and Baluchi makes it clear that Iranians referred to themselves as Arya.
The term "Ariya" appears in the royal inscriptions in three different context: As the name of the language of the Old Persian version of the inscription of Darius the Great in Behistun; as the ethnic background of Darius in inscriptions at Naqsh-e-Rostam and Susa (Dna, Dse) and Xerxes in the inscription from Persepolis (Xph) and as the definition of the God of Arya people, Ahuramazda, in the Elamite version of the Behistun inscription. For example in the Dna and Dse Darius and Xerxes describe themselves as “An Achaemenian, A Persian son of a Persian and an Aryan, of Aryan stock”.
Note that first they describe their clan (Achaemenid) and then tribe/group (Persian) and then their ethnicity Arya. So here we have good references that both the Medes and Persians referred to themselves as Aryans. The Medes and Persians were people of western Iranian stock. Western Iranian languages and dialects including Kurdish, Persian, Baluchi have their roots in the Old Persian and Median languages and are prevalent languages of Iran today. The OP inscriptions date back approximately to 400-500 B.C. Concurrently, or even prior to Old Persian, the word Airya is abundant used in the Avesta and related Zoroastrian literature whose origin lies with the eastern Iranian people.
The Avestan airya always has an ethnic value. It appears in Yasht literature and in the Wideewdaad. The land of Aryans is described as Airyana Vaejah in Avesta and in the Pahlavi inscription as Eran-wez. The Avesta archer Arash (Arash-e-Kamangir) is called the hero of Airya people. Zoroaster himself is described from the Airya people. The examples of the ethnic name of Airya in Avesta are too many to enumerate here and the interested reader is referred to the following site: Avesta.org.
Let us now briefly touch upon some more pre-Islamic evidence. The ostraca (an inscribed potsherd) from Parthian Nisa time period (approx. 2100 years ago) provides us with numerous Parthian names related. Parthian, like Persian, is a Western Iranian language. Some of the names of the people at that time that begin with prefix Arya are given by:
Aryabaam-Aryabaanuk, Aryabarzan- Aryabozhan- Aryaxshahrak- Aryanistak- Aryafriyaanak- Aryasaaxt- Aryazan
The etymology of such names is fairly known. The documents from Nisa as well as other Parthian documents prove that the Parthians employed the Zoroastrian calendar. The names of the months back then is exactly what we use today with a slight modification in pronounciation:
Farwartin- Artewahisht- Harwataat- Tir- Hamuraat- Xshahrewar- Mihr- Aapaaxwini- Aatar- Dathush- Wahman - Sapndaarmard
Strabo, the Greek geographer and traveler of the Parthian times also mentions the unity of the various Iranian tribes and dialects:
...and the name of Ariana is further extended to a part of Persia and of Media, as also to the Bactrians and Sogdians on the north; for these speak approximately the same language, with but slight variations.
Moses of Khorenat’si the Armenian historian of 5th century A.D. also denotes the Parthians, Medes and Persians collectively as Aryans. So ancient neighboring people have consistently referred to Iranians as Aryans. Both Armenian and Greeks are Indo-Europeans but only Indo-Iranians have been known as Aryans throughout history.
From the Parthian epoch we transition into the Sassanid era. Ardeshir the first, the founder of the Sassanid dynasty, on the coins minted during his era describes himself as "Shahan shah Aryan" (Iran). Where Aryan exactly means the “land of the Arya” which is synonymous with land of Iranians. His son Shapur, whose triumphs over his enemies are the stuff of legends minted coins with the inscription: “Shahan shah aryan ud anaryan” (The king of Kings of Iran and Non-Iran). The reason for anaryan is that he expanded the empire beyond the Aryan lands.
The trilingual inscription erected by his command gives us a more clear description. The languages used are Parthian, Middle Persian and Greek. In Greek the inscription says: “ego ... tou Arianon ethnous despotes eimi” which translates to “I am the king of the Aryans”. In the Middle Persian Shapour says: “I am the Lord of the EranShahr” and in Parthian he says: “I am the Lord of AryanShahr”. Both AryanShahr/EranShahr here denote the country of Iran.
The name IranShahr has been widely referenced after the Arab conquest by many authors including Tabari the great historian and Abu Rayhan Biruni the great scholar. So the word Eran actually is derived from Arayanam of the Avesta and it means the place Ary/Er (Parthian and Middle Persian respectively). As the suffix “an” denotes a place holding for example Gil+an means the land of the Gil (Gilak) who are an Aryan ethnic group of modern Iran. It was mentioned that Darius the Great referred to his language as Aryan.
The Bactrian inscription of Kanishka the founder of the Kushan empire at Rabatak, which was discovered in 1993 in an unexcavated site in the Afghanistan province of Baghlan clearly refers to this Eastern Iranian language as Arya. Interestingly enough, Bactrian (Bakhtari) was written using Greek alphabets.In the post-Islamic era one can see a clear usage of the term Aryan (Iran) in the work of the 10th century historian Hamzeh Esfahani. In his famous book “the history of Prophets and Kings” he writes: “Aryan which is also called Pars is in the middle of these countries and these six countries surround it because the South East is in the hands China, the North of the Turks, the middle South is India, the middle North is Rome, and the South West and the North West is the Sudan and Berber lands”.
What has been touched upon so far is just some of the evidence that clearly establishes that Iran and Aryan are the same and furthermore that Iranians have always referred to themselves as Arya in history. The term "Arya" has never been applied to other branches of Indo-European people. This term exclusively denotes the Iranians and Indians. The eminent linguist Emile Benviste asserts that the Old Iranian Arya is documented solely as an ethnic name. Aryan denotes a cultural-linguistic community. Racial anthropology on the other hand points to the fact that Iranians as well as many other Aryan speakers like Kurds and Afghans are part of Caucasoid Mediterranean subtype commonly referred to as Irano-Afghan.
Now let me point for the sake of brevity some of the other claims of Ben Madadi which were made without any sole reference. He indirectly calls Egypt and Babylon an empire. These political states are not considered an empire whereas the Roman and Persian Empire are considered a true empire. The Persian Empire founded by Cyrus the Great is indeed a source of pride for Iranians because of its tolerance for other faiths and religions. Indeed without the cooperation of many different groups, such an empire at that time would not be possible.
Ben Madadi claims: “The fact is that, even as official statistics show (which are by a great probability irrelevant) those Iranians who speak Farsi, and who are most probable to be the descendants of the ancient Persians, are less than half of the whole population of Iran. But the whole national identity was supposed to be based on the Aryan origins rather than Persia.”
It is very well known fact that Aryan languages (Indo-Iranian) predominate the Iranian plateau but, what is not well known is that, Persian is just one of the Aryan languages. For example languages and dialects like Baluchi, Kurdish, Talyshi, Gilaki, Laki, Gurani and Luri are also Aryan languages linguistically grouped under Iranian languages and are closely tied to Persian.
Furthermore Persian speakers actually are a slim majority in Iran, but speakers of other languages related to Persian and which are also Aryan languages make another 20-25% of the population (Encyclopedia Britannica, National Geographic, CIA fact book, World Almanac and official government statistic of 1991). But the term Persian in the western literature is equivalent to Iranian and has a more geographical denotation.
So both the Aryan origin of Iranians as well as the Persian Empire are historical facts that are part of our heritage. The area of the major non-Aryan language in Iran, which is Azarbaijan, was a center of the Medes who spoke Aryan languages. The people there today are not different culturally from the rest of Iranians. The language replacement in that area is a recent phenomenon due to the invasion by Altaic Turco-Mongol speaking tribes. Such language replacements are common as is the case of English in Ireland and Spanish in Mexico and Turkish in Turkey.
Most of the writers and poets from that area have historically written their work in Persian. Despite the prevalence of the non-Aryan language, the numerous fire-temples, common culture, common history and common religion and Zoroastrian evidence including the name Azarbaijan (meaning Land of Fire in Persian) itself has tied the destiny of this important region of Iran with the rest of Iran.
Ben Madadi also claims: “Iran can be a prosperous and very strong country but first it should solve and settle the dilemma of identity.”Iran’s ability to be prosperous has been proven many times in its history. There is no dilemma in Iranian identity because this identity has been formed even prior to Islam and has continuously evolved to its presence state. This identity was not made overnight. The best evidence towards this is the Shua’biya movement after the Islamic invasion, which is nothing but pure and albeit extreme Iranian nationalism. The Shua’biya movement was a major force that was responsible for persevering and saving our Iranian culture against the Arab onslaught.
Iranian nationalism has been the key in preserving the Iranian identity despite the massive pressure forced by the Babylonians, Greek, Arab, Turkic, Mongolian, Portuguese, Russian and British. A notable example of Iranian nationalism is the Shahnameh, the common history and myth of all Iranian people. It has outlasted many dynasties and events and is still cherished by the Iranian people. In it the myths, philosophies and the morals of the ancient Iranians are preserved.
This majestic book of Iranians is permeated with moral themes such righteousness, purity of heart, benevolence, justice and patriotism. It is the Iranian history, culture and myths known by our ancestors. Indeed it is a bible unto itself. Even outside the current boundaries of the Iranian state, the Kurds for example recite the Shahnameh in their own Kurdish language and their stories and myths are drawn from the same common Aryan sources. If there is a dilemma in Iranian identity today it is between the balance of religious ecumenism and Iranian nationalism.
How old is this common Iranian identity, which has continuously evolved in its present state? In my opinion an identity starts with its oldest common substantial heritage that is shared by its people and continuously preserved. Archeology has shown that the recently excavated Jiroft civilization of Iran could be at least five thousand years old, and all Iranians and indeed all mankind are proud to share this common heritage. But the discovery of this civilization and similar civilizations are endeavors of recent times.
The Avesta on the other hand has been preserved continuously amongst Iranians since Zoroaster. The dating of Avesta has been problematic and scholars give a date of around 3700-3000 years for the Old Avesta and about 500-1000 years later for the Young Avesta. So it is clear that Iranians have at least 3000 years of continuity in language and literature and culture. The name Zoroaster and Zoroastrianism permeates in the Shahnameh and other folkloric stories of Iranian people. The Gathas of Zoroaster is indeed a remarkable part of our Iranian heritage and even as a non-Zoroastrian; all Iranians can appreciate the timelessness of its divine message.
Indeed all humans appreciate it as part of their common heritage. Iranians have also contributed a great deal to the common Islamic heritage and this part our heritage is equally important. There has always been a cultural dualism between the pre-Islamic and post-Islamic past, but this was no problem for Ferdowsi who was both a Muslim and Iranian. Based on the solid foundation of one of mankind’s ancient heritage, Iranians of the new millennium should integrate new values and adapt to new ideals while passing down their ancient heritage to the next generation.
Finally it needs to be pointed out again and again that the term Aryan exclusively refers to Indo-Iranians. So the Germans, Greeks, etc. cannot be referred to as Aryan and no one in the academic communities uses these terms for them.
References
-- MacKenzie D.N. Corpus inscriptionum Iranicarum Part. 2., inscription of the Seleucid and Parthian periods of Eastern Iran and Central Asia. Vol. 2. Parthian, London, P. Lund, Humphries 1976-2001
-- N. Sims-Williams. “Further notes on the Bactrian inscription of Rabatak, with an Appendix on the names of Kujula Kadphises and Vima Taktu in Chinese” Proceedings of the Third European Conference of Iranian Studies (Cambridge, September 1995), Part 1: Old and Middle Iranian Studies, N. Sim-Williams, ed. Wiesbaden, pp. 79-92.
-- R.G. Kent. Old Persian. Grammer, texts, lexicon. 2nd ed., New Haven, Conn.
-- R.W. Thomson. History of Armenians by Moses Khorenat’si. Harvard University Press, 1978.
Published Date: Sun, 25 Jun 2006 11:
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