quote:
Originally posted by Howard Roark:
Aryan is a language group, not a race.
Yes, but that language group (which is a substrate of Indo-European) was brought to the Indian subcontinent between 1500-2000 BCE by Indo-European invaders. We know this for various archaeological reasons (like the horse-drawn chariot) along with linguistic and cultural comparisons. Further, these invaders set themselves up in a caste system which is still present in modern India.
There is a movement in India that claims there was no "Aryan invasion" of India, yet these claims have never been accepted by serious academics. All of the evidence that has so far been gathered suggests there was indeed such a migration (the only question is whether it was a hostile invasion or not). On top of the archaeological and linguistic evidence, one can simply look at many of the remaining Brahmins in India and easily see that they look more like Europeans than Dravidians. There was actually a genetic study undertaken which shows this to be the case, though more studies are needed.
Moreover, the word for the caste system that is often used is "varna." Varna translates literally to "color." Though it is debatable exactly in what connotation "color" was used to describe the varying castes, some scholars do take the literal translation at face value and think it was used as a way to denote physical appearance.
Then you have the religious similarities between these "Aryans" and other well known European cultures. For example, many of the Gods mentioned in the Rig Vedas have very similar names to the Gods (with the same mythical characteristics) that are well known in Greek and Roman and German mythology. There is little doubt that these "Aryans" shared the same culture at some point in history with these other European societies.
Max Muller, the German scholar who was largely responsible for the theory in the 19th century, said that he never intended for "Aryan" to denote race, but only linguistics. However, there is no question that a migration occurred and that Sanskrit was brought to India from the outside. Since this Vedic culture (with its language, caste system, horse chariots, polytheism etc.,) was so similar to European cultures, it isn't a stretch to say the Aryans were Caucasians that migrated from around the Caspian sea.
What you're saying is like proclaiming "English is a language, not a race." This is technically true, yet no one would deny that the original forebears of the English language were of the Anglo-Norman genetic heritage (regardless of what "races" eventually adopted the language).
I think it was quite odd the Third Reich would show so must interest in this subject since the Aryans, though perhaps "white," were not from Germany and likely never lived in Germany. I agree with you here. But to deny that the Aryan's were a distinct culture with a language closely related to other European cultures is simply a dismissal of facts.
Smart monkeys.
