- Indo-Iranians
Indo-Iranian peoples consist of the Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Dardic and
Nuristani peoples, that is, speakers ofIndo-Iranian languages .Origin
The Indo-Iranians are commonly identified with the
Andronovo culture ,Vedic civilization , Iranian Culture and their homeland with an area of theEurasian steppe that borders theUral River on the west, theTian Shan on the east (where the Indo-Iranians took over the area occupied by the earlierAfanasevo culture ), andTransoxiana and theHindu Kush on the south. Historical linguists broadly estimate that a continuum of Indo-Iranian languages probably began to diverge by 2000 BC, if not earlier,Harvcolnb|Mallory|1989] rp|38–39 preceding both the Vedic and Iranian cultures. The earliest recorded forms of these languages,Vedic Sanskrit and GathicAvestan , are remarkably similar, descended from the commonProto-Indo-Iranian language . The origin and earliest relationship between theNuristani languages and that of the Iranian andIndic groups is unrecoverably obscure.Expansion
Two-wave models of Indo-Iranian expansion have been proposed by Harvcoltxt|Burrow|1973 and Harvtxt|Parpola|1999.
First wave
The Indo-Iranians and their expansion are strongly associated with the
chariot . It is assumed that this expansion went into theCaucasus , the Iranian plateau, and South Asia. They also expanded intoMesopotamia andSyria and introduced the horse and chariot culture to this part of the world.Sumerian texts from EDIIIbNgirsu (2500-2350 BC) already mention the 'chariot' (gigir) andUr III texts (2150-2000 BC) mention the horse (anshe-zi-zi).They left linguistic remains in a Hittite horse-training manual written by one "Kikkuli the Mitannian". Other evidence is found in references to the names of
Mitanni rulers and the gods they swore by in treaties; these remains are found in the archives of the Mitanni's neighbors. The time period for this is about 1500 BC.Harvcolnb|Mallory|Mair|2000] rp|257The standard model for the entry of the Indo-European languages into South Asia is that this first wave went over the Hindu Kush, either into the headwaters of the Indus and later the
Ganges . The earliest stratum ofVedic Sanskrit , preserved only in theRigveda , is assigned to roughly 1500 BC. [ [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9063686 Rigveda - Britannica Online Encyclopedia ] ] Harvcolnb|Mallory|Mair|2000] rp|258 From the Indus, theIndo-Aryan languages spread from c.1500 BC to c.500 BC , over the northern and central parts of the subcontinent, sparing the extreme south. TheIndo-Aryans in these areas established several powerful kingdoms and principalities in the region, from easternAfghanistan to the doorstep ofBengal . The most powerful of these kingdoms were the post-Rigvedic Kuru (in Kurukshetra and the Delhi area) and their allies the Pañcālas further east, as well asGandhara and later on, about the time of the Buddha, the kingdom ofKosala and the quickly expanding realm ofMagadha . The latter lasted until the4th century BC , when it was conquered byChandragupta Maurya and formed the center of theMauryan empire .In eastern
Afghanistan and southwesternPakistan , whateverIndo-Aryan languages were spoken there were eventually pushed out by theIranian languages , such as that of the Avesta-likeKamboja . Most Indo-Aryan languages, however, were and still are prominent in the rest of theIndian subcontinent . Today, Indo-Aryan languages are spoken inIndia ,Pakistan ,Bangladesh ,Nepal ,Sri Lanka and theMaldives .econd wave
The Second Wave is interpreted as the Iranian wave.Harvcolnb|Mallory|1989] rp|42–43 The Iranians would take over all of Central Asia, Iran, and for a considerable period, dominate the European steppe (the modern
Ukraine ) and intrude north into Russia and west into central and eastern Europe well into historic times and as late as the Common Era.The first Iranians to reach the
Black Sea may have been theCimmerians in the8th century BC , although their linguistic affiliation is uncertain. They were followed by theScythians , who are considered a western branch of the Central AsianSaka s. Sarmatian tribes, of whom the best known are theRoxolani (Rhoxolani),Iazyges (Jazyges) and theAlani (Alans), followed the Scythians westwards into Europe in the late centuries BCE and the first and second centuries of the Common Era (TheAge of Migrations ). The populous Sarmatian tribe of theMassagetae , dwelling near the Caspian Sea, were known to the early rulers of Persia in the Achaemenid Period. In the east, the Saka occupied several areas in Xinjiang, from Khotan to Tumshuq.The
Medes ,Parthians andPersians begin to appear on thePersian plateau from ca.800 BC , and theAchaemenid s replacedElamite rule from559 BC . Around the first millennium of theCommon Era (AD), the IranianPashtuns andBaloch began to settle on the eastern edge of the Iranian plateau, on the mountainous frontier of northwesternPakistan in what is now theNorth-West Frontier Province and Balochistan, displacing the earlierIndo-Aryans from the area.In Central Asia, the
Turkic languages and culture have replaced Iranian, but a substantial minority remains inUzbekistan andTurkmenistan as well as in south western Xinjiang (Sariqoli). Otherwise, the Iranian languages are now confined toIran ,Kurdistan ,Afghanistan ,Pakistan ,Tajikistan ,Turkey and theCaucasus (Ossete).Archaeology
Archaeological culture s associated with Indo-Iranian expansion include:
*Central Asia
**Poltavka culture (2700-2100 BC)
**Andronovo horizon (2200-1000 BC)
***Sintashta-Petrovka-Arkaim (2200-1600 BC),
***Alakul (2100-1400 BC)
***Fedorovo (1400-1200 BC)
***Alekseyevka (1200-1000 BC)
**Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (2200-1700 BC)
**Srubna culture (2000-1100 BC)
**Abashevo culture (1700-1500 BC)
**Yaz culture (1500-1100 BC)
*India
**Painted Gray Ware culture (1100-350 BC)
*Iran
**Early West Iranian Grey Ware (1500-1000 BC)
**Late West Iranian Buff Ware (900-700 BC)
*Pakistan
**Swat culture (1600-500 BC)
**Cemetery H culture (1900-1300 BC)Harvtxt|Parpola|1999 suggests the following identifications:Language
The
Indo-European language spoken by the Indo-Iranians in the late3rd millennium BC was aSatem language still not removed very far from theProto-Indo-European language , and in turn only removed by a few centuries from theVedic Sanskrit of theRigveda . The main phonological change separating Proto-Indo-Iranian from Proto-Indo-European is the collapse of the ablauting vowels "*e, *o, *a" into a single vowel, Proto-Indo-Iranian "*a" (but seeBrugmann's law ).Grassmann's law andBartholomae's law were also complete in Proto-Indo-Iranian, as well as the loss of the labiovelars (kw, etc.) to k, and the Eastern Indo-European (Satem) shift from palatized k' to ć, as in Proto-Indo-European *k'ṃto- > Indo-Iran. *ćata- > Sanskrit śata-, Old Iran. sata "100".Among the sound changes from Proto-Indo-Iranian to Indo-Aryan is the loss of the voiced sibilant "*z", among those to Iranian is the de-aspiration of the PIE voiced aspirates.
ee also
*
Chariot
*Soma
*Mitra
*Andronovo culture
*BMAC
*Indo-Aryans
*Indo-Aryan migration
*Mitanni
*Aryavarta
*Hinduism
*Iranian peoples
*Avesta n
*Zoroastrianism
*Proto-Indo-Iranian language
*Vedic Sanskrit
*Avestan
*Satemization
*Graeco-Aryan
*Iran-India relations
*Iran-Pakistan relations Notes
ources
*.
*Jones-Bley, K.; Zdanovich, D. G. (eds.), "Complex Societies of Central Eurasia from the 3rd to the 1st Millennium BC", 2 vols, JIES Monograph Series Nos. 45, 46, Washington D.C. (2002), ISBN 0-941694-83-6, ISBN 0-941694-86-0.
*.
*.
* Citation | last = Mallory | first = J. P. | author-link = J. P. Mallory | last2 = Adams | first2 = Douglas Q. | author2-link = | contribution = Indo-Iranian Languages | title =Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture | publisher = Fitzroy Dearborn | publication-date = 1997.
*.
*.
*
*.External links
* [http://www.arizonapersian.com/iran/_disc4/00000759.htm The Origin of the Pre-Imperial Iranian Peoples] by Oric Basirov (2001)
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