CHAPTER 5 : PART IV - THE INDO-EUROPEAN INVASIONS -

THE ARYANS IN AFGHANISTAN AND INDIA

ARYANA - THE ARYAN ORIGIN OF AFGHANISTAN

Around the year 2000 BC, originating in the Caucasus, a sun worshipping Indo-European tribe calling themselves Aryans, using a language known as Sanskrit, invaded central Asia and occupied territory as far as the North of India. These invaders were what became known as the original Aryans.

In fact, all of those countries spanning their age of conquest bear names directly related to them - India, Iran, Iraq are all corruptions of the original word "Aryan". (Far off distant racial cousins of the Aryans went west, penetrating as far as Ireland, giving the name "Eire" to that land - also a derivative of the word Aryan).

After 2000 BC, waves of Aryans flooded into modern day Afghanistan, setting up a up a nation which became known as Aryana, or "Land of the Aryans." By the middle of the 6th Century BC the Persian Empire had incorporated Aryana into its boundaries, and by 330 BC, Alexander the Great had occupied the region.

By this time most of the original Aryans in Aryana had been absorbed into the local native population, although it is still possible to this day to see light eyed and light haired individuals amongst the modern Afghanistan population.

During the 1st Century AD, the Kushans, an Asiatic race, occupied Aryana, with their rule destroying the last vestiges of the original Indo-Aryan culture and race. Thereafter Aryana fell under the rule of a large number of different Non-White races, until the 7th Century AD when Arab Muslim armies occupied the region. In 1220 the region was once again overrun by Mongols under Genghis Khan, who devastated the land. By this time the people of Aryana had passed into history - and only that country's name is remembered today.

Below: This famous cover of the National Geographic magazine of June 1985 shows a female Afghan refugee fleeing the then Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. The picture is valuable as it vividly demonstrates the left over genetic imprint of the Aryans who  founded Afghanistan nearly 4000 years ago. The girl's eyes are green, her hair light brown and her features almost indistinguishable from modern White Europeans. This then represents the last remaining traces of the Aryans in Afghanistan.

THE ARYANS AND INDIA

Another branch of the Aryans penetrated as far east as India, where they also settled and built up a civilization.

Although the Aryans established a powerful White civilization in Northern India, it would be incorrect to think that the native Indians had not created anything of their own.

The Indus civilization created by the Harrapans was already in existence by the time the Aryans invaded.

The invading Aryans were however more advanced and referred to the conquered Indians as "Dasyu" - the "dark ones" or slaves.

Indo-Aryan poetry (the Vedas) are full of stories of war against the Dasyu, and reflected that stark racial divisions between the conquering Aryans and the conquered Indians.

At the time of the writing of the main religious books of the Aryans - the Rigvedas - a distinction was drawn between the two types of people in the Indus river valley: the "fair" conquering immigrants and the "dark" native people.

Within three hundred years however, physical mixing had proceeded to the point where these two racial classes had been subdivided further, with membership in each class being determined solely on the basis of how light or how dark an individual's skin color was.

These divisions led to a color based class system being developed, known today as the caste system. The word caste was only given to the system by Portuguese travelers many centuries later, coming from the Latin word castus, meaning pure. The original Sanskrit for the caste system was "varna", which means color.

As assimilation and integration between the Aryans and the Dasyu increased, the caste system became more and more complex, till four major divisions were created, with membership in each group dependent upon the coloring of the individual.

This four tier system still exists in India today, with the highest caste, the Brahmans (or "priests") being the lightest in color, and the Sudas or "untouchables" are the darkest.

Within a few hundred years the original Aryans had become so assimilated that their contribution to Indian civilization can be considered to be at an end.

Their legacy lives on in the language, religion and poetry of India - and of course the caste system.

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