From the title of this rating, one might think that we are talking about fair-haired and blue-eyed beauties of the Nordic race (like Anita Ekberg or women from the paintings of Wolfgang Willrich), which Nazi theorists called Aryan. However, the rating will focus on the most beautiful, according to the rating of the Top Anthropos website. girls and women of peoples speaking Aryan languages.
Until the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. there were arias united people, roamed the steppes of Siberia and Central Asia. Then a split occurred within the Aryans. Some of the Aryans moved to the southeast and reached India, while the other part populated the Iranian plateau. Perhaps the reason for the split of the Aryans was a religious conflict, traces of which are visible in the difference between the names of good and evil beings in Hinduism (the religion of the Indian Aryans) and Zoroastrianism (the now almost extinct religion of the Iranians). For example, gods in Hinduism are called devas, and in Zoroastrianism devas are evil spirits. In Hinduism, demons and opponents of gods are called asuras, and in Zoroastrianism, ahuras are gods; the supreme deity of Zoroastrianism is called Ahura Mazda.
Until the 19th century, it was assumed that there were only two groups of Aryan peoples ( Indo-Aryans And Iranian arias), but then it turned out that in the mountain valleys of the Hindu Kush there has been a third branch of the Aryans for several millennia - Nuristanis, representing several peoples living an archaic life. Until the 19th century, they successfully fought with the surrounding Muslims, preserving their ancient beliefs, but a little over 100 years ago, having lost the war to the Pashtuns, they finally converted to Islam.
Dardy(the peoples inhabiting the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region) are often considered as the fourth branch of the Aryans, and one can often find information that the Dards are Indo-Aryans.
Currently, there are 313 Aryan languages, which is 2/3 of the total number of Indo-European languages. More than 1 billion people speak Indo-Aryan languages, about 200 million speak Iranian languages, 5.5 million speak Dardic languages, and about 130 thousand speak Nuristani languages. In total, Aryan languages are spoken by approximately 1.2 billion people, accounting for half of the number of speakers of Indo-European languages language family(which also includes Slavic, Germanic, and Romance languages).
The most beautiful women of Iranian peoples
The most beautiful Persian- model and actress Claudia Lynx / Claudia Lynx. She was born on June 8, 1982 in Tehran (Iran) into a Persian family. When the girl was 5 years old, her family moved to Norway. Claudia Links currently lives in the USA. Real name and surname - Shagayegh Samen. At the same time, Azerbaijani sources indicate that her real name- Alizadeh, and her family belongs to Iranian Azerbaijanis. Claudia Links herself does not comment on these rumors.
As you know, the leaders of the “Third Reich” seriously believed that the true Aryans were the Germans. Or at least they pretended to believe it. And in 1939, Himmler sent a large-scale scientific expedition to Tibet.
What were the Germans looking for there? Gold? Emeralds? No, they measured the width of the Tibetans’ cheekbones, the facial angle, removed their plaster masks, calculated the coefficient of cephalization... They hoped to find in Tibet those same mythical “Nordic” Aryans who, in their opinion, had once left Germany and gone to the East. But they didn’t find it. For the most part, they dealt with indigenous Tibetans - representatives of the Mongoloid population group.
French researcher Michel Pessel was more fortunate. In 1975, he nevertheless found in the snowy Himalayas a small people of Min-ro, possibly Aryans, who had all the features of the European anthropological group. Some of its representatives even looked like “Nordic” Aryans.
This mysterious people and to this day lives in the Western Himalayas, in Ladakh - a kind of threshold of Tibet. The area is located where the borders touch three countries: India, Pakistan and China. Of course, Pessel discovered in Tibet not “Nordic” Aryans at all, but descendants of Indo-Europeans who came to India from Central Asia in 1400 BC and subsequently became Indo-Aryans.
The Minaro are by no means the only Europeans who have lived in the Himalayas since time immemorial. People who have a European Aryan appearance are conventionally called Dardas by the inhabitants of Tibet.
Europeans from time immemorial
In the province of Nuristan in Afghanistan, as well as in the mountains of Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan, one of the amazing peoples of the Dardic group, the Kalash, lives locally. Its population is about 6 thousand people.
The villages are located at an altitude of 1900-2200 meters above sea level. The Kalash inhabit three side valleys formed by the right (western) tributaries of the Chitral (Kunar) River: Bumboret (Mumret in Kalash), Rumbur (Rukmu) and Birir (Biriu), at a distance of approximately 20 km south of the city of Chitral.
Their wooden houses are piled one above the other along steep mountain slopes and are somewhat reminiscent of Georgian sakli with a flat roof. Between the dwellings there are bridges and steep stairs, along which children jump with pleasure. Nearby are the ruins of ancient stone fortresses - possibly built by the ancestors of the current inhabitants.
Neighbors consider the Kalash to be aborigines - and scientists confirm this. In joint research by the Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, the University of Southern California and Stanford University, a separate paragraph is devoted to the Kalash, which states that their genes are truly unique and belong to the ancient European Aryan group.
Like in the Russian North
The Kalash, despite all the oppression, managed to preserve their pagan faith. It is interesting that neighbors who have the same European appearance as them profess Islam. Kalash rituals are very similar to ancient Slavic and Baltic ones. They worship the sacred fire in three forms: the sun, lightning and hearth fire.
They have preserved remnants of the twin cult, typical of all ancient Indo-Europeans. In the temple premises for ritual dances, on wooden pillars you can see carved figures of hugging twins and a stylized image of the sun. In the middle of the temple room, blown by all the winds, there is a sacred pillar with carvings on it. solar signs.
Some signs symbolizing the sun are similar to those that are still found in Arkhangelsk wooden carvings! Not far from the ritual pillar is an altar: two horse heads carved from wood.
Horned deity
On holidays, on a special altar in front of a pagan idol made from a single trunk of a large tree, installed on a mountainside under open air, sacrifice a goat. Their grazing in the mountain pastures is done by unmarried shepherdesses with eyes like those of the Aryans.
Local folklore is replete with tales associated with totemic ideas about this animal. On major holidays, representatives of the fair sex dress in colorful outfits reminiscent of the traditional costumes of Slavic and Baltic women, drawing the silhouette of a mountain goat with curled horns above their eyebrows with soot.
Often during the holiday they play a scene where a horned goat is portrayed by an unmarried girl, and a shepherd is portrayed by an unmarried boy. This action is very reminiscent of the ritual of buffoon dressing under New Year. Harvest festivals and love festivals are held, similar to Ivan Kupala: then they dance in circles and sing songs.
Wooden horned idols have also been preserved - a female deity on a throne with a carved massive staff in her left hand. You will inevitably remember the Russian devil with a poker.
Just like in my native Provence
Kalash - Aryans cultivate wheat, millet and barley on irrigated fields. They reap the harvest with sickles. Grow Walnut and mulberry. Now they have an exotic crop for these places - corn.
Pessel was at one time amazed that representatives of the Minaro people, who outwardly look so similar to the French Aryans, just like the Tyroleans or the inhabitants of Provence, grow grapes on the mountain slopes of the Western Himalayas and make wine from them. When, in his book “The Gold of Ants,” published in 1984 (published in Russian in 1989), Pessel published a photograph of a smiling Minaro man, who looked like a Frenchman, and even with a bunch of grapes in one hand and a cup of wine in the other , not everyone believed him. Some even accused the scientist of causing a brawl.
Nevertheless, today this is already a proven fact: the Himalayas are inhabited by Aryan people, indistinguishable from Europeans; and they lead a way of life that makes them similar to European peasants.
Combat background
Women of the Kalash - Aryans, in their spare time, make jewelry from beads, reminiscent of Russian and Baltic ones. On the chest, for example, there is symbolism in the form of two horse heads looking in different directions, and solar signs. Similar ones could be found in the Russian North in the 19th century in carvings on huts, spinning wheels and gates. Among the Balts, these stories are still preserved in village life.
The Pakistan Museum of National Antiquities houses wooden statues of horsemen wearing helmets and armor. At one time, they were “expropriated” by the Pakistani authorities from the Kalash. Those were probably very warlike people: their folklore preserves legends about aggressive campaigns against neighboring lands. During military raids, foreigners were taken prisoner. From the slaves, a caste of artisans was formed, with their rights infringed; later it was they who converted to Islam. There are much fewer blondes in their composition and a noticeable Mongoloid and Australoid admixture.
In pristine purity
In the cemetery, on the graves of the Kalash, they place vertical wooden boards with solar signs carved on them. The center of the ancestral cult is a carved board representing the goddess Jeshtak, the patroness of family ties, or a “temple” (“Jeshtak house”) - a room for dances and meetings.
The symbolic subjects on the gravestones are partly similar to the South Ossetian gravestones of the 18th century. Let me remind you that the Ossetians are the descendants of the Alan nomads who took refuge in the Caucasus mountains from the Hun invasion.
All this allows us to assume that the Alans, Slavs and Kalash had common ancestors Aryans. However, the Kalash are perhaps the only ones in the world who have preserved in pristine purity not only the appearance of typical Caucasians, but also their culture pagan ancestors, Proto-Indo-Europeans. They believe in the transmigration of souls in the same way as the ancestors of all Indo-Europeans, including the Slavs, not excluding the Russians, believed in it. Many features of everyday life and rituals are explained precisely by this.
And yet, the cultural impact from neighbors of different faiths is undoubtedly felt. The men adopted typical Muslim clothing and headdress. The names of the ancestral deities are gradually forgotten. The Holiday of Merit - honoring respected people - is becoming a thing of the past. But those who have left this life and who must be born again in a new body are not forgotten.
A fragment of antiquity
IN social order The Kalash (Aryans), like the related inhabitants of neighboring Nuristan, are divided into ranks. The head of a family clan, wanting to increase his prestige, slaughters several goats and treats his fellow tribesmen. Anyone has the right to come to the feast.
Thanks to a warm welcome and a feast for the whole world, the head of the clan receives one vote in the council of elders and the right to install a personal carved wooden statue in the family cemetery after his death. Of course, this is not a Greek or Roman statue, but you can still see a distant resemblance to ancient images in these masks and figures.
Relatives of towels
Among the Kalash-Aryans, the mountains and mountain pastures where the gods live and “their livestock” graze—wild goats—have the highest holiness. Altars and goat sheds are holy. Shrines are usually located in the open air. These are mostly altars built from juniper or oak. They are furnished with ritual carved boards and idols of the highest deities.
Indoor wooden halls are specially built for religious mysteries and dances.
The ritual life of the Kalash - Aryans - takes place in collective celebrations, feasts and games, to which the gods are invited as full participants. At the matchmaking ceremony that precedes the wedding, you can see matchmakers with tied wedding towels, decorated with embroidery and very reminiscent of towels!
At the feet of the gods
The Kalash - Aryans, like all Dardic peoples, live in close proximity to the greatest peak of the world, called K2 by climbers, and by the local population - Chogori.
It is located in Kashmir, in northern Pakistan, near the border with China and looks like a giant snow-covered pyramid. Second in the world after Everest. Its height is 8611 meters above sea level.
There is reason to believe that it is Chogori that appears in the Hindu Vedas as the sacred Mount Meru, and in the main book of Zoroastrianism, the Avesta, as the Great Khara. According to ancient Aryan views, the Sun, Moon, stars and planets revolve around this mountain.
Perhaps the ancient Aryans or their descendants - the European nomadic Scythians - because of religious beliefs, climbed so high into the mountains and chose these high-mountain regions as their place of residence? According to the Vedas, great gods live on Mount Meru. Isn’t it the greatest honor to live at the foot of the abode of the gods?
Alexander Belov, paleoanthropologist
Undoubtedly, the question of who the Aryans are and how this nation appeared is of interest to many, although it requires the most careful study and detailed analysis.
The Aryans are a people who spoke languages belonging to the eastern branch of the Indo-European family and belonged to the northern racial type.
Who were the Aryans, and where did they actually live? According to legend, the ancient Aryans migrated from Hyperborea, a state that was formed in a territory dominated by a harsh northern climate. At the same time, five decades ago, European scientists were absolutely sure that the Aryans had Asian roots. Subsequently, it was accepted to consider the northwestern part of Europe to be the homeland of the Aryans, and the original racial type of the Aryans was defined as Nordic (northern). From Irish “aire” is translated as “leader”, “to know”, from Old Scandinavian - “the most noble”. And yet who are the Aryans? The superior race, the demigods? This is the interpretation of only Adolf Hitler and no one else.
First of all, they are bearers of religious texts, which were called Avesta and Rigveda - they give an understanding of who the Aryans really are. It should be recognized that the “fifth race” left behind a colossal legacy.
It must be emphasized that the concept of “Aryan race” was first introduced by J. A. Gobineau, who in the 19th century published his work entitled “Essay on Inequality human races" At the same time, he has superiority over others. After his works were published, soldiers began to call themselves Aryans. Moreover, as a “noble” race, Aryans should have blue eyes and blond hair.
The Hitlerites viewed the Aryan race as a specific gene pool, which was represented exclusively by the Germans, since they were superior to other peoples in mental, moral and physical qualities. In addition, all Aryans must be tall, have impeccable health and be in excellent physical shape.
The “Fuhrer” liked the theory of a perfect race. In his book "Main Kampf" he emphasized that the history of the Aryans deserves comprehensive study by every soldier of Nazi Germany. According to Adolf Hitler, every “true Aryan” must care about “purity of blood”, and, in his opinion, it is criminal to marry a member of a lower race. At the same time, the fascist dictator had no doubt at all that it was necessary to strictly monitor the level of demographics in the country, and people who had “poor” health were forbidden to have children.
For his country, Hitler wanted to prepare the role of a world leader who would rule all nations. According to the “chief” Nazi, the Aryan (Germanic) race “gives birth” to exclusively brilliant people who are destined to rule the world. Others must do their will and obey them unquestioningly, since they are untalented and have absolutely no talent. The Fuhrer defined all peoples without exception from the position of their similarity to the Aryan race.
In addition to the inhabitants of Scandinavia, Hitler believed that the Japanese, although different in appearance, but are close in spirit to the Aryans. At the same time, he considered representatives of other peoples inhabiting Southeast Asia “almost monkeys.”
The question of the nation and the so-called “purity of blood” concerns everyone differently. There are people who had representatives in their family different nationalities, and they are not at all worried about this and are proud of their ancestors. And there are those who do not accept representatives of other races and despise them. They get married only after making sure of the pedigree of their future half, and, noticing even the slightest nuances in it, they immediately break off any relationship.
Fact or Fiction
Many people still argue about who the Aryans are. Translated, "Aryan" means "respected", "worthy", "noble". However, this term is not scientific. It was put forward by nationalists with the aim of dividing people living at that time into worthy and unworthy. The first included representatives of European nationalities, primarily belonging to the so-called Norman type. Traditionally, this is what people from Northern Europe who have a strong build, blond hair and blue eyes. The representatives of those who, according to the nationalists, were unworthy of life, were primarily considered to be Jews.
Hitler's theory
Surely everyone knows that Hitler’s dream was not only to conquer the whole world, but also to create an ideal race, according to his theory, of fair-haired and blue-eyed people. To understand who Hitler’s Aryans are, just read his quote:
“The entire human culture, all the achievements of art, science and technology, which we are witnessing today, are the fruits of the creativity of the Aryans... He [the Aryan] is the Prometheus of humanity, from whose bright brow at all times sparks of genius have flown, kindling the fire of knowledge, illuminating the darkness of the dark ignorance, which allowed man to rise above other creatures of the Earth."
Given his character and pathological determination in achieving the goals he set himself, Hitler made demands not only on the external data of ideal people. Defining who the Aryans were, he also took into account character traits, lifestyle, principles and even characteristics of sexual development and maturation. The requirements were very strict, but the desire for a fictitious ideal was so high that those who did not meet the slightest requirement were expelled from the caste of the chosen in disgrace and could even be physically destroyed. Arguing on the topic of who the Aryans were, Hitler acted harshly: compassion was alien to him, and with equal success (if one can put it that way, of course), both children and adults were exterminated on his orders.
Making a portrait of an Aryan
To imagine who the Aryans are and what they look like, you can familiarize yourself with the supposed criteria that were applied to the appearance, character type and characteristics of the physical and sexual development of this category of people.
So, a real purebred Aryan is distinguished by:
- very light, almost snow-white skin;
- light, preferably blue eyes;
- smooth and thin hair of light shades;
- height of at least 180 cm (women may be shorter);
- weight proportional to height;
- refined facial features, long thin fingers;
- lack of hair on the back, legs, other manifestations on the face and genital area are mild;
- high forehead and regular shaped skull;
- absence of brow ridges;
- the presence of a sign of a metopic suture on the forehead;
- evenly set eyes;
- straight and healthy teeth;
- later puberty and later aging;
- pleasant sound of speech;
- mandatory talents and (preferably) genius;
- lack of desire for physical and monotonous work;
- equilibrium;
- independence from alcohol and drugs;
- lack of susceptibility to hereditary diseases (in principle, a person should not get sick);
- accuracy;
- complete rejection of even the thought of an alien racial culture, religion, dislike of Jews;
- selective and picky in sexual relations;
- strong concepts about the value of family;
- An Aryan woman is beautiful, slender, faithful to her husband, loves children, an excellent housewife, hates Jews.
Having studied these characteristics, you can imagine who the Aryans are and what they look like. A photo of everyone considered to be a worthy representative of the superior race will not give a complete impression, so all that remains is to fantasize.
Helpful information
If you believe the statistics, then most often when asked about who the Aryans are, associations arise precisely with the period of the nationalist movement during the Second World War, but such a nation actually existed and still exists. This question causes a lot of confusion in the scientific world, because the Indo-European race, some of which were called Aryans, really existed.
An artificially created nation or a nation with a historical foundation?
Most peoples of the world speak similar languages. This can only mean one thing: we all have common roots and origins. Even in ancient tribes there was a division of people according to social status, and taking into account natural selection, which under conditions wildlife stood especially tough, only the strongest and most dexterous survived. Tribes consisting of such people conquered territories, later their leaders became rulers, etc. The Aryan tribe was unique.
Its representatives were something of a legend at the time. They were looked up to, imitated, respected and feared. It was precisely because of their historically inherent superiority that Hitler chose them as a model. He was based not only on appearance, although of course this fact cannot be denied. High cheekbones and smooth facial features are characteristic of most Germans, but similar differences in physique are also characteristic of many representatives Slavic peoples, with whom the Nazis waged a fierce struggle. But why should they fight if (based on external signs) they are connected with the Slavs by family ties? This dilemma is the reason why it is not possible to get a clear answer to the question of who the Aryans are.
Historical facts
A brief historical overview will help people who are interested in who the Aryans are and where they came from to understand. Tribes living in northern Europe are often called Indo-Europeans. This term is still used today, but has a broader meaning than in the last century. What the Aryans called themselves is still unknown to historians. These tribes occupied what was then fertile land and are often considered the founders of agriculture and animal husbandry.
It’s interesting, but if you believe the research, the Aryans originally lived in the territory modern Russia, not in Germany.
Around the second millennium BC, a large-scale settlement of representatives of this tribe occurred throughout the globe. Of course, preference was given to areas suitable for agriculture, but the harsh conditions did not in principle frighten them.
As a result of mixing with other peoples, their appearance underwent significant changes, and it became impossible to determine their origin. Even modern indigenous Tajiks have two main types of appearance. One half is dark-skinned, dark-haired and dark-eyed people, and the other half has blond hair and blue eyes. But this doesn’t mean that they are Aryans?
A nation of kings and rulers
Even without really knowing who the Aryans were and where they lived, the ancient kings and emperors recognized belonging to this race as prestigious and were sure to look for the opportunity to find representatives of this race among their ancestors.
Perhaps this is what gave rise to what we call nationalism and fascism. After all, the concept that all people are brothers exists only in church teachings, but practically never occurs in life.
By dividing people into those similar to God (and therefore worthy of worship) and those descended from monkeys (suitable only for providing services to a superior race), our ancestors, without knowing it, laid the foundations for the age-old confrontation between peoples. Some were ready to die to exterminate other races, while others defended their lands and rightly condemned the fascists for their beliefs.
Adolf Lanz theory
At the beginning of the 20th century, the views of the Catholic monk Adolf Lanz on the origin of human races on Earth were published. He believed that initially there were two tribes - the Aryans and the animal people. He called the former heroic, and the latter monkeys. The “super talented” Aryans had divine origins and even looked like angels. Demons on earth were symbolized by monkey people: they were incapable of anything except destruction and stupidity, lies and deception. These races hated each other and tried their best to destroy the opposing tribes. The monkeys began to act by mixing blood and seduced Aryan women, and the Aryans tried to exterminate everyone who posed even the slightest danger to dilute their divine blood.
IN currently due to the mixing of blood there are people on Earth, each of whom has an affiliation to a greater extent to one or the other type, therefore, is closer to either God or a demon. It is from this well-known theory that the Nazis start in their discussions about who the Aryans and Slavs are.
Let's sum it up
Who are the Aryans? Where did they come from and who are they? Most likely, this question will interest humanity for a very long time, but with complete confidence we can only say that Special attention to this category of people is caused by historical factors that have a serious impact on the development of world society.
Khatuntsev S.V.
The "Aryan" problem is the problem of origin and ancestral home, cultural role and historical heritage Aryan tribes have occupied world science for more than two centuries. Who are the Aryans-Aryans?
Aryan people are people who speak the languages of the Iranian and Indian groups of the Indo-European language family, as well as the Kafirs (Nuristanis) and Dards. Their ancestors had a common name - “arya”, “aryana”, similar culture and way of life, lived in the same territory, but several thousand years ago they left their cradle and began to move to lands far from each other; Gradually the Aryan unity disintegrated. Currently, the peoples of the Iranian group live in Ossetia, Tajikistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Pakistan, as well as in neighboring countries. Representatives of Indo-Aryan ethnic groups inhabit India - mainly its central and northern regions, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, the Maldives, eastern and southern Pakistan. Migrants, descendants of the Indo-Aryans, formed large colonies in Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia, the islands of Mauritius in the Indian and Fiji in Pacific Oceans, in the West Indies (Caribbean Sea) and in Guiana, in South Africa and on the coast East Africa. A considerable number of them settled in North America and in Europe. The Dardis and Nuristanis live in Kashmir and the adjacent provinces of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The total number of Aryan-speaking peoples is about 1 billion people, they make up approximately a seventh of the total population of the Earth. Of this billion, there are approximately 900 million Indo-Aryans, more than 90 million Iranians, 5-6 million Dards and Nuristanis.
The ancient Aryans created three highly developed and unique civilizations - Persian, Indo-Gangetic and Turano-Scythian, and had a significant influence on the cultures of the Front and South-East Asia, Caucasus, China, Turkic, Mongolian, Slavic and Finno-Ugric peoples. Their contribution to the treasury of spiritual values of humanity is of extraordinary weight. The Indo-Iranian Aryans burst into world history at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. - in an era when the great civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Harappa (Indus Valley) and the islands of the Eastern Mediterranean (Creto-Mycenaean world) were experiencing a deep internal crisis. Tribes of Aryan origin contributed to the renewal of ancient societies and gave a powerful impetus to the world cultural and historical process. For two millennia - up to the 3rd–4th centuries AD. - they were the main ones actors world history- until they grew old and gave way to younger peoples.
Among the Indo-Europeans, the “Aryans” were not an isolated group devoid of family ties. Slavic, Baltic (Letto-Lithuanian), as well as Armenian and ancient Greek languages are close to their dialects. The speakers of these languages had many common ethnographic features, cult-mythological ideas, and psychological traits with the Indo-Iranians, going back to a single ancestral source. This indicates that the ancestors of the Greeks and Armenians, Balto-Slavs and Indo-Iranians constituted one cultural and historical bloc in ancient times. However, the proto-Greeks and proto-Armenians separated from this bloc very early and did not maintain such close family ties with the Indo-Iranians as the ancestors of the Balto-Slavs. Much further away than the listed peoples are the speakers of other Indo-European dialects, in particular the Germans and Celts, from the Aryans. Therefore, the Slavs and Balts (Lithuanians and Latvians) have much more reason to be called Aryans than the Germans, Scandinavians, French and other European peoples.
What was ancient Aryan society like? The study of various sources suggests that long before the start of large-scale migrations, the Indo-Iranians were pastoral tribes. Their cornerstone public life was a large patriarchal family, typical of the pastoral peoples of Eurasia. The basis of the economy was the breeding of cattle and horses. The number of cows and bulls was the main measure of material well-being and wealth; a cow was considered the best sacrifice that the gods could wish for. The foundation of the military power of the Aryans was military cavalry and magnificent chariots. A thoroughbred horse was worth a whole herd of ordinary ones. All other animals were inferior in importance to cows and horses, and in addition to them, the Indo-Iranians bred goats, sheep, and Bactrian camels. Pig breeding was almost unknown to them; it was considered a lowly activity; pigs were not sacrificed to the gods. The Aryans were also engaged in agriculture, but it was a secondary occupation for them.
The Indo-Iranian tribes were semi-sedentary; every few years they moved their villages to a new place, which were, as a rule, not far from their previous camp. The Aryans did not know the potter's wheel; they sculpted ceramics “by hand” and fired it not in a forge, but in special pits or on a fire. Their ritual utensils were wooden.
The Indo-Iranians lived in large houses sunk into the ground, they also used dwellings on wheels - like vans or tents; they knew many metals and alloys - copper, gold, silver, bronze, and made weapons and utensils from them. The Aryans were good at the art of woodworking; it was they who perfected the technique of building chariots.
The Indo-Iranians were warlike people, and war booty - livestock, pastures, captives - was one of the most important sources of their well-being. Wars were fought almost constantly - both between the Indo-Iranians themselves, and between them and other peoples.
The Aryans were experienced collectors of wild honey, which was an essential element of their diet. The main food for them was fresh cow's milk and products obtained from it: spoiled milk and butter, as well as cereal dishes like porridge and boiled meat. For various rituals and religious celebrations, the Indo-Iranians made "sauma" - a drink that led to a state of sacred ecstasy. On secular holidays, public and family, the intoxicating “sura” was used. These holidays opened with equestrian competitions, followed by a collective feast.
The Aryans wore leather pants, boots and jackets, as well as a bashlyk - clothing that later became traditional for the masses of Eurasian nomads.
The Indo-Iranians either cremated their dead, buried them under burial mounds, or (much less often) left them to the elements and carrion eaters in the territory of burial grounds set aside for this purpose.
The most ancient Aryans did not know specialized, market-oriented crafts, monetary trade and cities, did not build any fortresses, palaces, or temples, and probably did not have any cult images or writing.
In their midst, three social groups took shape, which were called “flowers”. The most numerous of the “flowers” were community herders. The second group was represented by warriors, the third by priests. They were the most respected social stratum. The kings, the “sons of the Sun,” who crowned the entire system of social organization of the Aryans and headed individual tribes and tribal unions, were considered warrior-priests.
Various branches of the Aryans created great monuments of ancient religious thought, the Indo-Aryans - the Vedas, the southern Iranians - the Avesta. Judging by these monuments, they worshiped a host of gods, believing, at the same time, that behind all the diversity of life phenomena lies a single and eternal Basic Principle, the spiritual and creative principle that created this world, God the Absolute. Each of their many gods embodied different aspects of this Absolute.
There were very few female deities in the Indo-Iranian pantheon, and a harsh patriarchy reigned in it. The Aryan gods were shepherd gods. Their most frequent epithets are “lord of vast pastures”, “sender of beautiful horse wealth”, etc. The gods were asked to irrigate pastures and give herds of horses and bulls. In the Indo-Iranian hymns, the gods were depicted riding on horse-drawn chariots; their most important function was to protect livestock from demons or their servants in the earthly world.
Sacrifice was the main element of the religious practice of the Aryans. Sacrifices were made not only to the gods, but also to the ancestors. In addition to animals, they donated ghee, sauma and milk to the gods. In honor of their ancestors, mounds with stone altars were built.
The cult of the horse was extremely developed among the Indo-Iranians, along with it there was probably a less widespread cult of the beaver.
An essential component of the Aryan religion was also the veneration of fire and the worship of the Sun. It is possible that the name “Arya” itself goes back to ancient name Sun - Svar, Svara.
In the Indo-Iranian environment, a sacred mythopoetic language developed, which was used when performing rituals and addressing the gods. The poetics of the Aryans was based on pastoral terms. Images of a cow, a bull and a horse permeate the Indian Vedas and the Iranian Zend-Avesta. On their basis, the entire symbolic system of religious texts is built, shimmering with alliterations and hidden meanings, using a large number of epithets and synonyms. Only in the "Rigveda" - the main one of the "Vedas" - to designate key images- horse, bull and cow, at least 10 - 15 different synonyms are used.
Where is the ancestral home of the Aryans, which the peoples of the Indian branch called “Arya Varta”, the peoples of the Iranian branch called “Aryana Veja”, i.e. "Aryan space"?
As already mentioned, the search for it has continued for more than two centuries, but there is still no consensus in science about where it is located. The Aryan cradle was sought in the Himalayas and India, the Middle East and Central Asia, Europe and the Caucasus, the Arctic and Tibet. Supporters of the most authoritative and well-founded point of view believe that it was located in the strip from the Carpathians to the Volga.
It is known that the ancestral home of the Aryans occupied the eastern part of the common Indo-European hearth, was located in a zone of temperate, relatively dry and continental climate, and was replete with open, extended spaces. All this seems to indicate in favor of the localization of the Aryan ancestral home precisely in the steppes and forest-steppes of the Great Russian Plain, but many facts suggest that it was located further east - on the slopes of the Urals and in the Trans-Urals.
