Indo-Aryan peoples

Indo-Aryan peoples are communities whose languages belong to the Indo-Aryan branch of Indo-European, spoken chiefly across South Asia. The label describes linguistic affiliation, not a single ethnicity or biological ancestry.

Indo-Aryan languages: A branch of Indo-Iranian languages within Indo-European, spoken chiefly in South Asia. The group is defined by communities’ affiliation with this language branch.
Proto-Indo-Iranian language: The reconstructed ancestor of the Indo-Iranian languages, spoken before their major branches diverged. It precedes the linguistic split that produced the Indo-Aryan branch.
Hindi-speaking world: Communities using Hindi varieties across northern and central India and in diaspora. They form one large, internally diverse part of the Indo-Aryan-speaking world.
Aryan invasion theory: An older model explaining Indo-Aryan language spread through a single large-scale invasion of South Asia. Its invasion framing differs from migration models and has influenced public debate.
Indo-European languages: A language family spanning much of Europe and parts of Asia, descended from a reconstructed common ancestor. Indo-Aryan languages form one branch of this wider family.
Indo-Aryan migration: The movement of Indo-Aryan-speaking populations into South Asia during the second millennium BCE. It is a leading historical framework for the branch’s early presence in the region.
Bengalis: An ethnolinguistic community chiefly associated with Bengali language and the Bengal region. Bengali-speaking communities illustrate a major eastern Indo-Aryan identity.
Out of India theory: A hypothesis that Indo-European languages originated in South Asia and spread outward, contrary to mainstream reconstruction. It recasts the origins of Indo-Aryan peoples and languages in a contested way.
Indo-Iranian languages: A branch of Indo-European comprising the Indo-Aryan, Iranian, and Nuristani language groups. This intermediate family connects Indo-Aryan languages to neighboring branches.
Rigveda: An ancient Sanskrit collection of hymns and the oldest major source of early Indo-Aryan language. Its hymns preserve early Indo-Aryan speech and religious traditions.

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