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| Total population | |
|---|---|
| ~1.4 billion[citation needed] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| India | Over 911 million[1] |
| Pakistan | Over 180 million[2] |
| Bangladesh | Over 170 million[3] |
| Nepal | Over 26 million |
| Sri Lanka | Over 14 million |
| Afghanistan | Over 2 million |
| Mauritius | Over 725,400 |
| Maldives | Over 300,000[4] |
| Bhutan | Over 240,000 |
| Languages | |
| Indo-Aryan languages | |
| Religion | |
| PredominantlyHindu andMuslim Large minority :Buddhist,Sikh,Jain,Christian and some non-religiousatheist/agnostic | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Iranian peoples | |
| Part ofa series on |
| Indo-European topics |
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Archaeology Chalcolithic (Copper Age) Pontic Steppe Caucasus East Asia Eastern Europe Northern Europe Bronze Age Northern/Eastern Steppe Europe
South Asia Iron Age Europe Caucasus Central Asia India |
Peoples and societies Bronze Age Iron AgeIndo-Aryans Iranians Nuristanis East Asia Europe Middle Ages Europe Indo-Aryan Iranian |
Religion and mythology |
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Indo-Aryan peoples, also known asIndic peoples, are a diverse collection ofpeoples predominantly found inSouth Asia, who (traditionally) speakIndo-Aryan languages. Historically,Aryans were thepastoralists who spoke Indo-Iranian languages,migrated fromCentral Asia into South Asia, and introduced theProto-Indo-Aryan language.[5][6][7][8][9] The earlyIndo-Aryan peoples were known to be closely related to theIranian group that have resided west of theIndus River; an evident connection in cultural, linguistic, and historical ties. Today, Indo-Aryan speakers are found south of the Indus, across the modern-day regions ofBangladesh,Nepal,Pakistan (east ofIndus River),Sri Lanka,Maldives and northern half ofIndia.[10]
The introduction of theIndo-Aryan languages in the Indian subcontinent was the outcome of amigration of Indo-Aryan people from Central Asia into the northernIndian subcontinent (modern-dayBangladesh,Bhutan,India,Nepal,Pakistan, andSri Lanka). Another group of Indo-Aryans migrated further westward and founded theMitanni kingdom in northern Syria[11] (c. 1500–1300 BC); the other group was the Vedic people.[12] According toChristopher I. Beckwith, theWusun people ofInner Asia inantiquity could have been of Indo-Aryan origin.[13]
TheProto-Indo-Iranians, from which the Indo-Aryans developed, are identified with theSintashta culture (2100–1800 BCE),[14][15] and theAndronovo culture,[citation needed] which flourished ca. 1800–1400 BCE in the steppes around theAral Sea, present-day Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The Proto-Indo-Aryan split off around 1800–1600 BCE from the Iranians,[16] moved south through theBactria-Margiana Culture, south of the Andronovo culture, borrowing some of their distinctive religious beliefs and practices from the BMAC, and then migrated further south into theLevant and north-western India.[17][5] The migration of the Indo-Aryans was part of the larger diffusion ofIndo-European languages from theProto-Indo-European homeland at thePontic–Caspian steppe which started in the 4th millennium BCE.[5][18][19] TheGGC,Cemetery H,Copper Hoard,OCP, andPGW cultures are candidates for cultures associated with Indo-Aryans.
The Indo-Aryans were united by shared cultural norms and language, referred to asaryā 'noble'. Over the last four millennia, the Indo-Aryan culture has evolved particularly inside India itself, but its origins are in the conflation of values and heritage of the Indo-Aryan and indigenous people groups of India.[20] Diffusion of this culture and language took place by patron-client systems, which allowed for the absorption and acculturation of other groups into this culture, and explains the strong influence on other cultures with which it interacted.
Genetically, most Indo-Aryan-speaking populations are descendants of a mix of Central Asian steppe pastoralists, Iranian hunter-gatherers, and, to a lesser extent, South Asian hunter-gatherers—commonly known as Ancient Ancestral South Indians (AASI). Dravidians are descendants of a mix of South Asian hunter-gatherers and Iranian hunter-gatherers, and to a lesser extent, Central Asian steppe pastoralists. South Indian Tribal Dravidians descend majorly from South Asian hunter-gatherers, and to a lesser extent Iranian hunter-gatherers.[21][22][23] Additionally, Austroasiatic and Tibeto-Burmese speaking people contributed to the genetic make-up of South Asia.[24]
Indigenous Aryanism propagates the idea that the Indo-Aryans were indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, and that the Indo-European languages spread from there to central Asia and Europe. Contemporary support for this idea is ideologically driven, and has no basis in objective data and mainstream scholarship.[25][26][27][28][29]
