Editing Aryan race (section)

=== Racial association of the term Aryan ===
{{See also|Aryan}}
The term "[[Aryan]]" was originally used as an [[ethnocultural]] self-designative identity and epithet of "noble" by [[Indo-Iranians]] and the authors of the oldest known [[religious texts]] of ''[[Rig Veda]]'' and ''[[Avesta]]'' within the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family—Sanskrit and [[Iranian languages|Iranian]], who lived in [[History of India|ancient India]] and [[History of Iran|Iran]].{{sfn|Anthony|2007|pp=9–10}} Although the Sanskrit ā́rya- and Iranian *arya- descended from a form *ā̆rya-, it was only attested to the Indo-Iranian tribes.{{sfn|Fortson|2011|p=209}}{{sfn|Fortson|2011|p=22}} [[Benjamin W. Fortson IV|Benjamin W. Fortson]] states that there may have been no term for self-designation of Proto-Indo-Europeans, and no such [[morpheme]]s has survived.{{sfn|Fortson|2011|p=22}} [[J. P. Mallory]] et al. states although the term "Aryan" takes on an ethnic meaning attesting to Indo-Iranians, there is no grounds for ascribing this semantic use to the Proto-Indo-European reconstruction of lexicon ''*h₂eryós'' i.e. there is no evidence that the speakers of proto-language referred to themselves as "Aryans".<ref>{{cite book|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|title=The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World|author1=[[J. P. Mallory]]|author2=[[Douglas Q. Adams]]|isbn=9780199296682|date=August 2006|url=https://global.oup.com/ukhe/product/the-oxford-introduction-to-proto-indo-european-and-the-proto-indo-european-world-9780199296682?cc=ca&lang=en&|chapter=Proto-Indo-European Society|page=266}}</ref> However, in the 19th century, it was proposed that ā́rya- was not only the tribal self-designation of Indo-Iranians, but self-designation of Proto-Indo-Europeans themselves, a theory rejected by modern scholarships.{{sfn|Fortson|2011|p=209}}{{sfn|Fortson|2011|p=22}} "Aryan" then came to be used by scholars of the 19th century to refer to Indo-Europeans.{{sfn|Fortson|2011|p=209}} The now-discredited and [[Historical revisionism#Chronological revisionism|chronologically reconstructed]] [[North European hypothesis]] was endorsed by such scholars who situated the PIE homeland in northern Europe,{{sfn|Fortson|2011|p=209}} which led to the association of "[[Proto-Indo-Europeans]]", originally a hypothesized linguistic population of [[Eurasia]]n PIE speakers, with a new, imagined biological category: "a tall, light-complexioned, blonde, blue-eyed race" - supposed [[phenotypic trait]]s of [[Nordic race]].<ref name="Villar91" />{{Sfn|Mallory|2015|p=268}}{{Sfn|Arvindsson|2006|p=43}}{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=9}} The [[Anglicisation|anglicized]] term "Aryan" then developed into a purely racialist meaning implicating Nordic racial type.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=9}}{{sfn|Fortson|2011|p=209}} However, modern scholarship of Indo-European studies use "Aryan"  and "Indo-Aryan" in their original senses referring to Indo-Iranian and Indic branch of Indo-Europeans.{{sfn|Fortson|2011|p=209-210}}

Classification of human races based on the now-pseudoscientific study of phenotypical differences developed during the nineteenth century and evidence in support of such theories were sought from the study of language and reconstructions of language families.<ref name="cashmore97">{{cite book|publisher=[[Routledge]]|doi=10.4324/9780203437513|isbn=978-0203437513|first=Ellis|last=Cashmore|title=Dictionary of Race and Ethnic Relations|url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203437513/dictionary-race-ethnic-relations-professor-ellis-cashmore-ellis-cashmore|edition=4|year=1997|chapter=Language, race, and ethnicity|page=198|author-link=Ellis Cashmore}}</ref> Scholars of this era established the ethnological term "Aryan" as the race that had spoken the Proto-Indo-European language, and in this context, the term was often used as a synonym for "Indo-Europeans".<ref name="cashmore97" />

Scholars point out that, even in ancient times, the Aryan identity as asserted in the ''Rig Veda'' was [[Vedic period|cultural]], [[Historical Vedic religion|religious]], and [[Vedic Sanskrit|linguistic]], not racial; nor do the ''Vedas'' contemplate [[Racial hygiene|racial purity]].{{sfn|Bryant|2001|pp=60–63}}{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=11}}{{sfn|Witzel|2008|p=21}} The Rig Veda affirms a [[Ritual purification|ritualistic barrier]]: an individual is considered Aryan if they [[Yajna|sacrifice]] to the right gods, which requires performing traditional prayer in the traditional language, and does not connote a racial barrier.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=11}} [[Michael Witzel]] states that term Aryan "does not mean a particular ''people'' or even a particular 'racial' group but all those who had joined the tribes speaking [[Vedic Sanskrit]] and adhering to their cultural norms (such as ritual, poetry, etc.)".{{sfn|Witzel|2008|p=21}} Scholars state that the historical Aryans, the [[Vedic period]] [[Bronze Age]] tribes who lived in [[Iran]], [[Ancient history of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]], and the northern [[Indian subcontinent]]—composers of the Rig Veda and Avesta—were unlikely to be blond or blue-eyed, contrary to the proponents of Aryanism and Nordicism.{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=10}}{{sfn|Witzel|2008|pp=10–11}}