OUR ARYAN FOREFATHERS 



historic importance in the highlands of central 

 Asia, somewhere about the sources of the Oxus 

 and the Jaxartes ; and this region we regard as 

 "Aryana Vaejo," or the most aboriginal spot to 

 which we are able to trace the Aryan people. 



We have next to inquire into the meaning of 

 the word Aryan ; and this is not a difficult mat- 

 ter, or one about which there is much question. 

 In Sanskrit the word arya y with a short initial 

 a, is applied to cultivators of the soil, and it 

 would seem to be connected etymologically with 

 the Latin arare and the archaic English ear, " to 

 plow." As men who had risen to an agricul- 

 tural stage of civilization, the Aryans might no 

 doubt fairly contrast themselves with their no- 

 madic Turanian neighbours, who as Huns, 

 Tatars, and Turks have at different times dis- 

 turbed the Indo-European world. But for the 

 real source of the word, as applied to the race, 

 we must look further. This word arya, " a cul- 

 tivator of the soil," came naturally enough in 

 Sanskrit to mean a householder or land-owner, 

 and hence it is not strange that we find it re- 

 occurring, with a long initial a y as an adjective, 

 meaning " noble " or " of good family." As 

 a national appellative, whether in Sanskrit or 

 Zend, this initial a is always long, and there can 

 be no doubt that the Aryans gave themselves 

 this title as being the noble, aristocratic, or 

 ruling race, in contradistinction to the aboriginal 

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