The Indo-Iranian branch
The Indo-Iranian branch
Proto-Indo-Iranian speakers, the people who later called themselves 'Aryans' in the Rig Veda and the Avesta, originated in the Sintashta-Petrovka culture (2100-1750 BCE), in the Tobol and Ishim valleys, east of the Ural Mountains. It was founded by pastoralist nomads from the Abashevo culture (2500-1900 BCE), ranging from the upper Don-Volga to the Ural Mountains, and the Poltavka culture (2700-2100 BCE), extending from the lower Don-Volga to the Caspian depression.
Proto-Indo-Iranian speakers, the people who later called themselves 'Aryans' in the Rig Veda and the Avesta, originated in the Sintashta-Petrovka culture (2100-1750 BCE), in the Tobol and Ishim valleys, east of the Ural Mountains. It was founded by pastoralist nomads from the Abashevo culture (2500-1900 BCE), ranging from the upper Don-Volga to the Ural Mountains, and the Poltavka culture (2700-2100 BCE), extending from the lower Don-Volga to the Caspian depression.
The Sintashta-Petrovka culture, associated with R1a-Z93 and its
subclades, was the first Bronze Age advance of the Indo-Europeans west of the
Urals, opening the way to the vast plains and deserts of Central Asia to the
metal-rich Altai mountains. The Aryans quickly expanded over all Central Asia,
from the shores of the Caspian to southern Siberia and the Tian Shan, through
trading, seasonal herd migrations, and looting raids.
Horse-drawn war chariots seem to have been invented by Sintashta
people around 2100 BCE, and quickly spread to the mining region of
Bactria-Margiana (modern border of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and
Afghanistan). Copper had been extracted intensively in the Urals, and the
Proto-Indo-Iranians from Sintashta-Petrovka were exporting it in huge
quantities to the Middle East. They appear to have been attracted by the
natural resources of the Zeravshan valley for a Petrovka copper-mining colony
was established in Tugai around 1900 BCE, and tin was extracted soon afterwards
at Karnab and Mushiston. Tin was an especially valued resource in the late
Bronze Age, when weapons were made of copper-tin alloy, stronger than the more
primitive arsenical bronze. In the 1700's BCE, the Indo-Iranians expanded to the
lower Amu Darya valley and settled in irrigation farming communities
(Tazabagyab culture). By 1600 BCE, the old fortified towns of Margiana-Bactria
were abandoned, submerged by the northern steppe migrants. The group of Central
Asian cultures under Indo-Iranian influence is known as the Andronovo horizon,
and lasted until 800 BCE.
The Indo-Iranian migrations progressed further south across the
Hindu Kush. By 1700 BCE, horse-riding pastoralists had penetrated into
Balochistan (south-west Pakistan). The Indus valley succumbed circa 1500 BCE,
and the northern and central parts of the Indian subcontinent were taken over
by 500 BCE. Westward migrations led Old Indic Sanskrit speakers riding war
chariots to Assyria, where they became the Mitanni rulers from circa 1500 BCE.
The Medes,Parthians and Persians, all Iranian speakers from the Andronovo
culture, moved into the Iranian plateau from 800 BCE. Those that stayed in
Central Asia are remembered by history as the Scythians, while the Yamna
descendants who remained in the Pontic-Caspian steppe became known as the
Sarmatians to the ancient Greeks and Romans.
The Indo-Iranian migrations have resulted in high R1a
frequencies in southern Central Asia, Iran and the Indian subcontinent.
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