The Origins of Aryan: Iran (Persia)

M. Sadeq Nazmi-Afshar (People of Iran, iranchamber.com); Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

I am Darius, the great king, the king of kings

The king of many countries and many people

The king of this expansive land,

The son of Wishtaspa of Achaemenid,

Persian, the son of a Persian,

Aryan, from the Aryan race

(Darius the Great's Inscription in Naqshe-e-Rostam)

The Burning of Persepolis (1890 art)

This inscription is one of most valid written pieces of evidence on the history of the Aryan race. As can be seen, Darius I (Persian Dariush), the Achaemenian king in the 5th century BCE, declares himself a Persian from the Aryan race.

The father of history Herodotus writes in his book History of Herodotus at the same time: "In ancient times, the Greeks called Iranians "Kaffe," but they were renowned as Aryans among themselves and their neighbors."

In another part of his book, Herodotus writes that the Medians were known as Aryans during a certain period. So in two of the oldest written human documents, the race of the Iranians has been referred to as Aryan.

• In Buddhism Aryan means "Noble One," a direct reference to the stages of enlightenment, the final one of which is the fully awakened person or arhat.

On the other hand, in many contemporary books, one reads that the Aryans were not original residents of the land of Iran, that they migrated to Iran from Central Asia or somewhere in the north of Europe.

The point is that if some of the oldest written historical record confirm that the residents of the Iranian Plateau were Aryans, why should anyone claim otherwise?

Let us discuss the origins of the Iranian race and shed light on unknown corners of history, which have been mixed with ignorance and untruths.

Let's extract the facts from millennia and paleontological studies, old and new, to prove that Iran is the original land of the Aryan race, that its people have never migrated to any other land, and that it has defended its homeland for centuries.

There are numerous reasons that the Aryan race has undergone an evolution from primitive man to white man on the Iranian Plateau. These reasons can be categorized as historical, geographical, mythological, anthropological, and linguistic. More