(Some historians say that the term Aryan was applied to the peoples who entered India from the north between 6000 BC and 4000 BC. They were part of the enormous Indo-European language group (which includes the Iranians, Afghanis Pakistanis, Greeks, Latin speakers, Slavs, Celts and Germanic Speakers). They were, like Europeans, of lighter skin than the original inhabitants of India, the Dravidian peoples, but how much they thought of themselves as superior to the original inhabitants is a point of much debate. Aryan (like Iran) meant "noble/separate/special", but it is clear from DNA, that some mixing between the groups took place. Only the upper levels of Indian society were required to refrain from intermarriage with the Dravidians, which probably explains why upper class Hindus (especially the Brahmin priestly caste) are considerably fairer than the lower castes. It probably also explains the origin of the caste system itself, as "varna" (the word for caste) actually means "colour". On these assumptions of asian origins, I will talk later.)
I used the term "Aryan" to portray the europeans because according to some theories on history and anthropology, the europeans belong to a branch of humans that has migrated from minor Asia to Europe, in the finals of the last ice age, as i write ahead in the following paragraphs. Here i used the term for portray just the WHITE Caucasian peoples, the Indo-European race whom belongs the Celtic, Germanic and Slavic peoples.
Well, first of all, I must say that the theory of the origin of the European peoples, as well as the whole Mankind itself, is made of assumptions, we can not be absolutely sure what is the truth because, after all we do not live at that time.
The two main hypotheses are that Europeans migrated from Asia Minor to Europe in the late ice age, ie the Caucasian peoples were not originally from Europe, to the geographical parameters of what is Europe today, this hypothesis matches with the theory that mankind had originated in Africa and migrated to other parts of the world.
The other hypothesis is based on the idea that mankind arose in several different places and not only in one place, so, the Caucasian people would have arisen in Europe even, ie, the Caucasian race are originally European.
At the end of last ice age when even the Middle East was a big ocean and there was a high presence of green in most of the world, the first Europeans began to develop in Europe, its culture and society, and initiated the formation of the European civilizations. It is believed that the Aryans entered Europe, mostly uninhabited, because it was the greenest place on earth with many forests and was a land very fertile. At this time, the continents were so much close to each other than now, and the concept of division between Europe and Asia would be quite intrinsic. Approximately 10,000 before Christ, the first Aryans came in Europe, and in 9000 b.c. the Celts began to expand throughout Europe, reaching til scandinavia.
From details given by the Irish sources, we know that the
Proto-Celts claimed the northlands as its fabled ancestral
homeland.
"The Toutai Deuas Danunas were in the northern islands of the world, studying secret lore and science, Bardic arts, asceticism and Vatic skills, until they surpassed all the sages of the Druidic arts" (Catu Magi Turation)"
Hence, the People of the Goddess Danua were in the islands of the North, where the fabled cities of Moria, Ualia, Goria and Uindia were found. In the first Golden Age, 10, 000 years ago, the climate was far different from what it is today. In Europe, in the Lithic ages after the last Ice Age, there was a general warming of the climate. Parts of Eurasia were getting drier. Rivers that were once much greater and inland seas that once covered large areas were now starting to dry up. Many parts of Northern Eurasia which are now temperate were once vast tundras. It is only natural that when the climate improved, many more peoples migrated North. Pastoral tribes cultivating cereals and raising livestock were slowly moving North as their cultivation plots were becoming exhausted in the drier South. Thereupon, the whole settlement transferred to a new location further and further into Europe via the Danube. From the myths, it is possible to identify these Islands of North where the People of Danua lived.
It is generally admitted that Falias (of the Strong) corresponded to Britain, the Land of the Mighty, Findias to Sweden in the Baltic, Morias to the Frisian Islands in the North Sea and Gorias to Iceland maybe. Others see them as the Hebredean Islands to the North of Scotland, while others place them further to the North. Although most agree that they should be placed in the utmost North, few agree on what cardinal point should be given to each of the four lands. Since it is a very ancient aryanic concept, it is also understandable that their location, through time, became confused. The Irish tradition, give at least two different orientations for them. In each of these fabled places resided a king and a master. The Four Masters were seen as wandering sages. Moving from the extremeties of the great celestial wheel called Reta Taranios (²Taranis’s Wheel or Tarabara, ²divining wheel² in Celtic). The star Aldebaran, Taurus (January) was for the Druid Master Uesciatis, Regulus, Leo (April) was for Semiatis, Antares, Scorpius (July) was for Marouesos, and Fomalhaut, Piscis Austinus (October) for Esdratis. Pegassus which lies on the eastern horizon just in time for Lugi Naissatis in July/August and is peaking in the mid-sky to the North moving East to West just in time for the Samonios celebrations in October/November. The four stars forming the square can also be taken for one of the Four Horned Cities in which reside the Four Masters: Arios Uesciatis the Uindiassos in Uindia, Semiuis Semiatis the Moriassos in Moria, Marouesos the Ualiassos in Ualia, and Uros Esdratis the Goriassos in Goria.
These places became known as the Four Mythic Cities marking sacred space. It is likely that these eastern sites were displaced further West as the Proto-Celtic peoples were migrating. Mr. Monard has identified Murias as Morica (yielding *Moriassos) which later became Mors and which was situated around Limfjorden before the coast was inundated. Falias could have been located in Falster-Lolland or Foula in the Shetlands because of the analogy with a *Ualiassos etymon punning with fo-alias from uo-alisian for ²under-stone². Gorias could have been former Herta, then Heligoland, and now Helgoland through a germanisation of gor-, gort- (hot) into hor- or hort- forms. Findias from *Uindiassos (Uindos/-a/-on = white) was probably Vend Syssel which terminates with Cape Skagen and which was probably Promuntorium Celtica Lytarmis mentioned by the geographers of Antiquity. All these places are clearly
in relation with the Danan Proto-Celts so it would come as no surprise to find other likely cognates along the Danubian river valley.
Therefore, As the Aryans were migrating, the evolution of their culture has adapted as well, so there are theories that the four city was actually further south, where it is today, Asia minor, and as they were migrating north the concept of the four cities adapted to places further north, in Europe.
As evidenced by this text by Ariaxs Druuis Boutios, in which he connects the origin of the Aryans with asia minor and with peoples from the east.
{ "UTTARA KURU, and the Northern Kurus.
by Ariaxs Druuis Boutios.
Is there any connection of the Celts with Sogdia (Feghana valley)? That
was an important point of diffusion of northern Aryan culture.Much of the original thinking of the early Aryans took place in the
fabled lands of the North. Ancient Vedism, Druidism, and Avestas seem to
have originated there. During the Lithic Age after the Ice Age, the are
was covered by a great inland sea combining the Black, Caspian and Aral
Seas into one. Gradually, the area became drier and the seas receded.
It now seems clear that the general area around the Aral Sea was the
original homeland of the primitive Indo-Europeans.
This homeland referred to as Arayavarta or Airyana Vaejah was situated
somewhere to the North of India but as Shahriar Shahriari remarks, “it
seems that although initially people knew where Airyana Vaejah was, with
the passing of time, they lost any sense of recognition of this land. So
as the geographical land became a mythic place, only passed along in
legendary stories, the priests and rulers of different places began to
claim that their land was where Zarathushtra was born, or their country
was that of King Vishtaspa.”
Furthermore, “From linguistic and historical evidence of the Aryan
migration, and assuming that Zarathushtra was born somewhere around or
just before the migration, it is safe to assume that his place, as well
as that of King Vishtaspa was either somewhere around the Aral sea, or
somewhere further to the North East”.(© Shahriar Shahriari, 1996, 1997,
1998, Vancouver Canada, 1999, 2000, Los Angeles, CA)
Indeed, the Gathas are more than just discrete on the location of
Zarathustra’s birth place just as they are on King Vishtaspa’s kingdom.
Henning based on Herodotus Herodotus identifies Khwarezmia (Chorasmia)
as the land of Vishtaspa. Khwarezmia, also the birth place of
Zarathustra, was the centre of intense Vedic speculation.
The fabled Northern Kingdoms in the Vedas:
To the East lies Murias (Celtic)/Viràt-deha (Vedic). In its centre, a
peaceful lake is found, adorned with male and female Swans floating
about. Its symbolical shape is that of the crescent Moon, and
accordingly, the colour white is assigned to it. Its inhabitants are
crescent-moonfaced, and are said to be mindful, peaceful and virtuous.
Its contour is to be estimated at 9,000 miles. To the non-Indo-European
Tibetans of Buddhist faith, it was known as Lu-pah (Lushpags) for "Vast
Body".
To the West lies Godhana (= wealth of oxen), in Sanskrit. The Western
Land is called Balongchod (Ba-glangspyod) in Tibetan. Its shape is like
the solar disc, and red in colour. In the centre of a plain is a lake
adorned with horses grazing both male and female. Its inhabitants have
reddish round faces like the setting Sun, they are beef-eaters and are
wealthy. Its diameter measures 8,000 miles.
To the South lies the land Jambudvipa, in Sanskrit, corresponding to the
earthly plane. It is probably an onomatopoeic word descriptive of the
fruit of the jambu-tree. The Celts referred to it as Ynys Afallach in
Wales (Inicia Aballaci = "the isle of the apple-orchard") or Emain
Ablach, in Ireland (Emania Aballaci = "Twin's City of the
apple-orchard")."The name Jambuling would thus mean the region or
continent wherein jambu-fruit fall into the water. The Tibetans called
it Jambuling (Jambu = fruit of the Jambu-tree + ling = "place, region").
Its symbolic shape is like that of the shoulder-blade of a sheep, that
is subtriangular, or rather pear-shaped, to which the faces of its
inhabitants conform. Blue is the colour assigned to it. Riches and
plenty abound in it, along with both good and evil. Grand and
magnificent mansions will be seen there. It is said to be the smallest
of the Four continents, being but 7,000 miles in diameter."
To the North lies Uttara Kuru, in Sanskrit, meaning "Northern Kuru
(race), corresponding to the Greek Arcadia. The Tibetans call it
Daminyan or Graminyan (Sagrami-snyan) which also means "of the Northern
Race". "It is of square shape and green colour. Its inhabitants have
corresponding faces, square like those of horses. In this land, is a
lake adorned with male and female cattle, (grazing on its shores), or
trees, (round about it), will be seen. Trees supply all their sustenance
and wants. Although duration of life, and merits are there, the Kuru, on
dying, haunt the tree-spirits. This is the largest of the continents,
being 10,000 miles in diameter (Tibetan Book of the Dead)."
."...The goddess Danua who has been known in very ancient times
was also known to the Vedas. In the Vedas, Danu is the great Cow, mother
of celestial waters and to Vritra the Dragon slain by Indra. Indeed,
Danua who was also called Boenda, "the End of Cows", was also mother of
the Danunai, a Proto-Celtic people found in the area of the Lower Danube
living not far from the other Proto-Celtic peoples of Crimea called the
Cimmeroi. These people had migrated there from the East not earlier than
the Bronze Age. Hence, the Celts, like the Vedic peoples, also descended
from the Mother Goddess Danua seen as a Divine Cow. Danua as Matrona,
Mother and River correlates to the Vedic Dhenu. In the Vedas, these
Islands of the North were referred to as Uttarakuru. The Uttarakurus
were the northern Aryans. The Celtic name for ²ancient homeland² was
Xaimon > Caimon, from which the Cymmerian ethnonym probably derives. The
Indo-Tibetan Shambala also seems to derive from it. It in turn, stemming
from Cai-||Xai- = ²family chief² or ²king² + -mos = ²great², thus the
Great Fatherland). These fabled Islands of the North, of course were
spirituals locations mainly posited in the northern sky. However, this
does not mean that they did not correspond to earthly places held holy.
And of course, these places tended to shift with the progress of the
Aryan migrations South and West.
THE FOUR CITIES
UINDIA
Uindia, "the White", was in the Tarim basin and was known as Shambala in
the Vedic tradition. The Old Slavic tradition knew it as Belvodye,
"White Waters", because of the white sand deposits left by the
landlocked lakes East of the Takla Makan Desert. It was the home of the
Cimmero-Tokhars. It was also referred to as Uttarakuru, South of the
Nila mountain and on the northern side of the Meru mountain, home of the
siddhas, the enlightened sages. This land was known for its lapis lazuli
gems and horse raising. Upon dying, the souls of the Uttarakuru were
said to join the star forest as tree spirits. This is the land to which
the great sage Padma Sambhava went to teach. Arios Uesciatis, "Noble
Water" was the chief sage of Uindia.
GORIA
Goria, "the Hot", was to the West in the Caucasus by the Caspian Sea in
the area of Daghestan, Azerbaijan on the site of Ates-Garva or
Aedis-Gorua in Cimmerian Proto-Celtic. Aedis-Gorua, which means fire
spout, also puns with Goro for "heat". Goria, or Drogon Ates-Garvas was
also the site of Antiquity's most important Temple dedicated to the Fire
God Aedis or Agni. The Temple was built around the fire pit through
which poured natural gases. It was called Godhana in Sanskrit for
"wealth of oxen" because it was the land of cattle raisers. Goria was an
important sacrificial centre for many of the Aryanic branches. Uros
Esdratis, "Fire of Means" was their prime sage.
UALIA
Ualia, "the Strong", was Arya Varta to the South past the Kush in
Northern India or Aratta, the Panjab mentioned in the Mahabharata. Ualis
is a cognate of the Sanskrit Bala for strength and puns with Aballia,
"of the Apple Tree". Aballia is the Celtic cognate of Jambudvipa, the
jambu-fruit tree. The land is said to be triangular shaped and its
habitants are said to be rich and powerful. Its prime sage was Marouesos
of "Great Knowledge".
MORIA
Moria, "the Sea" or "Lake", was East of the Aral Sea extending to the
eastern Kashyapa Mira, the Lake of Kashmir. Moria was the crescent set
between the Iaxarte (Syr-daria) and Oxus (Amou-daria) rivers and the
Aral Sea and Pamir mountains. Some time around 2000 BCE and before, the
Oxus river flowed into the Caspian Sea, the true Cassiapa Mori. The
people of Moria are said to be virtuous and their chief sage was
Semiatis, "the Subtle". The Sacred Cauldron of the God Dagodeuos was
manufactured there."
"...Shambala was most likely the Uxisma of the Celts, the fable High Kingdom
surrounded by four lands. The Kalachakra teachings of the Tibetan
Buddhists are in every point identical to the Celtic Tarabara the Great
Wheel of Fate. In all likelihood, these teachings originated from their
Cymmerian Proto-Celtic forefathers. The name Shambala in the Tibetan
tradition is from the Sanskrit Shambava, for Padma Shambava a legendary
seer. Shambala is a Vedic-tibetan compound from Shamb- + bayul =
²country, estate². The name is a parallel of the Proto-Celtic. Balion =
²estate, walled². It is possible that Shamb- is from Xemb- > Cimm- >
Cimb-os/-a/-on = ²wealth, money², the root word of Cimm-eros >
Cimb-eros. The Tochars again! It is a well known fact that the
Cimmero-Tochars were rich traders and smiths."
"...THE VEDIC-DRUIDIC DERIVE
The Bhagavad-Gîtâ remembered the Cymmerians as Sons of Dhrutarâstra.
These conflicts between them and the Pandavas took place in the Plain of
Kurukshetra. That the battle should take place in a sacred field is
itself interesting. The Vedas accepted the Dhrutarastras as kinsmen but
considered them differently in matters of religion. The Dhrutarastras
claimed that they were the true Kuru and tried to set themselves apart
from the Pandavas. At this time the Cymmerians were still regarded by
the Indo-Aryans as close of kin, as were the Sakas and Ashkuzai/Skolots
(Scyths), but the differences were becoming more and more apparent.
Interestingly, the Five Panadavas, known as the Five Chieftains, are
also present in Druidical concept. Following the defeat, the
Proto-Cymmerian Dhrutarârastras were forced out of Aratta back to the
Seas region and into Cymmeria (Crimea) via Bactria and Sogdiana. In
fact, the Proto-Celts belonged to the Centum branch of Aryan while the
Scyths to the Satem branch. This proves that the two groups had been
isolated for a while.
The etymology of Dhrutarastra also makes perfect sense in Celtic. In
Celtic Drut-os/-a/-on stands for ²brave, fierce, proud². Is Rastra
perchance a cognate of the Celtic Rextuarios for ²Regulator²? The name
would be understood as Drutorextarios, the Proud Regulator in Celtic.
The Kalachakra again!
In light of this, the main body of Proto-Cymmerians was still in the
Seas region when many groups were migrating West via the Caspian, Volga,
Don into Crimea. Around 3000 BCE others moved from the Oxus into the
Tarim Basin. The Proto-Cymmerian languages had also spread into the
Pontic region and Europe with the Kurgan Beaker and Pit Grave cultures
about 3000 BCE. Another group was found in the Kush region around the
time of the Kurukshetra conflict (ca. -2500?)."
A similar event to the Kurukshetra battle is also found in Irish Annals
of the Four Masters:
The Age of the World, 3066.(4458 BCE)
The demolition of the tower of Cononos in this year, by the race of
Nemetos (Holy), against Cononos (Of Reason), son of Uaibros (Sword), and
the Uomorioi (Those from Under Sea) in general, in revenge for all the
oppression they had inflicted upon them the race of Nemetos, as is
evident from the chronicle which is called the Book of Takings; and
they nearly all mutually fell by each other; thirty persons alone of the
race of Nemetos escaped to different quarters of the world, and they
came to Eriu, the land of the West, some time afterwards as Bolgouiroi.
Two hundred and sixteen years Nemetos and his race remained in Eriu.
After this Eriu was a wilderness for a period of two hundred years.
The Age of the World, 3266. (4258 BCE)
The Bolgouiroi took possession of Eriu at the end of this year. Slanicos
(Whole, Blessed), Gannos (Fateful), Genonos (Engendered), Senogenos (of
Elder Son), and Rudroretos (Red Rider) , were their five chieftains.
These were the five sons of Dilos (Lightning), son of Laccios (Of Little
Size). The other four and the Bolgouiros in general elected Slanicos as
king over them.
The Age of the World, 3267. (4257 BCE)
Slanicos, son of Dilos (Lightning), was king of Eriu for a period of one
year; and he died at the end of the year, at Rigo-Dindus (Royal Hill),
on the brink of the Beruua (Bubbly).
The destruction of the Tower of Reason by the Nemetoi (Holy Ones) takes
place in 4458 BCE. Nemetos was one of the original names for the Druids
and the priest class. This conflict, which initiates the migrations
West, results in the opposition of those of Connos, Reason and those of
Nemetos (Holy). The Bolgouiroi (Portly|Striking Men) are the
Proto-Celtic Ksatryas and their five chieftains opposed to those of
Connos|Pandu (and those from below the Sea) have Slanicos, the Blessed,
as their king.
In this situation, Nemetos was Dhrutarâstra and the five Chieftains were
his sons. Interestingly, both traditions claim their king as father of
the Five war chiefs. Pandu has Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and
Sahadeva.
“O Janârdana, although these men, overtaken by greed, see no fault in
killing a family or fighting with friends, why should we, with knowledge
of the sin, engage in these acts?
By the destruction of a dynasty, the eternal family tradition is
vanquished, and thus the rest of the family becomes involved in
irreligion.
When irreligion is prominent in the family, O Krishna, the ladies of the
family become corrupt, and from the degradation of womanhood, O
descendant of Vrisni, comes progeny.” (Bhagavad Gìtâ, 37-40)
“It is recorded that the Nemetoi sailed to Eriu from Scythia with thirty
two ships, and after having spent a year and a half on the seas all
perished save Nemetos and his four wives.
After having reached Eriu, the Nemetoi waxed and Nemetos was able to
defeat the Uomorioi three times in battle and clear sixteen plains.
Following the death of Nemetos, the Nemetoi were again challenged in
battle by the Uomoroi. Sixteen thousand perished, leaving only thirty
alive and the left Eriu in despair.
searching for a new land, it was said that half went to the Northern
World while half went to Greece.” (Book of the Takings of Ireland)
According to Marc Verhaegen, it was from the Pontic Kurgan or the Pit
Grave culture that about 3000 BCE, the Corded Ware culture spread over
the North European Plain, to southern Scandinavia and to the Baltic
region and Russia (Sherrat 1994a & b). Then, about 2500 BC, the
Bell-beaker culture, a variant of the Corded Ware beakers in the Rhine
delta, spread over most of western Europe as far as Scotland, Portugal
and Sicily (Sherrat 1994b). Verhaegen thinks that the Balto-Slavic and
Germanic languages derive from the Corded Ware culture and the
Celto-Italic languages from the Bell-beaker culture but this theory
fails to explain the Satem Aryan influences in Slavic. This date given
by Verhaegen is only good for one phase of the PIE expansion into
Europe. In fact, the Danubian culture initiated well before the arrival
of I.E. elements, was well under way as a Neolithic Nostrasic Caucasian
group of settlements all along the lower Danube as early as 7000 BCE.
Around 5000 BCE, Black Sea P.I.E. settlers penetrate the Danube basin
bringing with them Pontic culture and know-how. This is the true start
of the I.E. presence in Europe. The earliest written records (Phaistos
Disc) give them as Danawoi (> Danauoi), or Danavas in Sanskrit. The
Danawoi form the substratum of I.E. identity in Europe and are at the
base of not only Hellenic, Illyro-Venetic, Italo-Celtic or Germanic, but
most of the Balto-Slavic elements as well. The next phase was initiated
by the Pontic Kurgan I.E. culture when it introduced metallurgy and
horse domestication into the Balkans around 3000 BCE. These Kurgans were
formed by an alliance of warrior clans of undifferentiated Aryans
otherwise known as the Danavas remembered as demons (not pejorative =
spirit forces) by the Vedas.
THE PROTO-CELTS
Cymmerians
Prior to the Pontic Migration, the Cymmerians (Kimmerioi) were the
easternmost group of the former Steppe Horsemen having moved to Europe,
propagating their Eurasian Kurgan culture, which has been named Tumulus
in Europe. They had prompted the development of the "Pontic Bronze"
culture of Ukraine and Crimea. Originally, they were of the Northern
Kuru Aryans who fathered the Italo-Celtic phylum. These facts are known
thanks to the work of the sinologue Halun, who was researching on the
origins of the early pronunciations for the Chinese proto-ideograms. He
discovered that the Chinese Hien-Yuèn (actual pronunciation) had been
the Xiemmier otherwise known by the Greeks as Cimmeroi (Barterers).
These Cymmerians overwhelmed the kingdom of Zhou by taking the royal
residence of Zhou of Hao (actual Shaanxi) thus forcing its transfer to
Loyan (Luoyang in actual Hènan) around -821. These Proto-Celts,
originally from the Aral Sea filled in the void left by the Aryas
retiring into Pantshanâda (Punjab). The P.C. Cymmero-Tokhars (Cimmeroi +
Tôcaroi) formed a large confederacy of tribes: the Cimmeroi (Hienyuèn in
Chinese), the Tôcaroi (= Chiefly Ones or Tuholo in Chinese) and other
undifferentiated Aryans, the Issedones (= Charioteers) or Wousouen in
Chinese, and the Yu-chi, Skolots (Sakas) or Scyths. The other groups of
horsemen from this same origin had penetrated deeper in Europe; they had
submitted various pre-I.E. "hyperborean" populations. Merging these
former agricultural and megalithic-builder peoples, they were at the
origin of Proto-Venetic, Proto-Illyric, and Proto-Celtic populations
such as the Ligurians, or as the "Atlanteans". Most of the so-called
Atlanteans were doomed to migrate and be known as Sea-Peoples.
· The Cymmerians had not been involved in the Sea-peoples’ movement as
had their Danubian cousins, the Danauoi. At that time they were
established on the North and East of the Black Sea in what is now
Ukraine, Crimea and Kuban as a loosely knit confederacy of kingdoms.
Around the time of the migration of the Sea Peoples, they had just sent
migrants eastward in association with the move of the Tuhara nation and
some Getai back to Central Asia. During four centuries or so after the
Sea peoples’ venture in the Near East, their kingdoms were attacked
quite successfully by the Scyths, and at the end of that long war, they
had been swept off most of their Pontic area and confined within the
Crimean peninsula (later named in Greek Kimmériè Khersonnèsos and
Taurikè Khersonnèsos - Tauroi being one of their fractions). In the
meantime, Homer described the Kimmerioi as "dwelling in a remote realm
of mist and gloom". Most of the Cymmerians had been compelled to migrate
abroad.
· A stronger group sailed to Anatolia, destroyed the Phrygian kingdom
and settled there. They have been named Gimmirai by the Assyrians and
Gomer by the Hebrews. Centuries later, some were conquered and
re-absorbed by Celts into the Anatolian Galatia, others kept their
identity under the Galatic kings in Katpatuka (Cappadocia) so that the
Armenians named "Gamirk" that country in their own language.
· A more numerous share of their nation moved to Europe through Danube
valley - as it has been studied in depth by V. Parvan. Reaching the
upper Danube basin, these Cymmerians contributed to the Hallstatt (1st
Iron Age) civilisation which has been common to Celts and Illyrians, and
merged thus into the Celtic ethnogenesis: Cymmerians contributed largely
to the development of the Celtic identity. Having some leadership as
members of the warring class, these mobile people seem to have led the
co-ordinated migration efforts of the Celtic expansion over many
centuries in all directions around the genuine homeland of the Celts. A
little group settled in Italy.
· Another group reached the North Sea and conquered the future Jutland
de-populated after the departure of most Danunas. The peninsula became a
second Kimmérikè Khersonnèsos (later named Chersonnesus Cimbrica in
Latin). In this area, a class of Celtic-speaking noblemen ruled over the
Danir, the germanised progeny of the earlier Danuna. This bi-national
community kept the name Cimroi. Centuries later, the Romans called them
Cimbri because of a Gaulish pun: Cimbroi (racketeers/extorsioners) Vs
their genuine name Cimmerioi (J. Monard 1995).
The Dannans
The Denen or Danuna were said to reside in the islands of the North and
that with them came the primordial Druids, the Tuatha Dé Danan. J.
Monard thinks that the Danans and Denen of the Greeks and Egyptians are
the one and the same. The Denen after having raided Egypt, are forced
back to Cyprus which becomes Dnan. As the Danuna, they contribute to the
fall of the Hittite empire. As Danaoi, they mingle with the Achaeans and
lead them to the battle of Troy. The apprehensions of Laokoôn were
expressed thus, one thousand years latter: "Timeo Danaos et dona
ferentes". It seems that they were with others such as the Lusacians of
mixed Proto-Illyrian and proto-Celtic origin; and who at that time were
hardly distinguishable. It also seems that they prompted the
indo-europeanisation of their Hyperborean Proto-Finnish neighbours of
the North Baltic who eventually became the Germanic. The last progeny of
the Danuna who had not migrated became thus the Danir. Henceforth, this
People of the Sea, was labelled "Atlantean" by Plato. In fact, the
geographers of antiquity maintained that Cap Skagen in Denmark was
called Celtica Lytarmis. The Proto-Celtic ancestors to the Goidels
therefore, came from Denmark. (J. Monard 1995)
THE CELTS
The Celts were descendants of the Danans and Cymmerians, a family to
which the Tokharians also belonged. They were of the Indo-European or
Aryanic tribes of the Italo-Celtic group who split from the main branch
around 1200 BCE. These languages included; Italic (which in turn gave
Oscan, Umbrian and Latin), Celtic (Hispano-Celtic, Gaulish, Lepontic,
Gaelic and Brithonic) and Tokharian. The Cimmero-Tokhars were of a group
of various I.E. peoples from the Black and Caspian Seas area. These
included the Illyrians, Scythians (Iranian group) and Aryans, who made
their way by horse and by chariot from the Great Plains of Eurasia. The
Tokhars were found to the North of the Hymalayas in North-western China.
The Aryans proper made their way past the Kush thus entering India.
Other Black Sea cultures (Thracians, Greeks, Hittites) from Anatolia, in
turn, broke into Macedonia, the Balkans on to the Aegean Islands by way
of sea in large river barks and horse drawn chariots. These are the
people identified by archaeology as the Kurgans.
In short, originally from the (Black, Caspian, Aral) Sea regions, these
peoples, around the VIIth millennium, migrated to the Carpatians and
Balkans and Anatolia via the Lower Danube and Crimea only to form a
cohesive group known as the Aryans. They were a highly resourceful and
productive people who often dominated their neighbours who also had a
well organised social structure but led by priest-kings. These Aryans
therefore went West, thus aryanising in successive waves the
Proto-Indo-Europeans who had remained in Central Europe. Of the first
groups to break forth from Eastern Europe were the Ligurians and the
Proto-Illyrians. Then came the Proto-Celts, better equipped and in
greater numbers, and who succeeded in imposing themselves to the mixed
tribes of Indo-European and non Indo-European stock. In time, the Celtic
tribes evolved into a distinctive cultural group in two marked phases,
the Hallstatt and Latène cultures. They were to promote a "common
Celtic" language, the "Koiné" of a well ordered caste system cementing
these heterogeneous groups into one. In turn the assimilated tribes
enriched the Celtic language with an array of botanical, geographical,
and geological terms unknown to their original steppes habitat . In
fact, the posited homeland of the Celts lies somewhere along the Danube
South of the Elbe in what is now Hungary, Austria, and Czechia.
References:
1. The Tibetan Book Of The Dead. The Cosmography, p. 65.
2. Monard, Joseph. Les Îles du Nord. in Ialon - Clairière - kad-nemeton.
#11 Samonios (Fall) 1998.
3. Koiné, a dialect or language of a region that has become the common
or standard language of a larger area.
4. Monard, J. Hyperboréens et Proto-Celtes, monograph, 1993.
5. Elbe, Elb, from I.E. root Alba (white). In Old-Celtic, Alba stands
for "summit", "height", and Albanos, "white". In Latin lore, Alba was
the name of the first Latin king of Alba Longa, first settlement of
Rome.
CYMMERO-TOCHARIAN SOGDIA
I-THE SCYTHIAN PRESENCE
The Yu-chi were found across the Jaxartes and Oxus in Bactria,
surrounded by nomadic peoples who had lived on the north side of the two
rivers and in Bactria itself. This group from around Bactria was sacking
the cities of the Greeks and Persia on the western side. Here, the
Persians defeated the Saca or Scythian groups who then turned south.
They passed through Arachosia and the easy mountain passes in the area
(the more northerly Kabul pass being held by a powerful Greek kingdom)
and invaded the lower Indus valley from where they were to conquer
Taxila and Kabul and the whole Indus region, to which they give the name
Skythia used by Greek writers. Once there they fall under the suzerainty
of the Persian kings, who found an Indo-Persian
dynasty in the late first century BC, early first century CE which
collapses when the Kushans invade northern India.
“On Tarns point before continuing the section of Strabo 11.8.4 which
does indeed follow immediately after his mention of the
conquest of Bactria does describe a Scythian invasion of the region.
However it makes clear reference to Cyrus the great and
cannot be taken as following sequentially on from the conquest of
Bactria, it is a digression covering events from hundreds of
years earlier.” (Robert Bracey)
The Yu-chi were not the original natives of Sogdia, or probably even of
Ferghana. However archaeological work clearly shows that both Bactria
and Sogdia contained large nomadic populations well
in advance of the Yu-chi migration. Significant enough that at
Gaugamela, Arrian states that Darius was able to draw 2000
mailed horsemen from the regions. The Greeks conquered Bactria but they
never succeeded in gaining control of Sogdia. At
the start of the second century BC a large number of nomads are causing
trouble on this border but do not invade.
According to Bracey, the Scythians were simply absorbed by the Yu-chi,
and that the nomadic hordes noted for their amorphous nature simply
merged together. The famous the Indo-Saca kings who were really
Indo-Parthian kings ensured leadership.
Bracey sees no evidence at all that the Scythians were pushed ahead of
the Yu-chi and assumes that they were not, that in fact they were an
extension of Parthian military power into the region. It is likely that
the Indian terms Saca and Pahlava (Scythian and Parthian) are
interchangeable.
II-THE CYMMERO-TOCHARIAN PRESENCE
The Sogdian kingdom ensured a northern Aryan presence long before it was
finally destroyed by the Moslem Arab invasions in the Medieval age. From
about 500 CE to 712 CE, the area was ruled by the so called White Huns
or Uighurs who were descendants of Tokharians assimilated into the
Turkish culture. They stemmed from a combination of the Tarim basin
Tochars and the Cymmerians known as Yueh-chih to the Chinese. Many have
remarked the striking resemblance in the stylised heads of the early
Yueh-chih and Sogdian kings on their coinage. According to Procopius's
History of the Wars, written in the mid 6th century - the Hephthalites
"are of the stock of the Huns in fact as well as in name: however they
do not mingle with any of the Huns known to us. They are the only ones
among the Huns who have white bodies and countenances which are not
ugly."
Hence the term White Huns who were different from the true Huns of
Attila who invaded the Roman Empire.
The name Ephthalites given by Byzantine historians was borrowed from the
Hayathelaites of the Persian historian Mirkhond which echoes the Ye-tai
or Hua of Chinese records. The White Huns were therefore from the Tarim
basin while the Huns proper were steppe people originally from the Altai
mountains of south-western Mongolia. Both groups should not be confused
with the Scythians.
Around the middle of the 5th century, because pressured by the
Juan-juan, a powerful nomadic tribe of Mongolia, the White Huns expanded
westward. They quickly posed a threat to the great Persian empire, at
that time the dominating power in the Oxus basin.
After conquest of Sogdia and Kushan, the White Huns founded Piandjikent,
their capital, 65 kilometers south-west of Samarkand in the Zaravshan
valley. This city later reached its prosperity, and produced some of the
best examples of Buddhist mural painting. In the seventh century, it was
destroyed by the Arabs. The White Huns chose Badakshan as their summer
residence.
After the thrones of Sogdia and Samarkand were finally taken from kings
Deùwaùè Tèù and Teuarkòuèn by the Turk usurper GÚuèrak, was occupied by
the Arab Moslems under Qotayba. in 712 CE. King Teuarkòuèn of Samarkand
perished in a coup in 709-10 CE. (Boris Marshak, Encyclopedia Iranica,
1999) The names of these kings are interesting in that they can be very
easily translated as Old Cymmeric. Compare with Illyrian and Celtic:
Deùwaùè Tèù > Deiuios = “Of God” ||Deiuiios = “Of the Gods”, “Godly” and
Tèù > Teuos = “Great”, for “Godly Great”, punning with Teuta = “people”.
Gaulish: deus (m) (a god) [I.E. *deiwo- 'a deity']
teuta- (people, a tribe)"European" *teut?- (people, a tribe), Oscan
touta (a tribe), Gaulish teuto- (people)
Teuarkòuèn > Teu- > Teuos = “Big”, “Grand” + Arcon-ios; Arcos = “Chief”,
for “He the Grand Chief” (of Samarkand).
This clearly shows the Proto-Celtic Cymmerian origins of the late
decadent Sogdian kingdoms already infiltrated by Uighur Turkish
elements. In this situation, the Centum I.E. languages were still able
to maintain predominance all along the Buddhist period onto the
Islamisation phase.
There is very debate as to what language the White Huns spoke. Some see
it as a form of Indo-Aryan or Iranian, mainly spoken in the Pei Shih
states. That this I.E. language differs from those of the Juan-juan
Mongols and of the Turks of the "various Hu" is most certain. It is more
than likely that many other I.E. languages other than Persian were
spoken along side of the main Mongol tongues such as the Hsien-pi (3rd
century), the Juan-juan (5th century) and the Avars (6th-9th century).
The Buddhist pilgrims Sung Yun and Hui Sheng, who visited the White Huns
in 520, remarked that they did not make use of script. The Liang shu
informs us that they didn’t write with letters but used tally sticks.
This same practice was also noticed centuries before by Julius Ceasar
concerning the Celts. In parallel with the Celtic use of Ogham divining
sticks was the use of the Greek alphabet for permanent records.
Numismatic and epigraphic evidence shows that an adapted form of the
Greek alphabet was also used by the so called White Huns. Since the
Kushan was thoroughly dominated by them, it is more than likely that the
White Hun Tochars were in turn assimilated to the Kushan culture, a
heterogeneous blend of Indo-Iranian, Cymmerian and Greek elements. And
this, as many scholars remarked, probably included other elements of the
Eastern Hellenic culture including the Greek alphabet.
This now brings us to the question of religion. There are many other
inconsistencies in the descriptions of the White Huns by the different
sources. While we know that the Tochars practised a form of Buddhism, it
is certainly not clear as to what religion was practised by the
Cymmerians. For example, Sung Yun and Hui Sheng reported that the White
Huns did not believe in Buddhism, though there is ample archaeological
evidence that this religion
was widely practised over all the territories under their control. But
Liang shu asserts that the White Huns worshipped sky and fire. Plainly
in reference to Vedism, Zoroastrianism or possibly an Antique expression
of Cymmerian Druidism!. This is stressed by the fact that the burials
found contradict the Zoroastrian ways. That is, the normal practices in
disposing of the dead in Vedic culture.
Again, there is very little evidence to go by. Very little of their
material culture or Art was left since theirs was mainly a nomadic
culture. Thus, according to Sung Yun and Hui Sheng who visited one of
their chiefs at his summer residence in Badakshan and later in Gandhara,
there is little doubt that they led a way of life very similar to that
of the Scythians.
“They have no cities, but roam freely and live in tents. They do not
live in towns; their seat of government is a moving camp. They move in
search of water and pasture, journeying in summer to cool places and in
winter to warmer ones....They have no belief in the Buddhist law and
they serve a great number of divinities.”
Other than the deformation of skulls, the other interesting point on the
description of the White Huns is their practice of polyandry. Reports of
brothers married to the same wife was found in Chinese sources. This
showing a concern for the keeping of an aristocratic blood line.
In the final outcome, around 557 to 561, the Persian King Chosroes made
allies with another steppe people from inner Asia, the Western Turks.
Chorsoes hoped to take advantage of the situation by taking revenge on
the White Huns for the defeat of Peroz, his grandfather. This is why he
married a daughter of the
Turkish chief in hope of banding against the White Huns. Chief Sinjibu,
with the greatest number of troops, was the boldest and strongest of all
of the Turkish tribal leaders. He was the one who defeated their king
and conquered the White Huns.
Attacked on both sides, the White Huns fell in and fled. So by the time
of king Deùwaù Tèù after 565 CE, only a small
number of them survived. Remaining groups living south of the Oxus who
escaped Chosroes' wrath later fell to the hands of the Arabs in the 7th
century. The main surviving groups fled to the west where they probably
became the ancestors of the later Avars of the Danube plain. The
disappearance of the White Huns not only foreshadowed the rise of the
Islamic faith, but it also meant the downfall of not only Buddhism and
Zoroastrianism in the region but the fall of all other practices as
well.
Encyclopedia Iranica:
DEÚWAÚˆTÈÙ (Ar. De@wa@Þanj, De@wa@Þen^), ruler of Sogdia
(87?-104/706?-22), referred to as "prince of Pan±" (Panj^kant <
Piandjikent) and as "king of Sogdia, ruler of Samarkand" in the portion
of his archives discovered at the castle on Mount Mug (Moègè), east of
Samarkand, on the upper course of the ZarafÞaèn river. The latest dates
given in the archives are in legal and economic texts in which his
"fourteenth year of rule at Pan±" and his "second (year of rule) at
Samarkand" are mentioned. (Boris Marshak, Encyclopedia Iranica, 1999)
Sources:
Babaev, Cyril. The Indo-European Database, 1999. babaev.homepage.com
Beekes, R. S. P. 1990. Vergelijkende Taalwetenschap. Utrecht,
Netherlands: Spectrum (Tr. Comparative Indo-European Linguistics,
Amsterdam: Benjamins).
Berresford Ellis, Peter. A Dictionary of Irish Mythology, Oxford
University Press, Oxford, 1991.
Bracey, Robert. The Scythian Wave,
E-mail ksi45@...
Connelan, Ronan. The Annals of Ireland, The Four Masters. Dublin, 1846.
Cunliffe, B., ed. 1994. The Oxford Illustrated Prehistory of Europe.
Oxford: Oxford UP.
Frawley, David. Letters 1998-2000.
MacAlister, R.A.S. Lebor Gabàl Erenn, The Book Of The Takings of
Ireland, 5 vol. London 1956.
Marshak, Boris. Encyclopedia Iranica, 1999.
Monard, Joseph. Letters 1994-1998.
Prabhupâda, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. Bhagavad-Gìtâ As It Is,
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, New-York, 1976.
Renfrew, Colin 1987. Archaeology and Language. New York: Cambridge UP.
Shahriari, Shahriar. On Zarathustra’s Birth Place, December 8, 1997
Vancouver, Canada
Sherrat, A. 1994a. The Transformation of Early Agrarian Europe: The
Later Neolithic and Copper Ages 4500-2500 BC. In Cunliffe, ed., pp.
167-201.
------. 1994b. The Emergence of Elites: Earlier Bronze Age Europe,
2500-1300 BC. In Cunliffe, ed., pp. 244-276.
Todd, M. 1994. Barbarian Europe, AD 300-700. In Cunliffe, ed., pp.
447-482.
Vries, J. W. de. 1979. Etymologisch Woordenboek. Utrecht, The
Netherlands: Spectrum.
------. 1982. Elementair Gotisch. Muiderberg, The Netherlands: Coutinho.
NOTES:
Chronology of Indo-European Cultures
(after Cyril Babaev with modifications by M.-G. Boutet)
The heart of the original Indo-European Uttara Kuru Aryavarta homeland
positioned East and South of the Aral Sea in present day Turkestan
between the Syr Darya and Amu Darya (Oxus) rivers neighbouring the
Dravidian Indus culture South.
Around 10 000 BCE and earlier, spread of Nostrasic into Eurasia from
warmer climates of North India
9000 BCE - 8000 BCE
domestication of animals, start of agriculture and village life
8000 BCE expansion of early Dravido-Indo-European culture from Indic
sub-continent into Central Asia
About 7000 BCE - 6000 BCE
Proto-Indo-European unity and common language in Central Asia
Individuation of Proto-Dravidic and Proto-Indo-European as separate
speeches
About 6000 BCE
Development of agriculture and irrigation in the Indus, Mesopotamian and
Black Sea Dravidian and Indo-European cultures
Early occupation of Pontic steppes and lower Danube, with horses
domesticated about 6000 BCE
About 5500 BCE - 5000 BCE
Proto-Indo-European culture with village life develops in the Pontic and
Danubian areas
Danubian Vinca culture around 5000 BCE - 3800 BCE
Husbandry, agriculture and horse domestication in Pontic areas about
4000 BCE
Introduction of metallurgy, agriculture and rudimentary writing
(Lepensky Vir)
4500 BCE - 4000 BCE
Regrouping of large villages into cities in Mesopotamia and
Sarasvati|Indus valleys
About 4000 BCE - About 3500 BCE
Proto-Indo-European areal dialects
About 3500 BCE
Western expansion, Anatolian branch moves apart
Emergence of Dravidian city states: Uruk 3300 BCE, Susa 3000 BCE in
Sumer; Harrapa, Mohenjo Daro 2350 BCE in Indus valley
Indo-European cities and hill forts: i.e.: Shortugai, on Oxus in
Bactriana
About 3000 BCE
Spread of Indo-European languages into Western Europe with the Beaker
cultures about 3000 BCE.
-Kurgan or Pit Grave culture in the Pontic region that about 3000 BCE.
-Corded Ware culture spread over the North European Plain, to southern
Scandinavia and to the Baltic region and Russia (Sherrat 1994a & b)
About 2500 BCE
Indo-Europeans spread on the Atlantic fringe of North-western Europe
-Bell-beaker culture, a variant of the Corded Ware beakers in the Rhine
delta, spread over most of western Europe as far as Scotland, Portugal
and Sicily (Sherrat 1994b).
II period: Individuation and differentiation of Indo-European identities
(25th BCE - 13th BCE)
2250 BCE
Proto-Hellenic Achaeans come to Greece
2100 BCE
Hittites and Luwians settle in Central Asia Minor
2100 BCE
Italo-Celtic tribes enter Europe
2000 BCE
Proto-Italic tribes come to Italy
2000 BCE
Doric Greek tribes settle in Illyria
1900 BCE
Mycenae founded by Achaeans in Greece
1750 BCE - 1250 BCE
Ancient Hittite (Nesian) texts from Asia Minor
1700 BCE
Aryan domination of Persia and India:
development of Mohenjo-Daro North India Aryan culture
1700 BCE - 1350 BCE
Aryans identified as one of the nations of the Mitanni Empire
1600 BCE
The Old Hittite Kingdom founded
1475 BCE
Achaeans invade and conquer Eastern Crete
1450 BCE
The New Hittite Kingdom founded
1450 BCE - 1050 BCE
The Linear B script used in Greece
1450 BCE
Assumed date for the first Veda created in India
1400 BCE
Proto-Celts arrive in Spain
1400 BCE
Achaeans appear on Cyprus
1400 BCE
Slavs - a separate nation
1350 BCE - 750 BCE
Luwian and Palaic texts in Asia Minor and North Syria
1300 BCE
Illyrians spread from Pannonia to Dalmatia
III period: the Great Unrest (13th BCE - 7th BCE)
1250 BCE
Phrygians come from Balkans to Asia Minor - the first
Great Movement of Nations begins
1250 BCE
First mentioning about Lycians
1250 BCE
Baltic peoples move north and east
1230 BCE - 1150 BCE
"Sea Peoples" destroy Hittite Kingdom, invade Syria,
Palestine, Egypt
1230 BCE
Achaeans conquer Troy
1200 BCE
Achaeans start migrating to Crete, Cyprus, Asia Minor
1200 BCE
Celtic cultures in Gaul (Gallia) and Germany (Germania)
1200 BCE
Illyrians arrive at South Italy
1200 BCE
Doric tribes invade Greece; soon they replace the
Mycenaean civilisation
1100 BCE
Thracian peoples come to the Balkans
1100 BCE
New wave of Italics comes to Italy
900 BCE
Illyro-Dravidian Etruscans in Italy from the Carian coast. Proof of a
Dravidian language in Europe with I.E. invasions
800 BCE
Avesta created in Iran
753 BCE
Rome is founded by Latins
750 BCE - 250 CE
Phrygian inscriptions
750 BCE
Greeks begin their Great Colonisation
738 BCE
Phrygian Kingdom founded in Asia Minor
730 BCE
New wave of Proto-Celtic Cymmerians invade Europe and Asia and reach
Pannonia and Lydia
720 BCE
Armenian Kingdom
700 BCE
Lydian Kingdom founded in Asia Minor
700 BCE
Median Kingdom founded in Iran
690 BCE
Cymmerians overturn the Phrygian Kingdom
675 BCE
Scythians push out the main group of Cymmerians from Asia while others
merge with the Tokharian Issedones and Sacians to the East
650 BCE
Celts settle in Britain and Ireland
IV period: Secondary Migrations (7th BCE - 1st BCE)
650 BCE - 350 BCE
Lydian and Carian inscriptions in West Asia Minor
650 BCE
Scythians move into Europe filling in the void left by the Celtic
western migrations
639 BCE
Elam loses its independence
600 BCE
First Italic inscriptions
600 BCE
New Celtic invasion to Spain
600 BCE
Lydians extrude Greeks from Asia
590 BCE
Scythian Kingdom in Asia destroyed by Medians
559 BCE
Persian Kingdom founded
550 BCE - 330 BCE
Old Persian Texts and Inscriptions
550 BCE - 250 BCE
Thracian inscriptions
550 BCE - 50 BCE
Messapic and Venetic inscriptions
546 BCE
Lydia and Asia Minor conquered by Persians
510 BCE
Rome gains independence from Etruscans
495 BCE
Macedonia under Greek influence
493 BCE
Persians capture Miletus
483 BCE
Indo-Aryan expansion into Ceylon
480 BCE
Thracian Kingdom of Odrisses
474 BCE
Etruscan expansion stopped in Italy
450 BCE
Celtic tribes move into Italy
449 BCE
Greek decisive victory over Persia
380 BCE
Illyrian Kingdom founded
350 BCE - 70 BCE
Restoration of Scythian Kingdom in Steppes
330 BCE - 250 BCE
Greeks spread all over Asia
322 BCE - 64 BCE
Armenian Kingdom
320 BCE - 187 BCE
Maurya Kingdom in India
280 BCE
Celts arrive to the Balkans and Asia Minor
267 BCE
Italy conquered by Rome
250 BCE
Sarmatians come to Europe
250 BCE - 135 BCE
Bactrian Kingdom
247 BCE - 225 CE
Parthian Kingdom
146 BCE
Greece conquered by Rome
135 BCE
Iranian, Tokharic, and Turkish tribes destroy Bactria
133 BC
Spain conquered by Rome
100 BCE - 20 BCE
Hellenic and Iranian people leave Bactria and Sogdiana
50 BCE
Gaul conquered by Rome
31 BCE
Thrace conquered by Rome
9 BCE
Illyria and Pannonia conquered by Rome
TIME CHART FOR NORTHERN ARYANS
(The Final Expansions)
after Cyril Babaev
650 BCE
Scythian invasion into Europe
As with any other ethnogenesis, it is always hard to tell what was the
exact ethnic origin of the Central Asian steppes or European peoples,
but one thing sure, these people were to play a very important role in
the creation of European identity thus laying down the founding stone of
European civilisation. Unfortunately, the picture however defined, gets
more blurry as the time periods overlap.
This because of a process of contacts and assimilation which inevitably
led to a mixing of peoples to the point that it makes it difficult to
trace the language of this or that ethnic group. Such groups, recorded
in the European history as Huns,
Sarmatians, Scythians, Cymmerians, Avars, Alans, were in fact not single
nations, but groupings of several peoples, frequently
with different ethnic and language origins. That is, other Nostrasic
groups came under the frame work of the aryanic tripartite
structuralising process.
This is why, certain linguists identify Scythians with Iranians, while
some others, confuse them with the Turkish group, or even of some other
group. Scythians, in fact, were Indo-Europeans with Turkish, Uralic or
Slavic captives, thus synthesising, at the basic level,
non-Indo-European heterogeneous cultures as it was the case with other
ethnic groups.
The Scythians criss-crossed the steppes from east to west and back many
times. They went north to the Black Sea, rarely venturing into the
forest regions north, and penetrated the Northern Balkans. There is
abundant toponymic material from modern South Russia, Ukraine, Romania
showing traces of the Scythians in place names of rivers and hills. This
shows an occupation of the region by Scythian tribes from up to the 3rd
century CE. This was before the area was overwhelmed by Huns from Asia.
The Scythian language belonged to the Iranian group although showing
strong influences from Slavic and Thracian. On the other hand, Slavic
borrowed heavily from Scythian. This shows that both languages belonged
to the same bilingual zone. Phonetic features of modern South Russian
dialects and Ukrainian language betray an Iranian substratum. The names
of the rivers Don, Dnepr and Dnestr are all Iranian in origin, from dn-
the stem.
600 BCE Lydians extrude Greeks from Asia
The century between 650 and 550 BCE was Lydia’s Golden Age. Phrygia was
overran by Cymmerians. In turn, Scythians took on the Cymmerians and
then left Asia Minor. There were no countries around Lydia to contain it
and prevent its development. Lydia, and its capital Sardis, was the
important centre of Euro-Asian trade, in which the country found its
prosperity.
Lydia felt it could gain supremacy in the region after Assyria started
to lose power in the Middle East. In 605 BCE king
Aliatt faced the resistance of the Greek polises of Asia Minor. when he
decided to increase the Lydian influence in the East Mediterranean.
Miletus and Smirna, which had struggled long for independence, were the
strongest Greek cities. It was only in 600 BCE that Aliatt managed to
capture Smirna thus forcing the Greeks out of Asia.
However, this didn’t stop the Greek colonisation of the region but just
suspended it for a while. Therefore, Lydia developed independently by
culture and language. History was to show that it had only five decades
to enjoy the independence.
590 BCE Scythian Kingdom in Asia destroyed by Medians
According to Herodotus, half a century before Medians, Lydians and
Babylonians called the Scythians from the Northern Caucasus to their aid
against the Cymmerians and Assyrian Empire. The Cymmerian cavaliers’
nomadic power was the most powerful striking force in the region.
Ironically, after the Cymmerians were eliminated, and after Assyria
slowly began its decline, Scythians became the new threat of the Middle
Eastern kingdoms. Scythians then established their own kingdom in
Northern Iran, raiding Median lands and pillaging neighbouring towns and
lands.
At that time after several wars, Media, the strongest kingdom in Iran,
decisively won the victory over Scythians and made them retreat back
into Central Asia. Because of the short period of the Scythian presence
in Iran, made no significant impact on the languages and peoples of the
country. That is, nothing that was detected by linguists and
archaeologists.
550 BCE - 50 BCE Messapic and Venetic inscriptions
The history of Venetic, Illyrian, and Messapic tribes begins much
earlier than the dates given here. In fact, it was around 1300 BCE that
the Illyrians arrived in the Balkan peninsula. Later
the Messapians crossed the Adriatic and appeared in Italy. Details about
this early period of their history is gained only through archaeological
material or by early Greek sources, since these peoples only started
leaving inscriptions by the 6th century BCE. So, we are not sure when
they started to exist and what role they played in the Indo-European
scheme.
Venetic speakers are often confused with Italics, or Illyrians, but even
though closely related to these groups, they evidently formed a family
of their own. Venetic has closer ties with the Celtic, Germanic
languages, and possibly, with Slavic. This is inferred because of the
similarity of one tribal name. The Este (Ateste) culture, which was
flourishing in northern Italy and Slovenia, left much epigraphic
evidence (about 250 texts, mainly dedications and epitaph inscriptions).
The texts were written in a local script, possibly a variety mixture of
Etruscan and Greek writing, or in a modified Latin script. The Venetics
were assimilated in the 1st century BCE by the Romans and took up Latin.
On the Atlantic coast, Venetics were also assimilated to Celtic, to the
point that when Caesar fought their navy in 56 BCE, they had totally
merged with the Gauls.
The Illyrians left little written records of their existence, although
Roman writers left many glosses.
There is data of onomastics and toponymy as well.
As for Messapic, nearly 350 short inscriptions were found in
south-eastern Italy. Being too short, they don’t tell much about the
grammar or syntax of the language. But then again, they are stated proof
of the existence of Messapic and Illyrian.
450 BCE Celtic tribes come to Italy
The period covered by La Tène culture follows that of the Hallstatt
culture and extends from about 450 BCE to the subjugation of Gaul by
Julius Caesar in 58 BCE. This was at the peak of the Celtic
civilisation.
La Tène culture was initially influenced by the Etruscan and Greek
civilisations but developed regional variations through the
centuries as the Celts spread through most of central and western
Europe, over to Britain, north to Jutland, and elsewhere.
Some common features may be noted throughout, however, such as
curvilinear ornamentation (S shapes and spirals) and animal art forms.
Burials were by inhumation or by covering with cairns of stones. This
was the period of the beginning of urbanisation, of new industries, and
of new artistic traditions.
By this time, the Celts had crossed the Alps and passed into Northern
Italy, where they soon spread over the Padus (Po) valley. In the Po,
they met different nations with whom they mingled and dominated. These
were the Ligurians, who are believed to have been Indo-Europeanised
aborigines, Etruscans, Venetic and Italic peoples. True that the Italic
and Celtic languages were still close enough to be understood by one
another. From then on, the Italic languages (and namely Latin) were
acquiring many Celtic words and terms. The Celts themselves borrowed
many features from the neighbouring languages. Gradually the Celtic of
the Southern Alps region, originally a primitive Gaulish, became
different from that of contemporary Gaulish Celtic into a language now
called Lepontic.
In 390 BCE the Celts resume their expansion over Europe by invading
Central Italy, where in 387 BCE, allied with Etruscans, they destroy the
Roman army, capture and plunder Rome. Surprisingly, this incursion had
very little influence on the politics and culture of Italy. Satisfied
with receiving a huge tribute from Rome, the Celts retreat back to the
north.
350 BCE - 70 BCE Scythian Steppes Kingdom
In 512, the Persian king Darius was defeated by the Scythian army, after
having crossed the Danube and venturing too far into the steppes.
After this, the Scythians consolidated their state to the point that in
350 BCE, Scythia, next to Greek Black Sea colonies, became a true
kingdom. It therefore could be said that the "King Scythians", developed
one of Europe’s first monarchies. The kingdom, under the rule of Ateus,
began to expand in the region. King Ateus managed to unify the Scythian
tribes into a powerful state. Ateus also vassalised many other nations
in the Black Sea region, including Crimea’s Cymmerians.
Under Ateus, the Scythians invaded and occupied part of Thrace. He then
conquered the shores of modern Bulgaria, and the Greek city states on
the coast were also forced into accepting Scythian protection. After
Ateus' death, Philip of Macedonia, by the Danube, defeated the Scythian
army, thus putting an end to the Scythian expansion.
During the following two centuries, the Scythians took Crimea and
assimilated Taurian tribes.
The Scythians had also close contacts with Slavs and Baltic peoples who
inhabited territories north of Scythia. To a point that today's Russian,
Belorussian and Ukrainian languages bear the Scythic Indo-Iranian
imprint, both in vocabulary and pronunciation.
320 BCE - 187 BCE Maurya Kingdom in India
In 324 BCE, not long after Alexander's death, in Greek dominated Western
India, began the rebellion against the Macedonian rule. Rebels led by
Chandragupta managed to gain victory over the Macedonian garrisons and
drove them out of India. Chandragupta, an Indian kshatrya, first served
Alexander during his struggle against the king of Magadha.
At the head of his rebel army, Chandragupta head for the Magadha
capital, overthrew the king and founded his own dynasty.
Chandragupta’s reign was one of a time of great expansion for India. He
thus unified all of North India’s states and principalities. Then, in
other successful wars against the Greeks, he acquired the territories of
what is now Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Better known are his successors Bindusar and Asoka, during whose reign
the kingdom’s expansion was directed at South India. Thus began the
assimilation process of many non-Indo-European tribes. Asoka unified
India as one nation giving it Buddhism, his religion,.
During this rule, the Aryans moved to the Dravidian south; where the
economy flourished and great constructions were undertaken throughout
the country.
With Asoka's death, this great unity was lost because India was still a
mosaic of conflicting tribes with different cultural levels. The country
was divided in 236 between his two successors. And in 187 BCE, the last
heir of the Asokan dynasty was killed by one of his commanders.
280 BCE Celts move West to the Balkans and Asia Minor
Gallo-Celtic warlords lead their tribes into the Balkan peninsula.
Great numbers of warrior bands and their people descend the Danube and
cross into Illyria, Thracia and on into Macedonia. All of Macedonia’s
forces are engaged into the conflict against the Celts.
Macedonia falls and the country is pillaged. In 279, the Celts move on
to Greece, and destroy several cities. Sparta is captured for a short
period, but the Celts are defeated near Delphi and are forced to retreat
out of Greece.
Following another minor defeat to the hands of Antioch I, the king of
the Seleucid Kingdom, the Celts in their retreat South, cross the
Bosphorus into Asia Minor, where in 278, they founded the Galatian
kingdom.
Anatolia, once before the centre of the Phrygian kingdom, had also been
the homeland of their Cymmerian cousins. The Celts remembered that it
had once been an ancestral possession. Through Classical sources, we
have the names of the three main tribes of Asian Celts: the Tolistoages,
Tectosages, and Trokmoi.
Galatia survived for a while under difficult conditions: wedged between
the Seleucid Kingdom and Pergam, the power to the north; the Celtic
district was left without access to the sea and with no possibility to
develop sea trade.
Weakened by its isolation, Galatia became in the 2nd century BCE, the
protectorate of the Pontic kingdom, and by the next century, became a
province of Rome.
The Celts of Galatia spoke a Gaulish dialect. Unfortunately, little
records of their language were found, so we are left ignorant of its
evolution.
We can infer that they had Druid priests also because of toponomy. A
place name called Drunemeton, “True or Firm Sanctuary” betrays their
presence.
135 BCE Iranian, Tokharic, Turkish tribes destroy Bactria
At the time the Bactrian kingdom was losing in power and the integrity
of its territory and cities became more and more threatened by nomadic
tribes who moved in the Asian steppes at its border. Tribal alliances
formed by Massagetian tribes from north of Bactria, were the state’s
main menace. The Kings of Bactria called for help to the Parthians and
Seleucids, but none answered the call. Most of the surrounding states
longed for the fall of Bactria.
A great number of Tokharians are believed to have settled there in great
numbers since later, Bactria was renamed Tokharistan, for land of the
Tokhars. The main body of Tokhars settled on the northern banks of the
Amudarya river where the high king’s residence was situated.
The Tokharians, had come from the Tarim basin from the Northeast. The
Tokharian languages belonged to the Centum Indo-European language group.
Although distantly related to Iranian and Indic, they were closer
related to the Celtic and Italic languages with with they form a branch
of their own. These languages were once united at the Proto-Celtic
level, that is, before Celtic.
The Tokharian state, that was very extensive, was divided into several
independent principalities. The Chinese sources mention five, and the
most powerful of these was the kingdom of Kuchanes.
Strabo, Geography
.[I].
Now that I have described Iberia and the Celtic and Italian tribes,
along with the islands near by, it will be next in order to speak of the
remaining parts of Europe, dividing them in the approved manner. The
remaining parts are: first, those towards the east, being those which
are across the Rhenus and extend as far as the Tanais (Danais = Don
River; ref. 1) and the mouth of Lake Maeotis (The sea of Azof; ref. 2),
and also all those regions lying between the Adrias (3) and the regions
on the left of the Pontic Sea that are shut off by the Ister (4) and
extend towards the south as far as Greece and the Propontis (5); for
this river divides very nearly the whole of the aforesaid land into two
parts. It is the largest of the European rivers, at the outset flowing
towards the south and then turning straight from the west towards the
east and the Pontus. It rises in the western limits of Germany, as also
near the recess of the Adriatic (at a distance from it of about one
thousand stadia), and comes to an end at the Pontus not very far from
the outlets of the Tyras (6) and the Borysthenes (7), bending from its
easterly course approximately towards the north.
Now the parts that are beyond the Rhenus and Celtica are to the north of
the Ister; these are the territories of the Galatic and the Germanic
tribes, extending as far as the Bastarnians and the
Tyregetans and the River Borysthenes. And the territories of all the
tribes between this river and the Tanaàs and the mouth of Lake Maeotis
extend up into the interior as far as the ocean (8) and are washed by
the Pontic Sea. But both the Illyrian and the Thracian tribes, and all
tribes of the Celtic or other peoples that are mingled with these, as
far as Greece, are to the south of the Ister. But let me first describe
the parts outside the Ister, for they are much simpler than those on the
other side.
.[2].
Now the parts beyond the Rhenus, immediately after the country of the
Celti, slope towards the east and are occupied by the Germans, who,
though they vary slightly from the Celtic stock in that they are wilder,
taller, and have yellower hair, are in all other respects similar, for
in build, habits, and modes of life they are such as I have said (9) the
Celti are. And I also think that it was for this reason that the Romans
assigned to them the name “Germani,” as though they wished to indicate
thereby that they were “genuine” Galatae, for in the language of the
Romans “germani” means “genuine.”
.[3].
The first parts of this country are those that are next to the Rhenus,
beginning at its source and extending a far as its outlet; and this
stretch of river-land taken as a whole is approximately the breadth of
the country on its western side. Some of the tribes of this river-land
were transferred by the Romans to Celtica, whereas the others
anticipated the Romans by migrating deep into the country, for instance,
the Marsi; and only a few people, including a part of the Sugambri, are
left.
After the people who live along the river come the other tribes that
live between the Rhenus and the River Albis, and traverses no less
territory than the former. Between the two are other navigable rivers
also (among them the Amasias on which Drusus won a naval victory over
the Bructeri), which likewise flow from the south towards the north and
the ocean; for the country is elevated towards the south and forms a
mountain chain that connects with the Alps and extends towards the east
as though it were a part of the Alps; and in truth some declare that
they actually are a part of the Alps, both because of their aforesaid
position and of the fact that they produce the same timber; however, the
country in this region does not rise to a sufficient height for that.
Here, too, is the Hercynian Forest, and also the tribes of the Suevi,
some of which dwell inside the forest, as, for instance, the tribes of
the Coldui, in whose territory is Boihaemum, the domain of Marabodus,
the place whither he caused to migrate, not only several other peoples,
but in particular the Marcomanni, his fellow-tribesmen; for after his
return from Rome this man, who before had been only a private citizen,
was placed in charge of the affairs of state, for, as a youth he had
been at Rome and had enjoyed the favour of Augustus, and on his return
he took the rulership and acquired, in addition to the peoples
aforementioned, the Lugii (a large tribe), the Zumi, the Butones, the
Mugilones, the Sibini, and also the Semnones, a large tribe of the Suevi
themselves. However, while some of the tribes of the Suevi dwell inside
the forest, as I was saying, others dwell outside of it, and have a
common boundary with the Getae. Now as for the tribe of the Suevi, it is
the
largest, for it extends from the Rhenus to the Albis; and a part of them
even dwell on the far side of the Albis, as, for instance, the
Hermondori and the Langobardi; and at the present time these latter, at
least, have, to the last man, been driven in flight out of their country
into the land on the far side of
the river. It is a common characteristic of all the peoples in this part
of the world that they migrate with ease, because of the meagreness of
their livelihood and because they do not till the soil or even store up
food, but live in small huts that are merely temporary structures; and
they live for the most part off their flocks, as the Nomads do, so that,
in imitation of the Nomads, they load their household belongings on
their wagons and with their beasts turn whither so ever they think best.
But other
German tribes are still more indigent. I mean the Cherusci, the Chatti,
the Gamabrivii and the Chattuarii, and also, near the ocean, the
Sugambri, the Chaubi, the Bructeri, and the Cimbri, and also the Cauci,
the Caulci, the Campsiani, and several others. Both the Visurgis and the
Lupias Rivers run in the same direction as the Amasias, the Lupias being
about six hundred stadia distant from the Rhenus and flowing through the
country of the Lesser Bructeri. Germany has also the Salas River; and it
was between the Salas and the Rhenus that Drusus Germanicus, while he
was successfully carrying on the war, came to his end. He had
subjugated, not only most of the tribes, but also the islands along the
coast, among which is Burchanis, which he took by siege.
.[4].
These tribes have become known through their wars with the Romans, in
which they would either yield and then later revolt again, or else quit
their settlements; and they would have been better known if Augustus had
allowed his generals to cross the Albis in pursuit of those who
emigrated thither. But as a matter of fact he supposed that he could
conduct the war in hand more successfully if he should hold off from
those outside the Albis, who were living in peace, and should not incite
them to make common cause with the others in their enmity against him.
It was the Sugambri, who live near the Rhenus, that began the war, Melo
being their leader; and from that time on different peoples at different
times would cause a breach, first growing powerful and then being put
down, and then revolting again, betraying both the hostages they had
given and their pledges of good faith. In dealing with these peoples
distrust has been a great advantage, whereas those who have been trusted
have done the greatest harm, as, for instance, the Cherusci and their
subjects, in whose country three Roman legions, with their general
Quintilius Varus, were destroyed by ambush in violation of the treaty.
But they all paid the penalty, and afforded the younger Germanicus a
most brilliant triumph --that triumph in which their most famous men and
women were led captive, I mean Segimuntus, son of Segestes and chieftain
of the Cherusci, and his sister Thusnelda, the wife of Armenius, the man
who at the time of the violation of the treaty against Quintilius Varus
was commander-in-chief of the Cheruscan army and even to this day is
keeping up the war, and
Thusnelda's three-year-old son Thumelicus; and also Sesithacus, the son
of Segimerus and chieftain of the Cherusci, and Rhamis, his wife, and a
daughter of Ucromirus chieftain of the Chatti, and Deudorix, a
Sugambrian, the son of Baetorix the brother of Melo. But Segestes, the
father-in-law of Armenius, who even from the outset had opposed the
purpose of Armenius, and, taking advantage of an opportune time, had
deserted him, was present as a guest of honour at the triumph over his
loved ones. And Libes too, a priest of the Chatti, marched in the
procession, as also other captives from the plundered tribes--the
Caulci, Campsani, Bructeri, Usipi, Cherusci, Chatti, Chattuarii, Landi,
Tubattii. Now the Rhenus is about three thousand stadia distant from the
Albis, if one had straight roads to travel on, but as it is one must go
by a circuitous route, which winds through a marshy country and forests.
.[5].
The Hercynian Forest is not only rather dense, but also has large trees,
and comprises a large circuit within regions that are fortified by
nature; in the centre of it, however, lies a country (of which I have
already spoken) that is capable of affording an excellent livelihood.
And near it are the sources of both the Ister and the Rhenus, as also
the lake between the two sources, and the marshes into which the Rhenus
spreads. The perimeter of the lake is more than three hundred stadia,
while the passage across it is nearly two hundred. There is also an
island in it which Tiberius used as a base of operations in his naval
battle with the Vindelici. This lake is south of the sources of the
Ister, as is also the Hercynian Forest, so that necessarily, in going
from Celtica to the Hercynian Forest, one first crosses the lake and
then the Ister, and from there on advances through more passable
regions--plateaus--to the forest. Tiberius had proceeded only a day's
journey from the lake when he saw the sources of the Ister. The country
of the Rhaeti adjoins the lake for only a short distance, whereas that
of the Helvetii and the Vindelici, and also the desert of the Boii,
adjoin the greater part of it. All the peoples as far as the Pannonii,
but more especially the Helvetii and the Vindelici, inhabit plateaus.
But the countries of the Rhaeti and the Norici extend as far as the
passes over the Alps and verge toward Italy, a part thereof bordering on
the country of the Insubri and apart on that of the Carni and the
legions about Aquileia. And there is also another large forest, Gabreta;
it is on this side of the territory of the Suevi, whereas the Hercynian
Forest, which is also held by them, is on the far side.
References:
1 The Don.
2 The sea of Azof.
3 The Adriatic.
4 The Danube.
5 The Sea of Marmora.
6 The Dniester.
7 The Dnieper.
8 Strabo here means the «exterior» or «Northern» ocean (see 2. 5. and
the Frontispiece, Vol. i).
9 4. 4. 2-3.
Herodotus' Histories, book 4
from Jona Lendering
Tenth logos: country and customs of the Scythians (4.1-82)
After his successes in quelling the revolt of pseudo-Smerdis, the
rebellion of Babylon, and conquering Samos, king Darius decides to
attack the Scythian tribes that live in what is now called Ukraine. The
opening logos of Book Four tells about their way of life. Herodotus
first gives a description of the country, which he knows as a green
pasture, bordered in the north by large stretches of snow. There are
several Greek cities on the shores of the Black Sea, where people have a
more or less decent life style. Travelling north, you will leave
civilisation: first there are the farmer tribes of the Callipides and
the Alizones, then you will reach the Neuri and finally the Man-eaters.
More to the east live the Thyssagetes and the Iyrcans, both hunters; in
the far east, you will encounter the Argippeans -who are all bold- and
the Issedones. This description of the Scythian nations is not complete
without Herodotus making a digression on the relative size of the three
continents Asia, Europe and Africa; this digression is interrupted by a
small digression about a Phoenician expedition that managed to round
Cape of Good Hope (click here).Returning to the topography of Scythia,
Herodotus tells a lot about the main rivers of Scythia, then changes
subject and informs us about Scythian customs - religion, sacrifices,
royal burials, the use of marihuana, et cetera.
The northern frontier of the Persian Empire was open to attacks by the
nomads who were roaming over the Central-Asian steppe. In their own
language, which seems to be related to modern Chuvash, they called
themselves Skudat ("archers"?), which the Persians rendered as Sakâ and
the Greeks as Skythai. There were several tribes, such as the Sakâ
haumavargâ ("haoma-drinking Saka") who were subjected by Cyrus and who
are called Amyrgian Scythians by Herodotus; the Sakâ tigrakhaudâ ("Saka
with pointed hats") who were defeated by Darius and are visible on the
relief at Behistun; the Apâ Sakâ ("Water Saka"; or Pausikoi as Herodotus
prefers to call them); later, they are known as the Abian Scythians (in
books like Arrian's Anabasis and Ammianus' Res Gestae); the Ma-Sakâ, who
are called "Massagetes" by Herodotus (see above) and were responsible
for the death of Cyrus; the Sakâ paradryâ ("Saka across the sea"),
living in Ukraine. Several tribes had invaded Asia. The Cymmerians
-whose name Gimirru means "people travelling back and forth" and who
gave this name to the Crimea- had destroyed the kingdoms of Urartu and
Phrygia in the first quarter of the seventh century BCE. Other Scythians
had reached Ascalon in Palestine and reputedly had ruled Media for 28
years. As yet, there is no evidence to discredit Herodotus' description
of the Scythian homeland. Probably, we may identify the Neuri with the
so-called Milograd-culture, the archaeological remains of which have
been found on the confluence of the Dnjepr and Pripyat. The strange
story about the Man-eaters received some confirmation with the
excavation of human remains that were gnawed at by human jaws; these
excavations were along the river Sula. The Argippaeans are usually
identified with the ancestors of the Calmucs; the Issedones may be
identical to the Wu-sun who (according to Chinese texts) lived on the
shore of Lake Balchash.
Eleventh logos: Darius' campaign against the Scythians (4.83-144)
The next logos tells about Darius' campaign. After crossing the
Bosporus, he subjects a tribe called Getes, on whose belief to be
immortal Herodotus devotes a short digression. Darius reaches the
Danube, where the allied Ionian Greeks have already built a bridge. When
the Persian army has crossed into modern Rumania, the king orders the
bridge to be destroyed. A Ionian Greek in his army, Coes of Mytilene,
objects to this and suggests not to cut off a possible line of retreat.
The great king agrees and orders the Ionian Greeks to remain where they
are for at least sixty days. After a short digression on the Scythian
tribes that Darius is about to engage, Herodotus tells about a Persian
envoy who demands that the Scythians surrender. They refuse and form
three armies. Two of these lure the Persians deeper and deeper into
Scythia, until they reach the river Oaros (the Wolga). When Darius is
finally able to join battle, he realises that he can never win and
follows Gobryes' advice to return to the Danube. Meanwhile, the sixty
days have passed and the Ionians deliberate what to do; the proposal of
Histiaeus of Miletus to keep the bridge intact is finally accepted.
Darius is able to return safely. He leaves Megabazus behind as satrap of
his European possessions.
This logos did not earn Herodotus his title "father of history". Even
though the way the Scythians fight seems to be authentic, the narrative
is messy and unintelligible. From the fact -if it is a fact!- that
Darius wanted the bridge across the Danube to be destroyed, we may guess
that he wanted to fight his way through Ukraine and across the Caucasus
to Armenia; this hypothesis is as close as we can get to the historical
truth. This campaign must have taken place after 521 (when Darius was
recognised as king) and before 500 (when the Ionians revolted, see
below). A date in 514 or 513 is plausible. The "Oaros" reached by Darius
may in fact have been the Dnjepr ("Borysthenes" in Greek); the mistake
can be explained from the Scythian names of these rivers, *Varu (=
Oaros, "broad") and *Varu-stâna ("having a broad space"). There are
some indications that the co-operation among the Scythians against the
Persian invasion was an incentive to unite and form a real state.
Twelfth logos: the Greeks in Cyrene become subjects of the Persian
Empire (4.145-205) This book ends with a logos about a Persian campaign
against the Greek towns in the Cyrenaica. First, Herodotus tells us
about the way the Greeks colonised this part of Africa and how they have
lived since the adventures of these first settlers. He interrupts his
story to digress on the desert tribes in the Sahara, and then returns to
his original story. He explains how the Greek settlers are divided and
how one of the quarrelling factions invites the Persians to take hold of
the towns in Cyrenaica. The new masters take many captives, who are
deported to far-away Bactria.
As usual, Herodotus' narrative looks more reliable when he describes the
recent past; the legends about the founders of Cyrene are strange. His
description of the tribes in the Sahara belongs to the most reliable
parts of his Histories." }
According to this theory the Aryans had emerged in Asia, in the lower ages of mankind and migrated to Europe where gave birth to the Caucasian peoples of Europe, and a small part remained in Asia, and formed the middle eastern Caucasians.
 |
| Girl from the Kalash people, in pakistan. An aryan people that remained in Asia. |
Then, the other theory says that the Caucasian european peoples would have arisen in Europe and migrated to other areas such as Asia, thus forming the Caucasian populations in these areas.
So, the question is, the man of Cro-Magnon ancestor of modern humans appeared in Europe, so the Nords are originally Europeans, or came from out of Europe migrating to it?
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