Aryanism

Aryanism refers to a set of beliefs and political movements that contend for the existence of a distinct, privileged “Aryan” race and an associated civilizational heritage. The term is used in two senses: a historical linguistic category and a now-discredited pseudo-scientific racial construct. In linguistics, Aryan denotes speakers of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. The word originated from Sanskrit and Avestan terms meaning noble or noble-born. In the 19th century, some scholars extended the term beyond language to argue for racial hierarchies, a development that fed nationalist and imperial ideologies.

During the 20th century, Aryanism became a central element of Nazi ideology, which posited an Aryan master race and used it to justify antisemitic laws, expansion, and genocide. Similar racial theories influenced eugenics movements and other extremist groups in Europe and beyond. In South Asia, some nationalist discourses invoked “Aryan” heritage to legitimate claims about early Indian civilization; however, contemporary scholarship distinguishes linguistic/archaeological history from racial essentialism and generally rejects the notion of a pure Aryan race.

In modern academia, race is viewed as a social construct rather than a biologically fixed category, and the idea of a distinct Aryan race is rejected. The term “Aryan” remains a linguistic designation for Indo-Iranian languages, and “Aryanism” is discussed primarily as a historical case of racially motivated pseudoscience and political propaganda.