DDK HistoryF.p65 - CSIR

82 ARYAN TRIBES [4.1
Both vary within a few generations if living conditions should change,
and vary from class to class within a class-society. Nevertheless, certain
tribes among the whole Indo-European group were conscious of
being Aryans in some ethnic sense. For example, Darius I of Persia
proclaims in his grave-inscription (486 B. c.) that he was Parsu,
Parsahya puthra, Arya, Arya cithra = ‘ A Persian, son of a Persian,
an Aryan of Aryan descent. The Arioi were in occupation of parts of
Iran (= Ariana) and Afghanistan to the Indus, at the time of Alexander’s
invasion (Strabo 15.2.9), the Arianoi along the Indus. The Arii are
mentioned by Tacitus as the most feared tribe among the Germans,
unmatched in warfare though too slothful to press their superiority.
The mass of negatives above, therefore, only lead to the conclusion
that “ Aryan” meant essentially a new way of life and speech.
Many of the historical Aryan groups are best known as rulers of
mixed type over limited regions, such as the Kassites and Hittites, or
as immigrant raiders and settlers like the Greeks. Their common
features in pre-history may be restored with some certainty ; highly
versatile, warriors, marauders, patriarchal tribesmen of the bronze age
whose main subsistence had been cattle. They early learned and spread
the use of iron. The horse first gained its military importance with
them (particularly among the Kassites) but hitched to the fast Aryan chariot,
not ridden. The Sumerians had used asses, for royal chariots only,
and not on a large scale. The harness was rather inefficient, as it
tended to choke the horse, having been simply transferred from the
ox and bull that had long been yoked to heavy wagons and ploughs.
It was not till a few centuries later that the horse was also ridden by
all military people. Assyrian cavalry proved itself the best of its day.
The use of the horse at the plough seems to be a peculiarly north-European
innovation. The exclusive military use of the beast left its mark upon
society; there arose a new social upper class, the equestrian order of
those entitled to possess and use horses. The words cavalier and
chivalry are bequeathed to us by the horse age just as ‘ civilization’
derives from city life.