Aryans

The word "Aryan" has been used to describe the Indo-Iranian language group, one of the branches of the large Indo-European family, and not without good reason, because the expression is in fact used by several ancient nations, like the early Persians (*Arya-) and Indians (árya-). These people must have lived in Central Asia and moved to the south at the beginning of the second millennium BCE; they separated into two groups, one of them invading the Punjab (an event recorded in the Mahabharata) and the other Iran.

The expressions is used in many Iranian sources. For instance, when king Darius I the Great (522-486 BCE) ordered  new, Persian alphabet to be developed, he called it 'Aryan'. The Sasanians created the political concept of Iran (Eranšahr) as a unity of Aryan nations; Eran and Aneran were often contrasted, the former referring to the Sasanian Empire, the latter to, e.g., the Roman Empire or the tribal areas in the northeast.

The expression has been abused by the Nazis (who contrasted the Aryans to the Semites). For obvious reasons, modern linguists now prefer "Indo-Iranian". However, in countries like modern Iran, the old expression is still used.