Áryas, which means simply "nobles." From this name we derive the word "Aryan," denoting races belonging to the same great family, which includes, besides these invaders of India, many Western races, as may be easily seen by comparing Greek and Latin, and most modern languages of Europe, with the ancient Sanskrit.
The Aryan invasion of India doubtless covered many years, or even centuries; but it seems reasonable to think of 1500 B.C. as an average date for their settlement and earliest writings. From that time, they spread over the whole of Northern India, but made far less impression upon the South. The languages of Southern India are markedly different from those of the North; all the latter—excepting those of Mongolian or Muhammedan origin—bear the most evident tokens of close relationship to Sanskrit; and some words are used to this day in Northern India exactly as they appear in the most ancient Hindu Scriptures, not less than 3,000 years old.
These first Hindu Scriptures take the form of hymns, of which a large number were, sooner or later, gathered together in collections known as Vedas. Of these there are four, though one of them is clearly altogether later than the others, and is much less respected. The most famous of all is the Rig-Veda, a collection of rather over a thousand hymns. These are addressed to gods who bear a strong resemblance to the gods of the Norsemen—the distant cousins, so to speak, of these old Aryans, and who are nothing more nor less than the great forces of Nature personified. Fire and water, sky
