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List of ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 3, 2026
Entity authorityQ85779044 ↗
Source-derived summary

This is a list of ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes that are mentioned in the literature of Indian religions.

From the second or first millennium BCE, ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes turned into most of the population in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent – Indus Valley (roughly today's Pakistani Punjab and Sindh), Western India, Northern India, Central India, Eastern India and also in areas of the southern part like Sri Lanka and the Maldives through and after a complex process of migration, assimilation of other peoples and language shift.

Ancestors

Proto-Indo-Iranians (common ancestors of the Iranian, Nuristani and Indo-Aryan peoples) (Proto-Indo-Iranian speakers)

Proto-Indo-Aryans (Proto-Indo-Aryan speakers)

Vedic tribes

Alina people (RV 7.18.7)

Anu (RV 1.108.8, RV 8.10.5)

Bharatas- The Bharatas are a major Aryan clan, especially in Mandala 3 attributed to the Bharata sage Vishvamitra. The entire Bharata clan is described as crossing over, with their chariots and wagons, at the confluence of the Vipash (Beas River) and Shutudri (Satlej). The Bharatas are mentioned as the protagonists in the Battle of the Ten Kings in Mandala 7 (7.18 etc.), where they are on the winning side. They appear to have been successful in the early power-struggles between the various Aryan and non-Aryan clans so that they continue to dominate in post-Rigvedic texts, and later in the (Epic) tradition. "Bhārata" today is the official name of the Republic of India (see also Etymology of India).

Chedi

Dasa

Druhyus (Rigveda, RV 1.108.8, RV 8.10.5)

Gandhara

Ikshvaku dynasty

Kuru

Matsya

Pakhta

Puru (Pūru)

Ruśama (RV Mandala 8)

Sārasvata

Tritsu (RV 7.18, 7.33, 7.83)

Yadu: Of Indo-Aryan origin,Yadu is one of the five early Rigvedic tribes (panchajana, panchakrishtya or panchamanusha) mentioned in the Rigveda. The Yadus had a tribal union with the Turvasha tribe, and were frequently described together. The Yadus were an Aryan tribe.

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This entry incorporates text from “List of ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.