Indo-Iranian languages include three subgroups: the
Indo-Aryan languages (including the
Dardic languages), the
Iranian languages (east and west), and the
Nuristani languages. From these various and dispersed cultures, a set of common ideas may be reconstructed from which a common, unattested proto-Indo-Iranian source may be deduced.
Relationship to Proto-Indo-European religion When Vedic texts were the oldest surviving evidence of early
Indo-European-speaking peoples, it was assumed that these texts preserved aspects of
Proto-Indo-European culture with particular accuracy. Many
ethnologists hoped to unify Indo-Iranian,
Celtic,
Norse,
Greek,
Germanic and
Roman into a
Proto-Indo-European religion.
Max Müller believed that Indo-Iranian religion began as
sun worship.
Georges Dumézil stressed the tripartite social system of Indo-European religion and society. Later scholarship has moved away from considering all these religions near-identical.
Development Some beliefs developed in different ways as cultures separated and evolved. For example, the word '
daeva,' which appears in the Avesta, also bears a linguistic relationship to the Sanskrit word '
deva,' referring to one of the principal classes of gods, as well as other related words throughout the Indo-European traditions.
Indra, the greatest of the devas from Vedic literature, is often listed in Zoroastrian texts as one of the greatest of the evil forces, sometimes second only to Angra Mainyu himself. In the traditional Zoroastrian confession of faith as recorded in the
Avesta, the rejection of the daevas is one of the most significant qualifiers for a follower of the tradition, alongside worshipping Ahura Mazda and following the teachings of
Zarathustra. Similarly, the parallels between the malevolent Vedic
Asuras and benevolent Zoroastrian
Ahuras are particularly obvious and striking.
Varuna, the most powerful of the Asuras, does not directly correspond to Ahura Mazda but shares several traits in common with him, particularly in terms of his role as king among the lesser gods and arbiter of law and morality among mortals. Even as
Ahura Mazda rules by and upholds asha, the cosmic moral order, in the Avesta, so too do Varuna and the Asuras uphold the analogous concept of
rta in the
Vedas. In the Rig-Veda (6,61,5–7) Sarasvati battles a serpent called Vritra, who has hoarded all of the Earth's water. In contrast, in early portions of the Avesta, Iranian *Harahvati
is the world-river that flows down from the mythical central Mount Hara. But *Harahvati does no battle — she is blocked by an obstacle (Avestan for obstacle: '''') placed there by
Angra Mainyu .
Contemporary traces The pre-Islamic religion of the
Nuristani people and extant religion of the
Kalash people is significantly influenced by the original religion of the Indo-Iranians, though mostly infused with accretions developed locally from
Hinduism. ==Cognate terms==