The ethnonym "Iranians" comes from the historical name "Iran", derived
from the ancient Iranian Aryan (land), (land) of the Aryans. Iranian or
Aryan peoples are a group of peoples of common origin, speaking
Iranian-speaking Aryan branch of the Indo-European family of languages,
formed in the steppes of the Southern Urals - Black Sea Coast. The
oldest population of Iran, in its western part, from the 4th millennium
B.C. were Elamites, Kassites and their kindred tribes; part of them may
be Hurrians. The languages of these tribes were not part of either the
Semitic or Indo-European family of languages. The tribes that spoke
Iranian languages appeared in Iran at the beginning of the 1st
millennium B.C.. Gradually, it is planned to establish agricultural
areas in a number of areas of Central Asia: in the Areya - along Tejen
(Gerirud), Margiana - along Murghab, Bactria - in the upper reaches of
the Amu Darya, Sogdiana - in the Kashka-Darya and Zaravshan, Khorezm
(Khorasmiya) - along the lower reaches of the Amu Darya and near the
Sarykamysh Basin. Both nomadic and sedentary tribes spoke the languages
of the Iranian group of the Indo-European family. Many hydronyms (names
of rivers) have a distinct character of the Aryan tribes - Daria (from
"Arya").
