Indo-Aryan superstrate in Mitanni
The ancient Middle Eastern state of Mitanni used a dialect of Hurrian as its main language. This dialect however contains some loanwords of evidently Indo-Aryan origin, i.e. related to Sanskrit, the ancestor of many modern languages of the Indian subcontinent. The loaned vocabulary seems to be related to an elite group in Mitanni society, as they appear in the names of rulers and gods as well as in relation to horse-breeding and the military.
It is thus generally believed that Indo-Aryan peoples settled in Upper Mesopotamia and northern Syria, and established the kingdom of Mitanni following a period of political vacuum, while also adopting Hurrian. This is considered a part of the Indo-Aryan migrations.
Linguistic context
Some theonyms, proper names, and other terminology of the Late Bronze Age Mitanni civilisation of Upper Mesopotamia exhibit an Indo-Aryan superstrate. While what few written records left by the Mittani are either in Hurrian or Akkadian, these apparently Indo-Aryan names suggest that an Indo-Aryan elite imposed itself over the Hurrians in the course of the Indo-Aryan expansion. If these traces are Indo-Aryan, they would be the earliest known direct evidence of Indo-Aryan, and would increase the precision in dating the split between the Indo-Aryan and Iranian languages.Scholarship has reached a consensus that the linguistic data is most certainly affiliated to the Indo-Iranian language family, more specifically to Indo-Aryan. Professor Eva von Dassow concurs with the presence of Indo-Aryan terms in Mitanni vocabulary, but cautiously advises against the notion of an "Indo-Aryan takeover". Michael Witzel argues for the antiquity of the Indo-Aryan words attested in the Mitanni data, since they almost certainly predate linguistic developments attested in the Rigveda. In the same vein, German linguist divides the Indo-Aryan elements into WIA and IA, the latter "being slightly less archaic than WIA".
Historical context
In a treaty between the Hittites and Mitanni, the deities Mitra, Varuna, Indra, and Nasatya are invoked. Kikkuli's horse training text includes technical terms such as aika, tera, panza, satta, na, vartana. The numeral aika "one" is of particular importance because it places the superstrate in the vicinity of Indo-Aryan proper as opposed to Indo-Iranian or early Iranian in general.The Mitanni warriors were called marya, the term for ' warrior' in Sanskrit as well, formed by adding the Hurrian suffix -nnu; note 'mišta-nnu' "payment ".
Attested words and comparisons
All of the following examples are from Witzel. For the pronunciation of the sounds transcribed from cuneiform as š and z, see and.Names of people
Sanskritic interpretations of Mitanni names render Artashumara as Arta-smara "who thinks of Arta/Ṛta", Biridashva as Prītāśva "whose horse is dear", Priyamazda as Priyamedha "whose wisdom is dear", Citrarata as Citraratha "whose chariot is shining", Indaruda/Endaruta as Indrota "helped by Indra", Shativaza as Sātivāja "winning the race prize", Šubandu as Subandhu "having good relatives", Tushratta as *tṷaišaratha, Vedic Tveṣaratha "whose chariot is vehement".Names of deities
From treaties of Mitanni.| Transcription of cuneiform | Interpretation | Vedic equivalent | Comments |
| a-ru-na, ú-ru-wa-na | Varuna | Varuna | |
| mi-it-ra | Mitra | Mitra | |
| in-tar, in-da-ra | Indra | Indra | |
| na-ša-ti-ya-an-na | Nasatya | Nasatya | Hurrian grammatical ending -nna |
| a-ak-ni-iš | Āgnis | Agni | only attested in Hittite, which retains nominative -/s/ and lengthens stressed syllables |
Horse training
From Kikkuli.| Transcription of cuneiform | Interpretation | Vedic equivalent | Comments |
| a-aš-šu-uš-ša-an-ni | āśva-san-ni? | aśva-sana- | "master horse trainer" |
| -aš-šu-wa | -aśva | aśva | "horse"; in personal names |
| a-i-ka- | aika- | eka | "1" |
| ti-e-ra- | tera- ? | tri | "3" |
| pa-an-za- | pańća- ? | pañca | "5"; Vedic c is not an affricate, but apparently its Mitanni equivalent was |
| ša-at-ta | satta | sapta | "7"; /pt/ to /tː/ is either an innovation in Mitanni or a misinterpretation by a scribe who had Hurrian šinti "7" in mind |
| na-a-a- | nāva- | nava | "9" |
| wa-ar-ta-an-na | vartana | vartana | round, turn |
Other lexicon
A document from Nuzi has babru, parita, and pinkara for horse colours. Their chief festival was the celebration of the solstice which was common in most cultures in the ancient world.The following table includes the remaining lexicon, considered to attest horse colours.
| Transcription of cuneiform | Interpretation | Vedic equivalent | Comments |
| ba-ab-ru-un-nu | papru-nnu or babru-nnu | babhrú- | 'brown' |
| pi2-in-ka4-ra-an-nu | pinkara-nnu or bingara-nnu | piṅgalá- | 'reddish brown' |
| pa2-ri-it-ta-an-nu | paritta-nnu or baritta-nnu | palitá- | 'gray' |