The Vedic Aryans refered to themselves as Aryans, but the Vedas do not state that the Aryans 'conquered' the native peoples of India and destroyed their forts. According to David Frawley, author of "Gods, Kings, and Sages", who supports the "out of India" hypothesis, the Vedic Aryans are autochthoutonous to India, that is, they were not part of an invasion of people who came from outside India. Frawley thinks that the Vedic Aryans were fighting among themselves, just like the Battle of Kurukshetra.
According to Michael Witzel it is a mistake to equate the Vedic 'Aryans' with any particular people. The term Aryan refers to speakers of Indo-European and Indo-Iranina languages, and does not signify a race of people. The Vedic Aryans tribes were composed of varied ethnic people. Read more: http://www.rwilliams.us/archives/indians.htm
