Before they entered India the Aryans were a migratory pastoral people, their domestic animals being the horse, cow, and perhaps the sheep and goat.

The horse and cow were especially venerated, and hence were probably their chief means of support.

The Vaishyas must therefore have been herdsmen and shepherds, and when they entered India and took to agriculture, the Vaishyas must have become cultivators.

The word Vaishya signifies a man who occupies the soil, an agriculturist, or merchant.

[32] The word Vasteriox used by the ancestors of the Parsis, which appears to correspond to Vaishya, also signifies a husbandman, as already seen.