Name of Iran their country "Arya", "Iran", "Iranshahr", "Iranzamin" (Land of Iran), "Aryānām" (the equivalent of "Iran" in the proto-Iranian language) or its equivalents. The term "Arya" has been used by the Iranian people, as well as by the rulers and emperors of Iran, from the time of the Avesta. Evidently from the time of the Sassanids (226–651 CE) Iranians have called it "Iran", meaning "the land of Aryans" and "Iranshahr". In Middle Persian sources, the name "Arya" and "Iran" is used for the pre-Sassanid Iranian empires as well as the Sassanid empire. As an example, the use of the name "Iran" for
Name of Croatia the derivation of Proto-Slavic *xъrvatъ from the Old Persian "xaraxwat-", attested by the Old Iranian toponym "Harahvait-", the native name of Arachosia. "Arachosia" is the Latinized form of Ancient Greek Ἀραχωσία ("Arachosíā"); in Old Persian inscriptions, the region is referred to as "" (). In Indo-Iranian it actually means "one that pours into ponds", which derives from the name of the Sarasvati River of Rigveda. However, although the somewhat suggestive similarity, the connection to the name of Arachosia is etymologically incorrect. The first etymological thesis about the name of the Croats stems from Constantine Porphyrogennetos (tenth century), who connected the