Lars Martin,

Your sources are correct.  I checked The Light of Truth," although the page numbers in the edition I have here with me are not the same.  It is Dayananda who seems to contradict himself.

See the long quote below, which I copied with a scanner.

Luis


Dayananda Saraswati on the origin of the Aryas
(From The Light of Truth)
Most of the book is written in a question and answer format.  According to a footnote by the translator (p. 2, n. 3), the “O” stands for “Imaginary Objector,” and the “A” for “Author.”

[p. 264]

O.- Where was man first created.
A.- In Trivishtap otherwise called Tibet.

O.-Were all men of one class or divided into different classes at the time of Creation?
A.-They all belonged to one class, viz., that of man, but later on they were divided into two main classes,  -the good and the wicked. The good were called .Aryas and the wicked Dasyus. Says the Rig Veda, " Do ye know (there are) two classes of men -Aryas and Dasyus." The good and learned were also called Devas, while the ignorant and wicked, such as dacoits, were called Asura.  The Aryas were again divided into four Classes, viz., Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra.  Those who belonged to the first three Classes being well-educated and bearing good character, were called Dwijas -the twice-born ; whilst  the fourth Class was so named because of being composed of ignorant and illiterate persons. They were also called Anaryas -not good. This division into Aryas and Shudras is supported by the Atharva Veda wherein it is said "Some are Aryas, others Shudras."

O.--How did they happen to come here (to India) then ?
A.-When the relations between the Arahs and Dasyus, or between Devas and Asuras, (i.e., between the good and learned, and the ignorant and wicked) developed into a constant state of
[start p. 265]
warfare, and serious troubles arose, the Aryas regarding this country as the best on the whole earth emigrated here and colonized it.  For this reason it is called Aryavarta - the abode of Aryas.

O.-What are the boundaries of Aryavarta ?
A.- (Manu II, 22, 17).   "It is bounded on the North by the Himalayas, on the South by the Vindhyachal mountains, on the East and West by the sea. It has also, on its West the Sarasvati river (the Sindh or Attock) and on the East the Dhrishvati river also called the Brahmaputra which rises from the mountains east of Nepal, and passing down to the east of Assam and the west of Burma, falls into the Bay of Bengal in the Southern Sea (Indian Ocean).  All the countries included between the Himalaya on the north and the Vindhyachal mountains on the south as far as Rameshwar are called Aryavarta, because they were colonized and inhabited by Devas (the learned) and Aryas -the good or  noble."

O.-What was the name of this country before that, and who were its aboriginal inhabitants ?
A.-It had no name, nor was it inhabited by any other people before the Aryas (settled in it) who sometime after Creation came straight down here from Tibet and colonized this country.

O.-Some people say that they came from Iran (Persia) and hence they were called Aryas.  Before the Aryas came to this country it was inhabited by savages whom the Aryas called Asuras and Rakshasas as (demons), while they called themselves Devatas (gods).  The wars between the two were called by the name Devasura Sangram as in the historical romances.  Is this true?
A.-It is absolutely wrong.  The Veda declares what we have Already repeated, i.e., (Rig Veda 1.51.8) "The virtuous, learned, unselfish, and pious  men are called Aryas, while the men of opposite character such as dacoits, wicked, unrighteous and
[start p. 266]
ignorant persons are called Dasyus."  Besides, (Atharva Veda XIX, 62) "The Dwijas (the twice-born) -Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas- are called Aryas, while the Shudras are called Anaryas, or Non-Aryas."  In the face of these Vedic authorities how can sensible people believe in the imaginary tales of the foreigners.
In the Devasura wars, Prince Arjuna and King Dashratha and others of Aryavarta used to go to the assistance of the Aryas in order to crush the Asuras.  This shows that the people living outside Aryavarta were called Dasyus and Malechhas; because whenever those people attacked Aryas living on the Himalayas, the kings and rulers of Aryavarta went to help the Aryas of the north, etc.  But the war which Ram Chandra waged in the south against Ravan -the king of Ceylon- is called not by the name of Devasura war but by that of Rama-Ravana war or the war between the Aryas and Rakshasas.  In no Sanskrit book -historical or otherwise- it is recorded that the Aryas emigrated here from Iran, fought with and conquered the aborigines, drove them out, and became the rulers of the country.  How can then these statements of the foreigners be true?  Besides, Manu also corroborates our position.  He says, (Manu, X, 45, II, 23) "The countries other than Aryavaria are called Dasyu and Malechha countries."  The people living in the north-east, north, north-west and west of Aryavarta were called Dasyus, Asuras and Malechhas, while those living in the south, south-east and south-west were called Rakshasas.  You can still see that the description of Rakshasas given therein tallies with the ugly appearance of the negroes of to-day.  The people living in the antipodes of Aryavarta were called Nagas, and their country Patala because of being situated under the feet (of those living in Aryavarta).  Their kings belonged to the Naga dynasty taking their name from that of the founder who was called Naga.  His daughter Ulopi was married to Prince Arjuna.  From the time of Ikshvaku to that of Kauravas and Pandavas, the Aryas were the sovereign rulers of the whole earth, and the Vedas were preached and taught more or less even in countries other than Aryavarta.


Light on Truth: or An English Translation of the Satyarth Prakash. Trans. Chiranjiva Bharadwaja. Delhi: Sarvadeshik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, 1975.  The introduction to this (the second) edition is dated in 1882.