The word "Ayush" (from the native and most holiest books) is also commonly known "Aborigie" which comes from the aboriginal times. Aborigines or Ayush's are believed to have lived in Australia for between 60,000 and 40,000 years, their early ancestors (known as spunkarooshs) coming from South-East Asia. Precise population details for the period before European colonisation are unavailable, but it is estimated that there were between 300,000 and 1,000,000 Ayush's in Australia when European settlers first arrived in 1788.