- For the spider genus, see Arachosia
Arachosia is the Latinized form of Greek name of an Achaemenid and Seleucid governate (satrapy) in the eastern part of their respective empires, and that was inhabited by the Iranian Arachosians or Arachoti. The anyphaenid sac spiders (family Anyphaenidae) are distinguished from the sac spiders and other Spiders by having the abdominal spiracle placed one Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenid Persian Empire ( haχɒmaneʃijɒn (558–330 BC was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of The Seleucid Empire /sə'lusɪd/ ( 312 - 63 BC) was a Hellenistic empire i See also the related deity Satrapes. Satrap (Persian ساتراپ was the name given to the governors of the Provinces of ancient The Iranian people are a collection of Ethnic groups defined along linguistic lines as speaking Iranian languages. [1]
Arachosia's boundaries varied with successive rulers, but it may have once corresponded to much of present-day southeastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan, perhaps even extending all the way eastwards to the Indus River (see geography for details). Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and The Indus River { Sanskrit: सिन्धु Sindhu; Urdu: urd {{Nastaliq سندھ}} Sindh; Sindhi: snd Its center lay in what is today the Arghandab District of Afghanistan. Arghandab (ارغنداب is a District in the central part of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.
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Name
'Arachosia' is the Latinized form of Greek 'Arachōsíā'. "The same region appears in the Avestan Vidēvdāt (1. Avestan is an Eastern Old Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred hymns and canon of the Zoroastrian Avesta. The Vendidad or Videvdat is a collection of texts within the greater compendium of the Avesta. 12) under the indigenous dialect form Haraxvaitī- (whose -axᵛa- is typical non-Avestan). "[1] In Old Persian inscriptions, the region is referred to as 'Harahuvatiš', written h-r-v-u-t-i. [1] This form is the "etymological equivalent" of Vedic Sanskrit Sarasvatī-, the name of a (mythological) river literally meaning "rich in waters/lakes" and derived from sáras- "lake, pond. Vedic Sanskrit is an ancient Indian language, the language of the Vedas, the oldest Shruti texts of Hinduism. The Sarasvati River ( Sanskrit: sa सरस्वती नदी sárasvatī nadī) is one of the chief Rigvedic rivers mentioned in ancient Hindu "[1] (cf. Aredvi Sura Anahita). ae Aredvi Sura Anahita ( ae Arədvī Sūrā Anāhitā) is the Avestan language name of an Indo-Iranian Cosmological figure venerated as the divinity
The region was named after the name of a river that runs through it, in Greek sources known as Arachōtós and in the present-day known as the Arghandab, a tributary of the Helmand. Arghandab is a river in Afghanistan, about 400 kilometers (250 miles in length The Helmand River (also spelled Helmend Helmund Hirmand; Pashto: fa هیرمند هلمند fa-Latn Hīrmand Helmand, Latin: [1]
Geography
Isidore and Ptolemy (6. Claudius Ptolemaeus ( Greek: Klaúdios Ptolemaîos; after 83 &ndash ca 20. 4-5) each provide a list of cities in Arachosia, among them (yet another) Alexandria/Alexandropolis. Alexandria in Arachosia was a city in ancient times that is now called Kandahar in Afghanistan. This city is identified with present-day Kandahar, the name of which derives (via 'Iskanderiya') from 'Alexandria', [2] reflecting a connection to Alexander the Great's visit to the city on his campaign towards India. For the 2001 film see Kandahar (film; for the Kandahar meteorite of 1959 see Meteorite falls; for the places in Azerbaijan see Cəndəhar and Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' Isidore, Strabo (11. Strabo ( Greek: Στράβων 63/64 BC – ca AD 24 was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. 8. 9) and Pliny (6. Gaius or Caius Plinius Secundus, ( AD 23 – August 25, AD 79 better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient Author 61) also refer to the city as "metropolis of Arachosia. "
In his list, Ptolemy also refers to a city named Arachotus, today identified with Arghandab that lies just north of present-day Kandahar. The town of Arghandab is the center of Arghandab District in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan in the valley of Arghandab River North West For the 2001 film see Kandahar (film; for the Kandahar meteorite of 1959 see Meteorite falls; for the places in Azerbaijan see Cəndəhar and The Greeks speak of a river Arachotós that ran through Arachosia; this waterway is identified with the Arghandab River, a tributary of the Helmand. Arghandab is a river in Afghanistan, about 400 kilometers (250 miles in length The Helmand River (also spelled Helmend Helmund Hirmand; Pashto: fa هیرمند هلمند fa-Latn Hīrmand Helmand, Latin:
Although centered around the Arghandab valley, the extent of Arachosia remains unclear. According to Ptolemy (6. 20. 1, cf. Strabo 15. 2. 9), Arachosia was bound by Drangiana in the west, Propamisadae (Gandara) in the north, to "a part of India" in the east, and Gedrosia in the south. Drangiana (Δραγγιανή from Old Persian: Zranka "waterland") was a historical region of the Achaemenid Empire, now part of Afghanistan Gedrosia (dʒɨˈdroʊʒə Γεδρωσία is the ancient name of an area that corresponds to today's Balochistan Strabo (11. 10. 1) suggests Arachosia extended eastwards as far as the Indus river. Pliny (Natural History 6. 92) speaks of Dexendrusi in the south.
Peoples
Ptolemy (6. Claudius Ptolemaeus ( Greek: Klaúdios Ptolemaîos; after 83 &ndash ca 20. 3) mentions several tribes of Arachosia by name, the Pargyetae, and, to the south, the Sydri, Rhoplutae, and Eoritae. Despite attempts to connect these names with Indian ones (such as the Eoritae with the 'Arattas' of the Mahabharata), the identity of these tribes is unknown and even Ptolemy's orthography is disputed (for instance, Ptolemy's Pargyetae is usually rewritten as Parsyetae or Paryetae).
History
The region is first referred to in the Achaemenid-era Elamite Persepolis fortification tablets. The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenid Persian Empire ( haχɒmaneʃijɒn (558–330 BC was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of Elamite is an Extinct language, which was spoken by the ancient Elamites. It appears again in the Old Persian, Akkadian and Aramaic inscriptions of Darius I and Xerxes I among lists of subject peoples and countries. The Old Persian language is one of the two attested Old Iranian languages (besides Avestan) Aramaic is a Semitic language with Darius I the Great (c 549 BC&ndash486 BC 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 Dārayavahuš: "Possessing goodness" Having ascended to power amidst controversy and bloodshed Xerxes I of Persia was a King of Persia (reigned 485–465 BC of the Achaemenid dynasty. It is subsequently also identified as the source of the ivory used in Darius' palace at Susa. In the Behistun inscription (DB 3. The Behistun Inscription (also Bisitun or Bisutun, Modern Persian: بیستون; Old Persian: Bagastana, meaning "the god's 54-76), the King recounts that a Persian was thrice defeated by the Achaemenid governor of Arachosia, Vivana, who so ensured that the province remained under Darius' control. Fars (pronounced/fɑː(ɹs ( Persian: فارس Fârs) is one of the 30 provinces of Iran. It has been suggested that this "strategically unintelligible engagement" was ventured by the rebel because "there were close relations between Persia and Arachosia concerning the Zoroastrian faith. Fars (pronounced/fɑː(ɹs ( Persian: فارس Fârs) is one of the 30 provinces of Iran. "[1]
The chronologically next reference to Arachosia comes from the Greeks and Romans, who record that under Darius III the Arachosians and Drangians were under the command of a governor who, together with the army of the Bactrian governor, contrived a plot of the Arachosians against Alexander (Curtius Rufus 8. Darius III ( Artashata) (c 380&ndash330 BC Persian داریوش Dāriūš dɔːriˈuːʃ was the last king of the Achaemenid Empire of Quintus Curtius Rufus was a Roman historian who is generally thought to have written his works during the reign of Emperor Claudius (41-54 AD 13. 3). Following Alexander's conquest of the Achaemenids, the Macedonian appointed his generals as governors (Arrian 3. 28. 1, 5. 6. 2; Curtius Rufus 7. 3. 5; Plutarch, Eumenes 19. 3; Polyaenus 4. 6. 15; Diodorus 18. 3. 3; Orosius 3. 23. 1 3; Justin 13. 4. 22).
Following the Partition of Babylon, the region became part of the Seleucid Empire, which traded it to the Mauryan Empire in 305 BCE as part of an alliance. The Partition of Babylon designates the attribution of the territories by Alexander the Great between his generals soon after his death in 323 BCE. The Seleucid Empire /sə'lusɪd/ ( 312 - 63 BC) was a Hellenistic empire i The Maurya Empire ( 322 – 185 BCE) ruled by the Mauryan dynasty was a geographically extensive and powerful political and military The Sunga Dynasty overthrew the Mauryans in 185 BC, but shortly afterwards lost Arachosia to the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. For other uses of the term Sunga see Sunga (disambiguation The Sunga Empire (or Shunga Empire) is a Magadha The Gr(aeco-Bactrian Kingdom was the easternmost part of the Hellenistic world covering Bactria and Sogdiana in Central Asia from 250 It then became part of the break-away Indo-Greek Kingdom in the mid 2nd century BCE. The Indo-Greek Kingdom (or sometimes Graeco-Indian Kingdom) covered various parts of the northwest and northern Indian subcontinent during the last two centuries Indo-Scythians expelled the Indo-Greeks by the mid 1st century BCE, but lost the region to the Arsacids and Indo-Parthians. The Indo-Scythians are a branch of the Indo-Iranian Sakas ( Scythians) who migrated from southern Siberia into Bactria, The Indo-Parthian Kingdom was established during the 1st century by Gondophares, and at its greatest extent extended into areas that are in present-day Afghanistan At what time (and in what form) Parthian rule over Arachosia was reestablished cannot be determined with any authenticity. From Isidore 19 it is certin that a part (perhaps only a little) of the region was under Arsacid rule in the 1st century CE, and that the Parthians called it Indiké Leuké "White India. "
The Kushans captured Arachosia from the Indo-Parthians and ruled the region until around 230 CE, when the they were defeated by the Sassanids, the second Persian Empire, after which the Kushans were replaced by Sassanid vassals known as the Kushanshas or Indo-Sassanids. The Kushan Empire (c 1st &ndash 3rd centuries) was a Bactrian state that at its cultural zenith Circa 105 &ndash 250 The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty or Sassanian Dynasty (ساسانیان) is the name used for the third Iranian dynasty and the second Persian empire The Indo-Sassanids, Kushano-Sassanids or Kushanshas (also Indo-Sassanians) were a branch of the Sassanid Persians who established their The Indo-Sassanids, Kushano-Sassanids or Kushanshas (also Indo-Sassanians) were a branch of the Sassanid Persians who established their In 420 CE the Kushanshas were driven out of Afghanistan by the Chionites, who established the Kidarite Kingdom. Chionites, Chionitae or Xionites ( Chinese: Xiōng (匈 or Xīróng (西戎 meaning "Western Barbarians" Middle Persian: Xiyon There are two different theories regarding the Kidarite kingdom either it is created in the second half of the 4th c The Kidarites were replaced in the 460s CE by the Hephthalites, who were defeated in 565 CE by a coalition of Persian and Turkish armies. The Kidarite (Chinese Ki-To-Lo dynasty of the "Ki" clan led the Huna and came from the proto- Mongolic Uar about whom it has been The Hephthalites or White Huns were a Central Asian Nomadic confederation whose precise origins and composition remain obscure Arachosia became part of the surviving Kushano-Hephthalite Kingdoms of Kapisa, then Kabul, before coming under attack from the Moslem Arabs. Kapiśa (=Kapisha (کاپيسا is one of the 34 Provinces of Afghanistan. } Kābul ( Persian and Pashto: کابل, IPA:) is the Capital and largest city of Afghanistan, with Around 870 CE the Kushano-Hephthalites (aka Turkshahi Dynasty) was replaced by the Hindu-shahi dynasty, which fell to the Muslim Turkish Ghaznavids in the early 11th century CE. For a town in Bareilly District India see Shahi Uttar Pradesh. The Ghaznavid Empire was a Khorāṣānian Sunni Muslim state founded by a dynasty of Turkic Mamluk.
Arab geographers referred to the region (or parts of it) as 'Arokhaj', 'Rokhaj', 'Rohkaj' or simply 'Roh'.
Religion
The south, southeast and northeast parts of Arachosia retained Buddhist-Hindu religious and cultural influence until the advent of Islam in the 7th century. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices A Hindu ( Devanagari: हिन्दू is an adherent of the philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, a set of religious, Philosophical For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. The 7th century is the period from 601 to 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. Much of the country remained Buddhist even while in Arab hands, but within a few centuries Islam became the region's dominant religion. See Sistan for information on the religion of the area after the Arab conquest. Modern Sistan ( is a border region in southeastern Iran (see Sistan and Baluchestan Province) and southwestern Afghanistan (see Nimruz Province
References
- ^ a b c d e f Schmitt, Rüdiger (1987), “Arachosia”, Encyclopædia Iranica, vol. 2, New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 246-247, <http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/unicode/v2f3/v2f3a010.html>
- ^ Lendering, Jona, Alexandria in Arachosia, Amsterdam: livius. org, <http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexandria/alexandria_arachosia.html>.
- Frye, Richard N. (1963). The Heritage of Persia. World Publishing company, Cleveland, Ohio. Mentor Book edition, 1966.
- Hill, John E. 2004. The Western Regions according to the Hou Hanshu. Draft annotated English translation.
- Hill, John E. 2004. The Peoples of the West from the Weilue 魏略 by Yu Huan 魚豢: A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE. Draft annotated English translation.
- Toynbee, Arnold J. (1961). Between Oxus and Jumna. London. Oxford University Press.
- Vogelsang, W. (1985). "Early historical Arachosia in South-east Afghanistan; Meeting-place between East and West. " Iranica antiqua, 20 (1985), pp. 55-99.
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