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Arachosia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Arachosia is also a spider genus (Anyphaenidae).
Arachosia is the Greek name of an ancient province of the Achaemenid, Seleucid and Parthian empires and corresponds to the southern part of today's Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan and India. The Helmand River runs through Arachosia and provides the most fertile lands in southern Afghanistan. The largest city in the region is Kandahar, which is said to have been founded by Alexander the Great.
Arachosia was directly to the south of Bactria, but separated from it by the Hindu Kush mountain range. The main inhabitants of Arachosia were the Pactyans, an ancient Iranian tribe. They were probably the ancestors of today's Pakhtuns.
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The name Arachosia is derived from Arachotos, a hellenized form of Old Persian Harahuvatiš, the name of the Helmand River. The Young Avestan form Haraxvaitī is the name of a region rich in rivers.[1] The term is from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Saras-vat-ī (Sanskrit Sarasvatī), meaning 'she with many pools', originally a mythical world river (compare Aredvi Sura Anahita)[2].
Isidore of Charax is often quoted for a description of Arachosia in the 1st century BCE, in which he mentions Greek populations and cities, probably dating to the time of the Greco-Bactrians and Indo-Greeks, one of them called Demetrias, under Parthian rule:
- "Beyond is Arachosia. And the Parthians call this White India; there are the city of Biyt and the city of Pharsana and the city of Chorochoad and the city of Demetrias; then Alexandropolis, the metropolis of Arachosia; it is Greek, and by it flows the river Arachotus. As far as this place the land is under the rule of the Parthians." "Parthians stations", 1st century BCE.[3]
- ^ Rüdiger Schmitt (2001). "Der Name Arachosien". In "Festschrift für Helmut Humbach zum 80." Trier:WWT. pp:68-92
- ^ Lommel 1954:405-413
- ^ Mentioned in Bopearachchi, "Monnaies Greco-Bactriennes et Indo-Grecques", p52. Original text in paragraph 19 of Parthian stations
- 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.[1]
- 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. [2]
- 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.