Arachosia

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Arachosia is the Greek name of an ancient province of the Achaemenid, Seleucid, Mauryan and Parthian empires. It corresponds to southeastern Afghanistan as well as 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 and named by Alexander the Great.

Arachosia was directly to the south of Bactria, but separated from it by the Hindu Kush mountain range. It was bound on the south by Gedrosia (now Baluchistan), on the west by Drangiana (now Sistan) and on the east by Indus river. One of the tribes inhabiting northwest Arachosia were the Pactyans, an ancient Indo-Iranic tribe (Pakthas of Rig Veda). They were probably the ancestors of today's Pakhtuns. The south and southeast was inhabited by Rhoplutae (considered to be ancestors of Rohilla Rajputs and Afghans of India), and by Eoritae (known as Arattas or Aroras to Indians).

The north and northwest parts of Arachosia were a part of the Medes' empire. Cyrus the Great conquered the remaining parts of Arachosia and extended the Achaemenid empire to the Indus river. The south, southeast and northeast parts of Arachosia retained Buddhist-Hindu religious and cultural influence until the advent of Islam in the 7th century.

Etymology

The name Arachosia is derived from Arachotos, a Hellenized form of Old Persian Harahuvatiš, the name of the Helmand River. The Young Avestan form Harax^vaitī is the name of a region rich in rivers. The term is from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Saras-vnt-ī (Sanskrit ), meaning 'she with many pools', originally a mythical world river (compare Aredvi Sura Anahita).

The following is the more likely origin of the name Arachosia:

Arashtras (Sanskrit - without king, tribal republics).
Arattas (Mahabharata - name of people and region west of Bahilka (Punjab) to Arachotae, Arachotos, Arachosia (Greek versions of Indian words Arashtras and Arattas).
Argandab - present name of a river of Arachosia and a tributry of Helmand, was called Arachotus by Indo-Greeks and Arakhvati by Hindus, and Haraxvaiti in Avestan languauge.
Eoritae - the name of one of the Arachosian tribes mentioned by Ptolemy appears to be the Greek version of Indian term Aratta.

The Arab and other western historians and geographers used Arokhaj, Rokhaj, Al-rokhaj, Roh Kaj or simply Roh to describe the entire or parts of Arachosia.

Arachosia in ancient sources

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.

Footnotes

References

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.

External links

http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/arachosia/arachosia.html
http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexandria/alexandria_arachosia.html
http://www.ancientlibrary.com/wcd/Arachosia
http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v2f3/v2f3a010.html