Aśvaka

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the people of ancient Gandhara. For the ancient region of south India, see
Assaka
.

Asvakas (

Sanskrit
: Aśvaka)[a] were an ancient people from Gandhara in the present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan.[3][2][4] The region in which they lived was also called Aśvaka.[5]

Etymology

The Sanskrit term

Pashtun, with the name Afghan being derived from Asvakan.[3]

Ethnology

In the

Swat Valley.[12]

History

The Assakenoi fielded 2,000 cavalry, 30 elephants and 30,000 infantry

Diodorus recorded the strength of the Aśvaka opposition, noting that the women took up arms along with the men, preferring "a glorious death to a life of dishonour".[16] Queen Cleophis
was the main leader of Asvakas during their war against Alexander.

The Asvayanas have been attested to be good cattle breeders and agriculturists by classical writers. Arrian said that, during the time of Alexander, there were a large number of bullocks - 230,000 - of a size and shape superior to what the Macedonians had known, which Alexander captured from them and decided to send to Macedonia for agriculture.[17]

References

Notes

  1. ^ Also known in various sources as Āśvakāyana, Āśvāyana, Assakenoi, Aspasioi,[1] and Aspasii,[2] as well as several other Prakrit, Latin and Greek variants.
  2. ^ The statistics for the Assakenoi forces that fought Alexander vary. For example, Barbara West says there were 30,000 cavalry, 20,000 infantry and at least 30 elephants.[14]

Citations

  1. JSTOR 29754697
    .
  2. ^ a b c Brunner, C. J. (2020). "Aspasii". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition. Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-1-351-88087-9
    .
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1-108-00941-6
    .
  5. ISBN 978-8-17022-248-4
    .
  6. ^ Chaudhuri, Sashi Bhusan (1955). Ethnic Settlements in Ancient India: A Study on the Puranic Lists of the Peoples of Bharatavarsa. General Printers and Publishers. p. 51.
  7. ISBN 978-9-06831-100-6
    .
  8. ^ Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra; Pusalker, Achut Dattatrya; Bhavan, Bharatiya Vidya; Majumdar, A. K.; Ghose, Dilip Kumar; Dighe, Vishvanath Govind (2001). The History and Culture of the Indian People (PDF). Vol. 2. p. 45.
  9. JSTOR 29756375
    .
  10. ^ Schmitt, Rüdiger (2021). "Kamboja". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition. Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation.
  11. ISBN 978-8-12080-436-4
    .
  12. ^ a b Bevan, E. R. (1955). "Alexander the Great". In Rapson, Edward James (ed.). The Cambridge History of India. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press. p. 352.
  13. ISBN 978-8-12080-018-2
    .
  14. ISBN 978-1-43811-913-7
    .
  15. ISBN 978-1-44433-412-8
    .
  16. ^ Dani, Ahmad Hasan; Masson, Vadim Mikhaĭlovich; Harmatta, János; Litvinovskiĭ, Boris Abramovich; Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1999). History of Civilizations of Central Asia (PDF). UNESCO. p. 76.
  17. ^ Achaya, K. T. (2001). cf: A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food. Oxford India Paperbacks. p. 91.

Further reading

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