Hindush
| Achaemenid Hindush | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 513 BCE–c. 4th century BCE | |||||||||
.svg) Standard of Cyrus the Great | |||||||||
 Hiⁿdūš was part of the easternmost territories of the Achaemenid Empire | |||||||||
| Government | |||||||||
| • Type | Monarchy | ||||||||
| King or King of Kings | |||||||||
• 513–499 BCE | Darius I (first) | ||||||||
• 358–338 BC | Artaxerxes III | ||||||||
| Historical era | Achaemenid era | ||||||||
| 513 BCE | |||||||||
• Disestablished | c. 4th century BCE | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Hindush (
Indus Valley established after the Achaemenid conquest circa 500 BC. According to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, it was the "easternmost province" of the empire. It is believed to have continued as a province until the invasion of the empire by Alexander the Great
circa 326 BC.
Name
Hindush was written in
Achaemenid inscriptions as Hidūsh (Old Persian cuneiform: 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁, H-i-du-u-š). It is also transliterated as Hiⁿdūš since the nasal "n" before consonants was omitted in the Old Persian script, and simplified as Hindush).[2][3]
It is widely accepted that the name Hindush derives from Sindhu, the Sanskrit name of the
Indus river as well as the region at the lower Indus basin. The Proto-Iranian sound change *s > h occurred between 850–600 BCE, according to Asko Parpola.[4] The -sh suffix is common among the names of many Achaemenid provinces, such as Harauvatish (the land of Harauvati or Haraxvaiti, i.e., Arachosia) or Bakhtrish (Bactria
). Accordingly, Hindush would mean the land of Sindhu.
The Greeks of
Asia Minor.[6][7] Herodotus also generalised the term "Indian" from the people of Hindush to all the people living to the east of Persia, even though he had no knowledge of the geography of the land.[8]
Geography
The territory of Hindush may have corresponded to the area covering the lower and central
Punjab region of Pakistan).[9][10][11] Hindush bordered Gandāra (spelt as Gaⁿdāra by the Achaememids) to the north. These areas remained under Persian control until the invasion by Alexander.[12] Alternatively, some authors consider that Hindush may have been located in the Punjab region.[10][13]
Hindush in the Achaemenid army
According to
Battle of Platea (479 BCE), they formed one of the main corps of Achaemenid troops (one of "the greatest of the nations").[17][18] Indians were still supplying troops and elephants for the Achaemenid army at the Battle of Gaugamela (331 BCE).[19] They are also depicted on the Achaemenid tombs of Naqsh-e Rostam and Persepolis
.
Representatives of Hindush are depicted as delegates bringing gifts to the king on the Apadana staircases, and as throne/ dais bearers on the Tripylon and Hall of One Hundred Columns reliefs at Persepolis The representatives of Hindush (as well as Gandara and Thatagus) in each in- stance are characterized by their loincloths, sandals, and exposed upper body, which distinguish them from the representatives of other eastern provinces such as Bactria and Arachosia.[20]
See also
References
- ISBN 9780933273955.
- ^ Some sounds are omitted in the writing of Old Persian, and are shown with a raised letter.Old Persian p.164Old Persian p.13. In particular Old Persian nasals such as "n" were omitted in writing before consonants Old Persian p.17Old Persian p.25
- ^ DNa - Livius.
- ^ Parpola, Asko (2015). The Roots of Hinduism. Oxford University Press. Chapter 9.
- ^ 'Ινδοι, Greek Word Study Tool, Tufts University
- ISBN 978-1-4443-1892-0: "Note finally that the letter H/η was originally used to mark word-initial aspiration... Since such aspiration was lost very early in the eastern Ionic-speaking area, the letter was recycled, being used first to denote the new, very open, long e-vowel [æ:] ... and then to represent the inherited long e-vowel [ε:] too, once these two sounds had merged. The use of H to represent open long e-vowels spread quite early to the central Ionic-speaking area and also to the Doric-speaking islands of the southern Aegean, where it doubled up both as the marker of aspiration and as a symbol for open long e-vowels."
- ISBN 978-0-521-83307-3: "The early loss of aspiration is mainly a characteristic of Asia Minor (and also of the Aeolic and Doric of Asia Minor)...In Attica, however (and in some cases in Euboea, its colonies, and in the Ionic-speaking islands of the Aegean), the aspiration survived until later... During the second half of the fifth century BC, however, orthographic variation perhaps indicates that 'a change in the phonetic quality of [h] was taking place' too."
- ISBN 978-81-215-1152-0: "The term 'Indians' was used by Herodotus as a collective name for all the peoples living east of Persia. This was also a significant development over Hekataios, who had used this term in a strict sense for the groups dwelling in Sindh only."
- ISBN 978-0-207-12687-1.
... that he annexed parts of India as Hindush, the twentieth satrapy of his empire.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-7742-026-5.
Olmstead's Hindush is the Punjāb east of the Indus - as his first Map, "Satrapies of the Persian Empire ", makes perfectly clear.
- ISBN 978-9004091726
- ISBN 0875868592
- ISBN 9780521228046.
- ^ Naqs-e Rostam – Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- ^ Naqs-e Rostam – Encyclopaedia Iranica List of nationalities of the Achaemenid military with corresponding drawings.
- ^ Herodotus VII 64-66
- ISBN 9788170943754.
- ^ LacusCurtius • Herodotus — Book IX: Chapters 1‑89. pp. IX-32.
- JSTOR 41693244.
- S2CID 54089753.
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See also Taxation districts of the Achaemenid Empire (according to Herodotus) | ||
