Editing History of Afghanistan (section)

== Ancient and Classical period (c. 1500 – 255 BCE) ==

[[File:India 500 BCE.jpg|thumb|The [[Mahajanapada]]s, including the [[Gandhara]] and [[Kambojas]] kingdoms and [[Achaemenid Empire]] in West, around c. 500 BCE]]

=== Gandhara Kingdom (c. 1500 – 535 BCE) ===
{{Main|Gandhāra (kingdom)}}

[[File:Early Vedic Culture (1700-1100 BCE).png|thumb|Gandhara Kingdom in [[Vedic Period|Early Vedic Period]], around 1500 BCE]]

The [[Gandhara|Gandhara region]] centered around the [[Peshawar Valley]] and [[Swat River|Swat]] river valley, though the cultural influence of "Greater Gandhara" extended across the Indus river to the [[Taxila]] region in [[Pothohar Plateau]] and westwards into the [[Kabul River|Kabul]] and [[Bamyan]] valleys in Afghanistan, and northwards up to the [[Karakoram]] range.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Neelis |first1=Jason |title=Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange Within and Beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia |date=19 November 2010 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-18159-5 |page=232  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GB-JV2eOr2UC |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Eggermont |first1=Pierre Herman Leonard |title=Alexander's Campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan and the Siege of the Brahmin Town of Harmatelia |date=1975 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |isbn=978-90-6186-037-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nG0_xoDS3hUC |language=en |pages=175–177}}</ref>

During the 6th century BCE, Gandhāra was an important imperial power in north-west South Asia, with the [[Kashmir Valley|valley of Kaśmīra]] being part of the kingdom, while the other states of the Punjab region, such as the [[Kekaya]]s, [[Madra]]kas, [[Uśīnara]]s, and [[Shivi]]s being under Gāndhārī suzerainty. The Gāndhārī king [[Pushkarasarin|Pukkusāti]], who reigned around 550 BCE, engaged in expansionist ventures which brought him into conflict with the king [[Pradyota]] of the rising power of [[Avanti (region)|Avanti]]. Pukkusāti was successful in this struggle with Pradyota.<ref name="Prakash">{{cite journal |last=Prakash |first=Buddha |date=1951 |title=Poros |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41784590 |journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=198–233 |doi= |jstor=41784590 |access-date=12 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Jain |first=Kailash Chand |url= |title=Malwa Through the Ages |date=1972 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=978-8-120-80824-9 |location=[[Delhi]], [[India]] |pages=98–104 |author-link=}}</ref>

By the later 6th century BCE, the founder of the [[Persians|Persian]] [[Achaemenid Empire]], [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]], soon after his conquests of [[Medes|Media]], [[Lydia]], and [[Neo-Babylonian Empire|Babylonia]], marched into Gandhara and annexed it into his empire.<ref name="CAH">{{cite book |author-last=Young |author-first=T. Cuyler |url= |title=The Cambridge Ancient History |date=1988 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-22804-6 |editor1-last=Boardman |editor1-first=John |editor1-link=John Boardman (art historian) |volume=4 |location=[[Cambridge]] |pages=1–52 |chapter=The early history of the Medes and the Persians and the Achaemenid empire to the death of Cambyses |author-link= |editor2-last=Hammond |editor2-first=N. G. L. |editor2-link=N. G. L. Hammond |editor3-last=Lewis |editor3-first=D. M. |editor3-link=David Malcolm Lewis |editor4-last=Ostwald |editor4-first=M. |editor4-link=Martin Ostwald}}</ref> The scholar [[K. D. Sethna|Kaikhosru Danjibuoy Sethna]] advanced that Cyrus had conquered only the trans-Indus borderlands around Peshawar which had belonged to Gandhāra while Pukkusāti remained a powerful king who maintained his rule over the rest of Gandhāra and the western Punjab.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sethna |first=Kaikhosru Danjibuoy |url= |title=Problems of Ancient India |date=2000 |publisher=Aditya Prakashan |isbn=978-8-177-42026-5 |location= |pages=121–172 |chapter=To Pāṇini's Time from Pāṇini's Place |author-link=K. D. Sethna}}</ref>

=== Kamboja Kingdom (c. 700 – 200 BCE) ===
{{Main|Kambojas}}

The Kambojas were an ancient southeastern [[Iranian peoples]] who lived in the southern region of modern Afghanistan. They were mentioned by a number of [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] inscriptions and literature, being first attested during the later part of the [[Vedic period]]. The ancient Indian emperor [[Ashoka]] mentioned the Kambojas between 268–232 BCE in his Major Rock Edicts. The people known in Classical sources as Aspasioi, [[Aśvaka]] and Assakenoi, were likely tribes of the Kamboja people. The region south of the [[Hindu Kush]] that was inhabited by the Kambojas went under the rule of many different groups over the centuries, starting with the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Persians]].

The descendants of the Kambojas have mostly been assimilated into various newer groups. However, some tribes possibly remain today that still retain the names of their ancestors. There are some theories and speculation about the possible descendants of the Kamboja people. The [[Yusufzai]] [[Pashtuns]] are said to be related to the Aspasioi or [[Aśvaka]] people from the Kamboja age. The [[Kom people (Afghanistan)|Kom]]/Kamoz people of [[Nuristan Province|Nuristan]] retain their Kamboj name. The [[Askunu language|Ashkun]] of Nuristan also retain the name of Aśvakas. The [[Yashkuns|Yashkun]] [[Shina people|Shina]] dards are another group that retain the name of the Kamboja Aśvakans. The [[Kamboj]] of [[Punjab]] are another group that still retain the name however have integrated into new identity. The country of [[Cambodia]] [[Names of Cambodia|derives its name]] from the Kamboja.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Chad|first1=Raymond|title=Regional Geographic Influence on Two Khmer Polities|journal=Salve Regina University, Faculty and Staff: Articles and Papers|date=1 April 2005|page=137|url=http://digitalcommons.salve.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=fac_staff_pub|access-date=1 November 2015}}</ref>

=== Achaemenid Empire ===
{{Main|Achaemenid Empire}}
{{see also|Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley}}

[[File:Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent according to Oxford Atlas of World History 2002.jpg|thumb|Much of the area corresponding to modern-day Afghanistan was subordinated to the Achaemenid Empire]]
[[File:Afghanistan region during 500 BC.jpg|thumb|[[Arachosia]], [[Aria (satrapy)|Aria]] and [[Bactria]] were the ancient [[satrap]]s of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] that made up most of what is now Afghanistan during 500 BCE.]]
The area of modern Afghanistan fell to the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Persians]] after it was conquered by [[Darius I of Persia]]. The land was divided into several provinces called [[satrapy|satrapies]], which were each ruled by a governor, or [[satrap]]. These ancient satrapies included: [[Aria (satrapy)|Aria]]: The region of Aria was separated by mountain ranges from the [[Paropamisadae]] in the east, [[Parthia (satrapy)|Parthia]] in the west and [[Margiana]] and [[Hyrcania]] in the north, while a desert separated it from [[Carmania (satrapy)|Carmania]] and [[Drangiana]] in the south. It is described in a very detailed manner by [[Ptolemy]] and [[Strabo]]<ref>Prolemy, 6.17; [[Strabo]], 11.10.1</ref> and corresponds, according to that, almost to the [[Herat Province]] of today's Afghanistan; [[Arachosia]], corresponds to the modern-day [[Kandahar]], [[Lashkargah]], and [[Quetta]]. Arachosia bordered [[Drangiana]] to the west, [[Paropamisadae]] (i.e. [[Gandhara]]) to the north and to the east, and [[Gedrosia]] to the south. The inhabitants of Arachosia were [[Iranian peoples]], referred to as Arachosians or Arachoti.<ref name=Iranicaarticle>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Schmitt|first=Rüdiger|title=Arachosia |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|location=United States|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arachosia |date=10 August 2011}}</ref> It is assumed that they were called ''Pactyans'' by ethnicity, and that name may have been in reference to the ethnic [[Pashtuns|''Paṣtun'']] (Pashtun) [[Pashtun tribes|tribes]].<ref name="Houtsma-150">{{Cite book|title=E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936|last1=Houtsma|first1=Martijn Theodoor|volume=2|year=1987|publisher=Brill|isbn=90-04-08265-4|page=150|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GEl6N2tQeawC&pg=PA150|access-date=24 September 2010}}</ref>

[[Bactria]] was the area north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Tian Shan, with the Amu Darya flowing west through the center ([[Balkh]]); [[Sattagydia]] was the easternmost regions of the Achaemenid Empire, part of its Seventh tax district according to Herodotus, along with Gandārae, Dadicae and Aparytae.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fleming |first1=David |title=Achaemenid Sattagydia and the geography of Vivana's campaigns (DB III, 54–75) |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland |date=April 1982 |volume=114 |issue=2 |page=105 |jstor=25211309 |doi=10.1017/S0035869X00159155|s2cid=130771356 }}</ref> It is believed to have been situated east of the Sulaiman Mountains up to the Indus River in the basin around Bannu. ([[Ghazni]]); and [[Gandhara]] which corresponds to modern day [[Kabul]], [[Jalalabad]], and [[Peshawar]].<ref>[[Louis Dupree (professor)|Dupree, Louis]]: ''Afghanistan (1973)'', pg. 274.</ref>

=== Alexander the Great and the Seleucids ===
{{main|Indian campaign of Alexander the Great|Cophen campaign}}

[[File:AlexanderConquestsInIndia.jpg|thumb|Alexander the Great's Empire in South Asia.]]
[[File:Begram Alexander.jpg|thumb|220x220px|[[Bronze]] statuette of Alexander the Great from [[Alexandria in the Caucasus|Bagram]], Afghanistan.]]
[[Alexander the Great]] invaded the area of modern Afghanistan in 330 BCE after defeating [[Darius III of Persia]] a year earlier at the [[Battle of Gaugamela]].<ref name="Achaemenid">{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+af0003) |title=Achaemenid Rule, ca. 550-331 B.C |access-date=16 August 2010 |publisher=Library of Congress Country Studies on Afghanistan |location=United States|year=1997}}</ref> His army faced strong resistance in the region's ancient tribal areas where Alexander is supposedly said to have commented that the land is "easy to march into, but difficult to march out of".<ref name="Cal-history">{{cite web |date=30 June 2002 |title=The Afghans – Their History and Culture |url=http://www.cal.org/co/afghan/ahist.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100317123355/http://www.cal.org/CO/afghan/ahist.html |archive-date=17 March 2010 |access-date=16 August 2010 |work=Dr. Barbara Robson and Dr. Juliene G. Lipson. Dr. Robson |publisher=[[Center for Applied Linguistics]] (CAL) |location=United States}}</ref> He first conquered Bactria in northern Afghanistan between 329–327 BCE,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Crabben |first=Jan van der |title=Bactria |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Bactria/ |access-date=5 December 2024 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref> and married [[Roxana of Bactria]]. He then conducted the [[Cophen campaign]] to the south near the Kabul valley, where his army fought against the [[Aśvaka|Aspasioi]] and Assakenoi peoples.<ref>Panjab Past and Present, pp 9–10; also see: History of Porus, pp 12, 38, Buddha Parkash</ref><ref>Proceedings, 1965, p 39, by Punjabi University. Dept. of Punjab Historical Studies – History.</ref> Although his expedition through Afghanistan was brief, Alexander left behind a Greek cultural influence that lasted several centuries. He founded and built many cities in the region, all named "Alexandria", including: [[Alexandria Ariana]] (modern-day [[Herat]]); [[Alexandria Arachosia]] (modern [[Kandahar]]); [[Alexandria in the Caucasus]] (near [[Bagram]]); and finally, [[Alexandria Eschate]] (near [[Khujand]]), in the far north. After Alexander's death, his loosely connected Macedonian empire was divided. [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus]], a [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonian]] officer during Alexander's campaign, declared himself ruler of his own [[Seleucid Empire]], which also included present-day Afghanistan.<ref>Dupree, Louis: ''Afghanistan (1973)'', pp. 276–283</ref> The Hellenistic city of [[Ai-Khanoum]] was later founded in northern Afghanistan, likely by the Seleucid ruler [[Antiochus I Soter|Antiochus]], the son of Seleucus in about 280 BCE.<ref>Martinez-Sève, Laurianne (2014). "The Spatial Organization of Ai Khanoum, a Greek City in Afghanistan". American Journal of Archaeology. 118 (2): 267–283.</ref>

=== Maurya Empire ===
{{Main|Maurya Empire}}
{{see also|Seleucid–Mauryan war}}

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Maurya Empire, c.250 BCE network model v01.png|Approximate maximum extent of the [[Maurya Empire]] under [[Ashoka the Great]], around 269–233 BCE, conceptualized as a network of core regios connected by networks of communication and trade, with large areas with peripheral or no Maurya control.{{efn|See [[Maurya Empire#cite_note-map_network_model-1|note on Mauryan Empire]].}}
File:Aramaic inscription of Laghman.jpg|[[Aramaic inscription of Laghman]] is an inscription on a slab of natural rock in the area of [[Laghman Province|Laghmân]], Afghanistan, written in [[Aramaic]] by the Indian emperor [[Ashoka]] about 260 BCE, and often categorized as one of [[Minor Rock Edicts]] of Ashoka.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nakamura |first1=Hajime |title=Indian Buddhism: A Survey with Bibliographical Notes |date=1987 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=9788120802728 |page=349 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w0A7y4TCeVQC&pg=PA349 |language=en}}</ref>
File:Kandahar Greek inscription.jpg|[[Kandahar Greek Edicts of Ashoka]] is among the [[Major Rock Edicts]] of the Indian Emperor [[Ashoka]] (reigned 269–233 BCE), which were written in the [[Greek language]] and [[Prakrit]] language.
</gallery>

The southern half of Afghanistan fell to the [[Maurya Empire]], which was led by [[Chandragupta Maurya]]. The Mauryas further entrenched [[Buddhism]], but also other religions such as [[Hinduism]] to the region, and were planning to capture more territory of Central Asia until they faced Seleucid forces, who ruled in northern Afghanistan. Seleucus I is said to have reached a [[peace treaty]] with Chandragupta by giving control of the territory south of the Hindu Kush to the Mauryas upon intermarriage and 500 elephants.

{{blockquote|Alexander took these away from the Hindus and established settlements of his own, but [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus Nicator]] gave them to [[Chandragupta Maurya|Sandrocottus]] ([[Chandragupta Maurya|Chandragupta]]), upon terms of intermarriage and of receiving in exchange 500 elephants.<ref name="aisk">{{cite web|url=http://www.aisk.org/aisk/NHDAHGTK05.php |title=An Historical Guide to Kabul – The Name |author=Nancy Hatch Dupree / Aḥmad ʻAlī Kuhzād |publisher=American International School of Kabul |year=1972 |access-date=2010-09-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830031416/http://www.aisk.org/aisk/NHDAHGTK05.php |archive-date=2010-08-30 }}</ref>|[[Strabo]]|64 BCE–24 CE}}

The most famous Mauryan emperor was [[Ashoka]] who reigned around 268–232 BCE,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Upinder |title=A history of ancient and early medieval India : from the Stone Age to the 12th century. |publisher=New Delhi: Pearson Education |year=2008 |isbn=978-81-317-1120-0 |pages=331}}</ref> and whose inscriptions such the [[Edicts of Ashoka|Major and Minor Rock Edicts]] have been found in eastern and southern Afghanistan (for example in Kandahar). Supposedly also referred to by the name Piyadasi, he encouraged the propagation of Buddhism throughout the ancient world. In one of his edicts Ashoka states that the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic kingdoms]] to the north and west received his envoys and followed Buddhism:

{{blockquote|Now it is conquest by Dhamma that Beloved-of-the-Gods considers to be the best conquest. And it (conquest by Dhamma) has been won here, on the borders, even six hundred yojanas away, where the Greek king [[Antiochus II Theos|Antiochus]] (''Aṃtiyoka'') rules, beyond there where the four kings named [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus|Ptolemy]] (''Turamaya''), [[Antigonus II Gonatas|Antigonus]] (''Aṃtekina''), [[Magas of Cyrene|Magas]] (''Maka'') and [[Alexander II of Epirus|Alexander]] (''Alikasudara'') rule, likewise in the south among the Cholas, the Pandyas, and as far as Tamraparni.

Here in the king's domain among the Greeks, the Kambojas, the Nabhakas, the Nabhapamktis, the Bhojas, the Pitinikas, the Andhras and the Palidas, everywhere people are following Beloved-of-the-Gods' instructions in Dhamma.<ref>[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/dhammika/wheel386.html#rock14 The Edicts of King Ashoka: an English rendering by Ven. S. Dhammika] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510060618/http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/dhammika/wheel386.html |date=10 May 2016 }}. Access to Insight: Readings in Theravāda Buddhism. Retrieved 9 December 2024.</ref>||source=}}