 | Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan: Encyclopedia II - Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan - Ancient Afghanistan: From the Aryans to the Medes. 1500 BCE - 551 BCE
Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan - Ancient Afghanistan: From the Aryans to the Medes. 1500 BCE - 551 BCE
Between 2000-1200 BCE, a branch of Indo-European-speaking tribes known as the Aryans or Indo-Iranians began migrating into the region. They appear to have split into Iranian, Nuristani, and Indo-Aryan groups at an early stage, possibly between 1500 and 1000 BCE in what is today Afghanistan or much earlier as eastern remnants of the Indo-Aryans drifted much further west as with the Mitanni. The Iranians and Nuristanis dominated the Iranian plateau, while the Indo-Aryans ultimately headed towards the Indian subcontinent, but probably not before establishing some early civilization in what is today eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. The Avesta is believed to have been composed possibly as early as 1800 BCE and written in ancient Ariana (Aryana), possibly the earliest name of Afghanistan which indicates an early link with Iranian tribes to the west, or adjacent regions in Central Asia or northeastern Iran in the 6th century BCE.[1] Due to the similarity between early Avestan and Sanskrit (and other related early Indo-European languages such as Latin and Ancient Greek), it is believed that the split between the Iranian and Indo-Aryan tribes had taken place at least by 1000 BCE. There are striking similarities between the Eastern Iranian language of Avestan and Sanskrit, which may support the notion that the split was contemporary with the Indo-Aryans living in Afghanistan at a very early stage. Also, the Avesta itself divides into Old and New sections and neither mention the Medes who are known to have rule Afghanistan starting around 700 BCE. This suggests an early time-frame for the Avesta that has yet to be exactly determined as most academics believe it was written over the course of centuries if not millenia. Much of the archaelogical data comes from the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) that probably played a key role in early Iranic civilization in Afghanistan.
It has also been surmised by many researchers that the Iranian prophet Zoroaster was born somewhere in ancient Aryana, possibly in the ancient city of Balkh, but it remains unknown even if he was born in what is today Afghanistan or northeastern Iran or Central Asia and the timeframe of his life literally spans millenia from as early 2000 BCE to as late as 600 BCE. Regardless, Zoroastrianism spread throughout the region alongside early pagan beliefs and centuries later Buddhism.
During this early period, the Pashtuns or some of their early Eastern Iranian ancestors are believed to have originated near the vicinity of Kandahar and/or the Sulaiman Mountains and possibly begun to expand into other parts of Afghanistan. Herodotus mentions a tribe called the Pactyan as inhabiting much of what is today Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan and it is speculated by some that these people were the ancient ancestors of the Pashtuns, although, aside from phoenetic name similarities, this remains unproven. Others such as Strabo relate the existence of tribes west of the Indus as part of Ariana, while the east is referred to as 'India', but it is not clear whether or not various Pashtun tribes are what Strabo is referring to. Arrian's Indica also makes reference to various wild tribes west of the Indus who may or may not have been ancestors of the Pashtuns. The Rig Veda makes mention of a group called the Pakhat and it is possible that either this is a reference to the ancestors of the Pashtuns or a reference to an Indo-Aryan-speaking group or some other tribe altogether. Mainly pagan at first, many Pashtuns appear to have adopted Buddhist and Zoroastrian traditions due to contact with both Iranic and Indic cultural influences, while other eastern Afghans may have remained pagans not unlike their neighbors the Kafirs of Nuristan as well as the Kalash.
The Medes, a Western Iranian people, arrived from what is today Kurdistan sometime around the 700s BCE and came to dominate most of ancient Afghanistan. They were an early Iranian tribe that forged the first empire on the Iranian plateau and were rivals of the Persians whom they initially dominated in the province of Fars to the south. Median domination of Afghanistan would last until the Persians challenged and ultimately replaced them from their original base in Fars in southern Iran near ancient Elam.
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