Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan: Encyclopedia II - Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan - Early Indo-Aryans prior to their move to India

Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan - Early Indo-Aryans prior to their move to India

In the region around what is today Kabul and eastern Afghanistan, an early Indo-Iranian or specifically some early Indo-Aryan culture may have emerged as eastern Afghanistan could possibly have been either the site of the Vedic civilization, that later came to influence and dominate the culture of northern India, or had links to it somewhere to the east either along the Indus or Ganges river valleys.[2] At some point that has yet to be determined, but possibly between 12th to 8th century BCE, Gandhara and Kamboja, two of the sixteen Mahajanapadas (in Sanskrit 'Great Kingdoms') frequently referred to in Buddhist and Hindu religious texts are believed to have evolved as important political entities in what is today eastern Afghanistan. Many scholars believe that while the Gandharans were early Indo-Aryan-speakers, the Kambojas were either Iranian or Indo-Iranian-speaking. Both groups find frequent mention in numerous ancient Sanskrit and Pali texts, in particular the Mahabharata and numerous Puranic literature. Alexander’s historians refer to the tribal population of Paropamisadae as consisting of such clans as the Parsyetae (Parshu/Parshava), Aspasii (Aspasians), Asteknois (Hastiyanas) and Assakenois (Ashvakanas) etc. This nomenclature possibly demonstrates that while most of this tribal population was Iranian, there were also some population segments which may have spoken early Indo-Aryan tongues prior to their movements to India. This is because while the tribal name Parsyete implies Iranian affinities and the Aspasii (derived from Iranian word Aspa) also indicates an Iranian horse culture, the Assakenois (Sanskrit Ashvakan) of the Swat valley, on the other hand, were possibly an Indo-Aryan horsemen culture as their name derives from the Sanskrit Ashva (horse). The Aspasian peoples are believed to be the western branch of the Ashvakas or Assakenians (Political history of Ancient India, 1996, p 216; Cambridge History of India, 352, n 3). It is noteworthy that the Assakenois and Aspasios of the classical writings or the Ashvakas of the Sanskrit texts are believed by numerous scholars to have been sub-sections of the ancient Kambojas in reference to their equestrian nature (Dr E. Lamotte, Dr K. P. Jayswal, Dr Buddha Parkash, Dr L. M. Joshi, Dr Fauja Singh, Dr H. C. Raychaudhury, Dr B . N. Mukerjee, Dr Romila Thapar, Dr J. L. Kamboj and several others).

The rock edict V of king Ashoka found at Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra prominently refers to the Yonas (Ionian Greeks), Kambojas and Gandharas, while rock edict XIII refers to the Greeks and Kambojas (Yonakambojesu) as people of the western frontiers. It is noteworthy that Ashoka’s rock edicts/inscriptions written exclusively in Aramaic have been discovered only in the Paropamisadae (region between river Kabol and Hindukush Mt), while those in Greek and Aramaic were discovered in Arachosia (south-east Afghanistan) and in Prakrit and Aramaic in Gandhara region (Peshawer to Rawalpindi). Scholars believe that the Greek version of Ashokan inscriptions was intended for the Yonas (the Greeks or Graeco-Iranians), the Prakrit version for the Indo-Aryan Gandharas, while the Aramaic version was directed at the Kambojas (See: Aramaic edicts of Ashoka, 1980, p 66, notes 11-13; Political History of Ancient India, 1996, pp 610-13; Scerrato in Pugliese Carratelli and Garbini, 1964, 14-15; Colloque, L’Archeologie de l'empire achemenide, Paris, Nov, 21-22, 2003 etc). This shows that Paropamisadae region---an Aramaic territory, was inhabited by Iranian Kambojas as the Aramaic was an official language for the Iranian tribes under Achaemenid rulers. Moreover, as a Greco-Aramaic inscription (known as Shar-i-Kuna inscription) was discovered in 1957 in Kandhahar also, this, according to some scholars, may attest that a section of the Aramaic knowing Kambojas (or other Iranian tribes) were also possibly located north of Kandhahar as neighbors to the Greeks. Dr Michael Witzel identifies the region from Kabol valley to as far as Kandhahar as inhabited by the Kambojas (Early Eastern Iran and the Atharvaveda, Persica-9, 1981, pp 86-123). The compound expression Yonakambojesu of Ashoka’s Rock Edict XIII as well as of Buddhist Majjhima Nikaya (43.1.3), powerfully supports this view. It is now generally accepted by many Indic scholars that the Kambojas were an early Iranian people who may have been partially absorbed into larger Iranian tribes in Afghanistan and/or else partially forced to move east where they were further absorbed into the populations of what is today northern Pakistan and India [3]. Current minuscule population of Kamboj, Kamboh and Kamoz, the modern representatives of ancient Kambojas, in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan is estimated to be approximately around 1.5 millions.

The chronology of major events and corresponding archaeology remains highly sporadic as does the religious connotation which remains unverifiable.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Early Indo-Aryans prior to their move to India", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki