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{{Short description|Alexandrian satrapy in Afghanistan and Pakistan}}
{{About|the Alexandrian satrapy in Afghanistan and Pakistan|the Mountain range in northwestern Afghanistan|Paropamisus Mountains}}
{{History of Afghanistan}}
{{History of Pakistan}}
'''Paropamisadae''' or '''Parapamisadae''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: Παροπαμισάδαι) was a [[satrapy]] of the [[Alexandrian Empire]] in modern [[Afghanistan]] and [[Pakistan]], which largely coincided with the [[Achaemenid]] province of '''Parupraesanna'''. It consisted of the districts of [[Sattagydia]] ([[Bannu]] basin), [[Gandhara]] ([[Kabul Valley|Kabul]], [[Peshawar Valley|Peshawar]], and [[Taxila]]), and [[Oddiyana]] ([[Swat Valley]]).{{sfn|Eggermont, Alexander's Campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan|1975|p=175}} Paruparaesanna is mentioned in the [[Akkadian language]] and [[Elamite language]] versions of the [[Behistun Inscription]] of [[Darius the Great]], whereas in the [[Old Persian]] version it is called '''[[Gandāra]]'''.<ref>{{harvtxt|Eggermont, Alexander's Campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan|1975|p=176, 177}}: "One should, therefore, be careful to distinguish the limited geographical unit of Gandhāra from the political one bearing the same name."</ref><ref>Perfrancesco Callieri, [https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/india-ii-historical-geography INDIA ii. Historical Geography], Encyclopaedia Iranica, 15 December 2004.</ref> The entire satrapy was subsequently ceded by [[Seleucus I Nicator]] to [[Chandragupta Maurya]] following a treaty.{{sfn|Eggermont, Alexander's Campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan|1975|pp=175–176}}

{{anchor|Etymology|Names}}

==Name==
''Paropamisadae'' is the [[Latinisation of names|Latinized]] form of the [[Ancient Greek language|Greek]] name ''Paropamisádai'' ({{lang|grc|Παροπαμισάδαι}}),<ref name=Short/> which is in turn derived from [[Old Persian]] ''Para-uparisaina'', meaning "Beyond the Hindu Kush", where the [[Hindu Kush]] is referred to as ''Uparisaina'' ("higher than the eagle").{{sfn|Eggermont, Alexander's Campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan|1975|p=176}}

In the [[Greek language]] and [[Latin]], "Paropamisus"<ref name=Mela>[[Pomponius Mela|Mela]], ''[[De Situ Orbis]]'', Bk. I, Ch. 15, §2.</ref><ref name=Pliny>[[Pliny the Elder|Plin.]], ''[[Pliny's Natural History|Nat. Hist.]]'', Bk. VI, Ch. 17, §20.</ref> ({{lang|grc|Παροπαμισός}}, ''Paropamisós'')<ref>[[Strabo]], [[Strabo's Geography|''Geog''.]], Bk. XV, p. 689.</ref> came to mean the [[Hindu Kush]].<ref name=Short>{{citation |last=Short |first=Charles |author2=Charlton T. Lewis |display-authors=1 |title=A Latin Dictionary |contribution=Paropamisus or Paropanisus |contribution-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0059:entry=Paropamisus |date=1879 |publisher=Clarendon Press |author3=Andrews |author4=Freund |location=Oxford }}.</ref>
In many Greek and Latin sources, particularly editions of [[Claudius Ptolemy|Ptolemy]]'s ''[[Ptolemy's Geography|Geography]]''<ref>[[Claudius Ptolemy|Ptol.]], ''[[Ptolemy's Geography|Geog.]]'', Bk. VI, Ch. 11, §17.</ref> where their realm is included on the 9th Map of Asia,<ref>[[:c:Category:Ptolemy's 9th Asian Map|Versions of Ptolemy's 9th regional map of Asia]] at [[:c:Main Page|Wikicommons]].</ref> the names of the people and region are given as '''Paropanisadae''' and '''Paropanisus'''. They also appeared less frequently as ''Parapamisadae'' and ''Parapamīsus'' ({{lang|grc|Παραπάμισος}}, ''Parapámisos''),<ref>[[Arrian]], ''[[The Anabasis of Alexander|Anab.]]'', Bk. V, Ch. 4, §5.</ref> ''Paropamīsii'', etc.<ref name=Short/>
[[File:The Quarterly journal of the Geological Society of London (13369425644).jpg|thumb|Note the wider conception of what is today [[Selseleh-ye Safīd Kūh|Paropamisus Mts.]] Here it is the whole northern side of the extensions of Hindukush, map from 1873]]
[[File:Oriental rugs, antique and modern (1922) (14780619865).jpg|thumb|Note the probably wrong position of what is today Paropamisus Mts. Here it is on the south side of [[Hari (Afghanistan)|Hari river]], map from 1922]]
The name was also applied to a nearby river, probably the Obi river.<ref name=Short/> The mountain range [[Selseleh-ye Safīd Kūh]] is also called ''Paropamisus'' or ''Paropamisus Mountains''.

==Geography and peoples==
[[File:Achaemenid Empire En.svg|thumb|left|200px|The provinces of the Achaemenid Empire]]
[[File:Tabula Nona dAsia.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Map from [[Francesco Berlinghieri]]'s 1482 ''Seven Days of Geography''.]]

[[Strabo]] describes the region as follows:
{{blockquote|
The geographical position of the tribes is as follows: along the Indus are the Paropamisadae, above whom lies the Paropamisus mountain; then, towards the south, the [[Arachosia|Arachoti]]; then next, towards the south, the [[Gedrosia|Gedroseni]], with the other tribes that occupy the seaboard; and the Indus lies, latitudinally, alongside these places; and of these places, in part, some that lie along the Indus are held by Indians, although they formerly belonged to the Persians. Alexander took these away from the Arians and established settlements of his own, but [[Seleucus I Nicator]] gave them to [[Sandrocottus]], upon terms of intermarriage and of receiving in exchange 500 elephants.

Alongside the Paropamisadae, on the west, are situated the [[Aria|Arii]], and alongside the Arachoti and Gedrosii the [[Drangiana|Drangae]]; but the Arii are situated alongside the Drangae on the north as well as on the west, almost surrounding a small part of their country.{{sfn|Eggermont, Alexander's Campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan|1975|pp=175–176}}
}}

Thus the region was north of [[Arachosia]], stretching up to the [[Hindu Kush]] and [[Pamir Mountains|Pamir mountains]], and bounded in the east by the [[Indus river]]. It mainly included the [[Kabulistan|Kabul region]], [[Gandhara]] and the northern regions such as [[Swat District|Swat]] and [[Chitral]].{{sfn|Eggermont, Alexander's Campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan|1975|pp=175–183}}

The nations who composed the Paropamisadae are recorded as the [[Kabulistan|Cabolitae]] ({{lang|grc|Καβολῖται}}) in the north near modern [[Kabul]]; the Parsii (Πάρσιοι) in the northwest, the Ambautae ({{lang|grc|Ἀμβαῦται}}) in the east and the Par(g)yetae ({{lang|grc|Παρ(γ)υῆται}}) in the south, who were also found in Arachosia. The major cities of the land were the city of Ortospana ({{lang|grc|Ὀρτοσπάνα}}) or Carura (Κάρουρα), probably identifiable with Kabul,<ref>Sir William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography: [https://books.google.com/books?id=oTIGAAAAQAAJ&dq=Ambantae&pg=PA552 Iabadius-Zymethus] (J. Murray, 1873) p 553.</ref> Gauzaca (Γαύζακα), probably modern [[Ghazni]], Capissa (Καπίσσα), modern-day [[Kapisa Province|Kapisa]], and Parsia (Παρσία), the capital of the Parsii.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

==History==
{{unreferenced section|date=October 2018}}
In the ancient [[Buddhist]] texts, the [[Mahajanapada]] kingdom of [[Kambojas|Kamboja]] compassed the territories of Paropamisus and extended to the southwest of [[Kashmir]] as far as [[Rajauri]]. The region came under [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Persian]] control in the late 6th century BC, either during the reign of [[Cyrus the Great]] or [[Darius I]].

In the 320s BC, [[Alexander the Great]] conquered the entire [[Achaemenid Empire]], beginning the [[Hellenistic period]]. The [[Greek language|Greek]] name Παροπαμισάδαι or Παροπαμισσός was used extensively in [[Greek literature]] to describe the conquests of Alexander and those of the kings of the [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]] and the [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]], from the 3rd to the 1st centuries BC.

After Alexander's death in 323 BC, the area came under control of the [[Seleucid Empire]], which gave the region to the [[Mauryan Dynasty]] of India in 305 BC. After the fall of the Mauryans in 185 BC, the [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom|Greco-Bactrians]] under King [[Demetrius I of Bactria|Demetrius I]] annexed the northwestern regions of the former Mauryan Empire, including Paropamisus, and it became part of his Euthydemid [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]]. The Eucratidians seized the area soon after the death of [[Menander I]], but lost it to the [[Yuezhi]] around 125 BC.

{{multiple image
| title=Gandharan Achaemenid soldier
| align = right
| caption_align = center
| image1 = Xerxes detail Gandharan.jpg
| width1 = 126
| caption1 = [[Xerxes I]] tomb, Gandharan soldier of the [[Achaemenid army]], circa 480 BCE.
| image2 = Xerxes detail Gandharan head enhanced.jpg
| width2 = 213
| caption2 = [[Xerxes I]] tomb, Gandharan soldier circa 480 BCE (enhanced detail).
}}
{{multiple image
| title=Sattagydian Achaemenid soldier
| align = right
| caption_align = center
| image1 = Xerxes detail Sattagydian.jpg
| width1 = 136
| caption1 = [[Xerxes I]] tomb, Sattagydian soldier of the [[Achaemenid army]], circa 480 BCE.
| image2 = Xerxes detail Sattagydian head enhanced.jpg
| width2 = 203
| caption2 = [[Xerxes I]] tomb, Sattagydian soldier circa 480 BCE (enhanced detail).
}}
{{clear left}}

==See also==
*[[Indo-Greek kingdom]]
*[[Greco-Bactrian kingdom]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
* {{citation |last=Eggermont |first=Pierre Herman Leonard |title=Alexander's Campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan and the Siege of the Brahmin Town of Harmatelia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nG0_xoDS3hUC&pg=PA177 |year=1975 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |isbn=978-90-6186-037-2 |ref={{sfnref|Eggermont, Alexander's Campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan|1975}}}}
* ''The Greeks in Bactria and India'' by W.W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press

==External links==
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=URdCAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA408 Ptolemy's section on the Paropanisadae in English translation]
* John Watson McCrindle's [https://books.google.com/books?id=A3UIAAAAQAAJ ''Ancient India as Described in Ptolemy'']

Paropamisadae - Revision history