Arachosia: Difference between revisions

| settlement_type          = [[Satrap|Satrapy]]

'''Arachosia''' ({{IPAc-en|ær|ə|ˈ|k|oʊ|s|i|ə}}; {{lang-grc|Ἀραχωσία|label=[[Ancient Greek|Greek]]}} {{Transliteration|grc|Arachōsíā}}), or '''Harauvatis''' ({{lang-peo|[[wikt:𐏃𐎼𐎢𐎺𐎫𐎡𐏁|𐏃𐎼𐎢𐎺𐎫𐎡𐏁]]|label=[[Old Persian]]}} {{Transliteration|peo|Harauvatiš}}), was a [[Satrap|satrapy]] of the [[Achaemenid Empire]].<ref name="Iranica">{{Cite web |last=Foundation |first=Encyclopaedia Iranica |date=14 May 2022 |title=Arachosia |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/arachosia |access-date= |website=iranicaonline.org |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Inc |first=IBP |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sm-bBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA62 |title=Afghanistan Country Study Guide Volume 1 Strategic Information and Developments |date=2013-08-01 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-1-4387-7372-8 |pages=62 |language=en}}</ref> Primarily centred around the [[Arghandab River]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Howard |first=Michael C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6QPWXrCCzBIC&pg=PA41 |title=Transnationalism in Ancient and Medieval Societies: The Role of Cross-Border Trade and Travel |date=2014-01-10 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-9033-2 |pages=41 |language=en |quote=... Arachosia (modern Arghandab district in Afghanistan and neighboring areas of southeastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan).}}</ref> a tributary of the [[Helmand River]], it extended as far east as the [[Indus River]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Becking |first=Bob |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0VYkEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 |title=Identity in Persian Egypt: The Fate of the Yehudite Community of Elephantine |date=2020-08-04 |publisher=Penn State Press |isbn=978-1-64602-074-4 |pages=13 |language=en |quote=Arachosia is a mountainous area in which is now the border territory between Afghanistan and Pakistan...}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Samad |first=Rafi U. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cJtMBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA46 |title=The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys |date=2011 |publisher=Algora Publishing |isbn=978-0-87586-858-5 |pages=46 |language=en |quote=Arachosia, covering an area from Kandahar and Quetta to the western bank of the Indus, shared its northern boundary with Gandhara.}}</ref> The satrapy's Persian-language name is the etymological equivalent of {{Transliteration|sa|[[Sarasvati River|Sárasvatī]]}} in [[Vedic Sanskrit]].<ref name="Iranica" /> In Greek, the satrapy's name was derived from {{Transliteration|grc|Arachōtós}}, the Greek-language name for the Arghandab River.<ref name="Iranica" /> Around 330 BCE, [[Alexander the Great]] commissioned the building of [[Alexandria Arachosia|Alexandropolis]] as Arachosia's new capital city under the [[Macedonian Empire]]. It was built on top of an earlier Persian military fortress after [[Wars of Alexander the Great#Persia|Alexander's conquest of Persia]], and is the site of today's [[Kandahar]] in [[Afghanistan]].<ref name="Iranica" />