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[[Image:AsokaKandahar.jpg|thumb|The [[Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription]] of Ashoka, in which the Kambojas are mentioned.]]
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The '''Kambojas''' were a southeastern [[Iranian peoples|Iranian people]]{{Cref2|a}} who inhabited the northeastern most part of the territory populated by Iranian tribes, which bordered the [[Indian subcontinent|Indian lands]]. They only appear in [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] inscriptions and literature, being first attested during the later part of the [[Vedic period]].
[[File:Map of Vedic India.png|thumb|Vedic period India, with the Kamboja on the northwest border]]
[[File:North India in 540 BCE.png|thumb|Map depicting 16 [[mahajanapada]]s kingdoms and other kingdoms of vedic era India in 540 BCE. (Kamboja at top left){{cn|reason=the map boundaries are original research of a YouTuber|date=November 2021}}]]
{{HistoryOfSouthAsia}}
The '''Kamboja''' ({{lang-sa|कम्बोज}}) was a kingdom of [[Iron Age India]], frequently mentioned in [[Sanskrit literature|Sanskrit]] and [[Pali literature]]. The early Kamboja ''janapada'' coalesced to become one of the ''shodhasha'' (sixteen) [[Mahajanapadas]] (great kingdoms) of [[ancient India]] mentioned in the ''[[Anguttara Nikaya]]''. [[Duryodhana]]'s wife [[Bhanumati (Mahabharata)|Bhanumati]] was daughter of [[Magadha]] King [[Chitranga]] and Queen Chandramundra.<ref>''Vedic Index I'', p. 138, Macdonnel, Dr Keith.</ref><ref>''Ethnology of Ancient Bhārata'', 1970, p. 107, Dr Ram Chandra Jain.</ref><ref>''The Journal of Asian Studies''; 1956, p. 384, Association for Asian Studies, Far Eastern Association (U.S.).</ref>The Kambhoja king [[Sudakshina]] was defeated by [[Karna]].<ref>MBH VII.4.5; II.27.23.</ref>
While historical boundaries of the Kambojas are varied, scholarly accounts altogether place the northern and western borders in present-day [[Tajikistan]]<ref name="Prakash1955"/><ref>''Central Asiatic Provinces of the Mauryan Empire'', p 403, H. C. Seth; See also: ''Indian Historical Quarterly'', Vol. XIII, 1937, No 3, p. 400; ''Journal of the Asiatic Society'', 1940, p 37, (India) Asiatic Society (Calcutta, Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal - Asia; cf: ''History and Archaeology of India's Contacts with Other Countries, from Earliest Times to 300 B.C.'', 176, p 152, Shashi P. Asthana; ''Mahabharata Myth and Reality'', 1976, p 232, Swarajya Prakash Gupta, K. S. Ramachandran. Cf also: ''India and Central Asia'', p 25 etc, P. C. Bagchi.</ref><ref>Numerous scholars have located the Kamboja realm on the southern side of the Hindu Kush ranges in the [[Kabul Valley|Kabul]], [[Swat Valley|Swat]], and [[Kunar Valley]]s, and the Parama-Kambojas in the territories on the north side of the Hindu Kush in modern-day [[Pamir Mountains|Pamir]] and [[Badakhshan]] region in Tajikistan. See: Geographical and Economic Studies in the Mahābhārata: Upāyana Parva, 1945, p 11-13, Moti Chandra - India; ''Geographical Data in the Early Purāṇas: A Critical Study'', 1972, p 165/66, M. R. Singh</ref><ref>See: ''Proceedings and Transactions of the All-India Oriental Conference'', 1930, p 118, J. C. Vidyalankara</ref><ref>''The Deeds of Harsha: Being a Cultural Study of Bāṇa's Harshacharita'', 1969, p 199, Vasudeva Sharana Agrawala</ref><ref name="Mishra 1987"/> and eastern [[Uzbekistan]],<ref>''Purana'', Vol VI, No 1, January 1964, p 207 sqq; ''Inscriptions of Asoka: Translation and Glossary'', 1990, p 86, Beni Madhab Barua, Binayendra Nath Chaudhury - Inscriptions, Prakrit).</ref><ref name="Sethna 2000"/><ref>See: ''Proceedings and Transactions of the All-India Oriental Conference'', 1930, p 118, J. C. Vidyalankara</ref><ref>''The Deeds of Harsha: Being a Cultural Study of Bāṇa's Harshacharita'', 1969, p 199, Vasudeva Sharana Agrawala</ref><ref name="Mishra 1987"/> with eastern borders in present-day [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]], and southern borders in present-day [[Iran]]<ref name="Sircar1971"/> and southern [[Afghanistan]].<ref name="Sircar1971"/>
==Etymology==
The name ''Kamboja'' may derive from (''Kam + bhoj'' "Kamma+boja"), referring to the people of a country known as "Kum" or "Kam". The mountainous highlands where the Jaxartes and its confluents arise are called the highlands of the [[Komedes]] by Ptolemy. [[Ammianus Marcellinus]] also names these mountains as ''Komedas''.<ref>''Indian Historical Quarterly'', 1963, p 403; Central Asiatic provinces of the Maurya Empire, p403, H.C. Seth</ref><ref>''History and Archaeology of India's Contacts with Other Countries, from Earliest Times to 300 B.C.'', 1976, p 152, Shashi Asthana; ''Mahabharata Myth and Reality'', 1976, p 232, Swarajya Prakash Gupta, K. S. Ramachandran.</ref><ref>"The Town of Darwaz in Badakshan is still called Khum (Kum) or Kala-i-Khum. It stands for the valley of Basht. The name Khum or Kum conceals the relics of ancient Kamboja" (''Journal of the Asiatic Society'', 1956, p 256, Buddha Prakash [Asiatic Society (Calcutta, India), Asiatic Society of Bengal]).</ref>
The ''Kiu-mi-to'' in the writings of [[Xuanzang]] have also been identified with the ''Komudha-dvipa'' of the [[Puranic]] literature and the Iranian Kambojas.<ref>''India and the World'', p 71, Buddha Prakash; also see: ''Central Asiatic Provinces of Maurya Empire'', p 403, H. C. Seth; ''India and Central Asia'', p 25, P. C. Bagchi</ref><ref>''Journal of the Asiatic Society'', 1956, p 256, Asiatic Society (Calcutta, India), Asiatic Society of Bengal.</ref>
Scholars, such as [[Ernst Herzfeld]], have suggested etymological links between some Indo-Aryan ethnonyms and some geonyms used by [[Iranian language|Iranian]]-speaking peoples of the [[Caucasus Mountains]] and [[Caspian Sea|Caspian]] basin.
In particular, Kamboja somewhat resembles the hydronym ''Kambujiya'' – the Iranian name for the [[Iori (river)|Iori/Gabirri]] river (modern Georgia/Azerbaijan). ''Kambujiya'' is also the root of Cambysene (an archaic name for the [[Kakheti]]/[[Balakan District|Balakan]] regions of Georgia and Azerbaijan) and the Persian personal name [[Cambyses I|Cambyses]]. (A similar link is suggested between the [[Kura (Caspian Sea)|Kura River]], which is near the Iori, and the name of the [[Kuru Kingdom|Kurus]] and [[Kaurava]] mentioned in [[Vedas|vedic literature]].)<ref>Histoire Auguste: Pt. 2. Vies des deux Valérines et des deux Galliens, 2000, p 90, Ammn Marcellin, Jean Pierre Callu, O. Desbordes (''Les hydronymes de Transcaucasie, en question ici, auraient pu, dès lors, aussi dériver aussi de ces ethniques, lors de l'extension des tribus iraniennes vers le Nord de la Médie, et non pas de ces souverains achéménides — dont la présente légende répond mieux à l'ingéniosité «heurématique» des Grecs'')</ref>
== Geography ==
The historical boundaries detailing the confederation of the Kambojas is varied. All scholarly and literary accounts encompass a large area at a crossroads between [[South Asia]], [[Central Asia]] and [[Western Asia|West Asia]].
=== Scholarly accounts ===
[[D. C. Sircar]] supposed the Kambojas to have lived in various settlements in the wide area lying between [[Punjab]], [[Iran]], to the south of [[Balkh Province|Balkh]].<ref name="Sircar1971">{{cite book |title=Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India |year=1971 |page=100 |first=D. C. |last=Sircar |isbn=9788120806900 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AqKw1Mn8WcwC&pg=PA100}}</ref>
The territory of the [[Parama Kamboja Kingdom|Parama-Kamboja]], meanwhile, are thought to be farther north in the [[Pamir-Alay|Trans-Pamirian territories]] comprising the [[Zarafshan|Zeravshan]] valley, towards the [[Fergana Valley|Farghana]] region, in the [[Scythia]] of the classical writers.<ref name="Sircar1971"/><ref name="Mishra 1987"/><ref>See: ''Proceedings and Transactions of the All-India Oriental Conference'', 1930, p 118, J. C. Vidyalankara</ref><ref>''The Deeds of Harsha: Being a Cultural Study of Bāṇa's Harshacharita'', 1969, p 199, Vasudeva Sharana Agrawala</ref><ref name="Prakash1955">[[Dr Buddha Prakash]] maintains that, based on the evidence of [[Kalidasa]]'s [[Raghuvamsha]], Raghu defeated the [[Hunas]] on river Vamkshu (Raghu vamsha 4.68), and then he marched against the Kambojas (4.69-70). These Kambojas were of [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] affinities who lived in [[Pamir Mountains|Pamir]]s and [[Badakshan]]. [[Xuanzang]] calls this region ''Kiumito'' which is thought to be ''Komdei'' of [[Ptolemy]] and ''Kumadh'' or ''Kumedh'' of [[Muslim]] writers (See: Studies in Indian History and Civilization, Agra, p 351; India and the World, 1964, p 71, Dr Buddha Prakash; India and Central Asia, 1955, p 35, P. C. Bagch).</ref>
Other scholars have also located the Kambojas and the Parama-Kambojas in the areas spanning [[Balkh]], [[Badakshan]], the [[Pamir Mountains|Pamirs]] and [[Kafiristan]].<ref>Asoka and His Inscriptions, 1968, pp 93-96, Beni Madhab Barua, Ishwar Nath Topa.</ref> Similarly, the mountainous region between the [[Oxus]] and [[Jaxartes]] in present day [[Tajikistan]] is also suggested as one location of the ancient Kambojas by other scholars.<ref>''Central Asiatic Provinces of the Mauryan Empire'', p 403, H. C. Seth; See also: ''Indian Historical Quarterly'', Vol. XIII, 1937, No 3, p. 400; ''Journal of the Asiatic Society'', 1940, p 37, (India) Asiatic Society (Calcutta, Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal - Asia; cf: ''History and Archaeology of India's Contacts with Other Countries, from Earliest Times to 300 B.C.'', 176, p 152, Shashi P. Asthana; ''Mahabharata Myth and Reality'', 1976, p 232, Swarajya Prakash Gupta, K. S. Ramachandran. Cf also: ''India and Central Asia'', p 25 etc, P. C. Bagchi.</ref><ref name="Prakash1955"/>
Separate scholarly pieces by Gankovski (1971) and Rashid (2002) mention the confederation of the Kambojas may have stretched from the [[Rajouri district|valley of Rajouri]] to the regions of [[Kabul Province|Kabul]], [[Ghazni Province|Ghazni]] and [[Kandahar Province|Kandahar]]. The central region is estimated to be in [[Paropamisadae]], a region north-east of present-day Kabul, between the [[Hindu Kush]] and the [[Kunar River]], and included the [[Kingdom of Kapisa|Kapisa]].<ref>The Peoples of Pakistan: An Ethnic History, 1971, pp 64-67, Yuri Vladimirovich Gankovski - Ethnology.</ref><ref>History of the Pathans, 2002, p 11, Haroon Rashid - Pushtuns.</ref><ref>[[Michael Witzel]] Persica-9, p 92, fn 81.</ref>
=== Literary accounts ===
The ''Mahabharata'' locates the Kambojas on the near side of the Hindu Kush as neighbors to the [[Daradas]], and the [[Parama-Kamboja]]s across the Hindu Kush as neighbors to the [[Rishikas]] (or [[Tukhara]]s) of the [[Fergana Valley|Fergana region]].<ref>Numerous scholars have located the Kamboja realm on the southern side of the Hindu Kush ranges in the [[Kabul Valley|Kabul]], [[Swat Valley|Swat]], and [[Kunar Valley]]s, and the Parama-Kambojas in the territories on the north side of the Hindu Kush in modern-day [[Pamir Mountains|Pamir]] and [[Badakhshan]] region in Tajikistan. See: Geographical and Economic Studies in the Mahābhārata: Upāyana Parva, 1945, p 11-13, Moti Chandra - India; ''Geographical Data in the Early Purāṇas: A Critical Study'', 1972, p 165/66, M. R. Singh</ref><ref>''Purana'', Vol VI, No 1, January 1964, p 207 sqq; ''Inscriptions of Asoka: Translation and Glossary'', 1990, p 86, Beni Madhab Barua, Binayendra Nath Chaudhury - Inscriptions, Prakrit).</ref><ref name="Sethna 2000">Sethna, K. D. (2000) ''Problems of Ancient India'', New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. {{ISBN|81-7742-026-7}}</ref>
== Origins ==
The earliest reference to the Kambojas is in the works of [[Pāṇini]], around the 5th century BCE. Other pre-[[Common Era]] references appear in the ''[[Manusmriti]]'' (2nd century) and parts of the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', both of which described the Kambojas as former kshatriyas (warrior caste).<ref name="West">''Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania'', Barbara A. West, Infobase Publishing (2009), {{ISBN|9781438119137}} p. 359</ref> Their territories were located beyond [[Gandhara]] in present day eastern [[Afghanistan]], where Buddha statues were built during the reign of [[Ashoka]]<ref>Encyclopaedia Indica, "The Kambojas: Land and its Identification", First Edition, 1998 New Delhi, page 528</ref> and the 3rd century BCE. The ''[[Edicts of Ashoka]]'' refers to the area under Kamboja control as being independent of the [[Mauryan empire]] in which it was situated.<ref name="West" />
The two Kamboja settlements on either side of the Hindu Kush are also substantiated from Ptolemy's [[Geography]], which refers to the ''Tambyzoi'' located north of the Hindu Kush on the river Oxus in [[Bactria]], and the ''Ambautai'' people on the southern side of Hindukush in the Paropamisadae.<ref name="Sethna 2000"/><ref name="Talbert 2000, p. 99">Talbert 2000, p. 99</ref><ref>For Tambyzoi=Kamboja, see refs: Pre Aryan and Pre Dravidian in India, 1993, p 122, Sylvain Lévi, Jean Przyluski, Jules Bloch, Asian Educational Services; Cities and Civilization, 1962, p 172, Govind Sadashiv Ghurye</ref> Scholars have identified both the Ptolemian ''Tambyzoi'' and ''Ambautai'' with Sanskrit ''Kamboja''.<ref>For Ambautai=Kamboja, see Witzel 1999a</ref><ref>Patton and Bryant 2005, p. 257</ref>
== Ethnicity and language ==
The ancient Kambojas were probably of [[Indo-Iranians|Indo-Iranian]] origin.<ref>Dwivedi 1977: 287 "The Kambojas were probably the descendants of the Indo-Iranians popularly known later on as the Sassanians and Parthians who occupied parts of north-western India in the first and second centuries of the Christian era."</ref> They are sometimes specifically described as Indo-Aryans<ref name="Mishra 1987">Mishra 1987</ref><ref>Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, Achut Dattatrya Pusalker, A. K. Majumdar, Dilip Kumar Ghose, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Vishvanath Govind Dighe. ''[[The History and Culture of the Indian People]]'', 1962, p 264,</ref><!-- This is an 11-volume work --><ref name="Political History of Ancient India">"Political History of Ancient India", [[Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri|H. C. Raychaudhuri]], B. N. Mukerjee, University of Calcutta, 1996.</ref> and sometimes as having both Indian and Iranian affinities.<ref name="See p 138">See: Vedic Index of names & subjects by Arthur Anthony Macdonnel, Arthur. B Keath, I.84, p 138.</ref><ref name="Refs 1970, p 107">See more Refs: Ethnology of Ancient Bhārata, 1970, p 107, Ram Chandra Jain; The Journal of Asian Studies, 1956, p 384, Association for Asian Studies, Far Eastern Association (U.S.)</ref><ref>''India as Known to Pāṇini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashṭādhyāyī'', 1953, p 49, Vasudeva Sharana Agrawala; Afghanistan, p 58, W. K. Fraser, M. C. Gillet; ''Afghanistan, its People, its Society, its Culture'', Donal N. Wilber, 1962, p 80, 311</ref> The Kambojas are also described as a royal clan of the [[Sakas]].<ref>Walker and Tapp 2001</ref>
==Kambojas as Manusmriti==
They spoke a language similar to [[Younger Avestan]], whose words are considered to have been incorporated in the Aramao-Iranian version of the [[Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription]] erected by the [[Maurya Empire|Maurya]] emperor [[Ashoka]] ({{reign|268|232|era=BCE}}). They were adherents of [[Zoroastrianism]], as demonstrated by their beliefs that insects, snakes, worms, frogs, and other small animals had to be killed, a practice mentioned in the [[Avesta]]n [[Vendidad]].
The Manusmriti predominantly discusses the code of conduct (dharma rules) for the Brahmins (priestly class) and the Kshatriyas (king, administration and warrior class).The text mentions Shudras, as well as Vaishyas, but this part is its shortest section. Sections 9.326 – 9.335 of the Manusmriti state eight rules for Vaishyas and two for Shudras.
In section 10.43 - 10.44 Manu gives a list of Kshatriya tribes who, through neglect of the priests and their rites, had fallen to the status of [[Shudra]]s. These are: Pundrakas, Codas, [[Dravidas]], Kambojas, [[Yavanas]], [[Sakas]], [[Paradas]], [[Pahlavas]], [[Chinas]], [[Kiratas]] and [[Daradas]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baldwin |first1=John Denison |title=Pre-historic Nations: Or, Inquiries Concerning Some of the Great Peoples and Civilizations of Antiquity, and Their Probable Relation to a Still Older Civilization of the Ethiopians Or Cushites of Arabia |date=1871 |publisher=Harper |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oz5HAQAAMAAJ&q=shudras+Cinas%2C+Kir%C4%81tas+and+Daradas&pg=PA290 |page=290 |quote=Manu, describing certain aboriginal peoples, maintains that they were originally Kshatriyas, or people of the military caste, who had sunk to Urishalas, or Sudras, "through the extinction of rites and from having no communication with Brahmans". He specifies the "Paundrakas, Odras, Dravidas, '''Kāmbojas''', Yavanas, Sákas, Pāradas, Pahlavas, Chīnas, Kirātas, Daradas, and Khasas." The Mahabharata adds to this list Kalindas, Pulindas, and others, as people who were formerly Khastriyas, but "have become Sudras from seeing no Brahmans".}}</ref>
== Etymology ==
''Kamboja-'' (later form ''Kāmboja-'') was the name of their territory and identical to the [[Old Iranian]] name of ''*Kambauǰa-'', whose meaning is uncertain. A long-standing theory is the one proposed by J. Charpentier in 1923, in which he suggests that the name is connected to the name of [[Cambyses I]] and [[Cambyses II]] (''Kambū̌jiya'' or ''Kambauj'' in [[Old Persian]]), both kings from the [[Achaemenid dynasty]]. The theory has been discussed several times, but the issues that it posed were never persuadingly resolved.{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}}
In the same year, [[Sylvain Lévi]] proposed that the name is of [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]] origin, though this is typically rejected.{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}}
== History ==
== History ==
The Kambojas only appear in [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] inscriptions and literature, being first attested during the later part of the [[Vedic period]]. The ''Naighaṇṭukas'', a glossary and oldest surviving writing about Indian [[lexicography]], is the first source to mention them. In his book about etymology—the ''[[Nirukta]]''—the ancient Indian author [[Yāska|Yaska]] comments on that part of the ''Naighaṇṭukas'', in which he mentions that "the word ''śavati'' as a verb of motion is used only by the Kambojas", a statement that is more or less repeated in the exact same way by later authors, such as the grammarian [[Patanjali]] (2nd-century BCE) in his ''[[Mahabhashya]]''. The word ''śavati'' is equivalent to ''š́iiauua-'' in [[Younger Avestan]], which demonstrates that the Kambojas spoke an Iranian tongue with close ties to it. Modern historian M. Witzel surmised that grammarians and lexicographers must have first become acquainted with the word around 500 BCE or perhaps earlier, due to Yaska and Patanjali both using the same example known amongst grammarians and lexicographers.{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}}
The capital of Kamboja was probably [[Rajapura (Kamboja)|Rajapura]] (modern [[Rajauri]]). The Kamboja [[Mahajanapada]] of Buddhist traditions refers to this branch.<ref>See: Problems of Ancient India, 2000, p 5-6; cf: Geographical Data in the Early Puranas, p 168.</ref>
[[Image:Girnar Major Rock Edict No5.jpg|thumb|Drawing of the fifth [[Major Rock Edicts|Major Rock Edict]] of the [[Maurya Empire|Maurya]] emperor [[Ashoka]] ({{reign|268|232|era=BCE}})]]
The [[Major Rock Edicts]] of the [[Maurya Empire|Maurya]] emperor [[Ashoka]] ({{reign|268|232|era=BCE}}) contain the first attestations of the Kambojas that can be precisely dated. The thirteenth edict says "among Greeks and Kambojas" and the fifth edict says "of Greeks, Kambojas and Gandharians". It is uncertain if Ashoka was only referring to just the Kambojas or all the Iranian tribes in his empire. Regardless, the mentioned groups of people were part of the Maurya Empire, being influenced by its politics, culture and religious traditions, and also adhered to ideology of "righteousness" set by Ashoka.{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}}
[[Kautiliya]]'s ''[[Arthashastra]]'' and [[Ashoka]]'s Edict No. XIII attest that the Kambojas followed a republican constitution. Pāṇini's Sutras tend to convey that the Kamboja of Pāṇini was a "Kshatriya monarchy", but "the special rule and the exceptional form of derivative" he gives to denote the ruler of the Kambojas implies that the king of Kamboja was a titular head (''king consul'') only.<ref>''Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times'', Parts I and II., 1955, p 52, Dr Kashi Prasad Jayaswal - Constitutional history; Prācīna Kamboja, jana aura janapada =: Ancient Kamboja, people and country, 1981, Dr Jiyālāla Kāmboja - Kamboja (Pakistan).</ref> One king of Kamboja was [[King Srindra Varmana Kamboj]].<ref>Studies in Skanda Purana, 1978, p 59, A. B. L. Awasthi.</ref>
The major Indian epic ''[[Mahabharata]]'' also mentions the Kambojas, alongside the Greeks, [[Gandhara]]s, Bactrians and [[Indo-Scythians]]. Geographical texts in [[Sanskrit]] and the ''[[Aṅguttara Nikāya]]'' include the Kambojas as one of the [[Mahajanapadas|sixteen kingdoms]] of the [[Indian subcontinent]] during the lifetime of [[the Buddha]]. Various characteristics of the Kambojas are also described in different types of Sanskrit and [[Pali]] literature; they shaved themselves bald; they had a king; ''Rāja-pura-'' (meaning "King's town") was the name of their capital, but its site remains unknown. As was typical of Iranians, the Kambojas were renowned for their skill in horse breeding, and it is believed that the horses they produced were the most suitable for use in battle. These horses were brought into India in large quantities and also given as tribute.{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}}{{sfn|Sharma|2007|p=145–152}}{{sfn|Boyce|Grenet|1991|pp=129–130}} [[Indology|Indologist]] [[Etienne Lamotte]] further suggests that reputation of Kambojas as homeland of horses possibly earned the horse-breeders known as [[Aspasioi]] (from Old Persian ''aspa'') and [[Assakenoi]] (from Sanskrit ''aśva'' "horse") their epithet.{{sfn|Lamotte|1988|p=100}}
=== The Aśvakas ===
Following the death of Ashoka, the Maurya Empire fell into decline. During the start of the 2nd-century BCE, they lost their Indian-Iranian frontier lands (including Gandhara and [[Arachosia]]) to the forces of [[Demetrius I of Bactria|Demetrius I]] ({{reign|200|180|era=BCE}}), the king of the [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]]. As a result, the Greek population of those areas were once again under the dominion of their Greek countrymen, while the Kambojas met other Iranians, as the Bactrians were likely a major component of the conquering army along with the Greeks.{{sfn|Boyce|Grenet|1991|p=149}}
{{main|Aśvakas}}
The Kambojas were famous in ancient times for their excellent breed of horses and as remarkable horsemen located in the ''Uttarapatha'' or north-west.<ref>The Indian Historical Quarterly, 1963, p 103</ref> They were constituted into military ''[[Sangha (Buddhism)|sanghas]]'' and corporations to manage their political and military affairs.<ref name="hindupolity">Hindu Polity, 1978, pp 121, 140, K. P. Jayswal.</ref> The Kamboja cavalry offered their military services to other nations as well. There are numerous references to Kamboja having been requisitioned as cavalry troopers in ancient wars by outside nations.<ref>War in Ancient India, 1944, p 178, V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar - Military art and science.</ref><ref>The Indian Historical Quarterly, 1963, p 103; The Achaemenids in India, 1950, p 47, Sudhakar Chattopadhyaya; Poona Orientalist: A Quarterly Journal Devoted to Oriental Studies, 1945, P i, (edi) Har Dutt Sharma; The Poona Orientalist, 1936, p 13, Sanskrit philology</ref>
Some historians consider the Kambojas to have established the [[Kamboja Pala dynasty]] in [[Bengal]], but this remains uncertain. Some historians consider it to have founded by Kambojas who had settled in Bengal, a theory which may be supported by the attestation of a ''Kambojadeśa'' in the [[Lushai Hills]] by the [[Tibet]]an book ''Pag Sam Jon Zang''. [[Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri]] proposed that the Kambojas may have travelled to Bengal from the northwestern frontier in the wake of [[Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty|Gurjara-Pratihara]] conquests during the lifetime of [[Narayanapala]]. He adds that those Kambojas perhaps acquired positions and, at a suitable time, seized power.{{sfn|Caudhurī|1967|p=73}}
It was on account of their supreme position in horse (''Ashva'') culture that the ancient Kambojas were also popularly known as ''[[Ashvaka]]s'', i.e. horsemen. Their clans in the [[Kunar Valley|Kunar]] and [[Swat River|Swat]] valleys have been referred to as ''Assakenoi'' and ''Aspasioi'' in classical writings, and ''Ashvakayanas'' and ''Ashvayanas'' in Pāṇini's ''Ashtadhyayi''.
At [[Sithulpawwa Rajamaha Viharaya]] in the southern part of present-day [[Sri Lanka]], three inscriptions mention the name "Kaboja", which Sri Lankan archaeologist and [[Epigraphy|epigraphist]] [[Senarath Paranavithana]] suggested is related to the name "Kamboja". Similar variants of the name appears in other inscriptions in Sri Lanka, which has led to the suggestion that a group of Kambojan traders were active in Sri Lanka.{{sfn|Bopearachchi|2025|pp=396–397}}
{{quote|The Kambojas were famous for their horses and as cavalry-men (aśva-yuddha-Kuśalah), Aśvakas, 'horsemen', was the term popularly applied to them... The Aśvakas inhabited Eastern Afghanistan, and were included within the more general term Kambojas.|K.P.Jayswal<ref name="hindupolity" />}}
[[Richard Strand]] considers the Nuristani [[Kom people (Afghanistan)|Kom people]] (aka Kamôzî or Kamôǰî) to be the descendants of the Kamboja people.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Strand |first=Richard |date=2022 |title=Kamboǰas and Sakas in the Holly-Oak Mountains: On the Origins of the Nûristânîs |url=https://nuristan.info/peristan.pdf |website=Nuristan: Hidden Land of the Hindu Kush}}</ref>
{{quote|Elsewhere Kamboja is regularly mentioned as "the country of horses" (Asvanam ayatanam), and it was perhaps this well-established reputation that won for the horsebreeders of Bajaur and Swat the designation Aspasioi (from the Old Pali aspa) and assakenoi (from the Sanskrit asva "horse").|[[Etienne Lamotte]]<ref>"Par ailleurs le Kamboja est régulièrement mentionné comme la "patrie des chevaux" (Asvanam ayatanam), et cette reputation bien etablie gagné peut-etre aux eleveurs de chevaux du Bajaur et du Swat l'appellation d'Aspasioi (du v.-p. aspa) et d'assakenoi (du skt asva "cheval")". E. Lamotte, ''Historie du Bouddhisme Indien'', p. 110. (WP translation. Quotation should be taken from the published English translation: Lamotte 1988, p. 100)</ref>}}
== Language and location ==
{{location map+ |Afghanistan |float=right|width=250 |caption=Location of the two inscription sites in present-day [[Afghanistan]], whose engraved Iranian languages have been suggested to have been spoken by the Kambojas
{{location map~ |Afghanistan| label = [[Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription|Kandahar Edict of Ashoka]] |lat=31.732|long=65.8267|position=left}}
}}
The Kambojas inhabited the northeastern most part of the territory populated by Iranian tribes, which bordered the Indian lands.{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}} In 1918, Lévi suggested it to be [[Kafiristan]], but later retracted it in 1923; B. Liebich suggested they lived in the [[Kabulistan|Kabul Valley]]; J. Bloch suggested that they lived to the north-east of [[Kabul]]; Lamotte considered them to live them from Kafiristan to the southwestern part of [[Kashmir]].{{sfn|Lamotte|1988|p=100}}{{sfn|Bailey|1971|p=66}}
=== Conflict with Alexander ===
In 1958, a new suggestion was put forward by the French linguist [[Émile Benveniste]].{{sfn|Bailey|1971|p=66}} He drew a comparison between the Kambojas and Greeks described in Ashoka's [[Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription|edicts in Kandahar]] and the two languages it was written in; Greek and "Aramao-Iranian", which refers to the Iranian language hidden in the text of the [[Aramaic alphabet]]. Ashoka wanted to use these two languages to convey his religious message to the inhabitants of what is now present-day eastern [[Afghanistan]], around the Gandhara area, approximately between Kabul and Kandahar. Because of this, Benveniste considered the Iranian language used in Ashoka's inscriptions to be spoken by the Kambojas.{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}} The [[Iranian studies|Iranologists]] [[Mary Boyce]] and Frantz Grenet also support this view, saying that "The fact that Aramaic versions were made indicates that the Kambojas enjoyed a measure of autonomy, and that they not only preserved their Iranian identity, but were governed in some measure by members of their own community, on whom was laid the responsibility of transmitting to them the king's words, and having these engraved on stone."{{sfn|Boyce|Grenet|1991|p=136}}
{{See also|Indian campaign of Alexander the Great}}
The Kambojas entered into conflict with [[Alexander the Great]] as he invaded Central Asia. The Macedonian conqueror made short shrift of the arrangements of [[Darius the Great|Darius]] and after over-running the Achaemenid Empire he dashed into today's eastern [[Afghanistan]] and western Pakistan. There he encountered resistance from the Kamboja ''Aspasioi'' and ''Assakenoi'' tribes.<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>
[[Gérard Fussman]] suggested that the unidentified Iranian language of the two rock-inscriptions (IDN 3 and 5) in [[Dasht-e Nawar]] was spoken by the Kambojas, perhaps an early stage of the [[Ormuri|Ormuri language]]. According to Rüdiger Schmitt; "If this hypothesis should prove to be true, we would be able to locate the Kambojas more precisely in the mountains around [[Ghazni]] and on the Upper [[Arghandab River|Arghandab]]."{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}}
The Ashvayans (Aspasioi) were also good cattle breeders and agriculturists. This is clear from the large number of bullocks that Alexander captured from them – 230,000 according to [[Arrian]]<ref>De Sélincourt, A., & Hamilton, J. (1971, 2003). Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander. Harmondsworth: Penguin. Book IV, pp. 244</ref> – some of which were of a size and shape superior to what the [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonian]]s had known, and which Alexander decided to send to Macedonia for agriculture.<ref name="Punjab">''History of Punjab'', 1997, Editors: Fauja Singh, L. M. Joshi</ref><ref>Acharya 2001, p 91</ref>
== Religious beliefs ==
The [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryans]] considered the Kambojas to be "non-Aryan" (''anariya-'') strangers with their own peculiar traditions, as demonstrated in a portion of the [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] [[Jataka tales]]. Insects, snakes, worms, frogs, and other small animals had to be killed according to the Kambojas' religious beliefs.{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}}{{sfn|Boyce|Grenet|1991|pp=129–130}} This practice has been linked by academics to the [[Avesta]]n [[Vendidad]] for a long time, leading them to the conclusion that the Kambojas were adherents of [[Zoroastrianism]].{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}} These beliefs are based on Zoroastrian dualism, which attributes the Evil Spirit to creatures like these and others that are poisonous or repulsive to humans. Hence, Zoroastrians were commanded to destroy them, and careful pursuit of this goal has been observed by outside spectators since the 5th-century BCE to the present.{{sfn|Boyce|Grenet|1991|p=130}}
==Migrations==
== Notes ==
During the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE, clans of the Kambojas from Central Asia in alliance with the Sakas, [[Pahlavas]] and the [[Yavanas]] entered present-day India, spreading into Sindhu, Saurashtra, Malwa, Rajasthan, Punjab and Surasena, and set up independent principalities in western and south-western India. Later, a branch of the same people took [[Gauda Kingdom|Gauda]] and [[Varendra]] territories from the [[Pala empire|Palas]] and established the [[Kamboja-Pala Dynasty]] of Bengal in Eastern India.<ref>''Geographical Data in the Early Purāṇas: A Critical Study'', 1972, p 168, M. R. Singh - India.</ref><ref>''History of Ceylon'', 1959, p 91, Ceylon University, University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, Hem Chandra Ray, K. M. De Silva.</ref><ref>Pande (R.) 1984, p. 93</ref>
{{Cnote2 Begin|liststyle=upper-alpha}}
{{Cnote2|a|Scholarship agree that the Kambojas were Iranian.<ref>{{harvnb|Schmitt|2021}}; {{harvnb|Boyce|Grenet|1991|p=129}}; {{harvnb|Scott|1990|p=45}}; {{harvnb|Kubica|2023|p=88}}; {{harvnb|Emmerick|1983|p=951}}; {{harvnb|Fussman|1987|pp=779–785}}; {{harvnb|Eggermont|1966|p=293}}.</ref> [[Richard N. Frye]] stated that "Their location and the meaning of the word Kamboja are much debated, but it is at least agreed that they were Iranians living to the northwest of the subcontinent."{{sfn|Frye|1984|p=154}}
There are references to the hordes of the Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, and Pahlavas in the [[Bala Kanda]] of the [[Valmiki Ramayana]]. In these verses one may see glimpses of the struggles of the Hindus with the invading hordes from the north-west.<ref name="Political History of Ancient India"/><ref>Shrava 1981, p. 12</ref><ref>Rishi, 1982, p. 100</ref> The royal family of the [[Kamuia]]s mentioned in the [[Mathura Lion Capital]] are believed to be linked to the royal house of [[Taxila]] in [[Gandhara]].<ref>See: ''Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum'', Vol II, Part I, p xxxvi; see also p 36, [[Sten Konow]]; ''Indian Culture'', 1934, p 193, Indian Research Institute; Cf: ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland'', 1990, p 142, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland - Middle East.</ref> In the medieval era, the Kambojas are known to have seized north-west Bengal (''Gauda'' and ''Radha'') from the [[Pala Empire|Palas]] of [[Bengal]] and established their own [[Kamboja Dynasty of Bengal|Kamboja-Pala Dynasty]]. Indian texts like ''[[Markandeya Purana]]'', ''Vishnu Dharmottari'' ''Agni Purana'',<ref>''Indian Historical Quarterly'', 1963, p 127</ref>
}}
{{Cnote2 End}}
===Eastern Kambojas===
{{notelist}}
{{see also|Kamboja-Pala Dynasty of Bengal}}
A branch of Kambojas seems to have migrated eastwards towards [[Nepal]] and [[Tibet]] in the wake of [[Kushana]] (1st century) or else [[Huna people|Huna]] (5th century) pressure and hence their notice in the chronicles of Tibet ("Kam-po-tsa, Kam-po-ce, Kam-po-ji") and [[Nepal]] (Kambojadesa).<ref>Shastri and Choudhury 1982, p. 112</ref><ref>B. C. Sen, ''Some Historical Aspects of the Inscriptions of Bengal'', p. 342, fn 1</ref> The 5th-century ''[[Brahma Purana]]'' mentions the Kambojas around [[Pragjyotisha]] and [[Tamralipta]].<ref>M. R. Singh, ''A Critical Study of the Geographical Data in the Early Puranas'', p. 168</ref><ref>Ganguly 1994, p. 72, fn 168</ref><ref>H. C. Ray, ''The Dynastic History of Northern India'', I, p. 309</ref><ref>A. D. Pusalkar, [[R. C. Majumdar]] et al., ''History and Culture of Indian People'', Imperial Kanauj, p. 323,</ref>{{Volume needed|issue=no|date=December 2015}}<!-- This is an 11-volume work -->
{{quote|The Kambojas of ancient India are known to have been living in north-west, but in this period (9th century AD), they are known to have been living in the north-east India also, and very probably, it was meant Tibet.<ref>R. R. Diwarkar (ed.), ''Bihar Through the Ages'', 1958, p. 312</ref>}}
The last Kambojas ruler of the Kamboja-Pala Dynasty Dharmapala was defeated by the south Indian Emperor [[Rajendra Chola I]] of the [[Chola dynasty]] in the 11th century.<ref>Ancient Indian History and Civilization by Sailendra Nath Sen p.281</ref><ref>The Cambridge Shorter History of India p.145</ref>
== Mauryan period ==
{{see also|Maurya Empire}}
The Kambojas find prominent mention as a unit in the 3rd-century BCE [[Edicts of Ashoka]]. Rock Edict XIII tells us that the Kambojas had enjoyed autonomy under the Mauryas.<ref name="Political History of Ancient India"/><ref>H. C. Raychaudhury, B. N. Mukerjee; Asoka and His Inscriptions, 3d Ed, 1968, p 149, Beni Madhab Barua, Ishwar Nath Topa.</ref> The republics mentioned in Rock Edict V are the [[Yona]]s, Kambojas, [[Gandhara]]s, Nabhakas and the Nabhapamkitas. They are designated as ''araja. vishaya'' in Rock Edict XIII, which means that they were kingless, i.e. republican polities. In other words, the Kambojas formed a self-governing political unit under the Maurya emperors.<ref>Hindu Polity, A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times, 1978, p 117-121, K. P. Jayswal; Ancient India, 2003, pp 839-40, V. D. Mahajan; Northern India, p 42, Mehta Vasisitha Dev Mohan etc</ref><ref>Bimbisāra to Aśoka: With an Appendix on the Later Mauryas, 1977, p 123, Sudhakar Chattopadhyaya.</ref>
[[Ashoka]] sent missionaries to the Kambojas to convert them to [[Buddhism]], and recorded this fact in his Rock Edict V.<ref>The North-west India of the Second Century B.C., 1974, p 40, Mehta Vasishtha Dev Mohan - India; Tribes in Ancient India, 1973, p 7</ref><ref>Yar-Shater 1983, p. 951</ref>
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* Barnes, Ruth and David Parkin (eds.) (2002) ''Ships and the Development of Maritime Technology on the Indian Ocean''. London: Curzon. {{ISBN|0-7007-1235-6}}
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* {{cite book |last=Caudhurī|first=Ābadula Mamina|title=Dynastic History of Bengal, C. 750-1200 A.D. |date=1967 |publisher=Asiatic Society of Pakistan}}
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* Bongard-Levin, Grigoriĭ Maksimovich (1985) ''Ancient Indian Civilization''. New Delhi: Arnold-Heinemann
* {{Cambridge History of Iran|volume=3b|last=Emmerick|first=R. E.|chapter=Buddhism among Iranians|pages=949–964|chapter-page=949}}
* Bowman, John Stewart (2000) ''Columbia chronologies of Asian history and culture'', New York; Chichester: Columbia University Press. {{ISBN|0-231-11004-9}}
* {{cite book |last1=Kubica |first1=Olga |title=Greco-Buddhist Relations in the Hellenistic Far East: Sources and Contexts |date=2023 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1032193007}}
* Boyce, Mary and Frantz Grenet (1991) ''A History of Zoroastrianism'', Vol. 3, Zoroastrianism under Macedonian and Roman rule. Leiden: Brill. {{ISBN|90-04-09271-4}}
* {{Encyclopaedia Iranica | volume=2 | fascicle=7 | title = Aśoka ii. Aśoka and Iran | last = Fussman | first = G. | url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/asoka-mauryan-emperor#pt2 | pages = 779–785 }}
* Collins, Steven (1998) ''Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities: Utopias of the Pali Imaginaire''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-57054-9}}. {{ISBN|0-521-57842-6}} {{ISBN|978-0-521-57842-4}}
* {{cite book | title = The History of Ancient Iran | year = 1984 | publisher = C.H. Beck | last = Frye | first = R. N. | authorlink = Richard N. Frye | isbn = 978-3406093975 | url = https://archive.org/details/historyofancient0000frye | url-access = registration }}
* Drabu, V. N. (1986) ''Kashmir Polity, c. 600-1200 A.D.'' New Delhi: Bahri Publications. Series in Indian history, art, and culture; 2. {{ISBN|81-7034-004-7}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lal |first1=Deepak |author-link=Deepak Lal |title=The Hindu Equilibrium: India C.1500 B.C. - 2000 A.D. |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-927579-3 |page=xxxviii |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dps-A5gOmA8C&pg=PR38 |language=en}}
* Ganguly, Dilip Kumar (1994) ''Ancient India, History and Archaeology''. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications. {{ISBN|81-7017-304-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Lamotte|first=Etienne Lamotte|author-link1=Etienne Lamotte|editor1-last=Webb-Boin|editor1-first=Sara|title=History Of Indian Buddhism |date=1988|publisher=Peters Press|isbn=978-9068311006}}
* Dwivedi, R. K., (1977) "A Critical study of Changing Social Order at Yuganta: or the end of the Kali Age" in Lallanji Gopal, J.P. Singh, N. Ahmad and D. Malik (eds.) (1977) ''D.D. Kosambi commemoration volume''. Varanasi: Banaras Hindu University.
* Jha, Jata Shankar (ed.) (1981) ''K.P. Jayaswal commemoration volume''. Patna: K P Jayaswal Research Institute
* {{cite journal |last=Scott|first=David Alan|year=1990|title=The Iranian Face of Buddhism |journal=East and West|volume=40 |issue =1 |pages=43–77 |jstor=29756924 }} {{Registration required}}
* Jindal, Mangal Sen (1992) ''History of Origin of Some Clans in India, with Special Reference to Jats''. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons. {{ISBN|81-85431-08-6}}
*{{cite book |last=Sharma |first=Ram Sharan |author-link=Ram Sharan Sharma |title=India's Ancient Past |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/27690 |pages=145–152 |chapter= Chapter 15: Territorial States and the Rise of Magadha |quote=The rise of large states with towns as their base of operations strengthened the territorial idea. People owed strong allegiance to the janapada or the territory to which they belonged rather than to their jana or tribe. The Pali texts reveal that the janapadas grew into mahajanapadas. Gandhara and Kamboja were important mahajanapadas. Kamboja is called a janapada in Panini and a mahajanapada in the Pali texts. |isbn=9780199080366}}
* Lamotte, Etienne (1988) ''History of Indian Buddhism: From the Origins to the Saka Era''. Sara Webb-Boin and Jean Dantinne (transl.) Louvain-la-Neuve: Université Catholique de Louvain, Institut Orientaliste. {{ISBN|90-6831-100-X}}
* Mishra, Krishna Chandra (1987) ''Tribes in the Mahabharata: A Socio-cultural Study''. New Delhi, India: National Pub. House. {{ISBN|81-214-0028-7}}
* Misra, Satiya Deva (ed.) (1987) ''Modern Researches in Sanskrit: Dr. Veermani Pd. Upadhyaya Felicitation Volume''. Patna: Indira Prakashan
* Pande, Govind Chandra (1984) ''Foundations of Indian Culture'', Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass {{ISBN|81-208-0712-X}} (1990 edition.)
* Pande, Ram (ed.) (1984) ''Tribals Movement [proceedings of the National Seminar on Tribals of Rajasthan held on 9–10 April 1983 at Jaipur under the auspices of Shodhak in collaboration of Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi.'' Jaipur: Shodhak
* Patton, Laurie L. and Edwin Bryant (eds.) (2005) ''Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History'', London: Routledge. {{ISBN|0-7007-1462-6}} {{ISBN|0-7007-1463-4}}
* Rishi, Weer Rajendra (1982) ''India & Russia: Linguistic & Cultural Affinity''. Chandigarh: Roma Publications
* Sathe, Shriram (1987) ''Dates of the Buddha''. Hyderabad: Bharatiya Itihasa Sankalana Samiti Hyderabad
* Sethna, K. D. (2000) ''Problems of Ancient India'', New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. {{ISBN|81-7742-026-7}}
* Sethna, Kaikhushru Dhunjibhoy (1989) ''Ancient India in a new light''. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. {{ISBN|81-85179-12-3}}
* Shastri, Biswanarayan (ed.) and Pratap Chandra Choudhury, (1982) ''Abhinandana-Bhāratī: Professor Krishna Kanta Handiqui Felicitation Volume''. Gauhati: Kāmarūpa Anusandhāna Samiti
* Shrava, Satya (1981 [1947]) ''The Śakas in India''. New Delhi: Pranava Prakashan
* Singh, G. P., Dhaneswar Kalita, V. Sudarsen and Mohammed Abdul Kalam (1990) ''Kiratas in Ancient India: Displacement, Resettlement, Development''. India University Grants Commission, Indian Council of Social Science Research. New Delhi: Gian. {{ISBN|81-212-0329-5}}
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* Vogelsang, Willem (2001) ''The Afghans''. Peoples of Asia Series. {{ISBN|978-1-4051-8243-0}}
* Walker, Andrew and Nicholas Tapp (2001) in ''Tai World: A Digest of Articles from the Thai -Yunnan Project Newsletter''. Or in Scott Bamber (ed.) ''Thai-Yunnan Project Newsletter''. Australian National University, Department of Anthropology, Research School of Pacific Studies. http://www.nectec.or.th/thai-yunnan/20.html. ISSN 1326-2777
* Witzel, M. (1999a) "Substrate Languages in Old Indo-Aryan (Rgvedic, Middle and Late Vedic)", ''Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies'', 5:1 (September).
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* Witzel, Michael (1999b) "Aryan and non-Aryan Names in Vedic India. Data for the linguistic situation, c. 1900-500 B.C.", in J. Bronkhorst & M. Deshpande (eds.), ''Aryans and Non-Non-Aryans, Evidence, Interpretation and Ideology''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Dept. of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Harvard University ([[Harvard Oriental Series]], Opera Minora 3). {{ISBN|1-888789-04-2}} pp. 337–404
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==External links==
* [http://www.kambojsociety.com/kamboja-ancient-kamboj-country.html Kamboj Society - Ancient Kamboja Country]
The Kambojas were a southeastern Iranian people[a] who inhabited the northeastern most part of the territory populated by Iranian tribes, which bordered the Indian lands. They only appear in Indo-Aryan inscriptions and literature, being first attested during the later part of the Vedic period.
They spoke a language similar to Younger Avestan, whose words are considered to have been incorporated in the Aramao-Iranian version of the Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription erected by the Maurya emperor Ashoka (r. 268–232 BCE). They were adherents of Zoroastrianism, as demonstrated by their beliefs that insects, snakes, worms, frogs, and other small animals had to be killed, a practice mentioned in the AvestanVendidad.
Kamboja- (later form Kāmboja-) was the name of their territory and identical to the Old Iranian name of *Kambauǰa-, whose meaning is uncertain. A long-standing theory is the one proposed by J. Charpentier in 1923, in which he suggests that the name is connected to the name of Cambyses I and Cambyses II (Kambū̌jiya or Kambauj in Old Persian), both kings from the Achaemenid dynasty. The theory has been discussed several times, but the issues that it posed were never persuadingly resolved.[1]
In the same year, Sylvain Lévi proposed that the name is of Austroasiatic origin, though this is typically rejected.[1]
The Kambojas only appear in Indo-Aryan inscriptions and literature, being first attested during the later part of the Vedic period. The Naighaṇṭukas, a glossary and oldest surviving writing about Indian lexicography, is the first source to mention them. In his book about etymology—the Nirukta—the ancient Indian author Yaska comments on that part of the Naighaṇṭukas, in which he mentions that "the word śavati as a verb of motion is used only by the Kambojas", a statement that is more or less repeated in the exact same way by later authors, such as the grammarian Patanjali (2nd-century BCE) in his Mahabhashya. The word śavati is equivalent to š́iiauua- in Younger Avestan, which demonstrates that the Kambojas spoke an Iranian tongue with close ties to it. Modern historian M. Witzel surmised that grammarians and lexicographers must have first become acquainted with the word around 500 BCE or perhaps earlier, due to Yaska and Patanjali both using the same example known amongst grammarians and lexicographers.[1]
The Major Rock Edicts of the Maurya emperor Ashoka (r. 268–232 BCE) contain the first attestations of the Kambojas that can be precisely dated. The thirteenth edict says "among Greeks and Kambojas" and the fifth edict says "of Greeks, Kambojas and Gandharians". It is uncertain if Ashoka was only referring to just the Kambojas or all the Iranian tribes in his empire. Regardless, the mentioned groups of people were part of the Maurya Empire, being influenced by its politics, culture and religious traditions, and also adhered to ideology of "righteousness" set by Ashoka.[1]
The major Indian epic Mahabharata also mentions the Kambojas, alongside the Greeks, Gandharas, Bactrians and Indo-Scythians. Geographical texts in Sanskrit and the Aṅguttara Nikāya include the Kambojas as one of the sixteen kingdoms of the Indian subcontinent during the lifetime of the Buddha. Various characteristics of the Kambojas are also described in different types of Sanskrit and Pali literature; they shaved themselves bald; they had a king; Rāja-pura- (meaning "King's town") was the name of their capital, but its site remains unknown. As was typical of Iranians, the Kambojas were renowned for their skill in horse breeding, and it is believed that the horses they produced were the most suitable for use in battle. These horses were brought into India in large quantities and also given as tribute.[1][2][3]IndologistEtienne Lamotte further suggests that reputation of Kambojas as homeland of horses possibly earned the horse-breeders known as Aspasioi (from Old Persian aspa) and Assakenoi (from Sanskrit aśva "horse") their epithet.[4]
Following the death of Ashoka, the Maurya Empire fell into decline. During the start of the 2nd-century BCE, they lost their Indian-Iranian frontier lands (including Gandhara and Arachosia) to the forces of Demetrius I (r. 200–180 BCE), the king of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. As a result, the Greek population of those areas were once again under the dominion of their Greek countrymen, while the Kambojas met other Iranians, as the Bactrians were likely a major component of the conquering army along with the Greeks.[5]
Some historians consider the Kambojas to have established the Kamboja Pala dynasty in Bengal, but this remains uncertain. Some historians consider it to have founded by Kambojas who had settled in Bengal, a theory which may be supported by the attestation of a Kambojadeśa in the Lushai Hills by the Tibetan book Pag Sam Jon Zang. Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri proposed that the Kambojas may have travelled to Bengal from the northwestern frontier in the wake of Gurjara-Pratihara conquests during the lifetime of Narayanapala. He adds that those Kambojas perhaps acquired positions and, at a suitable time, seized power.[6]
At Sithulpawwa Rajamaha Viharaya in the southern part of present-day Sri Lanka, three inscriptions mention the name "Kaboja", which Sri Lankan archaeologist and epigraphistSenarath Paranavithana suggested is related to the name "Kamboja". Similar variants of the name appears in other inscriptions in Sri Lanka, which has led to the suggestion that a group of Kambojan traders were active in Sri Lanka.[7]
Richard Strand considers the Nuristani Kom people (aka Kamôzî or Kamôǰî) to be the descendants of the Kamboja people.[8]
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The Kambojas inhabited the northeastern most part of the territory populated by Iranian tribes, which bordered the Indian lands.[1] In 1918, Lévi suggested it to be Kafiristan, but later retracted it in 1923; B. Liebich suggested they lived in the Kabul Valley; J. Bloch suggested that they lived to the north-east of Kabul; Lamotte considered them to live them from Kafiristan to the southwestern part of Kashmir.[4][9]
In 1958, a new suggestion was put forward by the French linguist Émile Benveniste.[9] He drew a comparison between the Kambojas and Greeks described in Ashoka's edicts in Kandahar and the two languages it was written in; Greek and "Aramao-Iranian", which refers to the Iranian language hidden in the text of the Aramaic alphabet. Ashoka wanted to use these two languages to convey his religious message to the inhabitants of what is now present-day eastern Afghanistan, around the Gandhara area, approximately between Kabul and Kandahar. Because of this, Benveniste considered the Iranian language used in Ashoka's inscriptions to be spoken by the Kambojas.[1] The IranologistsMary Boyce and Frantz Grenet also support this view, saying that "The fact that Aramaic versions were made indicates that the Kambojas enjoyed a measure of autonomy, and that they not only preserved their Iranian identity, but were governed in some measure by members of their own community, on whom was laid the responsibility of transmitting to them the king's words, and having these engraved on stone."[10]
Gérard Fussman suggested that the unidentified Iranian language of the two rock-inscriptions (IDN 3 and 5) in Dasht-e Nawar was spoken by the Kambojas, perhaps an early stage of the Ormuri language. According to Rüdiger Schmitt; "If this hypothesis should prove to be true, we would be able to locate the Kambojas more precisely in the mountains around Ghazni and on the Upper Arghandab."[1]
The Indo-Aryans considered the Kambojas to be "non-Aryan" (anariya-) strangers with their own peculiar traditions, as demonstrated in a portion of the BuddhistJataka tales. Insects, snakes, worms, frogs, and other small animals had to be killed according to the Kambojas' religious beliefs.[1][3] This practice has been linked by academics to the AvestanVendidad for a long time, leading them to the conclusion that the Kambojas were adherents of Zoroastrianism.[1] These beliefs are based on Zoroastrian dualism, which attributes the Evil Spirit to creatures like these and others that are poisonous or repulsive to humans. Hence, Zoroastrians were commanded to destroy them, and careful pursuit of this goal has been observed by outside spectators since the 5th-century BCE to the present.[11]
Scholarship agree that the Kambojas were Iranian.[12]Richard N. Frye stated that "Their location and the meaning of the word Kamboja are much debated, but it is at least agreed that they were Iranians living to the northwest of the subcontinent."[13]
Bopearachchi, Osmund (2025). "Ancient Kamboja". From Bactria to Taprobane: Selected Works of Osmund Bopearachchi. Volume II: Art History and Maritime Trade. Brill Publishers. ISBN978-9350980705.
Boyce, Mary; Grenet, Frantz (1991). Beck, Roger (ed.). A History of Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrianism under Macedonian and Roman Rule. Leiden: Brill. ISBN978-9004293915.
Caudhurī, Ābadula Mamina (1967). Dynastic History of Bengal, C. 750-1200 A.D. Asiatic Society of Pakistan.
Eggermont, P.H.L. (1966). "The Murundas and the Ancient Trade-Route From Taxila To Ujjain". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. 9 (3). Brill: 257–296. doi:10.1163/156852066X00119.
Sharma, Ram Sharan (2007). "Chapter 15: Territorial States and the Rise of Magadha". India's Ancient Past. Oxford University Press. pp. 145–152. ISBN9780199080366. The rise of large states with towns as their base of operations strengthened the territorial idea. People owed strong allegiance to the janapada or the territory to which they belonged rather than to their jana or tribe. The Pali texts reveal that the janapadas grew into mahajanapadas. Gandhara and Kamboja were important mahajanapadas. Kamboja is called a janapada in Panini and a mahajanapada in the Pali texts.
