By TRUTHFUL. on Monday, September 06, 2004 - 10:05 am:The
foregoing two posts clearly attest the fact that besides horses, the
ancient Kambojs also domesticated elephants, bullocks and cows etc.
And
being a WARRIOR and AGRARIAN nation,[=VARTA-SHASTER-OPAJIVIS of
Kautalya Arathashastra and Varahamihira's Brahtasamhita] the Kambojas
made use of horses and elephants in the wars/battles with an enemy and
of the bullocks/oxes and the cows for agriculture.
But the
most noted product of Kambojs was their war horses.[Sanskrit
ASHVA=HORSE]. And due to this fact, some of the Kamboja clans especially
those residing in Swat/Kunar valleys were also popularly known as
ASHVAKAS......ASSAKENOIS/ASPASIOS of Greeks; ASVAYANS and ASHVAKAYANS of
Panini.[See Panini's Ashtadshyai IV-1, 99; IV-1,110]
And
this very Sanskrit name 'ASHVAKAYAN/ASHVAKAN' of these warlike Kamboja
clans, in later centuries, got transformed into ASHVAGAN, AVGAN, ABGAN,
APOKIEN[Chinese], VOKAN, APKAN, APAGAN, AFGHAN etc etc.
By TRUTHFUL on Monday, September 06, 2004 - 4:55 am:Besides HORSES, the ancient Kamboj was also famed for its ELEPHANTS.
ASPASIOS ASSAKANOIS [ASVAYANS ASHVAKAYANS OF PANINI]:
Read the following:
[1]
"............................. the first lephants Alexander encountered
were amongst the Assakenian Indians in mountainous north Pakistan. They
were said (Arrian 4.25.5) to possess 30 beasts in their army that
Alexander was "expressly anxious to find out about" (Arrian 4.30.6); so
much so that of the Indians who were elephant hunters, "Alexander took
pains to have them among his attendants" (4.30.8). Two of the elephants
were lost during the subsequent expedition to snatch them from their
grazing grounds, but the rest were successfully captured."
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/luke/ueda-sarson/Al-Ele.html
[2]
Also, Chieftain Afrikes, the real brother of chieftain Assakenos
[=Ashvaka Kamboja chief....see Political History of Ancient India, p
216-217, Dr Raychaudhury, Dr P. N. Banerjee] is said to have a a fleet
of 15 elephants which he used against Alexandra. The name Afrikes
obviously points towards Apryti (Afridis) [Ref: History of Panjab, Vol
I, p 232, Dr L. M. Joshi, Dr Fauja Singh; Ancient Kamboja, People
the Country, p 287; These Kamboj People, 1979, K. S. Dardi, p 128 ]
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/luke/ueda-sarson/Al-Ele.htmlbb
Besides 30,000 horses,the Ashvakas/Assakas had used 30 elephants against Alexander's army.
This shows that besides horses, the Kambojas also possessed elephants and used them in battles against Alexandra.
The
Kambojas of Parapamisadea [Kabol/Kunar/Swat valleys] were noted for
their fine breeds of oxes, horses and elephants. Alexandra had captured
over 230,0000 of best variety of oxes, and had sent them to Macedonia.
cf "...It apears that the Asvayanas were good cattle breeders
and agricuturists. This is clear from big number of the bullocks,
230,000 according to Arrian, of a size and shape superior to what the
Macedonians had not known, which Alexander captured from them and
decided to send them to Macedonia for agriculture" [History of Panjab,
Vol I, p 226, Dr L. M. Joshi,
Dr Fauja Singh, op cit Dr Kamboj, p 247].
"...The
Ashvaka Kambojas had fielded 30,000 cavalry, 30 elephants and 20,000
infantry against Alexandra..".[Ancient Kamboja, People the
Country,
p 248, Dr Kamboj]
MAHABHARATA
cf "....Sudakshina, O king, who had many thousands of wonderful elephants, hath been slain in battle by Arjuna....".
http://www.sacred-texts. com/hin/m08/m08005.htm
MAHABHARATA
kadalI mR^igamokAni kR^iShNa shyAmAruNAni cha .
kAmbojaH prAhiNottasmai parArdhyAnapi kambalAn .. 19..\
gajayoShidgavAshvasya shatasho.atha sahasrashaH .
triMshata.n choShTra vAmInA.n shatAni vicharantyuta .. 20..\
pR^ithagvidhAni ratnAni pArthivAH pR^ithivIpate .
Aharankratumukhye.asminkuntIputrAya bhUrishaH .. 21..\
http://www.alkhemy. com/sanskrit/mirrors/mahabharata/txt/02.txt
TRANSLATION OF ABOVE:
"..The
king of Kambhoja sent unto him (as tribute) innumerable skins, black,
darkish, and red, of the deer Kadali, as also numberless blankets of
excellent textures. And hundreds and thousands and thousands of
she-elephants and thirty thousand she-camels wander within the palace,
for the kings of the earth brought them all as tribute to the capital of
the
Pandavas..".
http://www.sacred-texts. com/hin/m02/m02048.htm
MAHABHARATA:
"...The
king of Kamboja gave innumerable skins of the best king, and blankets
made of wool, of the soft fur of rodents and other burroughers, and of
the hair of cats,--all inlaid with threads of gold. And he also gave
three hundred horses of the Titteti and the Kalmasha species possessing
noses like parrots. And he also gave three hundred camels and an equal
number of she-•••••, all fattened with the olives and the Pilusha..."
http://www.sacred-texts. com/hin/m02/m02050.htm
By TRUTHFUL on Monday, September 06, 2004 - 5:05 am:SOME MEANINGS OF CLANISH TERM KAMBOJ:
(1)The term horse and the Kamboj were so much interconnected interwoven together that a HORSE from the country of
KAMBOJ was also called Kamboj.
(2)The ancient lexicographers have rendered another meaning of Kamboj as an ELEPHANT
e.g.
Kambojo hastimede........[Ref: Nanamanjari 421; Ancient Kamboja, People the Country, p 247, Dr Kamboj]
(3)Yet Kambu/Kamboj also means SILVER. [Kautalyas's Arathshastra see below]
http://www.swaveda. com/Governance/Arthashastra/Book%202.htm
(4)Yet another meaning of Kamboj is GOLD
(5)....and yet another meaning of Kamboj is a Conch or Shell.
All these products were native to ancient Kambojas.
As
is well known from ancient Sanskrit texts, in ancient times, a famed
product from a certain country was also known by the name of that
country. That a one meaning of Kamboja was a HORSE another was an
ELEPHANT clearly attests that besides horses, elephants were also
reared/found in plenty in ancient Kamboj country.
SEE MORE MEANINGS OF KAMBOJ BELOW:
[A] Kamboja
Kamboja as m. pl., N. of a people and its country
• m. the king of this people Pan. 4-1, 175
• a shell L
• a species of elephant L. (cf. kamboja.)
[B] Kamboja
kamboja mfn. (fr. kamboja g. sindhv-adi and kacchâdi), born in or coming from Kamboja (as horses) R. v, 12, 36 c
• m. a native of Kamboja (a race who, like the Yavanas, shaved the whole head
• originally a Kshatriya tribe, but degraded through its omission of the necessary rites W.
• a prince of the Kambojas MBh. i, 6995
• a horse of the Kamboja breed W
• (as), m. pl., N. of a people= Kamboja Mn. x, 44 MBh. R.: Ragh. BhP. Rajat
......................................................................................................................................
http://students.washington.edu/prem/mw/k.html
By TRUTHFUL on Saturday, August 28, 2004 - 8:36 am:KAFIRS KAMBOJ...
Another connecting link.
"Physically,
the Kafir do not seem to differ much from their neighbours; they speak a
language classed by some as Dardic. It is in their religion that their
ethnic individuality is most strikingly expressed. They practice a form
of polytheism; worship consists mainly in the sacrifice of animals.
Dancing is important, and shamans practice divination. PRIOR TO MODERN
LEGAL PROHIBTION OF THE CUSTOM, THE DEAD WERE DISPOSED OF, UNBURRIED, IN
HEAVY WOODEN COFFINS. LARGE WOODEN STATUES OF ANCESTORS, OFTEN ON HORSE
BACK***, TRADITIONALLY STOOD NEAR GRAVEYARDS, many of these works now
reside in museums. Housing in Chitral and Nurestan consists of strong
rectangular wooden buildings. The economy is based on agriculture and
the raising of goats and oxen".
http://www.ibcsk. com/nl/ency/eb.people.htm
***COMMENT:
The HORSE here again powerfully links the Nuristanis to the ancient
Kambojas. The ancient Kambojas were noted for their love for horses and
were remarkable horsemen/cavalary-men. Some of the Kafirs have a
tradition that they moved from plain valleys into the impenetrable
mountanous regions of Hindukush in wake of medieval Mohamadan
invasions. In the impenetratble mountanous regions of Hindukush, the
horse could not be reared/utilised to a advantage. Hence, though the
intruding Kafirs stopped the practice of horse-reering, but they started
erecting effigies of their 'ancestors on horsees' to commemorate the
love/fad of their ancestors for the horses.
By TRUTHFUL on Saturday, August 28, 2004 - 2:11 am:KAM/KAMOZ KATIR/KAMTOZ
[FROM SIAPOSH KAMBOJ TRIBE]
[1]
"Gul
Mohammad (Nuristani tribe, sub tribe of Kamozi* or Kam) is originally
from Kamdesh. One of the biggest authorities in the District is Mullah
Sadiq, who is the Head of Kamdesh shura. Also Mohammad Omar, who is one
of the elders."
"Kamdesh district is located alongside the
Kunar River in a very beautiful valley and it borders with Narai
district of Kunar (South) and - Bargimatal district of Nuristan (North).
To the East, Kamdesh borders with Chitral agency of NWFP of Pakistan
and Central Nuristan - to the West. "
"Administration is
located in the building (occupied school) on the main road, right at the
bottom of the hill, on top of which Kamdesh village itself is situated.
"
"The only reported conflict is between two sub-tribes of
Nuristani tribe: Kamozi [=i.e Kamoz of Robertson, Caumoje of
Elphinstone] and Kantozi (or Kate). Both live in Kamdesh district.
Kantozi** tribe is the minority (residing in three villages: Kushtuz,
Mandagal and Oja Rostom). "
"Around 600 families of Kantozi tribe were displaced from Kushtuz village after Kamdesh armed attack to the village in 1997. "
http://www.ecoi.net/pub/17354_D_Kamdesh.pdf
[2]
"The District is hosting around 150 IDP families from Kushtuz village (Kamdesh district)."
"These
families were displaced from Kushtuz due to armed conflicts between
Kamdesh (Kamozi* sub-tribe) and Kushtuz (Kantozi sub-tribe) tribes in
Kamdesh district. Currently IDP families are temporarily settled with
the host community (same tribe: Kantozi) in and around Nikmok village."
"Around
150 Kushtuz IDP families, who fled in 1997 from Kamdesh district
(Kushtuz village) as the result of violent raid on their village by
Kamdesh tribe. They are settled in the areas of Nikmok village.
Reportedly IDP and local communities are having good relationships and
no tensions have been reported. However, as mentioned by one of the
Bargimatal shura members, a group of Kantozi** tribe living in
Bargimatal supports Kushtuz in the conflict (this group reportedly has
link and support from Mullah Afzal, the leader of Lashkari-Tayab in
Pakistan, while another group is unhappy with other’s link with Mullah
Afzal and tries to convince the other group to maintain neutrality in
the conflict."
http://www.ecoi.net/pub/17355_D_Bargi_Matal.pdf
*NOTE
Kamozi [=Kam or Kamoz of Robertson, Camoje Caumoje of
Elphinstone]: The Kamoz clan is predominant in Bashgul valley/Kamdesh.
**NOTE:
Kantozi [=Katir or Kamtoz of Robertson, Camtoz of Elphinstone]: Kamtoz
or Katir clan is predominant in Karirgul valley.
[a]KOM/KAM or KAMOZ CLAN [Richard Strands]
Native Name: k'om.
Other
Names: "Kam" (Robertson [1896]), kâmozi (Pashto name), "Bashgali" (from
Khowar bašgal'i 'Nuristani; person from bašg'al [the lanDai sin
Valley]').
Location: the lower LanDai Sin basin and an
adjoining portion of the Kunar Valley. This land is traditionally called
kâm'aston in ancient Kom songs.
http://users.sedona.net/~strand/Nuristani/Kamkata/Kom/kom.html
[b] KATIR/KAMTOZ [Richard Strands]
Native
Name: kât'a. The population of the Râmg'al and kul'em Valleys in
western Nuristân were sufficiently propagandized at the time of their
conversion to Islâm to renounce their native name as synonymous with
"infidel." They now prefer simply to be called "Nuristâni."
Other
Names: kântozi (Pashto name), "Katir" (Robertson [1896]), "Bashgali"
(from Khowar bašgali 'Nuristani; person from bašgal [the lanDai sin
Valley]').
http://users.sedona.net/~strand/Nuristani/Kamkata/Kata/kata.html
By TRUTHFUL on Friday, August 27, 2004 - 8:49 am:Even on Islamization in 1896, the Nuristani Society is still divided into
(1}LAND-OWNING-LIVESTOCK-HERDING ELITE,
(2}a class of SKILLED CRAFTSMEN/CLASS OF UNSKILLED
CRAFTSMEN [called Slaves...See The Kafirs of Hindukush by Scott Robertson].
The
first class is the relic of the 'Ayyo'[=Arya] and the later the 'Daso'
[=Dasa, Slaves] of the Buddhist Text, Majhima Nikaya [II.149] with
reference the YAVANAS and the KAMBOJAS of CENTRAL ASIA in ancient times.
cf "In Yona and in Kamboja, and also in the neighbouring
countries, there are only two classes of people, masters and slaves, and
that a master could become a slave or vice versa".
Yona-Kamboj.esu….. dve’va vanna…..Ayyo ca va daso ca
ayyo hutva daso hoti, da so hutva ayyo hotiDasavya mucceya [see Majjhima Nikaya II/149]
Note
that since the Nuristanis had remained almost unaffected to the outside
cultural influences due to their isolation in the impassable defiles of
Hindukush mountain ranges, hence these people have kept up mayny of
their ancient social/cultural and religious customs still intact as we
already observed.
MODERN NURISTANI SOCIETY, EVEN AFTER
ISLAMIZATION IN 1896, STILL CARRIES THE RELICS OF THE ANCIENT SOCIAL
CUSTOMS PREVALENT IN KAMBOJA/YAVANA LANDS...... SEE BELOW.
"Nuristani
community is pretty much the same as other communities in the world.
Memberships in Nuristani communities are based on different cultural
factors. Different villages speak different languages. Within the same
valley Nuristani people make distinction based on location as well as
reputation.Nuristani society is based on groups. People see themselves
as belonging to different classes, an individual is either a member, by
birth of a free land-owing and livestock herding class or he is not. If
not, he belongs to craftsman class which makes him automatically belong
to low status in Nuristani community. Craftmans don't own livestocks but
these are the people who are builders, carvers, weavers,
potters,smiths, and tanners in Nuristan. Craftmans play very important
role in the community but still are not valued for their services. "
.................................................................................................................................
"These different classes are not found in every village in
Nuristan; in some villages there are no families of craftsman. In yet
other villages there are three distinct classes: the land-owing
livestock-herding elite, a class of skilled craftsmen, and a class of
unskilled craftsmen. Traditionally there were two ways in which a member
of elite would compete for higher status; by being a successful warrior
and by being public feast. Success was measured by the number of
enemies killed or number of people attending the feast. Feast system is
still very popular in Nuristan. (Jones 1969) "
http://members.rogers. com/gsahot0552/website/main.html
This
is because the Syaposh clans [the Kams (Kamoz), Katirs (Kamtoz) etc]
the dominant clans of Nuristan are stated to have descended from ancient
Kambojas.
By TRUTHFUL on Friday, August 27, 2004 - 9:19 am:CLANS OF SIAPOSHE TRIBE:
FROM RICHARD STRANDS' WEBSITE [with gratitude]
The kât'a, k'om, mum'o, kSt'o, bini'o, jâmc'o, and jâš'i
Native Names: kât'a, k'om, mum'o, kSt'o, bini'o, jâmc'o, and jâš'i, all speaking dialects of a single language.
Other
Names: kântozi, kâmozi, kuštozi (Pashto names), "Katir", "Kam"
(Robertson [1896 ]), "Bashgali" (from Khowar bašgali 'Nuristani; person
from bašgal [the lanDai sin Valley]').
Location: the kt'ivi
(Kântivâ) Valley in central Nuristân, the Râmg'al and kul'em Valleys of
upper Laghmân (western Nuristân), the lânDâi s'in Valley of eastern
Nuristân, some tributary valleys of the kun'aR (Kunar) River in
Afghanistan, and pockets along the Afghanistan border in Chitrâl
District, Pakistan.
http://users.sedona.net/~strand/Nuristani/Kamkata/kamkata.html
By TRUTHFUL on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 1:23 pm:FEAR,
RESPECT,
AND HATRED!!!
[1]
Writes
Scott Robertson: ".......The Kams hold much better together, and it
is probable that it is for this very reason that, although not a
numerous people, THEY ARE GREATLY RESPECTED by neighboring tribes, as
well as by Chitralis and Pathans..." [Ref: The Kaffirs of Hindukush,
1896, p 84, Sir Scott Robertson].
[2]
Again observes same
Scott Robertson: “All the neighboring Musalman tribes HAVE INTENSE
HATRED OF THE KAFIRS, with the exception, perhaps of the Kunar valley
Gabar villagers and Minjanis. This does not arise, I am convinced, from
religious prejudices....…as much as from the injuries the Musalmans have
had from the Kafirs through the long ages. Similarily, the Kafirs love
to dance to Gish (their god of war) after killing the Musalmans, but
their hatred of the Afghans is far more than religious fanaticism. Even
in times of remote past, it has kept the two people at bitter feud.
BOTH KAFIRS AND THE AFGHANS ARE BRIGANDS BY INSTINCT, AND BOTH ARE
CARELESS OF HUMAN LIFE. PERHAPS THE KAFIRS ARE THE WORST OF THE TWO IN
BOTH RESPECTS, but the Afghan makes the account more than even by his
added perfidy and cunning.” [Ref: The Kaffirs of Hindukush, 1896, pp
567-68, Sir George Scott Robertson].
[3]
BUT CLINCHER IS THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT OF SCOTT ROBERTSON:
"...The
Chtralis declared to me that the Kams and the Wei tribes are the
FIERCEST and MOST INTRACTABLE of all Kaffir tribes, while of those two,
the Kam were the MOST TO BE DREADED FOR THEIR MILITARY PROWESS. [Ref:
The Kaffirs of Hindukush, 1896, p 2-3, Sir Scott Robertson].
PERSONAL
COMMENT: It appears that the Mohamdans' respect for the Kams comes
simply because of their military prowess, since power naturally
commands respect. Otherwise, there is stated to be centuries-old feud
hatred among the Kafirs and the Mohamadans. And ironically, many
of the Mohamdans clan, especially the eastern Afghans, are also
descended from the ancient Kambojs!.
TRUTHFUL
By TRUTHFUL on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 10:58 am:THE KAFIRS =DESCENDENTS OF ANCIENT KAMBOJAS
Writing on Kafir population of Kafirstan/Nuristan, Donal N. Wilber, an American scholar states:
"They
[Kafirs] appear to be the decadent descendents of a more civilized
race and a mixture of three elements: an extremely ancient element
related to to the oldest known population of the central Himalayans**;
an element with resemblances to the Kurds; and a type that shows a
combination of Dinaric and Nordic traits and may go back to the most
ancient proto-type of these races, PRESERVED IN THE MIDST OF AN
INDO-ARYAN ASCENDENCY. It is quit certain, at any rate, that THE
NURISTANIS ARE AMONG THE OLDEST ETHNIC ELEMENTS COMPOSING THE AFGHAN
PEOPLE, AND UNIQUE IN THEIR RECORD OF HAVING REMAINED UNAFFECTED BY ANY
OF THE MAJOR RELIGIONS UNTIL THE END OF THE NINTEENTH CENTURY."
"Parts
of Nuristan formed a portion of the Greek strappy of the Paropamisadea
in the fouth and third centuries BC. The people were then called
Kambojas and described as of mixed Indo-Iranian descent***. Possibly
they occupied a much wider area then and were gradually forced... into
their present mountains by Moslem onslaught. One of their principal
tribes is still called Kam or Kamoz/Kamtoz." [(Afghanistan, its people,
its society, its culture, Donal N. Wilber, 1962, p 80, 311); cf Kamoz
of Scott Robertsen , Camoujees of Elphinstone, H. M. Wilson]
cf:
W. K. FRASER-TYTLER/M.C. GILLET: "All that seem at all certain that
parts of modern Kaffirstan formed a portion of Greek Strappy of
Paropamisade in 3/4th c BC and the people were then called Kambojas who
were of mixed Indo-Iranian descent***......In fact the scholars are of
the opinion that Kamboja and Kapisha, the native city of Adjoining Greek
capital might be identical..."
[Afghanistan..A Study of Political Developments in Central and Southern Asia, 1967, W. K. Fraser-Tytler, M. C. Gillet]
cf
"...here in Kaffirstan, we find the last relics of the Greek occupation
of Bacteria, and here are certainly remnants of a yet more ancient
PERSIAN STOCK with all the flotsam and Jetsam of high Asia
intermingled.....They are, from the point view of Kabol court, all
lumped under two denominations ...Siahposh and Lalposh" [The Gates of
India, p 270, Dr Holdich]
**NOTE: They are known as Viron or
Presun tribe. They have a very low forehead, close-set eyes, a broader
nose a receding chin a darker skin color...and it is possible that the
Presungelis represent the aboriginal inhabitants of the area.[Op cit
Donald N Wilber, p 51]. Scott Robertson also notes this Presun Kafir
population as very ancient and entirely different from the Siaposh
tribes of Kams/Katirs[Kam/Kamoz, Kamtoz]. According to him, Presuns
constitute aboriginal population, which was enslaved by the present
dominant tribes.
[Op cit Scott Robertson, p 78-85].
***
Compare also: "...............the Vamsa Brahmana Kamboja Aupamanyava
is spoken of as a pupil of Madragara, from which Vedic Index postulates a
possible connection of Uttaramadras with the Kambojas, who probably had
Iranian as well as Indian affinities ..." [Vedeic Index, I.84, 138, Dr
A. B. Keith, Dr Mcdonnel; Also Indian as Known to Panini, p 50, Dr V.
S. Aggarwala; cf An Ancient People of Panjab, the Udumbras, JA, 1926, p
11, Jeau Przyluski; cf: Ancient kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, p
170, Dr Kamboj]
[For further reference on Kafir/Kamboja
connection, see: Political History of Ancient India, 1996, p132, Dr H.
C. Raychaudhury, Dr P. N. Mukerjee; The Geographical Dictionery of
ancient and Mediaval India, Nando Lal Dev; cf: An Account of the Kingdom
of Caubol, M. Elphinstone, Vol II, p 375-77, fn p 619; Bombay Gaz, 1.I
408n; JRAS, 1842, 140; JSAB, 1874, 260n; Vishnu Purana, III, 292, H.
H. Wilson,Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, p 44, 120, 46
Dr Kamboj; The Achemenids and India, p 13, Dr S. Chattopadhya etc etc].
By TRUTHFUL on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 3:38 am:KAMBOJA/KAFIR CONNECTION:
SOME RELICS FROM THE PAST:
PART II
[2]
ANCIENT KAMBOJAS [DEMORCARCIES, REPUBLICS, OLIGARCHIES]
The
ancient Kambojas are also stated to be following repulican constitution
in governing their countries/tribes. As per Mahabharata evidences
several REPUBLICS of the Kambojas are also stated to be fightiing on
behalf of the Kaurvavas
Narayanashcha gopala kambojanah ca ye ganah...[Mahabharata 7/91/39]
Also,
Kautalya's Arathashastra in its chapter on the SANGHAS/REPUBLICS,
referers to the CORPORATIONS of the Kambojas and the Surashtra people.
[See Kautalya Arathashastera, Chapter 11, THE SANGHAS]
Kamboja-Surashtra kshatrya-shrenadyo varta-shaster opajivin [Kautalya 11/1/4]
"The
corporations of warriors (kshattriyasrení) of Kámbhoja, and Suráshtra,
and other countries live by agriculture, trade and wielding weapons"
http://projectsouthasia.sdstate.edu/Docs/history/primarydocs/Arthashastra/
Dr
Michael witzel interprets from Kautalya's evidence that the Kamboja,
Surashtra etc were probably oligarchies rather than pure democracies.
But,
Mahabharata clearly attests many GANAS OR REPULICS of the KAMBOJAS as
stated above. Henvce no doubt about Kamboja republics. Thus the Kambojas
had followed democratic constitutions since ancient times.
Some
noted scholars even argue that the use of suffix LUK with KAMBOJA
KSHATRYA JANA in the 4/1/175 of Panini's Ashtadhya [KAMBOJAL-LUK
4-1/175] is an apparent exception from rest of the fourteen KSHATRYAS
JANAS of the Paninan era who were all Kshatrya monarchies. Hence Dr K.
P. Jayswal and Dr J. L. Kamboj etc interpret KAMBOJAL-LUK that the
pre-Panian kings of the Kambojas, in fact, may have been king-consuls
[titular or nominal kings of the Kamboja Republics] and were probably
more like the commander-in-chiefs, war leaders in the battlefields.
Any
way, this shows that the ancient Kambojas did follow democratic
constitutions where all the Kashatrya class was duly represented....[but
not the artizens/slaves etc]
NOW THE KAFFIRS OF AFGHANISTAN
[SEE SOME GLIMPSES OF KAFFIAR DEMOCRACIES/OLIGARCHIES]
Scott
Robertson: "...Kaffirs are theocratically all equal. They maintain
this principle themselves. Actually there is an oligarchy or in some
tribes an aristocracy. The affairs of tribes such as Kams
[=Kamoz....Kamboj] are managed by a Jast nominally but actually by a
small group of greybeards who at ordinary times, rule in a more or less
an absolute way. The Katirs and the Madugalis submit to the rule of one
individual, unless their cupidity is aroused, when all common rules
apparently snap of their own accord.......the reason is thrown to the
winds and the gtavest difficulties arise...[Op cit pp, 434, 197]
'The
Kam ruling authority in ordinary times consists of three Jasts, who
were also Mirs and the priests. They use their power tactfully, and
always know the bent of public opinion"
KAFIR PARLIAMENT:
"Next
to this inner council of Jasts comes the orators, a troublesome class,
who have wonderful influence in exciting or convincing the people.
Volubility, assurance, and a good voice are powerful amongst the Kafirs
as elsewhere..............On all questions of policy, foreign or
domestic, Kafirs sit in Parliament. and discuss the matter noisily Yet
in ordinary times, the opinion of the inner council most likely
previously agreed upon among themselves prevails.."[Op cit Scott
Robertson, p 434-435]
"Kafir parliament is a strange sight.
Clamour is wonderful. A Dozen men, perhaps try to speak at once; each
has his own little group of listeners whose attention, if it wanders, he
seeks to call by loud ejaculations of 'ai-ai'! or by little pokes in
the ribs of with walking clubs. If some very exciting topic is being
discussed, perhaps all are talkers and none are listeners, but as a
rule, one of the tribal orator begins to speak , he gets the attention
of greater part of the assembly, his efforts are being helped by shouted
illustrations, or further arguments, by one or two of the admiring
friends...Kafirs love to argue among themselves to decide on some
definite line of action....Singly they are often reasonable, but when
they go off in a mob or group themselves under a tree and begin excited
discussion, it is practically impossible to foretell what they will
decide. Moreove the discussion arrived at one day is most likely to be
rescinded on the next day and reverted back on the third day.
........." [Op cit Scott Robertson, p 435-436]
"....A Kaffir
society is strongly traditional....if a perplexed stranger asks
explanation of certain practices or usages which are new to his
experience, the reply will invariably be "Insta charaza" ('it is our
custom'), and this will be said in a tone to imply that there is nothing
more to be said on this subject!. Fear of ridicule is a powerful factor
in preventing a Kafir from adopting novel procedures or inventing new
rules for action..........On controversial issues, he will wait to have
the matter settled by open tribal discussion" [Op cit Scott Robertson, p
438-439]
"The tyranny of the majority is very great. As a
rule, the minority gives ways at once. Indeed it must be so, for the
final argument is usually a threat. A Kaffir is accumtomed to rapidly
calculate what would be his chances of success if the matter in the
dispute were to end in fight and he deeply loves to fight with all the
probabilities in his favour. If physical superioity is against him, he
generally gives way at once acquiscing without rancor in the views of
the majority. .In his own way, a Kafir has an immense amount of eastern
fatality in his disposition. and is usually intelligent enough to
distinguish between what is and what is not inevitable!"
[Op cit Scott Robertson, p 439]
cf:
Relying on Scott Robertson, H. A. ROSE writes: "Inspite of their
social gradations, the Kaffir clans are in theory democracies, but
actually they are oligarchies and in some cases aristocracies"
[Glossary of Tribes and Castes of Panjab and north-western Frontier
Province, H. A. Rose, p 422]
It is intersting to note that the
Panjab Kambojs, the counter-parts of Kams/Kamozes of Kaffirstan also
settle their disputes by assembling the village elders/grey-beards or
else through the Panchayat as far as possible....it's only a last
resorts that they take to the Police or Law Courts
[3]
DISPOSAL OF THE DEADS:
The
ancient Kambojas are known to be affined both to Iranians as well as
Vedic Indians. Hence some Kambojas followed Vedic customs, while the
others followed Zoroasrian customs. Thus the custom of disposing of
deads by Kambojas of Trans/Cis-Hindukush regions under zoroastrian
influence were apparently Zoroastrian like throwing the deads in open
spaces to be devored by birds/carnivorous animals. It appears that by
Alexandra's times, rather than just throwing the deads in open, some
Kamboja clans of the Cis-Hindukush regions had started the practice of
packing the deads in wodden coffins and placing them in the cemetery at
the outer-skirts of their villages. This evidence comes to us from
Alexandra's historians with regard to the clans of the Aspasios. As
their name implies,(i.e Iranian ASPA=horse), the Aspasios apparently
were Iranians Kambojas......the same as the Ashvayans of Paninin's
Ashtadhyai ...4/1/110..The Ashvakayanas/Ashvaka Kambojas [with name
derived from Sanskrit ASHVA] were, on the other hand, probably more
under Indian cultural influence.
DISPOSAL OF THE DEADS BY KAM/KATIR KAFFIRS [Pre-1896 AD].
'The
Kaffir custom of disposing their deads is to place the body in a booden
coffin and and then place it outside the village in specially marked
out place, or a hill'. [Op cit, Sir George Scott Robertson]
cf: DONALD N WILBER [Pre-1896 AD Secnario]
".....When
an individual died, his body was placed in a wooden coffin set up
without burrial at the outer skirts of the village.......[Op cit Donald
Wilber, p 51].
By TRUTHFUL on Sunday, August 22, 2004 - 4:22 am:KAFIR/KAMBOJ CONNECTIONS:
SOME RELICS FROM THE PAST:
KAFFIR
TRIBES OF AFGHANISTAN ARE AMONG THE OLDEST ETHNIC ELEMENTS COMPOSING
THE AFGHAN PEOPLE, AND UNIQUE IN THEIR RECORD OF HAVING REMAINED
UNAFFECTED BY ANY OF THE MAJOR RELIGIONS UNTIL THE END OF THE NINTEENTH
CENTURY. THIS IS BECAUSE THEY INHABIT THE IMPASSABLE DEFILES OF
HINDUKUSH, PRACTICALLY ISLOLATED FROM REST OF THE WORLD. THUS IT IS
NATURAL THAT THEY MUST HAVE KEPT UP MANY OF THEIR ANCIENT CUSTOMS,
PRACTICES, USAGES AND INSTITUTIONS ALMOST INTACT.
ALSO WE
UNDERSTAND THAT THE SIAPOSH TRIBES [KAMS/KATIRS/KAMOZES/KAMTOZ] ARE
CONSIDERED THE MODERN REPRESNTATIVES OF ANCIENT KAMBOJAS. NOW LET US
CONCENTRATE ON SOME KNOWN CUSTOMS/PRACTICES OF THE KAMS/KATIRS AND
COMPARE THEM WITH THOSE FROM THE ANCIENT KAMBOJAS.
I will try to keep the things simple.
[1]
TWO SOCIAL CLASSES:
ASSALAYANA
SUTTA OF MAJJIMA NIKKAYA:[II.149] attests that amongst the Kambojas and
Yavanas, there were only TWO CLASSES in the society......[AYYO ca ay
DASO].....Masters and Slaves......Lords and Serfs
cf: "In the
Assaláyana Sutta (M.ii.149) it is stated that in Yona and in Kamboja,
and also in the neighbouring countries, there were, in the Buddha's
time, only two classes of people, masters and slaves, and that a master
could become a slave or vice versa. The Commentary (MA.ii.784) explains
that a brahmin would go there with his wife for purposes of trade and
would die there. His wife would then be compelled to work for her living
and her children would become slaves."
http://www.palikanon. com/english/pali_names/ka/kamboja.htm
REGARDING KAFFIR SOCIAL GRADING:
Now
if you examine the pre-1896 Kafir Society of Afghanistan, you will find
that the Kafirs society of Siahposhes i.e. Kams and Katirs
[=Kamoz/Kamtoz of Robertson, Camoje/Caumoje of Elphinstone/Wilson] was
also divided mainly into two classes ...TRIBALMEN/THE LORDS and THE
SLAVES or SERFS/ARTISANS. And interstingly, the Kafir two class society
was not rigid like the Brahmanical Chaturvarna [four classes] society.
According
Scott Robertson [pre-1896 AD]:, the Kafir society is basically divided
into TWO SOCIAL CLASSES.........(1).the Tribalmen and (2) the
serfs/slaves. The the Tribalmen owned land, property and could have a
say/vote in the Kafir parliament. The slaves weree either Artizen
classes or else bonded to their masters and were considered chattel i.e
personal property. They could be sold of/disposed of at will... [Kafirs
of Hindukush, 1896, Sir George Scott Robertson, pp 73-84]. The master is
otherwise kind to his slaves who do all menial labor for him.
The
First class comprised Mirs and Priests, Jasts (elders/seniors), all
members of large/small septs. They owned property, land and had a
voice/vote in the Kafir parliament.
The second class consisted
of members belonging to distinctly inferior family but freemen like
sheperds etc AND the slaves like artizen class.They could not
participate in the Kafir parliament.
cf: "Kafir tribal
structure described by Robertson was similar to that of other tribes in
Afghanistan, but in addition to the tribesmen, there were two non-tribal
classes, the poor freemen and slaves. Slaves were usually war captives
although they could be purchased from other Kafirs. The house slaves
lived with the family that owned them and enjoyed higher status than did
the artisan slaves who were treated much like occupational castes were
in India........'[Op cit Donald N Wilber, p 51-52]
Continued....in part II
By TRUTHFUL on Sunday, August 22, 2004 - 5:22 am:KAMBOJAS KAFIRS OF AFGHANISTAN
USEFUL INFORMATION:
[1]
THE KAMS ARE THE MOST RESPECTED/MILITARILY DREADED KAFIR CLAN IN KAFFIRSTAN
Writes
Scott Robertson: "...The Chtralis declared to me that the Kams and the
Wei tribes are the FIERCEST and MOST INTRACTABLE of all Kaffir tribes,
while of those two, the Kam were the MOST TO BE DREADED FOR THEIR
MILITARY PROWESS. [Ref: The Kaffirs of Hindukush, 1896, p 2-3, Sir Scott
Robertson].
Scott Robertson: ".......The Kams hold much
better together, and it is probable that it is for this very reason
that, although not a numerous people, they are greatly respected by
neighboring tribes, as well as by Chitralis and Pathans..........[Op
cit, Scott Robertson, p 84]
"..........The Kams are vitually the kings of Kafirstan,........." [op cit, Scott Robertson].
'The
Katirs [i.e Kamoz], Kams [i.e Kamtoz] and the Wei tribes are mainly
descended from the ancient Indian population of Eastern
Afghanistan....."***[Op cit p 157]
***Eastern and northern Afghanistan has been stated by the scholars to have foermed the ancient Kamboja land.
*******************************************************************
[2]
FOR KAM=KAMOZ and KATIRS=KAMTOZ
[region and tribal name, see below]
"..The
upper part of the Bashgul valley is called Katirgul [Lutdeh in
Chitrali or Kamtoz in Pashtu], the middle portion Muman [Madugal in
Chitrali] and lower part Kam [Kamdesh in Chitrali, or Kamoz in Pashtu]
(Op cit, p 71, Sir Scott Robertson, also cf p 76, where erroneously,
the Kartirs are called Kamoz and Kams are called Kamtoz]
Katirgul is occupied by the Katir Kaffirs where Kamdesh is occupied by the Kam/Kamoz Kaffirs.
KAMOZ == KAMBOZ == KAMBOJ
*******************************************************************
[3]
A FUNNY KAM/KATIR TRADITION
"...The
Katirs in the Bashgul valley informed me that they came from west, and
were once a part of a numerous tribe which divided into two parties. One
division consisting of the wealthy and their notable persons went to
London, while the other comprising the menials settled in Kaffirstan.
This depreciation of themselves is in the true spirit of oriental
politeness. They warned me not to trust the Kams or to believe them for
an instant if they declared that they and I were descended from a
common ancestors; for it was notorious that it was the Katirs and not
the Kams who wewre of my race, the Kams being really more akin to
Russians......" [op cit., p 159-160]
***********************************************************************
[4]
KAFFIR ALWAYS CLINGS TO HIS BLOOD:
'The
Kafir is always loyal to his blood. It is the race and the blood the
Kafir clings to...about religion he is comparatively indifferent. If a
Kafir slave boy, sold out of his tribe by its members were executed in
Chitral, he must be avenged by his tribe"..[op cit p 192].
cf: WARIS SHAH ON KAMBOHS/KAMBOJS OF PANJAB:
"Kukad Kaan Kamboh saluuk tina, nahin kise di ihna brabari ve'
This equally shows that the Kambojs of Panjab also similarly cling to their blood.
By TRUTHFUL on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 1:39 pm:[1] ASHVAGAN =AFGHAN = LAND OF HEROES [LAND OF CAVALARY-MEN]**
The
non-Afghan invaders first settled in Afghanistan before invading the
Indo-Pak subcontinent and all the invaders made use of Afghan soldiers
to carry out their military campaigns. These non-Afghan invaders made
use of Afghan soldiers simply because the Afghans were famous for their
acts of heroism; and this explains why the original name of Afghanistan
was Ashvagan, meaning land of the heroes and from Ashvagan the name
evolved into Afghanistan.
http://jang. com.pk/thenews/nov2003-daily/13-11-2003/oped/o6.htm
[2] ASHVAGAN =AFGHAN ='LAND OF THE HORSES'***
And
now, many years later, my eyes have been opened by a host of personal
events, and a series of good people, to a new point in my life where I
quietly practice the religion which I publicly acclaimed more than
twenty years ago in a long-gone and war-free Ashvagan (the Persian word
for Afghanistan, meaning "LAND OF HORSES"). I no longer wear guns. My
sword collects dust and sleeps with her memories. But most importantly, I
try in my daily life to put into practice what the Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) taught, mainly to love my fellow man and to worship naught but
God.
http://www.thelongridersguild. com/Word02.htm
[3] ASHVAGAN =AFGHAN='LAND OF THE HORSES'***
Poor
Afghanistan. The Persian rule in Ashvagan ('LAND OF HORSES') as the
area was then known, was overthrown in 1747 and a monarchy established
in the land thereafter to be known as Afghanistan. The Shahs and Amirs
ruled until 1973 when the country became a republic. In 1994 the Taliban
converted the republic into an emirate.
http://www.dawn. com/weekly/cowas/20011104.htm
[4] ASHVAGAN =AFGHAN='LAND OF THE HORSES'***
Ashvagan,
the ‘LAND OF HORSES,’ as Afghanistan was once known long, long ago,
formed itself into a state in 1747. The first Amir, Ahmad Khan ruled
well and wisely (1747-73). His brothers and sons succeeded him, the last
of the family, brother Mahmud being overthrown in 1818. Thereafter, for
eight years, anarchy prevailed. It was during this period that
Afghanistan became the main playing field for the Great Game, started in
1824 and which now, almost two centuries later, still continues.
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/1998/05Sep98.html#ashv
[5] ASHVAGAN=AFGHAN = 'LAND OF THE HORSES'***
Et
maintenant, plusieurs années plus tard, mes yeux se sont ouverts par
une foule d'évènements personnels, et par une série de gens bons, et je
suis arrivé à un nouveau point dans ma vie où je pratique tranquillement
la religion que j'ai acclamé publiquement il y a plus de vingt ans dans
un Ashvagan (le mot Perse pour Afghanistan, qui veut dire "Terre des
Chevaux") disparu depuis longtemps et paisible. Je ne porte plus les
armes. Mon épée est couverte de poussière et dort avec sa mémoire. Mais
le plus important, c'est que j'essaie au quotidien de mettre en pratique
ce que le Prophète Mahomet (PBUH*) nous a enseigné, surtout d'aimer ses
semblables et de ne vénérer que le bon Dieu.
TTRANSLATION:
"And now, several years later, my eyes opened by a crowd of personal
events, and by a series of good people, and I arrived at a new point in
my life where I quietly practise the religion which I acclaimed publicly
there is more than twenty years in Ashvagan (the word Perse for
Afghanistan, which wants to say "LAND OF THE HORSES") for a long time
disappeared and peaceful. I do not carry any more the weapons. My sword
is covered with dust and sleeps with its memory. But most important, it
is that I try with the daily newspaper into practice to put what the
Prophet Mahomet (PBUH *) taught us, especially to like its similar and
to venerate only good God."
http://www.worldtrailrides. com/1voyageacheval/chevalislam.htm
http://www.worldtrailrides. com/pdf_files/chevalislam.pdf
**COMMENT -1: ASHVAGAN=LAND OF HEROES OR CAVALRY-MEN
Mahabharata especially referes to the Kambojas as ASHVA-YUDHA-KUSHALAH...i.e. THE KAMBOJAS AN EXPERT CAVALARY-MEN OR HORSEMEN..
See below Ancient Sanskrit evidence:
tathA yavana KAMBOJA mathurAmabhitash cha ye /.
ete ashva.yuddha kushalA dAkShiNAtyAsi charmiNaH//
[Mahabharata 12/105/5]
cf: "..... The Kambojas of Ashoka and of the Sanskrit and Pali texts thus occupy exactly
the
same position as Arrian's Assakenois (Ashvakas). We thus get another
name for the Kambojas, i.e Ashvakas. The Kambojas were famous for their
horses and as cavalar-men (ashva-yuddha-kushalah); Ashvaka, 'horsemen'
was the term popularly applied to them" [Hindu Polity, A Constitutional
History of India in Hindu Times, Part I II, 1972, p 140, Dr K. P.
Jayswal]
***COMMENT-2:
ASHVAGAN=AFGHAN= 'LAND OF THE HORSES'
Compare KAMBOJO-ASSANAM.AYATANAM of the Buddhist Jataka SAMANGAVILASINI [P.T.S.]
Vol I, p 124, which expression literally means 'THE KAMBOJA COUNTRY IS THE 'LAND OR HOME OF THE HORSES'.
Cf Dr B. C. Law:
"The
horses of Kamboja were famous throught all periods of Indian History.
In the Sumnagalavilasini, Kamboja is spoken of as home of horses
[Kambojo assanam ayatnam....Sumangalavilasini Vol I, p 124]. The great
Epic is full of references to the excellent horses of
Kamboja..................."[Some Kshatrya Tribes of Ancient India, p
238, 'The Kambojas', Dr B. C. Law]
http://punjabi.net/talk/messages/1/52683.html?1075172231
http://punjabi.net/talk/messages/1/21776.html?1020043322
cf Dr J. L. KAMBOJ:
"The
Buddhist texts like Samangavilasini, Manorathapurani, Visudhimagga,
Kunala Jataka etc refers to the Kamboja land as 'Kambojo Assanama
ayatanam'........i.e.Kamboja ...the 'HOME OF HORSES'............."
[Ancient Kamboja, People And the Country, 1981, p 26, 124, 244, Dr
Kamboj]
cf Dr J. C. Vidyalankar:
"KAMBOJO ASSAANAMAYATANAM
=KAMBOJA ........ THE LAND OF HORSES .."[Ref: Bharrat Bhumi Aur Unke
Nivasi, , 1930, p 274-304, Dr J. C. Vidyalankar; also Bhartya Itihaas
ki rup rekha, p 526-537]
cf Dr H. C. RAYCHAUDHURY, Dr B. N MUKERJEE:
".............
With the sxpression Assanam Ayatanam ...'LAND OF HORSES' used by
Pali Texts in reference to Kambojas, [Dictionery of Pali Proper Names,
I, 826, cf Mahabharata VI, 99, 3] may be compared to the names Aspasios
and Assakenois given by classical writers to the sturdy people living in
the Alishang and Swat valleys in the days of Alexander (Camb Hist Ind
I, 352 n)" [Ref: Politicla History of Ancient India, 1996, p 133, p 216
foot note 2, Dr H. C. Raychaudhury, Dr B. N. Mukerjee, while writing on
Kambojas]
cf: K. S. DARDI
".....Panini has used tewrm
Ashvakayana for Kambojas..... This Sanskrit Ashvakayan or Aashvakan
means the 'THE HOME OF THE HORSES'.. or the 'THE LAND OF THE
HORSES'......" [Ref: These Kamboj People, 1979, p 193, K. S. Dardi]
Also compare the following from Buddhist website:
KAMBOJA (KAMBOJAKA)
"One
of the sixteen Mahájanapadas which, with Gandhára, belonged, not to the
Majjhimadesa but, evidently, to the Uttarápatha (A.i.213; iv.252, 256,
260). It is often mentioned as the FAMOUS BIRTH PLACE OF HORSES (assánam
áyatanam) (E.g., DA.i.124; AA.i.399; Vsm.332; also J.iv.464)......."
http://www.palikanon. com/namen/ka/kamboja.htm
COMMENT-3:
In Indo-Iranian languages,
'g' can replace 'k' or vice versa
so also 'p' and 'b' or
'p' and 'f'.
't' and 'd'
Hence
the Sanskrit ASHVAKA or ASHVAKAN which comes from ASHVAKAYAN of
Panini's Ashtadhyai [IV-1.99] becomes ASHVAGAN.[k ==>>g]. Hence,
according the above writers:
ASHVAKAN ==>> ASHVAGAN ==> AFGHAN [=LAND OF THE HORSES....i.e THE ANCIENT KAMBOJA LAND].
By TRUTHFUL on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 3:50 pm:Dr Ishwa Mishra's Views on Rajputs
[Appeared in Indiancivilization Yahoo discussion forum]
To
assign a foreign (mostly Hunnic and Scythic) origin to the Rajaputras,
was perhaps completely in the line of AIT-thinking. Having perhaps also
branded Hinduism at that time as too passive or peaceloving (read:
weak), the warring leaders must have risen from a foreign influx.
First
of all, I believe that the word Scyth and Saka/Shaka should be
distinguished. The Skuthai are more connected with the Kshudrakas, but
never re-entered Indian soil, as they were busy in the steppes and the
Pontic area. And the Shakas are connected with the Kambojas (see
Mahabharata, where Pahlava, Parada and Shakas are mentioned as Kamboja
Rshi-kas).
Though they (Scyths and Saka/Shaka) were very closely connected, they were not similar.
The
Scythians were called by the Assyrians Ashkuza or Ishkuza; as with the
Kimmerians or Gimmiri, this word also appears to have found its way into
the Old Testament; one of Gomer's (Gimmiri) three sons, in Genesis
I.x.12, is called Ashkenaz, which has given us the modern Hebrew word,
Ashkenazi [Ashvakayana?].
Many tribes in the farther NW were
Indian, specially within the Hindukush areas! See the classical
references of Indian tribes from Alexander's time on (Panini has also
mentioned them, like the Ashvakayanas, Ashvayanas, Maunjayanas,
Triravatis, Dviravatis, etc. if I am not Wrong).
The Northern
Massagetai of Transoxiana were Shakas, closely connected with the
Mashaka Ashvakayanas of Gandhara (Assakenoi with the capital Massaga.
Mashaka is also a famous SamaVedic teacher of the Kauthuma- Parashara
Charana). While the Kambojas lived in Gandhara, the Parama- Kambojas
lived beyond the HinduKush, which is Bahlika. These Kambojas went to
W.China too.Other Gandhara-Kambojas went to Kandahar and Seistan,
establishing another Shakasthana, from the original Shaka- dvipa, modern
Rechna Doab, with the Kathaioi capital Shakala-Sangla
(The
Massagetai were responsible for the migration of the Skuthai out of the
Oxus area, who on their turn caused migrations of the Kimmerians,
according to the History of Herodotos). We have the Sogdoi in Sindh, but
also in Sogdiana,etc. at least in the 4th c BC. The Persian
Inscriptions place the Shakas in Indian territories. Having said this,
if any of the Rajputs (of NW) are 'Scythic' or 'Saka', they are still
Indians.
The four principal Agnikulas are from the subcontinent. Chauhana is simply a Prakritic form, that is why it looks so foreign.
Chauhaana/Chahvaana/Chahamaana
must have had a second part *vaahana which became contracted to
vaa-ana and vaana. Vahana was a part in a name which was very often used
by kings. The first part may have been either 'chapa' or another form.
(The Bhavishya Purana gives the form 'Chapahaani').
The
Bhavishya connects the Agnikula Vamshas with 4 Gotras, which may explain
the word 'Agni': they were perhaps in the same line as the
sharmaka-varmakas, like the Licchavis earlier, and other Shastropajivi
communities of pre-Gupta Era. The martial mode of life was very
important especially in the border areas of the subcontinent.
The
society was much more flexible than is mostly assumed and mentioned. If
the Malloi-Malya/Bala Janapada, a branch of the Kathaioi Janapada(Katha
Parashara Gotra) were very closely working with Oxydrakai-Kshudraka
Janapada, then we have here Shastropajivi republican Brachmanoi working
closely and equally with republican Kshudrakas-Shuudrakas (the Panjabi
Abhiras). These two communities were two of the most fiercest opponents
of Alexander in Multan- SPanjab.
The Malla-Bala under
leadership of Kanakasena, contemporary of SamudraGupta and later his
general, went perhaps south to the Sogdoi (*Shugdrakas or Shuudrakas) of
Sind and later to Gujarat to Abhira and other Shaka areas, after the
raids of Alexander.
Regards,
Ishwa
By TRUTHFUL on Sunday, August 15, 2004 - 11:57 pm:The Mountain Meru
".....Our
sources on Alexander are focussed on warfare, but they give some
information about the Gandarians too. Their towns were surrounded by
brickwork fortifications, they fought with spears and arrows -no swords
and shields are mentioned- and their leaders wore cuirasses. They had
beautiful buffaloes (Alexander wanted to send them to Macedonia), and
their towns were ruled by an aristocracy. Once, a queen is mentioned.
And the Gandarians buried their dead in wooden coffins, which were
placed on the hills around their towns. This custom still exists among
the Kafirs***, a local tribe near Chitral."
http://www.livius.org/ga-gh/gandara/gandara.html
The
custom of disposal of the deads among the Kafirs was first described by
Sir Gerorge Scott Robertson, an English Investigator, who had spent 3-4
years with the Kam Kaffirs in Kamdesh in Kaffirstan [now Nuristan]. He
has studied these people extensively and wrote his observation in an
excellent book called 'The Kaffirs of Hindukush published in 1896. He
states that it is a custom among the Kaffirs to put the dead body in
the wooden coffin which is then placed outside the village in a
specially marked out place.
Also Donald N Wilber:
Writing
on Kaffirs/Nurustanis whom he calls the descendents of ancient
Kambojas, Donald N Wilber, an American Scholar notes: "When an
individual dies, his body is placed in a wooden coffin set up without
burrial at the outer skirts of the village..."[Afghanistan, its people,
its society, its culture,1962, Donald N. Wilber, p 51]
FOR KAFFIRS BEING DESCENDENTS OF ANCIENT KAMBOJAS
[See
Afghanistan, its people, its society, its culture,1962, Donald N.
Wilber, p 51, 311 Donald Wilber; also ref: Afghanistan Study of
Political Developments in Central and Southern Asia, 1967, W. K.
Fraser-Tytler, M. C. Gillet; An Account of the kingdom of Caubol, Vol
II, p 375-77, Elphinstone, Bombay Gaz, I. 1, 498,n; JRAS., 1843, 140;
JASB, 1874, 160 n; Political Sistory of Ancient India, 1996, p 133, Dr
H. C. Raychaudhury; Sidhant Kaumudi, Acharya R. R. Pande, 1966, p 20-22;
The Achemenids and India, p 13, Dr S. Chattopadhya; Ancient Kamboja,
People and the Country, 1981, p 43-44, 120, 223 etc etc]
cf:
"There is an apparent trace of their [Kambojas'] name in the Camojees of
Kafirstan , who may have retreated to mounbtains before the advance of
Turk tribes. [Vishnu Purana, III, 289-92, H. H. Wilson]
By TRUTHFUL on Sunday, August 15, 2004 - 3:06 am:ALEXANDRA'S COMPAIGN 326 BC
The Punjab
"By
the end of 327, Alexander the Great had secured the northern frontier
of his kingdom and was ready for a new campaign: to India, a country
that the Greeks already knew from the Histories by Herodotus of
Halicarnassus, but his reports were incredible (click here for the
famous story about the gold digging ants). Invading India was like
invading a country of fairy tales".
"It was an unnecessary
war, and its only cause must have been Alexander's curiosity and desire
for war. If he had any doubts, these were suppressed when he remembered
that his mythological ancestors Dionysus and Heracles had visited
India, something that needed to be emulated. Another argument to move to
the east must have been the presence of two Indian princes at
Alexander's court, SISICOTTUS** and OMPHISs (or Sasigupta and Ambhi, to
use their Indian names). The first was at war with the tribe of the
Assacenes [ASHVAKA-KAMBOJAS], the second was afraid of king Porus
(Puru) and tried to enlist foreign help against his enemy."
"Alexander's
campaign through the foothills of the Himalayas was in fact little
short of genocide. When Alexander was lightly wounded during the siege
of a hill fortress and it was taken, all defenders were massacred. In
another valley, the terrorized population fled after destroying their
own villages. A sad story is that about Alexander's men who, during a
cold night, burned the small wooden boxes they found in the neighborhood
of a town they were besieging. Too late they discovered that these
boxes were coffins***; the population was shocked about this sacrilege.
When the capital of the Assacenes, a town called Massaga (near modern
Chakdarra), surrendered, Alexander demanded that the mercenaries that
had defended the town joined his own army, but after they had placed
themselves at Alexander's mercy, he ordered their extermination."
http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander13.html
**SISICOTTOS:
CHIEFTAIN SISICOTTUS HIMSELF APPEARS TO HAVE BELONGED TO ASHVAKA
KAMBOJA CLAN. HE HAD ENEMITY WITH THE ASHVAKAS OF KUNAR/SWAT VALLEY.
ORIGINAALY SISIGUPTA BELONGED TO CIS-HINDUKUSH REGION, BUT DUE TO
POLITICAL REASONS, HE HAD LEFT HIS LAND AND GONE TO BACTERIA. THIS
SISICOTTOS HAD HELPED ALEXANDRA IN HIS MILITARY COMPAIGN AGAINST THE
CHIEFTAIN OF SOGADHA [TRANS-OXIAN COUNTRY] AND LATER AGAINST
CIS-HINDUKUSH TRIBES/CLANS INCLUDING ASPASIOSA/ASSAKENOIS ALSO. AFTER
THE ASVHAYANAS/ASHVAKAYANAS[Aspasiuos/assakenois of classical writings]
HAD BEEN REDUCED BY ALEXANDRA IN 326, SISICOTTOS WAS MADE GOVERNOR OF
THEIR COUNTRY. DR J. C. VIDYALANKAR CALLS THIS SASIGUPTA AS THE KAMBOJA
CHIEFTAIN.[ITIHAAS PARVESH, pp 115-118, Dr VIDYALANKAR]
***WOODEN
COFFINS: This reference is extremely important and probably refers to
the Kamboja ancestors of modern Kam/Katir clans [Kamtoz Kamoz
clans] of Kaffirstan. Till as late as 1895 AD, it was a custom among
the Kam/Katir Kaffirs of Kaffirsthan to dispose off their deads by
placing them into wooden box coffins and then leaving the wooden coffins
exposed in the open marked-out space, outside the village [Ref: The
Kaffirs of Hindukush, 1895, Robertson Scot]. It appears that the
Kams/Katirs of Kaffirsthan had continued this ancient custom till the
end of 19th c AD until they were converted to Islam.
Apparently,
this practice of disposing their deads was a Non-vedic....probably was
of Zoroastrian influence....... either throwing them in open spaces to
be devored by birds/animals or confining them into coffins and then
leaving them into open spaces. This information again very well matches
the Indo-Iranian characeristics of the ancient Kambojas.
By TRUTHFUL on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 12:13 am:ZUBAIRI VIEW OF THE KAMBOH/KAMBOJ ORIGIN:
The
Zubair Kambohs were probably the earliest section of the Kambojs to
have converted to Islam. They were very powerful during Lodhi, Pathan
and Moghul rule in India and occupied very high military and civil
positions as ruling elites.
http://kambojsociety. com/moslem.asp
But
like most other Moslems, they trace their origin from Mecca/Medina and
profess to be related to the Prophet. It has to be noted that it has
almost become a fashion among the Moslems of North-west to claim their
ancestral links with Prophet Mohammad.[Scot Robertson, Caroe Olaf]. So
much so, even the Kam/Kamoz Kaffirs [now Nuristanis] who were islamised
only as late as 1895, claim themselves as originally from Arab, some say
from Koreish tribe. [The Kafirs of Hindukush, 1896, p 158, Goerge Scott
Robertson].
READ THE FOLLOWING TEXT FROM ZUBAIRE SITE:
Hazrat Zubair (R.A.A.)
"This
write up is based up on Tabaqat-e-Ibn-e-Saad, "Al-Mashahir" by Hakim
Faiz Ahmad of Marehra, 'Khandan-i-Zubairi Kanbhavi' by Moulvi Hasan
Ahmad Zubairi, Kitab-i-Zeest by Al-Haj Mohammad Zubair, and the
Suharwardy Aulias. of Lahore."
"Zubairis are descendents of
Hazrat Zubair (R.A.A.) bin Awam, who was closely related to our Prophet
Mohammad (S.A.A.W.) through several family connections. His mother
Hazrat Safia was the real sister of the father of the Prophet. The
family tree of the Prophet and Hazrat Zubair meet on Kallab at the fifth
generation of the Quraish of Macca."
..............................................................................................................................
"Hazrat Zubair (R.A.A.) had twelve sons and nine daughters from several wives and thus he was the head of a large family."
"His
three famous sons in Islamic History are Abdullah, Musab and Urwah.
During Amir Mawiyah's rule, Hazrat Abdullah (R.A.A.) did not acknowledge
Yazid as successor to the Caliphate. After the battle of Karbla, Hazrat
Abdullah bin Zubair (R.A.A.) was proclaimed as Caliph of Islam at Mecca
and ruled a part of the Islamic world for about nine years (from 64.
A.H. to 73 A.H.) Hazrat Musab was his governor over Northern Areas, but
in the mean time the Ummayads, under Abdul Malik (who controlled Syria)
began to assert themselves and became so strong that they attacked Mecca
in 73. A.H. Though Hazrat Abdullah (R.A.A.) was killed in the vicinity
of Ka'aba, but his bravery was acknowledged by every historian of that
period. Before that event, Hazrat Musab, who was governor of Kufa was
attacked by Abdul Malik and due to the betrayal of the Iraqis, he was
also killed near Busra."
"Hazrat Abdullah and Hazrat Musab
were known for their bravery and fighting spirits. They were not as
intriguers as the Ummayads were, and therefore they were defeated
because of the betrayal of the Iraqis and some other tribes, who sold
their loyalties to the Ummayads. Thus the first and the last caliphate
of the Zubairis ended with the martyrdom of Hazrat Abdullah Ibne-Zubair
(R.A.A.) in 73 A.H."
KAMBOHS ORIGINATED FROM URWAH, THE THIRD SON OF HAZRAT ZUBAIR:
"Third
famous son of Hazrat Zubair (R.A.A.) was Urwah, who was a man of
letters and a historian. He was the first Muslim historian who wrote a
book on the wars (Maghazi) of the Prophet of Islam. In Al-Nadim (an
Encyclopedia of the Arabic works written upto the Abbasid period)
several books of Hazrat Urwah are also mentioned in it. The Zubairis
started migration from Mecca and Madina towards Sindh, some 40 or 50
years after its conquest by Mohammad bin Qasim. They settled in a place
known as "KANBAH", which was near modern Dadu. Shamsuddin A1 Bashari, a
renowned historian and a geographer traveled in Sindh extensively in the
4th century of Hijra and in his Book he wrote that: "I travelled the
whole area, which is known as "KANBAYAH" which is the abode of
Al-Zubair. KANBAYAH became "KANBAH" and later it changed into
"KANBOH"*due to linguistic variations in the Persian period. Though this
linguistic change became common, the people did not change and they are
still having their special trends." (page 475 of the Lyden Edition,
Germany), as referred by Al-Haj Mohammad Zubair in his book "Kitab-i-
Zeest (Book of life) Page 123".
*KANBOH=KAMBOH
"Latest
observation about the Zubairis is by Mr. Khalid Chaudhry who visited a
number of countries in search of belongingness and whose article appeard
in Daily "Dawn" (Magazine Section dated February 21, 1999) and he
writes that; "Our people Pakistanis, came from every where, beginning
with the Aryans, to the Greeks, the Mongols, Central Asians, and the
Arabs. We now have such family names as Zuberis speaking Urdu, but
usually having semitic noses, lighter complexions and Arab origins
likewise for the Arabs of Sindh, but who speak Sindhi" Our Arabic
origin, special features and trends, and distinguished mental faculties
made us a prominent family in the Indo- Pakistan sub-continent". **
Second
migration of the Zubairis took place by the end of the 4th centry A.H.
From Sindh to Multan, when Sindh was overrun by the Carmathians, a Shia
Sect., opposed to the Abbasid Caliphate, at that time.
The Zubairis
http://www.islamicaweb. com/archive/read/t-7616.html
http://www.islamicaweb. com/forums/showthread.php?t=7616
**
IMPORTANT REMINDER: Accept the reality Mr Khalid Chaudhury Zubairi
Kamboh Sahib. Clean up your mirror and then look into it very carefully.
You will notice that you have Aryan and not semitic nose, an Aryan and
not semitic complexions/features. And therefore, you indeed have Aryan
and not a semitic blood and lineage. This is a fact of history you need
to accept...sooner the better. You are indeed from ancient Indo-Iranian
Aryan Kamboj blood...Dont follow the mirage. You need to be aware of
your actual Kamboj lineage...a very glorious, prideful and ancient
lineage to all intents and puposes...
This is fact of history.
BTW: FOLLOWING IS ANOTHER ZUBERI KAMBOH SITE.
http://www.zubairy.8m. com/photo_album.html
By TRUTHFUL on Saturday, July 31, 2004 - 11:16 pm:The
ASSAKENOI people of the classical writings are ASSAKAN of Pali Texts
and ASHVAKAN/ASHVAKAYAN of the Sanskrit literature. ASSAKA = Horse
people, cavaliers from ASSA.ka [also see KAMBOJO-ASSA.NAM.AYATANAM =
Kamboja homeland of horses.......as refered in Manarathpurni,
Sumangavilasini, Kunalajataka and Visudhimagga of Buddhist literature.
In Mahabharata, the same people are refered to as ......
'Kambojah.......ite Ashva.yuddha.kushalah= i.e. the Kambojas, an expert
cavalary....MBH 12/101/5].
These people lived in Swat valley,
the ancient Land of Kambojas. Their capital city was Massaga or
Mashkavati. Unlike the Gandharas of Taxila who submitted without giving
a fight, these brave Ashvakayan Kambojas [=Kamboj cavalary,
=Horseriders, =horsepeople] defied Alexander in the very face, and along
with their wives and daughters, these people
had fought a heroic battle against Alexander.....
...finally being overpowered by a well-trained and
world-class military forces of Alexander. The Ashvakas or Assakenoi Kambojs laid down heir lives,
Along with their wives and daughters, thus achieving a glorious martyrdom rather than submitting to the
foreign invaders.
This
saga remains a glorious chapter of the Kamboj history. The tantalizing
story of Ashvaka/Alexandra fight is told by Diodorus [Diodorus in
McCrindle p 270....also Plutarch, Arrian, Curtius]
It is note
worthy that Alexander was forced to enter into a peace treaty with the
Ashvakas. And the proposal had come from Alexander himself [see Plutarch
in McCrindle, p 306]. But later, Alexander flagrantly violated the
treaty terms and attacked his opponents from behind and massacred the
Abhisarean
Kambojas mercelessly.
PLUTARCH swears at this
cowardly action of Alexandra saying: "This unheroic action will always
remain an infamous blot on the military achievements of Alexander"
SANDERSON BECK: "The Assakenoi resisted Alexander with tens
of thousands of cavalry and infantry in a fortress at Massaga. After the
king was killed, the army was led by his MOTHER, Queen CLEOPHIS [Kripi
in Sanskrit] and included the LOCAL WOMEN. After several days of heroic
fighting, Alexander offered these brave people their lives if the
mercenaries would agree to join his army; the city capitulated. But not
wanting to fight other Indians, the seven thousand mercenaries tried to
run away from the camp and were slaughtered by Alexander's soldiers".
http://www.san.beck.org/EC10-Social.html
By TRUTHFUL on Saturday, July 31, 2004 - 12:30 pm:MORE ON ASSAKAN=ASHYVAKAN=ASHVAKAYAN=AFGHAN
"..............According
to local tradition the eastern part of Hara ("Ghor"), where the Hari
River rises, was once settled by a people referred to as "Assakan" and
"Bnei Yisral" or Children of Israe l20. "ASSAKAN" was shortened to "Sak"
or "Sok" and local Muslim lore equated the term with the ame "Isaac",
father of Israel21. A dialectical variation of "ASSAKAN" is AFGHAN 22
and the names "Bnei Yisral" and "Afghan" were applied later to a group
from Armenia who settled in the area after the original "Bnei Yisral"
and "Assakan" had moved out23.................."
http://www.britam.org/3rd-Edition/The-Tribes-Chapter-Four.html
COMMENT:
It is baloney to relate the AFGHANS to the ISRAILIS.
But
the article accepts connection between name AFGHAN and ASSAKA/ASSAKAN
[=ASHVAKA/ASHVAKAN=ASHVAKAYANA of Panini's Ashtadhyai..4.1.110; cf :
Asvayana of Panini's Ashtadhyai...6.4.174 = the ASSAKENOIS and the
ASPASIOIS of classical writings. These Ashvayan/Ashvakayan people
occupied Kunar/Swat valleys and their land was called Kambojo
Assa.nam.ayatanamma..Kamboja land of horses in Buddhisat Texts like
Sumangavilasini]
TRUTHFUL
By TRUTHFUL on Thursday, July 29, 2004 - 6:14 am:INCORRECT:
**COMMENT-2:
It is obvious that there is no life and force in the arguments of this
author, who relates the Mong-2ols with the Sanskrit
Ashvakas/Ashvakayanas/Asvayanas, Pali Assaka/Asmaka(?) and the Greek
Assakenois/Aspasios. The Ashvakas are known to be living Swat/Kunar
valleys since 4th c BC or much earlier....
CORRECTION:
**COMMENT-2:
It is obvious that there is no life and force in the arguments of this
author, who relates the Mongols with the Sanskrit
Ashvakas/Ashvakayanas/Asvayanas, Pali Assaka/Asmaka(?) and the Greek
Assakenois/Aspasios. The Ashvakas are known to be living Swat/Kunar
valleys since 4th c BC or much earlier....
Inadvertent error is regretted.
By TRUTHFUL on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - 10:39 pm:ASHVAKAS/ASSAKAS...........THE KAMBOJAS
Greek and Roman References
ANOTHER VIEW:
"In
a well-known and much repeated story, Herodotus (4th century B.C.)
mentions a war-like people on the frontier of India, near to whom are
found gold-digging ants. Herodotus provides the name Dadikai for one of
the groups living on India's frontier, which was then the seventh
satrapy of the Achaemenian empire. Writing much later, Strabo (64 B.C.
to A.D. 23) and Pliny (A.D. 23 to A.D. 79) repeat Herodotus' story and
name the war-like people Dardae. Alexander, whose travels provide much
of the data for classical geography of India, apparently did not meet
any Dard people, but he did go to a place called Daedala.
Curtius
reports Alexander fought against people called Assakenoi in Daedala.
Tucci assumes the Assakenoi were a Scythican tribe*** whose name derives
from the word for horse (Tucci 1977:29). Herodotus' Dadikai may be the
Persian name for the darada given in the Puranic lists, which Strabo and
Pliny applied to the war-like people whom they equated with Curtius'
Assakenoi. Hence, Herodutus' original citation appears to have been
derived from Puranic sources. Finally, Ptolemy gives us a map that shows
the Indus River arising in the country of the daradrai (map in
McCrindle 1885), a term that appears to be received from Sanskrit epic
and Puranic sources."*
http://www.monitor.net/~jmko/karakoram/dard.htm
*COMMENT-1:
The Dardae were living north to Asakenois. Assakenois were living in
Kunar/Swat Valleys. Where as Dardas were located north-west of Ksshmir.
The Kambojas and Dardas are mentioned living to gether in Sanskrit
literature [e.g. DARDAN SAHA KAMBOJAIRAJYAT PAKSHASNI....MBH 2/27/23:
also cf: KAMBOJA DARDASHCHA BARBARA ANGLOKIKA......see Kirfel's text of
Uttarapatha countries of Bhuvanakosha/Puranic literature etc] . The
KAMBOJAS referenced here are the same as the ASSAKENOIS of the Classical
writers who are referenced together with the DARDAE/DARDIKA.
cf:
ANOTHER DIFFERING VIEW: "One of the tribes living in Swat (a mountain
province of Pakistan, whose name derives from sanscrit Suvasto, country
of the beautiful buildings) is called locally Assaka, the Assakenoi of
the Greeks, see Tucci (1978). Now ASSA (prascrit) = ASVA (sanscrit) =
ASPA (old Persian), means "horse", implying, with our interpretation of
the word KA, the expressive meaning people of the horses. It is known
that the Chinese called the ihnvading Mongols of Gengis Khan the People
of the Horses.** In Spedicato (1997) it has been argued that the real
meaning of the word Hyksos, the fierce warriors that invaded Egypt at
the end of the 13th dynasty, is also People of the horses, from HYK = AK
and SOS = SUS (hebrew) = HORSE. In the framework of this interpretation
we can also propose that the Saka people who invaded Sistan were the
same as the Assaka, and even that such a meaning is behind the name
Kazakh (an eastern Kazakh tribe is still named Sachs)."
http://itis.volta.alessandria.it/episteme/ep4/ep4sped3.htm
**COMMENT-2:
It is obvious that there is no life and force in the arguments of this
author, who relates the Mong-2ols with the Sanskrit
Ashvakas/Ashvakayanas/Asvayanas, Pali Assaka/Asmaka(?) and the Greek
Assakenois/Aspasios. The Ashvakas are known to be living Swat/Kunar
valleys since 4th c BC or much earlier. There is no evidence that the
Mongols were in Swat/Kunar valleys in the 4th c BC or earlier. Also, the
Kambojas are many times considred allied to the Sakas and considred are
SCYTHIANS by some scholars which may not be correct. Some sections of
the Kambojas esp of the Yognobian Kambojas [or the Parama-Kambojas of
Mahabharata [Lohana paramakambojanarishikanutrapani ......MBH 2/27/25],
appear to have come under cultural, social and linguistic influences
from the Homaverga Sakas and hence could be comnsidered to be
'Scythinesd' or 'Scythians' in loose terminlogy. There was not much
cultural/linguistic contacts of Ashvaka Kambojas located in
Paropamisadean region with the Sycthian population from north of
Pamirs....i.e.Uzbeksthan. Parama-Kambojas lived around head-waters of
Zeraphshan river... comprising partly region from Fargana and partly
from Sogdiana.
By TRUTHFUL on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - 9:56 pm:NAME AFGHAN DERIVED FROM ASHVAKA, ASVAKAN, ASSAKAN, ASSAKENOI,ASHYVAKAYA
[A sub-section of the Kambojas of Kunar/Swat valleys]:
.....FEW MORE REFERENCES FROM LITERATURE
AFGHAN DERAVTION FROM ASSAKAN [i.e. ASVAKAN]:
Dr
M. R. Singh writes: 'Dr S. B. Chaudhury has identified the Apaga with
Afghan [ ESAI...Ethnic Settlements in Ancient India, p 104] but it is
more likely that the name Afghan is contracted from the Assakan and not
the Apagas....(M. A. p 158n) "
[The Geographical Data in The Early Puranas, 1972, p 179, Dr M. R. Singh, Jaipur University, Rajasthan]
AFGHAN DERIVATION FROM ASVAKA
SAAN MARTIN [FRENCH SCHOLAR]
"Today
Afghanistan has become synonymous with Islam but it is a fact that it
has been Islamic only for the last one thousand years. Prior to that for
five thousand years it was the cradle of Hindu and Buddhist cultures.
In ancient times Afghanistan was politically and culturally an integral
part of India. Its ancient name was ‘Upgansthan’."
"In sixth
century AD Varahmihir has mentioned the term ‘Avgaan’ in his book
‘Brihatsamhita’. French scholar Saan Martin is of the opinion that the
word ‘Afghan’ originates from the Sanskrit word ‘ashvak’ meaning
horserider. There are references to Afghanistan in Sanskrit literature
as ‘Ashkayan’ meaning the route of horseriders."
http://www.indpride. com/afghanistan.html
AFGHAN DERIVATION FROM ASVAKA [BIBLIOMANIA DICTIONERY HOBSON JOBSON]
"Bellew insists on the distinction between the Afghan and the Pathan (PUTTAN)".
“The Afghan is a Pathan merely because he inhabits a Pathan country,
and has to a great extent mixed with its people and adopted their
language” (Races of Af., p. 25).
'The name (i.e Afghan)
represents Skt. asvaka in the sense of a ‘cavalier,’ and this reappears
scarcely modified in the Assakani or Assakeni of the historians of the
expedition of Alexander.'
http://www.bibliomania. com/2/3/260/1268/19840/1/frameset.html
AFGHAN FROM ASHVAKA
"As
for the word Afghan, it comes from the Sanskrit word Ashvaka where
ashva stands for horse. Now ashva of the Sanskrit transforms into aspa
in the Persian in which language these people were called Aspagan. One
has to be completely one-deaf not to see the transformation of Aspagan
to Afghan through usage. From the chronicles of Alexander the Macedonian
we hear of two tribes called Assakenoi and Aspasioi that he fought with
and defeated in the region of the Katgala Pass between Swat and Dir.
Assakenoi is a straightforward Hellenised version of Ashvaka (Assaka in
the vernacular, Ashvakayana of Panini's Ashtadhyai..4.1.110) while
Aspasioi
[aspa in vernacular, Asvayana of Panini's Ashtadhyai...6.4.174] is what
the word Aspzai -- Tribe of the horses became on Macedonian
tongues…..Among these people was one tribe -- the Aspzai -- of excellent
horsemen who were known for breeding and trading in the finest breed of
horses.*** The mind does not have to be taxed hard to see the modern,
duly Islamised tribal name of Yusufzai as coming from the ancient
Aspasioi or Aspzai."
http://www.jang. com.pk/thenews/feb2003-weekly/nos-16-02-2003/dia.htm
***The
land was then known as 'Kamboja' of Sanskrit/Pali literature ....and
was called 'Kamboja assanam ayatanam'..in Buddhist text Samangvilasini,
[P.T.S. I, p 124]. Please compare 'Assa' (Assaka) of 'Assa-nam' of the
Pali with Sanskrit 'Ashva'.
AFGHAN FROM ASHVAKA
"Afghans
and the history of theirs is much older than even 1700 years as
mentioned by Mr Maiwandi. As during the invasion of Alexender the great
in 327 BC when his army was passing through the intricate pass of
Khaiber, he was met with strong opposition from the people of
Massaga?(one of the forts on a hillock )whome greek historian Arian and
Strabulus have pronounciated as "ASSAKANIANS" and sanskrit sources of
the time have mentioned the name "ASHVAKAYANS". Well comming back to the
opposition by the people of Massaga. It is worth mentioning that
Alexender was unable to march further as he failed to subdue Assakanians
(ancestors of Afghans) so he did a stratagem by comming to an agreement
with the queen of Afghans named Kleophis in greek records (Kripa or
Kripi in indian records), as per the agreement Afghans had to leave the
place without arms till the army of Alexender could pass safely from the
area and later on Afghans can return to their fort, however when
unarmed afghans were (numbering 7000) were leaving the place ,the army
of Alexender massacered all of them treacherously. so it was 2300 years
ago that we get the mention of the word "Assakan" or "Ashvakan" which
later on pronunciated as "Afgans"
Sanjeet Srivastava -- Jammu, India
http://www.wordwizard. com/clubhouse/founddiscuss1.asp?Num=2398
ASVAKA/ASMAKA
Sanskrit
authors speak of both Asmaká and Asvaká. It is not possible to say
whether these represent two distinct tribes or whether they are variant
names for the same people. Asanga mentions Asmaka in his Sútrálankára as
a territory on the basin of the Indus. This would make it identical
with the Assakenus of Greek writers, that is to the east of the
Sarasvati, about twenty-five miles from the sea on the Swat valley.
Pánini mentions the Asmakas (iv.173)***. The Márkandeya Purána and the
Brhat Samhitá place Assaka to the north-west. The Assaka capital,
Potana, it has been suggested, is the Paudanya of the Mahábhárata (i.77,
47).
In the Commentary to Kautilya's Arthasásta, Bhattasvámi identifies Asmaka with Mahárástra (Law, op. cit., 22).
http://www.palikanon. com/english/pali_names/ay/assaka.htm
http://www.tribuneindia. com
http://www.tribuneindia. com
***
Panini in his Ashtadhyai mentions Ashvakayana [Ashtadhya Sutra
4.1.110] and Asvayana [Ashtadhyai Sutra 6.4.174] which represent Greek
Assakenois and Aspasios respectively. Asmaka [Ashtadhyai IV.173]
literally means land of stone. Ashvaka derives from Panini's
Ashvakayana.
TRUTHFUL
By TRUTHFUL on Sunday, June 27, 2004 - 6:32 am:They taught lessons to kings
By Gur Rattan Pal Singh
"CHANDRAGUPTA
MAURYA and Alexander the Great had Chanakya and Aristotle,
respectively, as their teachers. Evaluation of the influence the
teachers exercised over their students, who later on became the most
powerful kings in world history, can be quite interesting. Most
historians are of the view that Chandragupta Maurya belonged to Bihar,
and that he called himself Maurya because his mother was the keeper of
royal peacocks (mor) at Pataliputra. He came to Punjab and conquered it.
Afterwards, with the help of the Punjab army he seized the Nanda
empire. However, there are reasons to believe that Chandragupta belonged
to the Kshatriya caste of the ruling Ashvaka tribe of the Koh-i-Mor
territory. He called himself Maurya after his homeland. McCrindle, in
his book on Alexander’s invasion says: "From the remark of Plutarch that
in the early years he had seen Alexander, we may infer that he was a
native of the Punjab." Chanakya was born in a Brahmin family at
Takshashila (Taxila in Rawalpindi district), the capital of Gandhara, in
about 346 B.C. His original name was Vishnugupta, but his parents
called him by the pet name of Chanakya. He had studied all the
constitutions of numerous states existing at that time in Punjab. After
pain-staking work and thought, he wrote Arthashastra which was to serve
the purpose of a guide or manual for kings, enabling them to acquire
power and preserve it....".
www.tribuneindia. com/1999/99jan10/sunday/head6.htm
About KOH-I-MOR
Could
the surname name MORYA be related to the MOR of the KOH-I-MOR? Is it
possible? Why not?. Note that this KOH-I-MOR [hill of MOR] is located in
the heart of the ancient Kamboja territories as the Ashvakas were the
well known Kshatrya Kamboja clans living in Swat/Kunar valleys and they
find mention as Assakenois [Assaka in the vernacular, Ashvakayana of
Panini's Ashtadhyai..4.1.110] and Aspasios [Asvayana of Panini's
Ashtadhyai...6.4.174] in the classical writings. Their land was then
known as ASSANAM-AYATNAM....land of horses....the Kamboja of
Sanskrit/Pali literature [Kamboja assanam ayatanam.........see Buddhist
Jataka Samangvilasini, I, p 124].
"...It is (Kamboja) often
mentioned as the famous birthplace of horses (assánam áyatanam) (E.g.,
DA.i.124; AA.i.399; Vsm.332; also J.iv.464)..".
http://www.palikanon. com/namen/ka/kamboja.htm
Probably
Santrakotos and Sisikotuos of the the Greek writings refer to one and
the same personage. Another important thing to be noted here is the fact
that Ashoka's Shahbazgarhi Rock Edicts no XIII
[Yona-Kamboja-Gandharanam.....], no V [Yona-Kambojesu......]are located
in the same very region signifying that this land formed the Kamboja
population region.
Read also: ".....An interesting feature
in Bajour topography is a mountain spur from the Kunar range, which
curving eastwards culminates in the well-known peak of Koh-i-Mor, which
is visible from the Peshawar valley. It was here, at the foot of the
mountain, that Alexander found the ancient city of Nysa and the Nysaean
colony, traditionally said to have been founded by Dionysus. The
Koh-i-Mor has been identified as the Meros of Arrian's historythe
three-peaked mountain from which the god issued. It is also interesting
to find that a section of the Kafir community of KAMDESH*** still claim
the same Greek origin as did the Nysaeans; still chant hymns to the god
who sprang from Gir Nysa (the mountain of Nysa); whilst they maintain
that they originally migrated from the Swat country to their present
habitat in the lower Bashgol. ..."
http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/B/BA/BAJOUR.htm
***
COMMENT: This land is still inhabited by the Kafir Kambojs ...also
known variously as Kam, Kamoze, Kamtoz, Camoze, Caumoje etc. [Please
read this thread to refresh your knoledge about Kafir Kambojs of
Nuristan]. They are undoubtedly the moderrn descendents of the ancient
Kambojas. About their above genelogical claims from the Nysean Greeks,
it can be stated that the modern moslem Kams also claim to be related to
Qureish tribe of Prophet Mohammad. So one should not take these self
claimed genealogical lines of these Kafirs of Kafirstan/Nuristan very
seriously. As the investigators like Scott Robertson [The Kafirs of
Hindukush] and Alaf Caroe [The Pathans] rightly observe, it has become a
fashion with every section of Moslem population to genealogically link
itself with the line of the Prophet. So much so, even the Moslem Kambojs
[the Zuberi Kambohs] also claim their lineage from Prophet Mohhamad. I
will give a website later in support of my above statements.
TRUTHFUL
By TRUTHFUL on Saturday, June 26, 2004 - 9:33 am:To do a justice to the author, I have made Correction in parenthesised expression as under. Sorry for the inadvertent error.
[Their land was then known as Kamboja of Sanskrit/Pali literature ..Kamboja assanam ayatanam..Samangvilasini, I, p 124].
By TRUTHFUL on Friday, June 25, 2004 - 12:29 pm:"As
for the word Afghan, it comes from the Sanskrit word Ashvaka where
ashva stands for horse. Now ashva of the Sanskrit transforms into asp in
the Persian in which language these people were called Aspagan. One has
to be completely one-deaf not to see the transformation of Aspagan to
Afghan through usage. From the chronicles of Alexander the Macedonian we
hear of two tribes called Assakenoi and Aspasioi that he fought with
and defeated in the region of the Katgala Pass between Swat and Dir.
Assakenoi is a straightforward Hellenised version of Ashvaka (Assaka in
the vernacular, Ashvakayana of Pani9ni's Ashtadhyai..4.1.110) while
Aspasioi [Asvayana of Panini's Ashtadhyai...6.4.174] is what the word
Aspzai -- Tribe of the horses became on Macedonian tongues…..Among these
people was one tribe -- the Aspzai -- of excellent horsemen who were
known for breeding and trading in the finest breed of horses. Their land
was then known as Kamboja of Sanskrit/Pali literature [Kamboja assanam
ayatanam..Samangvilasini, I, p 124]. The mind does not have to be taxed
hard to see the modern, duly Islamised tribal name of Yusufzai as coming
from the ancient Aspasioi or Aspzai."
Note: I have added the parenthesised text for better clarity or authenticity.
By LS.THIND on Monday, June 24, 2002 - 3:22 am:SHAHI DYNASTY OF AFGHANISTAN…TO ALL PROBABILTY WAS A KAMBOJ DYNASTY.
SHAHI IS STILL A WELL-KNOWN KAMBOJ CLAN NAME.
Raja Jaya Pal Shahi, Ruler of Punjab bore the brunt of the Islamic Onslaught
The
year 980C.E. marks the beginning of the Muslim invasion into India
proper when Sabuktagin attacked Raja Jaya Pal in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan is today a Muslim country separated from India by another
Muslim country Pakistan. But in 980 C.E. Afghanistan was also a place
where the people were Hindus and Buddhists. The name "Afghanistan" comes
from "Upa-Gana-stan" which means in Sanskrit "The place inhabited by
allied tribes"**. This was the place from where Gandhari of the
Mahabharat came from Gandhar whose king was Shakuni. The Pakthoons are
descendants of the Paktha tribe mentioned in Vedic literature. Till the
year 980 C.E., this area was a Hindu majority area, till Sabuktagin from
Ghazni invaded it and displaced the ruling Hindu king - Jaya Pal Shahi.
http://www.hinduweb.org/home/history/sudheerb/landrajnamavali.htm
Afghanistan=
from "Upa-gana-stan," Sanskrit for 'land of the Afghans,' that is,
'land of the allied tribes' ….(i.e agglomeration of tribes).
http://www.aboutlatinlanguage.com/article1363.html
**AFGHANISTAN…….OUR EDUCATED COMMENT:
Referring
to any Hindi Dictionery e.g. Bhargava’s Standard Dictionary
Hindi-English, 5th Revised Enlarged Edition, 2000, p 97
Upa = prefix used in the sense of ….down; near; towards; deputy; under; on; by; with; by means of; in vicinity of c.
Upa also means sub-; a part of .
Gan or Gana = tribe, Jana (Sanskrit term)
Stan=Land, home. (Sanskrit term)
Thus Upa+Ganah=’ Upganah means a sub-tribe’ and not ‘allied tribes’ or ‘agglomeration of tribes’.
Thus, by this above analysis,
Upa+gana+stana means
.LAND OF THE “SUB-DIVISION” OF THE GANA or
.LAND OF THE SUB-DIVISION OF THE JANA or
.LAND OF SUB-TRIBE or,
.LAND OF SUB-GANAH or,
.LAND OF A SECTION OF ONE TRIBE…does not make sense at all.
Thus
the meaning as defined above in these websites is totally wrong and
misleading. It does not convey the meaning of LAND OF THE ALLIED TRIBES
or AGGLOMERATION OF TRIBES as the writer claims but it amounts to
saying that Afghanistan was so called because it was land of a
sub-tribe. That is riduculous/senseless.
Some times, some
writers try to force fit their own subjective opinions or otherwise try
to find a solution to an unresolved issue by inventing their own
expedient theories, which rather than solving the riddle further
complicate the issue. This is absolutely not the way the name
‘AFGHANISTAN’ had got invented.
Please see our earlier
discussion concerning how the modern name Afghan had, to all probabilty,
evolved from THE NAME OF ANCIENT 'ASHVAKAYAN' (PANINI) OR ASHVAKAN
(MCCRINDLE) KAMBOJAS OF SWAT/KUNAR VALLEYS.
AND WHO COULD BE THE SHAHI DYNASTY OF AFGHANISTAN?
SHAHI:
the SHAHI dynasty of Afghanistan may indeed have some thing to do with
the Kambojs. As stated above, the modern Kambojs still have a SHAHI
clan name among their list of clans. The seat of action is also East
Afghanistan which is undoubtedly regarded as the land of the Kambojs. We
will submit our opinions on this issue later some times.
See below:
Form
6th century BC to 6th Century AD. The history of the Hindu Shahis can
be traced back to the Turk Shahis of Kabal. The former was founded by
Kallar*, an usurper of the throne of Lankaturman, the last ruler of the
Turks Shahi dynasty of Afghanistan, in AD 843.
He shifted his
capital to Hund on (North West Frontier Province…Al Biruni’s Wahind) the
right Bank of the Indus, in the Peshawar Valley in due course of time
the Hindu-Shahi rulers realized them suzerainty in other part of the
Indus region. However the (world Famous) salt range in believed to the
their stronghold as the frequency of the Hindu temples.
http://www.geocities.com/khizarhayats/Pakarch.htm
Please
also refer to History Culture of Indian People, Imperial Kanauj
Vol IV, p 112, Struggle for Empire, p 26, Dr R. C. Majumdar, Dr A. D.
Pusalkar
COMMENT: The seat of Hindu dynasty is east Afghanistan
here. This East Afghanistan factor blended with the fact that the kings
have been called ‘SHAHI’(SHAHI is a Kamboja clan names till date) are
powerful indicators that the Shahi dynasty of the Afghanistan of 9th c
AD could indeed have been a Kamboja dynasty.
By THIND on Friday, June 14, 2002 - 5:44 pm:Sri Roy could have easily extended the logic and concluded that
Afghanistan was another fixed deposit created by the Muslims quite
some time before Pakistan and Bangaladesh came into existence. But Sri
Roy is not the only Hindu to have missed that point. Hindu society as
a whole has ceased to remember that Afghanistan rose on the ruins of
Gandhara and Kamboja, the two ancient JANAPADAS of Bharatavarsha which
had stood guard at our North-Western gateway for ages untold.
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=kamboja+afghanistanhl=enlr=selm=Pine.A32.3.91.950327120907.22957A-100000%40stallion.jsums.edurnum=7
By THIND on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 8:46 am: Professor Abaya Aryasinghe is a Sri Lankan intellectual, historian and educationist.
According
many Sri Lankan intellectuals including Prof A. Aryasinghe, the
'Khmers/Cambodians' of Indo-China and the 'Kambojas' of Ashoka's
Inscriptions (Noerth-west India) were of same people....
By Mlechcha Kamboj on Sunday, March 24, 2002 - 2:09 pm:
I have found that the guy K Singh who has called for a jehad against
the Afghan Kambojas/Yavanas Malechchas is the one who mostly writes
under KUNAL SINGH, on soc.culture.indian, soc.culture.pakistan web
pages.
By H. Chandi on Saturday, March 23, 2002 - 3:10 pm:Gandhara art and Asoka inscriptions in Afghanistan
by Professor Abaya Aryasinghe
In
the Edicts of Asoka (No. 5V and VIII) reference to the Yavanas and
Kambojas is made. The latter peoples occupied an immediate position
between the Yavanas and Gandharians. The Gandharians have the reputation
of originating a remarkable style of art and sculpture which influenced
the neighbouring lands including Bamiyan.
The militant
Taleban or any other Muslim organisation cannot claim this territory of
the Yavanas, Cambodians (=Kambojas here ) and the Gandharians who built
an excellent Buddhist civilisation for centuries. The Muslims, in a
sense, are intruders in the land governed by Chandragupta and Asoka. It
is time that all Buddhists in the world should issue an ultimatum asking
these militants to leave the land of the Buddhists.
http://www.lanka.net/lakehouse/2001/04/15/fea13.html
By Harjit. Chandi on Thursday, March 21, 2002 - 2:50 pm:`Afghan (KAMBOJA) region was scene of Mahabharata battle' ?????????????????????????????????
Dr.
Sidharth said several literary references supported these conclusions.
The Vishnu Purana clearly mentions that 1,015 years elapsed between the
birth of Parikshit, the son of Pandavas and the coronation of Nanda who
lived around 300 BC. References in the Mahabharata and Vishnu Purana and
other texts mentions places around latitude of 35 degrees and to people
living there, for example, Gandahar (present day Kandahar) and Kamboja
(in Afghanistan), Kashmir and China. The peoples referred to include the
Gandharas, the Sakas (from Sakadweepa near Afghanistan), Yavanas
(Westerners), Tusharas (Tohara, Tukhara, the Tukharians of Chinese;
Turkistan) and Pahlavas of Iran.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2002/01/13/stories/2002011301180600.htm
By A MLECCHA KAMBOJ on Sunday, February 10, 2002 - 1:18 am:
Let's sincerely sympathise with this madhyadesha aryan ksingh. After
all, the 'conquored people' have the right to swear at their
'conqurors'...and so this singh fellah really does.
Ancient
Indian history is a strong witness to the fact that the 'ancestors' of
these helpless madhyadeshis like mr ksingh have also been using similar
abusive language towards their 'less conservative' but 'more
enterprising' counter-parts from north-west frontiers. Being helpless
against the 'guts' of those so-called 'frontier mlechchas', these
masochists simply submitted and started calling them names like barbaric
invaders, mlecchas, sudras or degraded races. This is not at all
surprising. What is surprising however is that over the millenia these
madhyadeshis have not yet forgotten their old scars and till date,
continue to nurture a deep-rooted haterd malice towards their
ancient tormentors...whom they still would abusively like to call
'mlecchas'. Probably this is the only 'mental consolation' these
madhyadeshi descendents of the ancient aryan loosers can derive from
their history of repeated losses of long ago at the hands of their
fronteir aryan brethern.
By H. S. Chandi on Friday, February 08, 2002 - 11:54 am:A MADHYADESHA ARYAN LASHES OUT AT THE KAMBOJAS!!
Mr.
KSINGH GIVES A CLARION CALL TO 'INDIAN AGRARIAN ARYANS' TO FORM A FRONT
AGAINST THE KAMBOJA/YAVANA MLECHHAS OF
AFGHANISTAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=3Bgx7.24373%24ev2.32941%40www.newsranger.com
Dear
Mr KSINGH, do you also want the INDIAN KAMBOJAS be treated in the same
fashion as the Afghans ....the modern descendents of ANCIENT
KAMBOJA/YAVANA MLECHCHAS OF AFGHANISTAN?
Be informed that
'some fraction' of the SO-CALLED ANCIENT AFGHAN KAMBOJA
MLECHCHAS......... themselves form now a "very important segment" of
your Indo-Agrarian Society i.e. the Indian Kambojas!
Do you or
don't you intend to include the Punjab/Haryana/Rajasthan Kambojas into
your proposed "UNION OF INDIAN ARYAN AGRARIANS"?
Remember
KSINGH!, without the "Kamboja Agrarians of India"..., our 'Dear India'
is sure to go relapse back to old days of chronic 'FOOD SHORTAGE' and
inevitably would go 'begging' to same USA in order to feed its 'numerous
hungary soules'.
Do you want it happen?
Just a thought?
Sincerely and with regards
Harjit Singh Chandi
By LS.THIND on Friday, November 30, 2001 - 11:02 am: REFERE TO OUR POSTING:
Sunday, November 25, 2001 - 03:26 pm:
INCORRECT TEXT:[Excerpts From: THE KAFIRS OF HINDUKUSH,PAGES 75]
************************************************
NOW REFER TO PAGES 75-76.
“A convenient classification is to divide all Kafirs into:
(1)Siaposh Kafirs
(2)Waigilis Kafirs
(3)Presungulis
(Viron) Kafirs. Another important tribe is called Ashkun Kafirs of whom
it was very difficult to get information…..” (the aboriginal
inhabitants of Kafirstan).
“The ‘SIAPOSH KAFIRS’ classification contains the following: (1)KATIR KAFIRS, (2)the KAM KAFIRS.
The
KATIR KAFIRS of ‘SIAPOSH” grouping comprise the Katir, Kti or Katawar,
Kulam and the Ramguli Kafirs. [(ref to page 76 from (a) to (d)]
“Of
the other tribes included under the designation ‘SIAPOSH’, the chief is
the ‘KAM’ or ‘Kamtoz’. This people inhabits the Bashgul and its lateral
valleys from confines of Madugal country to the Kunar valley. It has
seven villages and various small settlements or hamlets……” (op cit p
75-77).
*************************************************
CORRECT TEXT [Excerpts From: THE KAFIRS OF HINDUKUSH,PAGES 75-77]
NOW REFER TO PAGES 75-77.
“A convenient classification is to divide all Kafirs into:
(1)Siaposh Kafirs
(2)Waigilis Kafirs. Aso includes Ashun Kafirs of whom it was very difficult to get information.
(3)Presungulis (Viron) Kafirs. (the aboriginal inhabitants of Kafirstan).
"The ‘SIAPOSH KAFIRS’ classification contains the following:
(A)KATIR KAFIRS,
(B)the KAM KAFIRS.
(A)KATIR KAFIRS: of ‘SIAPOSH' grouping further comprise:
(1)Katir (also called Kamoz: see para 3, p 76, Ibid)
(2)Kti or Katawar,
(3)Kulam and
(4)the Ramguli Kafirs."
[(ref to page 76 from (a) to (d), Ibid]
(B):
“Of the last tribe included under the designation ‘SIAPOSH’, the chief
is the ‘KAM’ or ‘Kamtoz’. This people inhabits the Bashgul and its
lateral valleys from confines of Madugal country to the Kunar valley. It
has seven villages and various small settlements or hamlets……” (op cit p
76-77).
NOTE THAT ON ABOVE PAGE OF HIS TEXT [THE KAFIRS OF
HINDUKUSH, P 76], SIR GEROGE SCOT ROBERTSON NOW USES THE NAME ’KAMTOZ‘
FOR THE ‘KAM KAFIRS’ OF KAMDESH (see last para, p 76, Ibid) AND THE NAME
‘KAMOZ’ FOR THE ‘KATIR KAFIRS’ (see para 3, p 76, Ibid) OF UPPER
BASHGUL VALLEY... WHERE AS ON PAGE 71, HE USES KAMOZ FOR KAM KAFIRS AND
KAMTOZ FOR KATOR KAFIRS.(see last para, page 71, Ibid)
The inadvertent error is sincerely regretted.
By LS.THIND on Monday, November 26, 2001 - 12:56 am:
As some of our readers might have noted, we have used name Kamtoz and
Kamoz interchangeably for Katirs and the Kam tribes of Nuristan. This is
based on the text of Sir George Scott Robertson (The Kafirs of
Hindukush).
[Actually George Scott has also some ‘confusion’
and himself admits that his nomenclature may be some what different from
some other investigators who have preeceded him or who would follow
him].
PRE 1896 PRE-ISLAMIC ERA OF KAFIRSTAN:
(1)REFER TO “THE KAFIRS OF HINDUKUSH” Ed 1896, BY SCOTT ROBERTSON:
ON PAGE 71
“…….Thus
the upper part of Bashgul valley is called Katirgul (Lutdeh in
Chitrali, or Kamtoz in Pushtu), the middle portion Muman (Madugal in
Chitrali), and the lower part Kam (Kamdesh in Chitrali, or Kamoz in
Pushtu):
Note that in the text, Sir G. Scott writes that the
land of the ‘Katir’ Kafirs of upper Bashgul valley is called Kamtoz,
while that of Kam Kafirs living in lower Bashagul valley is called
Kamoz.
NOW REFER TO PAGES 75.
“A convenient classification is to divide all Kafirs into:
(1)Siaposh Kafirs
(2)Waigilis Kafirs
(3)Presungulis
(Viron) Kafirs. Another important tribe is called Ashkun Kafirs of
whom it was very difficult to get information…..” (the aboriginal
inhabitants of Kafirstan).
“The ‘SIAPOSH KAFIRS’ classification contains the following: (1)KATIR KAFIRS, (2)the KAM KAFIRS.
The
KATIR KAFIRS of ‘SIAPOSH” grouping comprise the Katir, Kti or Katawar,
Kulam and the Ramguli Kafirs. [(ref to page 76 from (a) to (d)]
“Of
the other tribes included under the designation ‘SIAPOSH’, the chief
is the ‘KAM’ or ‘Kamtoz’. This people inhabits the Bashgul and its
lateral valleys from confines of Madugal country to the Kunar valley. It
has seven villages and various small settlements or hamlets……” (op cit
p 76-77).
SEE THAT IN THE ABOVE PARA, SIR GEROGE SCOT
ROBERTSON NOW USES NAME ’KAMTOZ‘ FOR THE ‘KAM KAFIRS’ OF KAMDESH AND
HAS USED ‘KAMOZ’ FOR THE ‘KATIR KAFIRS’ OF UPPER BASHGUL VALLEY.
THUS
Sir George Scott Robertson himself has ‘unnecessarily’ confused himself
in drawing a fine line in nomenclaturing the ‘Siaposh Kafirs’.
The
other researchers/investigators like M Elphinstone, who visited
Kafirstan in pre-Islamic times have not differentiated Katirs and the
Kams (of Siaposh group) into Kamoze and Kamtoz names but have rather
called them as Caumoze, Camoze, Caumoje, Camojee etc. ( An Account of
the Kingdom of Cabol, 1972, Oxford University, Press London, N.Y. Vol
II, p 376-377 by M. Elphinstone).
In fact, according to all
other investigators, Kamtoz and Kamoz (Camoze, Caumoze), Kamoje (Camoje,
Caumoje), Kamojee (Caumojee/Camojee) etc are the various ways of
pronouncing their name in Pushtu, Chitrali or in Kafir languages. And
they all remind us of the ancient name, the ‘Kamboja’ of Ashoka’s R.E’s
Sanskrit/Pali texts..
In fact, the several
investigators have now established that the Katirs/Kators , the Ktis or
Katawar and the Kam Kafirs…all belong to the so-called SIAPOSH grouping
and they are all related ETHNICALLY. The Kams and the Katas also SPEAK
SAME LANGUAGE or ITS DIALECTICAL VARIATIONS (Sir G. Scott Robertson)
Cf:
“….. the Jasi/Jaisi and all the people of Nuristan who have emanated
from ‘Ktivi region’, including the ‘Kata’ (Katirs) from Ktivi proper,
the ‘Ksto’ from Kstu, the ‘Mumo’ from the Mum, the ‘Binio’ from Buni,
and the ‘Kom’ from the Kam-tol speak one language, albeit with
dialectical divisions. These divisions were furthered as the people
emigrated out of their upper Pech* homeland.” (Richard F. Strands.
Richard has recently spent over 25 years in investigating the
Nuristanis/their culture, language etc).
* PECH=KAMAH river valley ( Sir Scott Robertson, see The Kafirs of Hindukush, 1896, p 81)
Dr
Loh and numerous others investigators have designated the ‘Siaposh
tribe’ of Hindukush as the modern descendents of ancient Kambojas.
[Writes
Dr Nand Lal Dey” “According to Dr Loh, the Shiaposh tribes living in
the Hindukush mountains are the descendents of the Kamboja people. (The
Geographical Dictionery of Ancient and Medieval India p 87, by Dr. Nundo
Lal Dey)]
M Elphinstone in fact was the first investigator who
had identified these Camoze/Camoje etc Caufir tribes with the ancient
Kambojas. (op. cit. f.n., p 619)
“Katirs inhabit various
valleys, as Siaposh communities, entirely independent of one another;
yet they still acknowledge a common origin and a relationship to each
others” op cit p 77, first para).
Sir George Scott also admits
in his book that there is a possibility that other investigators might
have used different nomenclature for the Kafirs and future investigators
may use still different. “Nomenclature you get for these tribes
depends” , he says, “ from which direction you enters to investigate the
people of Kafirstan”. (op cit).
By LS.THIND on Saturday, November 24, 2001 - 11:59 am: PART V
The
Katawer Kafirs mentioned by Sharifudin (Temur's historian) were the
ancestors of the modern Katirs, who are a numerous branch of the
Shiaposh Kafirs currently living north-east of Alishang. This shows that
the Katawers and Shiaposh Kafirs were more wide spread and living more
openly during the times of Mongolian king Timur. Over the time, their
area has shrunk, which means that the Kafirs living towards farther
areas of Panjshir have in the meantime become Mohhamadan converts. All
Kafirs except the Presun, Madugal, Kashtan and Istrat/Gourdesh tribes
are described by several investigators as belonging to Indo Aryan class,
having sharp features, brownish and bluish eyes, slender, straight or
some times aquiline noses, dark or brownish or many times blond hair,
fair colors and well built and tall statures. The Wai and Ashkun Kafirs
who seem related to each other have been decribed by some scholars as
possibly having Greek blood or are described as the descendents of
Greek soldier colonies of the post- Alexandra era. G. Robert Scott
describe the Wais/Ashkuns as being under the Greek influence of yore.
The Presun Kafirs have been described as the aboriginal inhabitants of
Kafirstan, with Dravidian features and blood, who seem to have
successfully resisted the onslaughts of the retreating Kafir tribes and
with whom these Presun Kafirs seem to have settled on equal terms.
Several
investigators and scholars have established that Kams and Katirs tribes
are descendents of ancient Kambojas. To gather, they number about 50000
out of over 100,000 population of Nuristan. These two tribes form most
militant and dominant tribes of Nuristan. The Kam tribe which is the
most united tribe of Nuristan also is the most dominating of all
Nuristani tribes. The Kams and the Katir tribes, to all probability,
are the descendents of the Kapisha KAMBOJAS WHO HAD CROSSED HUNDUKUSH
from Badakshan and spread into the Paropamisadean region in the
pre-Buddhist days. Kam’s current headquareter is Kamdesh in Bashgul
valley in Nuristan.
Probably, the Wais are also from the
ancient Kambojas of Kandhar, who are said to have been Yavana’s
neighbors (Shar-I-Kuna Inscriptions of king Ashoka). They were probably
the Repulican Kambojas who had earlier moved to Kandhar in later epic
times and had set up their independent Repulic in Archosia. During
Alexandra times, a part of their territory was taken and colonized by
Yavanas (Archosia). It has been suggested by scholars that the south
side of Archosia may have been controlled by Yavanas while the north
side probably remained in possession of the Kambojas during and after
the Maurya kings. Ashoka’s Shar-I-kuna Inscription of Kandhar was
located at the coterminous (common) boundary of Kamboja and Yavana
settlements in Archosia [The Problems of Ancient India, 2000, K. D.
Sethna, p 3-4, The Location of Kamboja, Purana Vol IV, No 1, Jan 1964,
K. D. Sethna). Wais Kafirs seem to be the descendents of these Archotian
Kambojas who had been in intimate cultural contact with Yavanas for
long long time. During Moslem onslaughts, some of these Kamboja clans
had receded back to their blood kithmen (Kapisha Kambojas) living in
Paropamisadean region since ancient times. The retreating tribe was the
so-called Wais Kafirs of Scott Robertson. The Katirs and the Kams
tribes, their blood Kithmen, to all probability, had been living in
Paropamisafea region since earliest time.
The Kashtan and
Istrat Kafirs are described as the slave progeny of the tribal people
who were overpowered and enslaved by the Kams, Katirs tribes who had
receded from frontlines of Parpamisadean territoty into the interior
mountainous defiles and occupied the present valleys in the 10/11th
century.
*******END********
SORDID DRAMA IN REAL LIFE PLAYED ON THE INDIAN SOIL:
A MATTER OF SHAME FOR ALL WE INDIANS:.
LESSONS:
DIVIDED WE FELL IN OLDEN TIMES, LET US BE UNITED SO THAT WE MAY NOT GO THRU SIMILAR DISGRACE AGAIN.
FROM HISTORY PERSPECTIVE:
Invasion
of Timur the KAMBOJA tribes of Kapistan (Modern
Nuristan…Afganistan) as also other tribes of northern India: [Based on
Tuzak-I-Timuri, Translated in HIED, III, 398-477)
“…..Before
Timur launched his Indian expedtion, information reached him that his
grandson Pir Muhammad, the governor of Kabul, Qandhar, Gazni and other
neighboring regions had already sent an expeditions against India, which
crossed the river Sindhu, captured Uch and besieged Multan. Timur, on
his part, started from Samarqand early in A.D. 1398 (March or April).
When he reached Afghanistan, a large number of Muslims, both high and
low, complained to him of the ill-treatment which they constantly
received at the hands of the infidel of Kator and Siyaposh and asked for
his protection which was readily granted” [ref: History and Culture of
Indian People, The Delhi Sultanate, p 117 Dr R. C. Majumdar, Dr A. D.
Pusalkar, Dr Munshi].
COMPLAINT FILED BY THE BELIEVER MUSLIMS AGAINST THE KAFFIRS/NON-BELIEVERS:
“The
infidel Kators and the Siyaposhes exact tribute and blackmail every
year from us who are true believers, and if we fail in the least of our
settled amount, they slay our men and carry our women and children into
slavery” (ref: Tuzak-I-Timuri, Translated in HIED, III, p 400 ).
SOME
COMMENT BY THE AUTHORS OF THE BOOK: “It appears that the Muslims
complaints practically amounted to the system of distraint for
realizing the arrears in rent or tribute (settled amount). The degree of
severity was naturally exaggerated by them, particularly as it was
imposed by the infidels on the true belivers. This aspect the case
clearly emerges both from the address of the Muslims and the reply of
Timur: “On hearing these words. The flame of my zeal for Islam, and my
affection for my religion, began to blaze “[ref: History and Culture of
Indian People, The Delhi Sultanate, p 123, Dr R. C. Majumdar, Dr A. D.
Pusalkar, Dr Munshi].
(Based on: Tuzak-I-Timuri, Translated in HIED, III, p 400 ).
“Timur
himself proceded against Kator, which denoted the region between
Kashmir and Kabol. And sent a detachment against the Siyaposhes. The
fort of the Kator, deserted by the people, was leveled with the ground
and houses of the city were burnt down. The infidels who took refuge on
top of the hill were defeated and many of them put to death. Some of the
infidels held out for three days and Timur offered them the usual
alternative of death or Islam. They chose the latter, but soon recanted
and attacked a regiment of Muslim soldiers during night. But the latter
were on their guard and killed a number of infidels and took 150 of them
as prisoners “who were afterwards put to death by enraged soldiery”.
As soon as it was day, Timur ordered his troops to advance on all four
sides, “to kill all the men, to make prisoners the women and the
children and to plunder and lay waste all their property”. When the
order was faithfully executed, he “directed towers to be built on the
mountains of the skulls of those obstinate unbelievers”. In order to let
posterity know of this expedition, “in the auspicious month of
Ramazan, A.H. 800” (A.D. 1398), Timur engraved an account of it on a
neighbouring hill and then proceeded to retrieve the disaster that had
befallen the other part of the army which had been sent against the
Siyaposhes”.
(Tuzak-I-Timuri, Translated in HIED, III, p 401-408 ).
[above
text is taken from: History and Culture of Indian People, The Delhi
Sultanate, p 117 Dr R. C. Majumdar, Dr A. D. Pusalkar, Dr Munshi].
“Burban
Aglan, who was sent against the Siyaposhes with 10000 men, “was routed
by , and fled from a small number of infidels” . A small detachment of
400 men under Muhammad Azad, sent to his help, was attacked by the
infidels, but he fought gallantly and after having recovered the horses
and the armor lost by Aglan, returned home-wards. Timur then advanced in
person and captured some places but, as nothing more is said,
presumably, after this, the Siyaposhes were left alone”.
(Tuzak-I-Timuri, Translated in HIED, III, p 401-408 ).
“Timur
then exterminated the rebellious predatory tribes of Aghanis and
crossed the Sindhu river in September, 1398. He marched along the Jhelum
and defeated several local chiefs, crossed this river below its
junction with Chenab and reached Tulamba, which submitted without any
fight. Here news reached him that Pir Muhammad had captured Multan. The
two armies then joined, and after sending a part of his forces by way of
Dipalpore and Samana, Timur himself proceeded to Bhatnir, a strong
fortified place occupied by Dul Chand, a Hindu chief “famous thorought
the whole country”. [ref: History and Culture of Indian People, The
Delhi Sultanate, p 117) Dr R. C. Majumdar, Dr A. D. Pusalkar, Dr
Munshi].
“The causus belli was furnished by conduct of
chiefs and nobles of the city of Dipalpore who had tendered allegiance
to Pir Mohammad but later turned rebels and killed Musafir Kaboli, the
governor appointed by Timur. On hearing the approach of Timur, the
rebels took refuge in Bhatnir fort. The fort was fortified by a body
of Rajputs who offered a stout resistance but Dul Chand ultimately
surrendered and presented him to Timur. Timur then punished various
refractory chiefs, especially the 500 from Dipal Pore and their wives
and children were made slaves…”. [Tuzak-I-Timuri, Translated in HIED,
III, pp 420-427].
“Timur then captured the city of
Sarsuti and the fearful scene was repeated. “All these infidel Hindus
were slain, their wives and children were made prisoners, and their
property and goods became the spoil of the victors”. Several thousand
women and children who were brought captive became Mohammadans.
[Tuzak-I-Timuri, Translated in HIED, III, pp 427-428].
“Then
the Timur proceeded against the Jats. Although they fled to the
jungles, Timur pursued them there. He killed 2000 Jats, captured their
wives and children and plundered their cattle and propert”
[Tuzak-I-Timuri, Translated in HIED, III, p 429].
“About
this time another part of Timur’s army which was following a more
northerly route joined him near Samana, and Timur marched via Panipat
towards Delhi. After reaching neighborhood of Delhi, he sent a force of
cavalary in advance to Delhi and had ordered it to plunder and destroy
every village, and to kill every one whom they met. The cavalary
faithfully obeyed the orders, plundered every village, killed the men,
carried away a number of Hindu Prisonoers, both male and female…”
([Tuzak-I-Timuri, Translated in HIED, III, p 432].
“Next day
Timur crossed Yamuna, and captured Loni on other bank of river. People
here were mostly Hindus. Many of the Rajputs placed their wives and
children in their houses and burnt them and then they rushed to the
battle and were killed. After this fort was was captured, Timur gave
orders that Musulman prisoners should be separated and saved. But the
infidels should all be dispatched to hell with the proselytizing
sword……”. ([Tuzak-I-Timuri, Translated in HIED, III, p 433].
[Source:
History and Culture of Indian People, The Delhi Sultanate, p 117-121,
123, Dr R. C. Majumdar, Dr A. D. Pusalkar, Dr Munshi].
THE
ABOVE EXCERPTS ARE TAKEN FROM HISTORY AND CULTURE OF INDIAN PEOPLE, THE
DELHI SULTANATE, VOL IV, p 116, 117-121, 123. WHICH PLEASE REFER IF
INTERESTED.
TIMUR AND THE SIAPOSH KAMBOJ KAFIRS: Dr THOMAS HOLDICH, D.Sc,
“Emperor
Timur also had to fight with Shiaposh and Katawer Kafirs (1399 AD)
living within the Doab of Panjshir and Alishang rivers towards the
northern area. A section of the Katawer Shiaposh Kafirs (Kambojas) gave
Mongole raider Timur a very obstinate fighting, but were eventually
defeated by his numerous and superior forces….. “ (The Gates of India
1910, p 94-134 political map facing page 94, by Dr Thomas Holdich,
D.Sc).
“The story as told by Timur’s Historian, Sharifudin, says
that in A.D 1399, when Timur was at Andarab, complaints were made to him
of outrage and oppression by the exaction of tribute, or ‘Karaj’
against idolators of Katawar and the Shiaposh. It appears that Katawar
was then the general name for the northern regions of Kafirstan,
although, no reference to that name had been recorded lately….” (op cit.
p 355).
“Timur is said to have taken a third part of the army of
Andarab against the infidels, and to have reached Perjan (probably
Parwan) from whence he detached a paert of his force to the north of
that place, whilst he himself proceeded to Kawak, which is certainly
the Khawak at the head of the Panjir valley. …From Khawak he ‘made the
ascent’ of the mountains of the ‘Ketnev’ (i.e. he crossed the
intervening snow-covered divide between the Panjshir and the head of
Alishang) and descended on the fortress of Najil. This was abandoned by
the Siaposh Kafirs, who held a high hill on left bank of the river.
After the obstinate fight, the hill was finally carried and the male
infidels “whose souls were blacker than their garments” were killed and
their women and children were made prisoners. Timur set up a pillar with
an inscription recording the event ………….” (ref: The Gates of India
1910, p 355-356 and political map facing page 94, by Dr Thomas Holdich,
D.Sc).
.............................
By LS.THIND on Saturday, November 24, 2001 - 8:18 am: MINOR CORRECTION”
INCORRECT”
“Thus
most possibly, the three major tribes of the Kafirs (Katirs, Kams,
Wais) have all probably retreated from Kandhar. Some of them
were under Greek cultural influence for obvious reasons…being their
long time neighbors in Kandhar, they had imbibed certain Grecian
manners, customs and some linguistic influences from their neighbors”
CORRECT:
“Thus
most possibly, out of these three major tribes of the Kafirs (Katirs,
Kams, Wais) the Wai tribe probably retreated from Kandhar. They
were under Greek cultural influence for obvious reasons…being a long
time neighbors of Yavanas in Kandhar. They had imbibed certain Grecian
manners, customs and some linguistic influences from their long time
friends and neighbors.”
The inadvertent error is regretted.
PART IV
SOME
COMMENTS/OBSERVATIONS OF SIR GEORGE SCOTT ROBERTSON ABOUT THE KAFIRS
OF HINDUKUSH, ESPECIALLY WITH REFERENCE TO KAM, (KAMOZ), KATIR (KAMTOZ)
AND WAI KAFIR TRIBES OF KAFIRSTAN:
“The Kam Kafirs are the most
famous tribe of Kafirstan………..The Kams and the Wais tribes are the
fircest and most intractable of all the Kafir tribes while of those two,
the Kams (Kamoz) are the most to be dreaded for their military
prowess……… Admirers of form would delight in Kafirs in their own
country. They give such an impression of gracefulness and strength when
once the eye has become used to the vile robes they wear…As might be
expected of a wild, excitable people, their gestures are highly
dramatic….their pluck is immense…Their countenances are of distinct
Aryan type, the nose, as a rule, being particularly well-shaped. The Kam
and wais contain the handsomest people I have seen, especially the
Wais. ……In the highest form, the men have well-shaped heads, good
features and quite steady eyes….The cast of feature is grave, one might
almost say intellectual….One of the greatest surprises in store for a
traveller who has only seen Kafirs out of their own country is observe
their wonderful sense of personal dignity…their solemn manner and proude
bearing are remarkable. …they are merry and selfrespecting… A Kafir,
wild and independent as he appears at first sight, has a strange
reluctance to act on his own responsibility on any important doubteful
question. He loves to go off with his fellows and noisily discuss what
should be done. …The Kafirs are extremely social….With a single Kafir it
is easy to do as you please, provided you do not transgress his
unwritten code of manners or run athwart his national customs….A kafir
in his own way is a model of politeness…Among the Kafirs, the
expenditure on food supplies in entertaining guests must be
great…..Kafirs, both by nature and necessity, are most hospitable…
Kafirs are very quarrelsome among themselves. It is absolutely important
for a man to take a quarrel up on the instant to assert his manhood.. I
have never seen any gathering of Kam or Katir men without no seeing
one or two rows…. Hardly a day passes witjout a disturbance somewhere,
due to this cause….But if a quarreling is manly thing, peacemaking is
sacred virtue among the Kafirs. Men, boys and even dogs are separated
at the first indication of a probable fight. ….The Kafirs are extremely
quick in their movements that an instantaneous quarrel is followed by a
lightning-like onslaught, and so one or the other of the combatants
often gets more or less hurt, but there is never time for a second blow.
The fighters are at once seized, hurled aside and separated or thrown
down and literally set upon the by standers. Any one who would not lend a
hand in stopping a village fight will be looked upon and would consider
himself a mean and unworthy..……It is as natural for a Kafir to thieve
as it is for him to eat. The children are encouraged to steal….The
villagers think it only natural to thieve……..The Kafirs are never rough
and cruel to animals….There is nothing like religious tolerance among
the Kafirs….The Kafir always cling to his blood…Kafirs are extremely
avengeful people. Even if a Kafir slave-boy sold out of his tribe by
the members were executed, say for murder, in Chitral, he would be
avenged by his tribe.…. Their inter-tribal hatred is so immense that it
often entirely deadens their political foresight… ….Although a Kafir
thinks it is virtue and in accordance with religion to kill Musalmans
and give himself the benefit of any doubt about their enemies; although
in his raids into hostile territories whether Kafir or Musleman, he
spares neith men nor women, although he holds human life as of very
little account., and although, in hunting, he may appear to brutal
methods of getting the game, he is not a cruel man by nature. ….Family
affections in Kafirstan are very strong. Some tribes are in the habit of
selling little girls, and money will tempt some men even to sell
children who are nearly related to them, but as a general rule, it is
the offering of slaves that they dispose of most readily… To any one who
considers how wild he is, his comparative freedom from brutality is
astonishing…Kafirs are wonderfully brave…In view of the inferior nature
of their weapons, they achieve wonders…the chief reason the Kafirs have
been able to maintain their independence is the gallantry, reckless
bravery and devotion with which they defend themselves…Kafirs are
splendidly loyal to one another (friends of friends) and are accustomed
to acts of self-sacrifice…a Kafir will never desert his friends in
lurch even at the price of their own life…In the Kafir opinion, a really
fine character, what he emphatically calls a” good man” must possess
the following attributes: He must be successful homicide, a good
hillman, ever-ready to quarrel, and of an amorous disposition, a good
dancer, a good shot, a good stone-quoit player and rich….Kafirs can be
easily bribed, and will do almost any thing for money, but their natural
natural boastfulness compels them them to publish the fact that they
have have been clever enough to wrest money from stranger..when the
cupidity of their friends and relations is at once inflamed, reason is
thrown into the winds, and the gravest difficulties then arise….It is
probable that there is no single tribe of Kafirs at the present day
which is at peace with all other tribes. Some of their wars, if the wars
they can be called, have continued for generations…For instance, that
between the Kams and the most western Katirs, the Ramgulis (Kamoz) is
said to have lasted over hundred years….A man of any position who has
been killed must be atoned for by blood…. For one’s honor and that of
one’s family, come what may, one must kill the murderer in front of the
dead man’s coffin… in that case, the Kafirs can not ever ever be bribed
for whatever money….. Kafirs are theoretically all equal……..(2, 3, 166,
167,168, 181, 184, 185,188,169,190, 191, 194, 197, 432, 433, 560, 562,
563, op cit).
As said above, "A man of any position who has
been killed must be atoned for by blood ........For one’s honor and that
of one’s family, come what may, one must kill the murderer in front of
the dead man’s coffin… in that case, the Kafirs can not ever ever be
bribed for whatever money….."
AN INTERESTING EPISODE DESCRIBED BY GEORGE SCOTT ROBERTSON CONCERNING A KAM KAFIR:
“...A
man of any position who has been killed must be avenged and atoned for
by blood. In 1891 Kam Kafirs were hunting some Janul Mosalmans down the
Kunar Valley. Jandulis ran for shelter to Mehtar’s (Tribal Chief’s) new
fort at Nursut, which was garrisoned by Chitrali soldiers. The fort
door was banged to just as the last Musalman closely followed by leading
Kam Kafir, passed through. It was a near shave, and the Chitrali at
the gate had to fire, killing the Kafir, to keep him entering the gate.”
“Time passed until in 1893, I found myself at Chitral an a
special mission from Government of India to the Mehar Nizam-ul-Mulk. One
day a messanger came to me from a well known Kam Kafir named Shyok, who
sent word that, as an old friend of mine, he was anxious not to cause
trouble of any kind in the then critical state of affairs at Chitral,
but that the man who had been killed at Nari fort was a member of his
(Shyok) family and although the slain was an individual of no tribal
importance, yet Shyok must a Chitrali ti kill. In the circumstances, to
prevent complications and particularily out of friendship with me, Shyok
was prepared to accept any Chitrali..a slave even, but a Chitrali of
some kind or other he must have. As I knew Shyok to be remarkable for
cupidity (greed) even among the Kafirs, it seemed as if there should be
little difficulty in settluing the matters by paying him ransom for the
slain person; but broaching the subject to my Kafir son Shermalik, who
had been sent to see me as Shyok’s ambassador, he remarked: “You know
Shyok well. There is nobody in Kafirstan so greedy and avaricious as he
is, yet if you offer him a Lakh of rupees (wow a Lakh in 1896!!!!), he
can not accept it. For his honor’s sake, he must have a Chitrali to kill
in front of the dead man’s coffin in Kafirstan. All my arguments and
persuasions failed. Shermalik said that the Mehar (Chief of Chitral)
would understand the situation and would readily supply a victim if
advised to do so…How the affair was settled I do not know. Probably
Shyok or some of his friends caught some unfortunate Chitrali and killed
him and Mehar winked at the deed, if he heard of it at all….......”
(Kafirs of Hindukush, 1896, pp 562-562, Scott Robertson).
DEPLORABLE:
“All
the neighboring Musalman tribes have intense hatred of Kafirs, with
the exception, perhaps of the Kunar valley Gabar villagers and
Minjanis. This does not arise, I am convinced, from religious
prejudices…as much as from the injuries the Musalmans have had from the
Kafirs through the long ages. Similarily, the Kafirs love to dance to
Gish (their god of war) after killing Musalmans, but their hatred of
Afghans is far more than religious fanaticism. Even in times of remote
past, it has kept the two people at bitter feud. Both Kafirs and
Afghans are brigands by instinct, and both are careless of human life.
Perhaps Kafirs are the worst of the two in both respects, but the Afghan
makes the account more than even by his added perfidy and cunning.” (op
cit p 567-568).
WAR STRATEGY OF KAMS:
“When attacked by
foreigners, who are always armed with much better fire-arms and other
weapons than the Kafirs possess, the latter usually adopt purely a
defensive tactics. They hold positions, from little ambuscades, and so
forth but are always prepared to fall back before the superior strenghth
of the enemy. They seek to cut off stragglers and harass the invaders
in every possible way. Then, when the enemy, from accumulated lossess,
lack of supplies or hopelessness of further successes begins to retreat,
the lightfooted Kafirs attack hin on all sides like a swarm of hornets.
Dogged resistance is turned into furious bravery. A Kafir never fights
so well as when the advantage is on his side. He plays a wining game
splendidly. Each man tries to emulate the traditionsal heroes of his
tribe and will prerform the grandest deeds to gain the admiration of his
fellows. I was told of the Kafir man Shyok that on one occasion he
dashed single-handedly into a group of the enemy, stabbed to death
several people right and left and then escaped uninjured. He is a man of
enormous strength and ispite of his weight, he is as active as a
leopard” (op cit p 567).
WRITES GEORGE SCOTT ROBERTSON PHILOSOPHICALLY:
“Civilization
abruptly fell aspleep centuries ago in Kafirstan….and still is in a
dormant state......... These Kafirs constantly become degenrated until
their tribal headquarters are merely a robbers’ nests…….. If it were not
for their splendid courage, their domestic affections, and their
overpowering love for freedom, these Kafirs would indeed have been a
hateful people..........In other respects, they are what they have been
made by uncontrollable circumstances. For them, the world has not grown
softer as it has grown older. Its youth could not be crueler than its
present maturity, but if they had been different, they would have been
enslaved centuries ago. ……Their present ideas, and all the associations
of their history and their religion, are simply bloodshed,
assassinations, and blackmailing; yet they are not savages. Some of them
have the heads of Philosopers and statesmen. Their features are Aryans
and their mental capabilities are great, their love for decoration,
their carvings, their architecture…. all point to a time when they were
higher in the himan scale than they are of a present. They never could
be brutal savages, like some of the African races….because they are of
different type…. but they are as degraded in many respects as it is
possible for this type ever to become.....” (op cit p 162-63).
NOTE:
Numerically, the Katir/Kamtoz (over 30 thousand) are more important
than all the remaining tribes of Kafirstan put together. The Kamoz
Kafirs are numberd only about 15-20 thousand out of total of little over
0.1 million population of Nuristan.. By virtue of their unity among
themselves, militarily, the Kam kafirs are the most predominant group in
whole of Nuristan. George Scott Robertson styles the Kams as the
virtual kings of Bashgul valley. They have been described by several
investigators as the persistent 'trouble makers' in Kafirstan/Nuristan.
COMMENT: The Great guerilla Commander and Hero, Anwar Amin,
who had played a crucial role in an organnized and sustained resistance
against the Soviets and who was mainly reponsible in bringing them to
their very knees as also ultimately shaking the vast Soviet Empire too
its very foundations, belonged to the famous Kam (Kamoz) tribe of
Nuristan.(Richard F. Strand).
By LS.THIND on Saturday, November 24, 2001 - 6:22 am: PART III
DONALD N. WILBER ON KAFIRS:
“Parts
of Nuristan (Kafirstan) formed a portion of Greek satrapy of the
Paropamisadae in the fourth and third c B.C. The People were then called
Kambojas and described as of mixed Indo-Iranian descent. Possibly they
occupied a much larger area then and were gradually forced from central
Afghanistan into their present mountains by the Moslem onslaught. One
of their principal tribes is still called Kam or Kamtoz…”
“The
Moslem appellation of Kafirs is mentioned in 1020 A.D. by the
historians of Mahmud of Ghazni. The other references to them were made
by writers in the fouteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and
during the Moghul period. In 1839, the Kafirs sent a deputation to Sir
William Macnaghten in Jalabad, claiming relationship with fair skinned
British troops who had invaded the country.”
“Historically, the
Afghans are first mentioned by name (Avagana) by early sith century
Indian astronmer Varaha Migira in his Brahat Samhiti. A little later,
the Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang mentions a tribe of A-po’kien, located
in the Sulayman mountains. The earliest Moslem works mentioning them are
the Hudud al’Alam (982 A.D.), the Tarikh-I-Yamini and those of Biruni.
The Indian appellation Pathan does not occur till 16th c, but the change
into Pathan (from plural of Pushtun; Pushtana) indicates that it must
have been used at a much earlier date. Biruni places the Afghans in
western frontier mountains of India. No Afghan settlement west of
Ghazni is mentioned by early authors. The origin and early history of
westernmost Pushtun tribe, the Abdalis remains obsecure” [op cit, p 40]
cf:
“Mahmud Gazhni had to fight with ‘Kafirs’ Afghans living in the
Sulayman mountains ranges. In the war between Prithvi Raj Chohan and
Mohamad Dhori, the Afgans fought on both sides…This obviously proves
that all Afghans did not embrace Islam yet…..(Afghan Immigration in
early middle ages: article contributed by K. S. Lal in the book “Studies
in asian History, p 21).
Cf: “In warfare at the end of
twelfth century between the Moslems and Hindus, Afghans are represented
as fighting on both sides, which suggests that although legend places
their conversion in the early Islamic period, they had not yet all been
converted to Islam. Repeatedly, they are referred to as a rebellious and
turbulent people. Timur considered them (Kafirs of Sulayman) brigands
and is reported to have ravaged their strongholds ain the Sulayman
mountains. Their reputation as a fierce race of mountain robbers and
occasionally, soldiers of fortune turned to fame with rise to power in
India of the Afghans adventurer, Daulat Khan Ludi of Ludi clan of
Ghilzai”………. [ibid, pp 40-41]
“In physical type, most Kafirs
are above average height, with slender build, hair ranging from straight
to wavy and skin color described as resembling that of residents of
Punjab and presumably similar to Afghans. The nose is slender and
straight or sometimes acquiline in shape. …..Only Presungeli are
noticeably different, powerfully built, with heavy low forehead,
close-set eyes, a broader nose, a receding chin, a darker skin color—and
it is possible that the Presungeli represent the aboriginal inhabitants
of the area”
“The Kafir tribal structure as described by
Robertson was similar to that of other tribes in Afghanistan, but in
addition to the tribesmen there were two non-tribal classes, the poor
freemen and the slaves. The slaves were ususlly the war captives,
although they might be purchased from other Kafirs. House slaves lived
with family which owned them and enjoyed a higher status than did the
artisan slaves who were treated much as members of occupational castes
were in India. All craftmen among the Kafirs—such as wood carvers,
bootmakers, weavers were slaves, as were drummers. Blacksmiths were
considered of lower caste than other slaves, but all slaves were impure
and were prohibited from approaching the shrine or house of a priest…..”
“One receives status in the tribe by killing Moslems. And the
man who killed four or five Moslems earned the the right to waer a
special kind of shawl. In raids upon Moslems, with whom there were
contant blood feuds, the killer took an ear or scalp lock for a trophy
in addition to whatever booty could be seized. When a raiding party
returned home, a victory dance was held. There were usually no feuds
within the tribe but if a fight did start, it was the duty of all
witness to intervene at once. In the event a man was killed, his
murderer had the choice either to pay compensation or go into exile”.
(Afghanistan, its people, its Society, its culture, 1962 Donald N.
Wilber, p 50, 51, 311)
SIR GEORGE SCOTT ROBERTSON: A BRITISH INVESIGATOR.
Scott
Robertson spent several years with Kafirs in Kafirstan in late 19th c .
He resaeched the various Kafir tribes of Kafirstan. He put his findings
in a book called “The Kafirs of Hindukush”. The text refers to the
times when these people were still non-believers (so-called Kafirs). In
1895, their leaders were duplicitously taken prisoners and the
so-called Kafirs were forecibly converted to Islam by Afghan Chief Amir
Abdur Rahman Khan of Kabol. After conversion, they were re-named as
Nuris (enlightened ones). Their province was thence afterwards named as
Nuristan (land of light). The story Sir George Scott Robertson narrates
relates to pre-islamization of Kafirstan.
SOME EXCERPTS FROM HIS BOOK “THE KAFIRS OF HINDUKUSH”.
States
Scott Robertson: “….Thus the upper part of Bashgul Valley is called
Katirgul (Lutdeh in Chitrali, or Kamtoz in Pushtu), the middle part
Muman (Madugal in Chitrali) and the lower part Kam (Kamdesh in Chitrali
or Kamoz in Pushtu)” [ Kaffirs of Hindukush, 1896, p 71, Sir George
Scott Robertson, K.C. S. I.)
The Kafir Tribes: (as of 1890):
(1)Katirs (consisting of Kamoz Kafirs, Kti or Katawar Kafirs, Kulam Kafirs, Ramgulis Kafirs)
(2)Siaposh ( Kams/Kamtoz Shiaposh, Muman/Madugul Siposh, Kashtoz Shiaposh, Jezhis Kafirs, Gourdesh Siaposh)
(3)Sfedposh/Lalposh ( Wais, Ashkuns, Presuns/Virons)
The above was the general classification which Scott Robertson did in 1890.
This
classification was based on colour of robes which these tribes would
wear in those times. Note that this classification does not divide the
Kafirs on ethnic basis. Ethnically, the Katirs and Siaposh tribes are
said to belong to one ethnic group according to Sir Robertson. The Wai
Kafirs he describes more closer to the Greeks. The Presuns/Virons (of
Sfedpiosh general group) and Gourdesh (from Siaposh general group) are
from ancient tribes which are non-Aryans according to George Scott.
The
important subtribes of Kam or Kam people are: Utahdari, Demidari,
Garakadari, Sukadari, Bilezhedari, Waidari, Lanandari, Kanardari,
Gutkechdari and Batardari Kams. The first six are most important.
The Chief clans of the Katirs (Kamoz Kafirs) are:
Jannahdari,
Barmodari, Shakldari, Mutadawadari, Charedari, Shtukdari and Sowadari.
The Jannahdari are wealthiest and overshadow all other Karirs (Kamoz)
subtribes.
States Sir Scott Robertson: “The
Katirs(Kamtoz), the Kams (Kamoz), and the Wais* are mainly descended
from ancient Indian population of East Afghanistan who refused to
embrace Islam in 10th c A.D. and fled for refuge from victorious Moslems
to hilly countries of Kafirstan. The Jezis and the Aroms (Gourdesh) of
Siaposh group are the remanents of other races who were living in these
hilly regions before the advent of above three subtribes. They were
either driven away or were amalgamated into the above three invading
tribes. The Presuns of Sfedposh are the aboriginal (non-Aryan) race”.
(op cit p 157)
*Note: George Scott Robertson describes the Wais Kafirs as having some glimpses of ancient Greek cultural influence though.
Investigators
like Scott Robertson, Richard F. Strands etc have analyzed all the
Kafir tribes of Kafirstan. They all agree that Kams of Kamdesh are
though comparatively small in number, but because of their unity, they
are the virtual kings of Bashgul valley. Again and again, they have
been described as the trouble makers in the Kafirstan. “Inspite of their
being in microscopic minority as compared to the Katir , Gourdesh,
Madugul, Wai, Ashkun, Presun tribes of the Hindukush Kafirs, the Kam
tribes are the virtual kings of the entire Bashgul valley area. This is
simply because of unity among Kam their tribes”, writes Sir George
Scott Roberstson
“As there is no rock inscriptions, no ancient
books, nor any literature of any kind to be found in Kafirstan, and as
the traditions of the people themselves give such small help in forming
any opinion concerning their origin, the only hope which remains that
the Kafirs may be eventually assigned their proper place in general
history of the world is from a comparative study of their language,
their manners and customs, and their religious ceremonies, as well as
from their cranial measurements, and other anthrometric observations.;
that they have no admixture of Tarter (Mongol/Turkic) blood seems
obvious; that they came from west, at least the great majority of them,
is their own fixed idea, and more is more than probable. If there be
point of resemblence between the present Kafirs and the ancient Greek
sacrificial observances, and if certain of their domestic utensils…such
for instance, as Wai wooden dish stand—may seem to be fashioned in
Grecian mould, it may fairly be conjectured that some of the Kafir
tribes, at any rate, are still INFLUENCED, by Greek colonists of
Alexander; that these Kafirs having never been under the rule of
Muslemans, may possibly represent some of the people of Eastern
Afganistan, as they were before the victorious Moslem defeated and
converted them to Islam” (op cit p 161-162)
The Wai and Ashkun
Kafirs as a tribe are either from ancient Yavanas or are probably
under the cultural influence of those (Yavana=Greek) people who have
been described to be living as neighbors to Kamboja people per Asoka's
Rock Edicts (R.E. V: Yona-Kamboja-Gandharanam; R.E. XIII: Yone-Kambojesu
…R.E. XIII) .Or of the Ramayana…. Kamboja-Yona sawya (Ramayana
Kishakanda Kanda 43/11), ….cf: Yone-Kamboj-Gandharam (of
Mahabharata) and Yone-Kambojesu (of Pali religious texts etc.).
With
reference to the above said Wai Kafirs who are described by Scott
Robertson as being under some subtle ancient cultural Greek influence,
we personally see in them the reflection of those Kambojas of northern
Archotia/Kandhar (Central Afghanistan) who were neighbors to the
Yanvanas of Southern Archotia (cf: Shar-I-Kuna Inscriptions in
Greek/Aramaic scripts). Thus most possibly, the three major tribes of
the Kafirs (Katirs, Kams, Wais) have all probably retreated from
Kandhar. Some of them were under Greek cultural influence for obvious
reasons being their long time neighbors in Kandhar, they had imbibed
certain Grecian manners, customs and some linguistic influences from
their neighbors.
By LS.THIND on Saturday, November 24, 2001 - 5:32 am: PART II
BRITISH INVESTIGATOR M. ELPHINSTONE ON KAFIRS OF HINDUKUSH: (19th c A.D.)
In
the earlier nineteenth century, a British researcher Sir Mountstuart
Elphenstone had also traveled through some parts of the impenetrable
Kafirstan area of the Hindukush mountains and had met with several
tribal groups who were called Caumoze, Camojee, Camoze or Cam (Ref:
Elphinstone, An account of the kingdom of Cabol, Vol II, page 375-377).
Their language, like that of rest of the Kamoze/Kamoje Kafirs of the
Bashgul valley is Kati which is dialect of Indo-European language called
Dardic language.
“The derivation of their language seem fatal
to the decent of the Kafirs from Greeks, and their traditions do not
furnish us with any distinct account of their origin. The most general
and only credible story is that they were expelled by advancing
Moslemaans from neighborhood of Qandhar made several migrations
from place to place before they reached their present abode. They allege
that they consisited of four tribes called Camoze, Hilar, Silar and
Camoje of which the three former embraced the Mohammdan religion but the
fouth retained its ancient faith and quitted the native country”
(Source: An Account of the Kingdom of Cabol, 1972, Oxford University,
Press London, N.Y. Vol II, p 376-377 by M. Elphinstone).
“Caufirs are remarkable for their fairness and beauty of their complexions………”.(op cit p 376).
“I
must observe that….Pusha tribe of Caufirs which is stated to live
towards Caubol and which I doubt not is the origin of Pushawees
mentioned by Bauber and still found in the Cohistan of Caubol”. (op cit p
376)
The tribes name of the Kaffirs mentioned by M. Elphinstonte are:
Camojee
(Camoze, Caumoze, Cam), Camtoze, Kishtojee, Moondigul,Puroonee,
Tewaanee, Poonooz, Ushkong, Usmshee, Sunno, Koolumee, Roose, Turkuma,
Nisha, Chumga, Wave, Khallum, Demish, Eerait etc (op cit p 376).
"The
name Caumojee, Camoze, Caumoze is apparently connected with Kamboja".
(M. ElphinstoneAn Account of the Kingdom of caubol, p 619, f,n).
There
are several languages among the Caufirs but they have many words in
common, and have a near connection with Sanskrit….but also has Persian
and Pushto touch in it. (a thousand called by Persian/Pushtoon name).
(op cit p 376).
“I imagine the inhabitants of Cohistan of
caubol to have the same origins , particularly as the name Cohistan is
applied to all lately converted Caifirs”(op cit p 376).
“Yet
there are certain fixed festivals which prevail among the Camojees of
Camdesh and which are general. Some of them are remarkable, but non
resembles any festival I am familiar with except one in which the
Caufirs throw ashes at each other as the Hindoos do a sort of poweder
during holi” (op Cit p 380).
“Though exasperated to such fury by the
persecutions of the Mohammadans, the Caufirs are in general harmless
affectionate and kind hearted people. Though passionate, they are easily
appeased. They are merry, playful, found of laughter and altogather of a
social and joyous disposition. Even to Mohammadans, they are kind
when they admit them as their guests…” (op cit p 387).
W. K. FRASER:
“All
that seem at all certain is that parts of modern Kafirstan formed a
portion of Greek Strappy of Paropamisadea in ¾ c B.C. the people
were then called Kambojas who were of mixed Indo-Iranian descent. In
fact the scholars are of the opinion that Kamboja and Kapisha the native
city of adjoining Greek Capital might be identical”. ”.(Afghanistan, A
Study of Political Developments in Central Southern Asia, 3rd
edition, 1967, p 58, W. K. Fraser- Tytler, M. C. Gillett ).
“Now
it seem more probable that at this period the ancestors of the Kafirs
inhabited an area of much greater extent than at present. They may, in
fact, have been, as they themselves say, the ancient inhabitants of
Central Afghanistan who were gradually forced to retreat into the hills
in face of continued Mohammadan encroachments. It is therefore possible
that the Kafirs the Kambojas who were apparently good friends of
Greeks are the same people, the name Kambojas giving way to word Kafir
which is common Moslem name for idolators, but being partly retained in
the name of one of their principal tribe called Kam or Kamtoz/
Kamoz”.(Afghanistan, A Study of Political Developments in Central
Southern Asia, 3rd edition, 1967, p 58, W. K. Fraser- Tytler, M. C.
Gillett ).
Dr Thoms Holdich D. Sc. on Kafirs.
“While
surveying the Kunar valley along the Kafirstan borderland, I made the
acquaintance of two Kam Kafrs of Kamdesh. Who stayed some little time
in the Afghan camp, in which my own tent waspitched and who were objects
of my much interest to members of the boundary commsission there
assembled. They submitted gracefully enough to much cross-examination
and amongst other things, they also sang a war hymn to their god Gish
and exceuted a religious dance. Gish is not supreme in their
mythology, but he is the god who receives by far the greatest amount of
attention, for the Kafir of the lower Bashgul valley * is ever on the
the raid, always on the watch for a chance for a Mohhamadan life. It is
indeed curious that while tolerant enough to allow of the existence of
Mohamadan communities, in their midist, they ( Kafirs) rank the life of
a Mussulman as one of the greatest object of attainment; so much so
that a Kafir's social position is dependent on the activity he displays
in searching out the common enemy, and his very right to sing hymns of
adoration to his war-god called GISH is strictly limited by the number
of Mohammdan lives he has taken…….The Hymn which the Kafirs recired or
sang was translated word for word, with the aid of a Chitrali
interpreter, by a Munshi, who has the reputation of being most careful
interpreter, and following is almost the literal ttranscript, for which I
am indebted to Dr MacNab of the Q.O Corpus Guidees: -
· thou who from Gir Nysa’s (lofty heights) was born
· Who from its sevenfold portals didst emerge
· On Katan Chirak thou hast set thine eyes
· Towards (the depth of) Sum Bushgal dost go
· In Sum Baral assembled you have been.
· Sanji from the heights you see; Sanji you consult?
· The council sits. O mad one, wither goest thou?
· Say Sanji. Why dost thou go forth?
“The
Gir Nysa means mountanin of Nysa. Katan Chirak is ancient town in
Minjan Valley Badakshan. Now in ruins. But was the first large place
the Kafirs captured and apparently held to be “symbol of victory”. This
reference connects the Kamdesh Kafirs with Badakshan and shows these
people to have been more wide spread than they are at present……….”
“The
eminent linguistic authority, Dr Grierson thinks the language in which
the hymn is recited is derived from what the Sanskrit writers said was
the language of the Pisacas, a people whom they dubbed as ‘demons’ and
“eaters of raw flesh”, and who may be represented by Pashai dwellers in
Laghman and in its vicinity to-day. Possibly, the name of the chief
village of Kunar valley Pashat may claim the same origin, for Laghman
and Kunar both spread their plains to foot of the mountains of
Kafirstan” ……” (Source: The Gates of India, p 131-133; Dr Thomas
Holdixch, D. Sc.).
“Kafirstan has ever been an unexplored
region—a mountain wilderness into which no call of Buddhism ever lured
the pilgrim, no Moslem conqueror (excepting per haps Timur) ever set
his foot, until the late Mir Abdur Rahman essayed to reduce that region
and make it a part of civilized Afghanistan (1896 A.D.). Even he was
content to leave it alone after a year or two of vain hammering at its
southern gates. Kafirstan formed a part of the medieval province or
kingdom of Bolor; but it is always written as the home of an uncouth
and savage race of people, with whom, it was difficult to establish
intercourse. Kafirstan is however, in these modern days very much
curtailed as the home of the Kafirs. Undoubtedly, many of the border
tribes fringing the country (Dehgans, Nimchas) who are now to be
numbered amongst the most fanatical of Moslem clans, are comparatively
new recruits to the faith, and therefore, handle the new broom with
tradirional ardour; but they were not so long ago members of the great
mixed community of of Kafirs, who driven from many directions into most
inaccessible fastnesses of the hills by the advance of stronger races
north and south, have occupied remote valleys, preserving their own
dioalects, mixing up in strange confusion of Brahman, Zoroasterian and
Buddhist tenets with classical mythology, each valley with apparently a
law and a language of its own, until it is impossible to unravel the
threads of their complicated relationship. Here we should expect to find
(and we do find) the last relics of the Greek occupation of Bacteria
and here are certainly remnants of a yet more ancient Persian stock,
with all the flotsam and jetsam of High Asia intermingled. They are from
point of view of Kabol court, all lumped to gather as Kafirs under two
denominations, Shiaposh and Lalposh; and not till scientific
investigation, such as has not yet reached Afghanistan, can touch them
shall we know more than we do now…….. “ (Ref: The Gates of India 1910,
page 270 by Dr Thomas Holdich, D.Sc).
*NOTE: The land of the Kam Kafirs.
By LS.THIND on Saturday, November 24, 2001 - 12:13 am: THE KAFIRS BEFORE 1896 A.D./THE NURISTANIS AFTER 1896 A.D.
KAFIRSTAN BEFORE 1896 A.D./NURISTANI AFTER 1896 A.D.
The
Bashgul valley area of Kafirstan in Kunar was inhabited by some Kafir
Kamboj tribes which have been variously called Kam, Kamoje, Kamoze,
Kamozee Kamtoz and Kastoz by the several investigators. This area was a
portion of ancient country known as Kapisha (Panini). The scholars have
investigated and now accept that Kapisha and Kamboja are synonymous
terms. Some historians state that these Kafirs people are the original
inhabitants of the country known as Kapisha. While some state that some
Kafirs tribes have come from outside, from Badakshan, Kabol as well as
Central Afghanistan (Kandhar). Whataever be the truth in the above
statements of the scholars, it is undoubtedly true that many of these
Kafir tribes are the descendents of ancient Kamboja tribe. We will not
involve ourselves into the controversy as to whether the Nuristani
(earstwhile Kafirs) of Kam/Kamoz, Katir/Kamtoz and Wai clans had moved
from outside or are the descendents of the ancient Kapisha (Kamboja)
tribe of Paropamisadae region of the Persian/Greek chronicles.
The
Kam/Kamoz tribe (of Sir Robert Scott) though still numerically about
20,000 is the most dominant tribe of Nuristan. Second largest group
called Katirs (or Kamtoz of Robertson Scott) The history of Nuristan,
in fact, is the history of the Kam (Kamoz) tribe. Every
writer/invesigator who has visited Nuristan and investigated the
Kafirstani/Nuristani tribes has mainly concentrated on Kam tribe (being
the star tribe of the Bashgul valley) and has devoted 90% of the
material to Kam people of Kamdesh. They have, again as again, been
styled as the ‘trouble makers’ in Nuristan and have been designated as
the virtual kings of Bashgul valley (Kafirs of Hindukush, Sir Robertson
Scott)
************************************************************************
KAFFIRS (NURISTANI) KAMBOJA TRIBES OF HINDUKUS:
ANCIENT KAPISH, KAPISA, KOPHEN, KAPICENE, KIPIN ( ~CAMBYSIS?))
Historians
state that Kafir and Katir are synonymous words (for ref: Kamboja
People and the Country 1979 by Dr. J. Lal Kamboj, Delhi University).
The Kafirs Katirs both refer to the people of Kafirstan (Kti,
Katirs and Katawar=residents of the Katawar of medieval age= ancient
Katas, a Kashatrya people).
Cf: “In the west lived Kambojas
and Katas who were expert in the warfare and were famous for their
tenacity and courage” [Ref: Hindu polity (The Ordinance of Manu) 1972
page 29 by Dr Arthur Coke Burnell].
According to Dr Thomas
Holdich: "It appears that name Katawar was the general name for
northern regions of Kafirstan…." (Ref: Gateways of India 1910, page 355,
by Dr Thomas Holdich). Dr George Scott Robertson differentiates Katirs
from Kti or Katawer Kafirs living in the modern Kti valley neighboring
the Bashgul valley which region is the land of the Kamoj/Kamoz Kafirs.
A
fraction of the Mediaeval age (14 th century AD) Katirs, Ktis,
Katawer Kafirs of the Kti or Katawer valley are the modern Kafirs of
Kafirstan while the rest form the fringe of the population who have over
the years embraced Islam and now constitute the inveterate and
truculent Mohamdans of the surrounding Afghanistan (Gate Way to India,
Dr Thomas Holdich)
In fact, Katirs are an important and
numerous tribal clan of the Shiaposh tribal group of Kafirstan and
one of their principal tribes is still called Kamtoze in Pushtu” [
Kafirs of Hindukush, Sir George Scott Robertson (1896)].
The
word Kapisha or Kapisa is believed to have evolved from Sanskrit
Kamboja, Persian Kambujia/Kambaujia or the Greek Kambysis. The
inhabitants of Kapisa were a scion of the Kamboja people. In their
writings, the ancient Arab geographers have written Kapisha, Kapisa ,
Kophen, Kapicene, Kipin etc as Kapis-stan. By popular mistake and by
twist of history and time, this Kapis-stan later turned first into
Kapir-stan (literally a land of the Kapir people, where Kapirs may be
the same as Katirs) which further evolved into Kafir-stan which
literally means the land of the ‘infidels’ or non-believers.
Linguistically, the word ‘Kafir’ is derived from word ‘Kapir’
‘Kapir’ from ‘Kapis’ which is philological variation of some of the
numerous Kamboja synonyms like Kieufieu, Kaofeu, Kubha, Kophen,
Kapiscene, Kipin, Cambysis/Kambysis etc as wel will see soon.
Cf:
“The word Kafir in Kafir-stan needs some explanation. This does not
seem to same as the Arabic word which implies ‘non-believer’ or
‘idolator’. To all probability, this Kafir is the philogical evolution
from an ancient term ‘Kapir’. This way, Kafirstan, in fact, should mean
the ’land of the Kapir people’. This term Kapir appears to be a version
of Sanskrit term Kapisha. Here ‘sh’ of Kapish changed into ‘r’ in
Kapir. This is not a surprise. The name of King Kanishak who ruled
this land is found written as Kanerak as well. Here ‘sh’ of Kanishaka
has changed into ‘r’ in Kanerka. This further evidences that the ancient
name ‘Kapish’ first evoved into ‘Kapir’ and still later into well
known ‘Kafir’. And Dr S Levi has already demonstrated that Kipin was
another version of Kapir. Further, it has also been demonstarated
that, philogically, ancient term Kapisha is another version of standard
Sanskrit term Kamboja. (Geographical and Economical Studies in the
Mahabharata, Upayana Parva, JUPHS, Vol XVI., Part II, 1943,
pp48-53,Ancient Kamboja People and the Country, 1981, p 46, Dr J. L.
Kamboj; cf: Cultural Heritage of India Vol I page 44,)
Based on
the establishment of similarity between terms Kapisha with Kamboja, by
Dr S. Levi, another Indologist Dr Motichander has suggested that the
prefix ‘Kam’ in Kamdesh, Kamash/Kamach (name of a river in Kairstan),
etc is very significant. In Kafir language, Kamdesh is also called
Kambrom. The upper part of Bashgul valley is called Kargul. In Chitrali
it is called Lutdeh while in Pushto it is Kamtoz. The middle part of
Bashgul valley is called Madugul in Chitrali. The lower part is called
Kam. In Chitrali it is called Kamdesh, while in Pashtu it is Kamoz. The
Kam of Bashgul and Kamtoz of Pashtu reminds us of the ancient Kambojas
of Kafirstan. [ Ancient Kamboja People and the Country, 1981, p 46,
Dr J. L. Kamboj]
IMPORTANT: There are other relics of ancient
Kamboja tribe still found in this land of Kafirstan of today (e.g. a
place name Kamach or Kamash (p 158, Kafirs of Hindukush), a river name
Kamah or Kama (p 81, Kafirs of Hindukush; palso called pech), and a pass
named as Kammoh or Kammah. Besides, a villages in the area is also
known as Kamu, Kamo (p 77 Kafirs of Hindukush), a hill known as
Kama-tol (Kam cliff), a small valley in Bashagul known as Kama-gul
(Richard F. Strand, Accounts of Kam History and Culture) also cf:
Headquarters of Kama tribes is known as Kamdesh (Country of Kams…cf
Kamboj desh) or Kambrom. Etc. Ref: The Kafirs of Hindukush p 77, by
George Scott Robertson; pl also ref to the The official Gazzetteer of
Afghanistan).
Also the geographical region of Afghanistan to
the south-east of Kabol river, falling between Jalabad and the famous
Khyber Pass of Sfedkoh mountain system is also still called the Kamm or
Kamma valley (Ref: Struggle for Afghanistan 1991 page 158 by Nancy P
Newell, Richards C. Newell) which further reminds us of the ancient
Kamboja vestige left in this area, south-east of the Kabol river. [cf:
ref: Military Text Books Series: “From Black Mountain to Wazirstan, by
Col H. C. Wylly, C. B. 1912, p 237, 227, cf also: Kamma Daka, Kamma
Shilman, Kamma Bela regions names. These regions are the modern habitats
of the Afridi tribe]
Cf: “There is apparent trace of
their (Kamboja’s) name in the ‘Caumozee’ of Kafirstan, who may have
retreated to the mountains before the advance of Turk tribes”: (Vishnu
Purana, p 299, f.n. 15, H. H. Wilson; The Achamenids and India, p 13, De
S. Chattopadhya ).
Cf: Writes Dr Nand Lal Dey” “According to
Dr Loh, the Shiaposh tribes living in the Hindukush mountains are the
descendents of the Kamboja people. (The Geographical Dictionery of
Ancient and Medieval India p 87, by Dr. Nundo Lal Dey)
Cf: “The
western boundaries of ancient Kamboja must have reached Kafirstan.
Elphinstone found in that district tribes like the Caumojee, Camoze and
Camoje whose name remind us of the Kambojas” [ ref: Political History of
Ancient India, 1996, p 133 by Dr H. C. Raychaudhury, Dr B. N. Mukerjee,
cf: M. Elphinstone, an account of the kingdom of Caubol, Vol II, pp.
375-377; cf: Bombay Gazetteer, I. 1, 498 n; cf: Journal of Royal Asiatic
Society, 1843, 140; cf: Journal and Proceeding of the Asiatic Society
of Bengal, 1874, 260 n; cf: Wilson H. H. Vishnu Purana, P III, 292].
“There
are tribes like Caumojee, Camtoze and Caumozee living in eastern
Afghanistan. British researcher M. Elphinstone has found that these
terms are apparently connected with Sanskrit term Kamboj. Before the
arrivel of Turks, these tribes must have retreated into their present
mountainous abodes.” [Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, p
43-44, Dr J. L. Kamboj].
Cf: “The Kambojas were inhabitants
of regions around Hindukush mountain.. According to Elphinstone,
many modern Kafirs of this region still address them as Kamohs”
(Sindhant Kaumde, Arathparkashaka, 1966, pp 20-22, by Acharya Radha
Raman Pande)
Cf: Dr W. W. Tarn calls Kafirstan and Kapicene or
Kapisa as the homeland of Kambojas. This region has also been known in
history as the Parapamisdae Strappy of the Greeks as well as of the
Achaemenian kings of Persia. "The Kapisha was the gate way of Kamboja
country and formed its integral part" opines Dr Tarn (Ref: (Ref: The
Greeks in Bacteria and India 1966 p 170, 461, by Dr W. W. Tarn ).
Cf:
“All that seem at all certain is that parts of modern Kafirstan formed a
portion of Greek Strappy of Paropamisadea in 4th – 3rd c B.C.
the people were then called Kambojas who were of mixed Indo-Iranian
descent. In fact, the scholars are of the opinion that Kamboja and
Kapisha the native city of adjoining Greek Capital might be identical”.
”.(Afghanistan, A Study of Political Developments in Central
Southern Asia, 3rd edition, 1967, p 58, W. K. Fraser- Tytler, M. C.
Gillett ).
Cf: “Parts of Nuristan (Kafirstan) formed a portion
of Greek satrapy of the Paropamisadae in the fourth and third c B.C.
The People were then called Kambojas and described as of mixed
Indo-Iranian descent. Possibly they occupied a much larger area then
and were gradually forced from central Afghanistan into their present
mountains by the Moslem onslaught. One of their principal tribes is
still called Kam or Kamtoz…” (Afghanistan, its people, its Society, its
culture, 1962, p 50, Donald N. Wilber)
Cf: Kadphizes is not a
personal name, but derived from the name of a country which is variously
called Kapisha, Kamboja etc” (EI., Vol XIX-1, p 11).
By LS.THIND on Friday, November 23, 2001 - 11:59 pm: MOST PROBABLE ETYMOLOGY OF MODERN ‘AFGHAN’ FROM ANCIENT ‘ASHVAKAN’: (PARTLY BASED ON LINGUISTICS).
There
are two consonants sounds 'SH' and 'V' coming between the two vowel
sounds "A" and 'A" in the SANSKRIT WORD ASHVAKA… == >‘ASHVAKAYANA’ of
PANINI IV-1, 110, 99), ‘ASHVAKANA’ (of J. W. Mcgrindlle)’. Now
remember the case of 'KAMBOJA/KAMBOJ' where also the hard consonant
sound'J" coming inbetween two vowels "A" and "A" had got 'elitted'!On
similar lines, the consonant sound "SH" (though softer than "J") in term
‘ASHVKANA’ falling between two vowels “A” and “A” has also got to be
'elited' by laws of linguistics. Remember that consonant sound 'SH'
occupies a place immediately preceding consonant 'J' in DEVANAGARI
SCRIPT (CHA, CHHA (=SH), JA, JHA ETC) and it belongs to the 'same line'
of sounds in the DEVANAGARI script, though it is little softer than 'J'.
Hence when consonant 'SH' gets elited from 'ASHVAKANA' we get the term
AVAKANA.
THIS AVAKANA, IN FACT, IS THE ETYMOLOGICAL
FORE-FATHER/PREDECESSOR OF THE ‘ABAGANA’, APAKANA names mentioned in
SASSANIAN SHAHPURA I AND SHAPURA III records, 'AVAGANA'/'VOKANA' OF
VRAHAMIHIRA'S BRAHTA SAMHITA, 'AVAGANA' OF FIRDOUSI’S SHAHNAMA,
'AP-O-KIEN' OF CHINESE TRAVELLER HIUEN TSANG, 'APAGAN' OF (Dr K. P.
JAYSWAL) AND ‘AFGHAN’ OF THE MODERN ERA.
Also we find
numerous instances in INDO-ARYAN languages where soft ‘V’ and hard “B”
are used interchangeably as also where “P’ and “PH”/”F” are used
interchangeably.
JUST TRY TO CONCENTRATE ON THE ABOVE AND YOU
WILL KNOW HOW THE MODERN TERM AFGHAN EVOLVED FROM ANCIENT
ASHVAKA/ASHVAKAN (ASHVAKAYAN OF PANINI IV-1, 110, 99).
By LS.THIND on Thursday, November 22, 2001 - 6:21 am:
'Ashvaka' is a Sanskrit word derived from Ashva. Ashva means the horse.
Ashvaka has equivalent in Prakritic languages as 'Assaka' which also
find mention in numerous pali Texts.
'Ashvaka' means 'horsemen'.
'Ashvakan' (=Ashvakayan of Panini) means 'horsemen' as well as it also means 'the land or home of horses'.
As
stated above, the term 'Ashvakan/Ashvakayan' has also the meaning of
"ASSAN-AYATNAM' == >' LAND OF HORSES'. [cf: Kamboja Assan-ayatnam Vol
I, p 121, Sumanglavilasini)
Ancient Kamboja was indeed the
celebrated 'land of horses' as has been documented by Sumanglavilasini,
Mahabharata, Jaina Uttaradhyana Sutra and numerous other Sanskrit/Pali
texts as well as by many Inscriptions. Some clans of the Kambojas who
were exclusively dedicated to horse-raising/breeding and horse-trading
profession were popularly addressed as 'Ashvakas or Ashvakans and
Ashvayans' in common parlance. All Kambojas were very famous as
cavalary-men and have especially been designated as Ashva-yudh-Kushlah
(expert cavalry men)
Tatha Yavana-Kamboja Mathurambhitashach ye/
atai ashva-yudh-kushlah dakshinhatyaasicharminh://
(MBH 12/101/5).
These
assakenois/aspasios (Aspasian/assakenian=Ashvakan/Ashvakayan, Ashvayan)
were the very Kamboja clans who had offered the stoutest resistance to
Alexandra, the Great at 'Massaga fort' [modern Mashkayan]in Swat/Kunar
valleys..... . Along with their valiant wives and fearless daughters,
these Kamboja clans had fought the Macedonian Army tooth and nail and
majority of them had embraced martyrdom. We have already discussed this
'very splendid episode' of the Kamboj history in details, in our
previous postings.
And undoubtedly, we are extremely proud of
our 'brave Kamboja mothers and sisters' of Massaga who had valiantly
crossed the swords with the well trained army of one of the greatest
generals in the world history. We bow our heads in respect and salute to
our these warrior mothers and sisters!!!!!
N.B. Our previous
posts on "Ashvakan Kamboja gave their name to Afghans/Afghanistan" have
some inadvertent typo errors as also some off-topic material (some
sensitive readers must already have noted it). Sorry, I forgot to wittle
down the paste-up which I picked up from some other site. However, the
extra information I supplied does not hurt any way.
By THIND on Tuesday, November 20, 2001 - 8:24 am:
I have not yet seen/read A. H. Bingley's 'English' book on 'The Sikhs'
inspite of my desire to do so.I have only presented the text of Bingley
on Kambojs from a 'Punjabi text' translating it back into 'English' as
best as I could do. My translation might have been somewhat different
from the 'original text' of Bingley.
I'm sure there are some
readers on this thread who might have access to A. H. Bingley's book on
'The Sikhs' in 'English'. We will appreciate if he can post the English
version of Bingley's text on Kambojs on this thread.
MY TRANSLATION:
Writes
A. H. Bingley: “…..One critique describes them ( Kambohs) as a tall,
strong, skillful and stiff- necked race and therefore RESMBLING MORE
WITH THE AFGHANS than ANY OF THE OTHER HINDU RACES living in the plains
of Punjab among whom they (Kambohs) have now settled for several
generations…….They are fit for military recruitment because they are
generally a hardy and of powerful physique” . [The Sikhs, A. H. Bingley,
1970, p 57].
The following text of Mr Reginald Holder about Kambojs is however in Original English.
“They
(Kambohs) make excellent soldiers, being of a very fine physique and
possessing great courage……….” [Source: The Sikhs and the Sikhs wars:
Reginald Holder (From the Punjab past and present Vol IV, Part I, April
1970 Serial No 7, edited by Dr Ganda Singh).]
By LS.THIND on Sunday, November 18, 2001 - 10:07 am: GENESIS OF TERM AFGHAN
PART I-A
TRADITIONAL ACCOUNTS ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF TERM OR NAME AFGHAN:
There
is a traditional, puranic or hearsay story about the origin of name
Afghan. According to Makhzan-e-Afghani written by Niamatulah and
Mustaothi Tarikh-e-Guzida, 18th generations down Adam was born Ibrahim
who had Talut or Soul as his descendent. Talut had two sons Irmia and
Girmia. Irmia had a son named Afghan who is believed to have given his
name to Afghans. Qais was successor to Afghan who had come and settled
in Ghor in Afghanistan and embraced Islam under Prophet Mohammed. After
conversion, he was given the name Abdur Rashid by the Lord, Prophet
Mohammed and was conferred the title of Malik or Badshah.
Pathans
believe that they are all descended from a common ancestor, Qais. He is
said to have met the Prophet Muhammad. The prophet gave Qais the name
"Pthun, and Qais was to take Islam back to his home. One of Qais's sons
was name Afghana, who had four sons. Every Pathan traces his descent
from one of these four sons of Afghana.
Cf: “The Abdali clan to
whom the famous Afghan general Ahmad Shah Abdali alias Durani (Pearl
of Pearls) belonged, claims to be direct descendents of some PERSONAGE
named Abdal. Abdal is said to be a successor, five generations in the
line to Qais who is stated to have sprung from the Israili tribe. Qais
embraced Islam during times of the Prophet and was named Abdur Radhid
in accordance with Islamic religious customs.” [Ahmad Shah Durani by Dr
Ganda Singh, 1959, p12).
By LS.THIND on Sunday, November 18, 2001 - 10:06 am:GENESIS OF THE TERM AFGHAN:
PART I-B.
OTHER OPINIONS ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF NAME AFGHAN
Afghans
are mentioned as ‘Avagana’ as well as’ Vokana’ by Vrahamihira in (6th c
AD) in his Brihat-Samhita (16/38, 11, 61, Brahta-Samhita,
Varahamihira).
Cf: “Afghans have also been described as ‘Vokanas’ by
Vrahamihira in (6th c AD) in his Brihat-Samhita (16/38).” [Afghan
Immigration in early middle ages—article contributed by K. L. Lal in the
book “Studies in Asian History, p 20]
Cf: ‘ Pahlava-Sveta-Huna
(white Huns)-Chola (i.e.northern) (cf Ency Brit (11th ed, XIII, 330)-
Avagana (=Apagana=afghan)=Maru-China (XVI, 38 and XI, 61, Vrahamihira,
Brahata-Samhita)’. [Hindu Polity, Part I II, p 129, Dr Jayswal]
“The name ‘Abagan’ was used for the Afghans by Iranians as is
documented by the Sassanian Inscriptions of 3rd c AD”. [Afghan
Immigration in early middle ages—article contributed by K. L. Lal in the
book “Studies in Asian History, p 20).
Hiuen Tsang, the famous
Chinese traveler of 7th c A.D. uses ‘A-po-kien’ for a people living
between the Khyber pass and Gazni. Obviously, this Apokien of Hiuen
Tsang stands for the term Afghan. [op cit, p 20]
Cf: “ On his
return journey from India, the Chinese pilgrim Hsüan-Tsang travelled
from Varnu (possibly modern Wana) to Jaguda in Ghazni, crossing the land
of A-p'o-k'ien, . [ Hui-li 1959, p. 188.] a word derived from Avakan or
Avagan, meaning Afghans”.
In Islamic sources, the first reliable
mention of the Afghans is found in the Hudud al-alam, which says of a
settlement on the borders of India and the Ghazni district that ‘there
are Afghans there too'. Mention is also made of a local ruler some of
whose wives were ‘Afghan women’.[Hudud al’Alam 1930 p. 16-A]
The use of ‘Ogan’ for Afghan has been reported by Sir Robert Scot in his well known book “The Kafirs of Hindukush, 1895,)
The
term ‘Awagan’ for Afghan is also is in use in Afghanistan till date [p
14, Afganistan, its People, its Society, its Culture, 1962, by Donald N.
Milber].
The name Afghan in Turkish which is called ‘Avagan’.
In
the official records of Persian king Shapur III, 309-379 AD we find the
term ‘Apkan’ (=AFGHAN) referring to Afghan People. Professor Sprengler
and Sir Olaf Caroe believe that this Apkan evolved into modern word of
"Afghan".
In his Shahnama, Firdousi mentions the term Avagan, referring to a General in Faridoon's army.
SEE YET FURTHER ON THE GENESIS OF TERM AFGHAN :
“The
genesis of the word Afghan, as far as I know, is Persian. It is a
derivation from the word 'Bagan', which means God. The corruption of
this word can be found in the Hindi/Sanskrit language, which is Bhagwan
for God” .
”The word Afghan is derived from the word ‘Abagan’
(i.e. without God), which the Persian coined for the Pakhtuns to
describe them as non-believers. The antonym of Bagan (=believer in God)
is Abagan (=non-believer) just as the antonym of political is apolitical
in the English language”.
”The Persian bias for the Pakhtuns
is a historical fact just like the bias of the Indians or British is in
describing the Pakhtuns as savages and un-civilized”.
”Some
authorities describe the genesis of the word Afghan to be a derivative
of the Persian word ‘Fughan’, which means noisy lamentation. Since the
Persians saw Afghans as noisy and un-civilized, they argue, therefore,
they were named as Afghans”. (Above views are from L Mar)
http://www.afghanan.net/cgi-bin/ib/cgi-bin/printpage.cgi?forum=1topic=10
One
thing becomes very clear from some of the documentation given above.
We can at least see from the divergent views above that the name AFGHAN
or any of its afore said earlier ‘supposed’ VERSIONS/DERIVATIONS
existed from a time much earlier than Prophet Mohammed. Hence the
traditional or a puranic account which some Moslem Afghan clans give
about the origin of name ‘Afghan’ from the personal name of Afghana,
the son of Qias is obviously a fallacy and hence misleading.
COMPARE:
Although the origins of the Afghans probably lie in very ancient
times, [ Morgenstierne, 1940; Grantovskiy, 1963] the first mentions of
the Afghan people appear only in the sixth and seventh centuries.
ON TERM AFGHAN, SEE ALSO THE FOLLOWING:
EXTRACTS FROM AFGHANISTAN, ITS PEOPLE, ITS CULTURE, ITS SOCIETY:BY DONALD. N. WILBER:
“Historically, the Afghans are first mentioned by name (Avagana) by
early sith century Indian astronmer Varaha Migira in his Brahat Samhiti.
A little later, the Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang mentions a tribe of
A-po’kien, located in the Sulayman mountains. The earliest Moslem works
mentioning them are the Hudud al’Alam (982 A.D.), the Tarikh-I-Yamini
and those of Biruni. The Indian appellation Pathan does not occur till
16th c, but the change into Pathan (from plural of Pushtun; Pushtana)
indicates that it must have been used at a much earlier date. Biruni
places the Afghans in western frontier mountains of India. No Afghan
settlement west of Ghazni is mentioned by early authors. The origin and
early history of westernmost Pushtun tribe, the Abdalis remains
obsecure” [op cit, p 40]
“In warfare at the end of twelfth century
between the Moslems and Hindus, Afghans are represented as fighting on
both sides, which suggests that although legend places their conversion
in the early Islamic period, they had not yet all been converted to
Islam. Repeatedly, they are referred to as a rebellious and turbulent
people. Timur considered them brigands and is reported to have ravaged
their strongholds ain the Sulayman mountains. Their reputation as a
fierce race of mountain robbers and occasionally, soldiers of fortune
turned to fame with rise to power in India of the Afghans adventurer,
Daulat Khan Ludi of Ludi clan of Ghilzai”………. [ibid, pp 40-41]
AND FURTHER ALSO SEE THE FOLLOWING
AFGHAN AFGHANISTAN: An Etymological Overview.
By: Farid Maiwandi:
“The
earliest record of the word "Afghan" was found in a tablet at
Naqsh-i-Rostam in Shiraz. Written during the reign of the Sassanid King,
Shapur I who ruled between 260-273 AD, the tablet refers to a certain
military officer as Vindifer Abgan Rasmand. Translated in modern Persian
it means Vindafer Salar-i Jangi-e Abgan. The word Abgan is an old
Pahlavi (Parthian) word, which is believed to be the derivative form of
an adjective describing robustness, resilience, or bravery.
The
word seems to have found a wider usage by the time of Shahpur III, who
ruled between 309-379 AD, and used the term Apkan in his official title.
Professor Sprengler and Sir Olaf Caroe call this term equivalent to the
modern word of "Afghan". In his Shahnama, Firdousi mentions the term
Avagan, referring to a General in Faridoon's army.
We
encounter the word "Afghan" next in the works of the famous Indian
astronomer, Varha-Mihira. He died in 578 AD after he wrote his famous
book of Bharata Smitha, where the word "Afghan" appears as Avagana in
verses 11-61 and 16-31.
Heun Tsung provides the next recorded
reference of "Afghan". He was a Chinese traveller who visited
Afghanistan between 629-645 AD. In his Memories of the West, he refers
to the territories between Banu and Ghazi as Op-o-Kin. Modern
researchers, such as Cunnigham, strongly believe the word Op-o-kin* to
be the same as the modern "Afghan".
*COMMENT: The term which appears in Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsong is Ap-o-kien and not Op-o-kin as Farid Majwandi asserts.
"AFGHAN" IN POST-ISLAMIC ERA:
It
is in this period that the original word of Abgan, Apkan, Avagana, and
others becomes Arabicized and transform to "Afghan". The first
post-Islamic mention of the word is seen in Hudud-ul Aalam written by
Jawzjani in 982 AD. On page 45, he writes about Sool: "which is located
on top of a hill, where the ‘Afghans’ live."
In 1025 AD,
Al-Atabi wrote his Tarikh-i-Yamini during the reign of Ghaznavids. It
provides accounts of how "Afghans" were recruited into Sabuktagin's
army. Another giant of the Ghaznavid era, Abu-Raihan Al-Biruni(d. 1048
AD), wrote about "Afghans" in his Kitab-al-Hind. Other mentions of the
word "Afghan" or "Afghania" are in Al-Kamil of Ibn-i-Asir,
Aadaab-al-Harb Wal-Shuja'a of Fakhr-i-Mudabir, Tabaqat-i-Nasiri of
Minhaj Siraj Jawazjani, Tarikh-i-Guzeeda of Hamadulla Mastaufi,
Makhzan-i-Afghani of Ferishta and many more.
"AFGHANISTAN":
Just
like the name of nations, the names of geographical regions and states
go through similar process of adaptability over times, until such time
when the name finds national acceptability and becomes part of that
country's daily life, history, and literature.
Contrary to
popular belief, the word "Afghanistan" did not come to existence during
the reign of Ahmad Shah Durrani who ruled only as recently as in the
second half of the eighteenth century.
The oldest recorded
mention of this word is found in Tarikh-i-Herat of Saifi Herawi, written
around 1221 AD. He refers to the region between eastern Afghanistan and
the Indus as "Afghanistan".
This clearly indicates that the
word "Afghanistan" was in use even at the time when the area was being
pillaged and plundered by Mongols and other invaders.
Maulana
Kamaludin Samarqandi(b 1413 AD), a courtier of the Timurids of Herat,
refers to the same lands that Saifi Herawi had mentioned as
"Afghanistan" in his Rozat-ul Janaat. Later we see the word
"Afghanistan" in reference to the areas inhabited by today's Afghans in
Akbar Nama and similar works. Zahirudin Babur, who was forced to leave
Ferghana and came to conquer our homeland in 1525 AD, reigned over
territories that the Mughul historians repeatedly referred to as
Afghanistan.
CLICK THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE FOR MORE RELEVANT INFOMATION:
http://www.afghanan.net/cgi-bin/ib/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?forum=8topic=8
COMPARE ALSO THE FOLLOWING:
“Although
the origins of the Afghans lie in very ancient times,4 the first
mentions of the Afghan people appear only in the sixth and seventh
centuries. The Brhat-samhita (XVI, 38 and XI, 61) speaks of the pahlava
(Pahlavis), the svetahuna (White Huns or Hephthalites), the avagana
(Afghans) and other peoples. On his return journey from India, the
Chinese pilgrim Hsüan-tsang travelled from Varnu (possibly modern Wana)
to Jaguda in Ghazni, crossing the land of A-p'o-k'ien,5 a word derived
from Avakan or Avagan, meaning Afghans. In Islamic sources, the first
reliable mention of the Afghans is found in the Hudud al-calam, which
says of a settlement on the borders of India and the Ghazni district
that ‘there are Afghans there too'. Mention is also made of a local
ruler some of whose wives were Afghan women.6 The Afghan language, or
Pashto, is one of the East Iranian groups. Among its characteristics, it
contains a stratum of Indian words and its phonetic system has been
influenced by Indian phonetic systems, which is not the case of other
Iranian languages. There are approximately 23 million Pashto-speakers in
Afghanistan and Pakistan today.7 The mountains in the east of modern
Afghanistan and the north of modern Pakistan were settled by Dards. They
were known to the ancient Greek authors, who used several distorted
names for them: Derbioi, Durbaioi, Daidala, Dadikai and Derdaios.8 In
their descriptions of India, the Puranas speak of the Darada in the same
breath as the inhabitants of Kashmir and Gandhara. They are repeatedly
mentioned in the Ramayana and the Saddhar-masmrtyupasthana, together
with the Odra (the Uddiyana). In Tibetan sources, the Darada are known
as the Darta.9
There are two groups of languages that are now
generally known as Dardic. The first are the languages of Nuristan (a
region of Afghanistan): they form an 'individual branch of the
Indo-Iranian family belonging neither to the Indo-Aryan, nor to the
Iranian group'. The second group of languages (particularly the Dardic)
are 'part of the Indo-Aryan [group], though far departed in their
development from the latter'. The two groups, however, have much in
common in their 'structural and material features [phonetical,
grammatical and lexical]'.10 The Nuristani languages include Kati,
Waigali, Ashkun and Prasun (or Paruni) and are chiefly spoken in
Nuristan. The Dardic languages proper include Dameli, which is the link
between the Nuristani languages and the Central Dardic. According to one
classification, the Central Dardic languages comprise Pashai,
Shumashti, Glangali, Kalarkalai, Gawar, Tirahi, Kalasha and Khowar. The
Eastern Dardic group is divided into three sub-groups containing the
Bashkarik, Torwali, Maiyan, Shina, Phalura and Kashmiri languages. In
the early 1980s Dardic languages were spoken by 3.5 million people in
Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, of whom 2.8 million spoke Kashmiri,
some 165,000 spoke Khowar and some 120,000 spoke Pashai. The Nuristani
languages were spoken by around 120,000 people.11
Burushaski is a
completely distinct language: it stands at the confluence of three great
families – the Indo-European, the Sino-Tibetan and the Altaic – but
belongs to none of them. Its speakers live in northern Pakistan, in the
region of the Hunza and Vershikum rivers, and number around 40,000. The
language's morphological structure is very rich and the verb has a
particularly extensive system of accidence. Burushaski is one of the
oldest tongues, but its place in the system of ancient and modern
languages remains obscure. Although a literary tradition may well have
existed in the early Middle Ages, when Buddhism was widespread, no
literary records have been found, which hampers attempts to reconstruct
the language's past. There have been repeated attempts to trace its
affiliations, and links with the Caucasian, Dravidian, Munda, Basque and
other languages have been suggested, but from the standpoint of
contemporary linguistics the case is not conclusive. Burushaski was
unquestionably more current in ancient times and occupied a number of
regions where Dardic languages are now spoken and where Burushaski acted
as a substratal or adstratal foundation. Grierson has even postulated
that speakers of Burushaski or related languages once inhabited all or
almost all the lands now held by Dardic-speaking
http://www.unesco.org/culture/asia/html_eng/chapitre316/chapitre1.htm
1. Lazard, 1971; 1975, pp. 595–7.
2. Fuchs, 1938, p. 452.
3. Oransky, 1988, p. 298.
4. Morgenstierne, 1940; Grantovskiy, 1963.
5. Hui-li, 1959, p. 188.
6. Hudud al-calam, 1930, p. 16-A.
7. Morgenstierne, 1942; Gryunberg, 1987.
8. Francfort, 1985, Vol. 1, pp. 397–8.
9. Tucci, 1977, pp. 11–12.
10. Edelman, 1983, pp. 14–15, 35–6.
11. Morgenstierne, 1944; 1967; 1973; Fussman, 1972; Gryunberg, 1980; Edelman, 1983.
12. Grierson, 1919; Zarubin, 1927; Lorimer, 1935, Vol. 1; 1938 , Vol. 2; Klimov and Edelman, 1970.
By LS.THIND on Sunday, November 18, 2001 - 10:00 am:GENESIS OF TERM AFGHAN
PART II
AFGHAN AND AVUKANA PARALLELISM? OPINION OF SOME SCHOLARS
An
article written by DENIS N. FERNANDO which he claims he subscribed to
the Mahaweli magazine several decades back has received wide publicity
in the English media newspapers recently. It not only claims that the
Avukana statue is modeled after the recently destroyed Bamiyan Buddha
statue in Afghanistan but that it was a replica of the latter. When used
in reference to iconography a replica has to be an exact copy of the
original in all respects. The writer does not furnish any evidence to
support that it is so. He expects the reader to believe [what he thinks
was the sculptor’s view, namely] that ‘’the aesthetic beauty [of the
work at Avukuna] was so graceful and pleasing that he gave it the name
of the country of origin", which is ‘Afghanistan’ or its variation
‘Avagan’ in Turkish. …The other argument used is the seeming parallel in
the names ‘Avukana’ and ‘Afghanistan’ or rather its variation in
Turkish which the writer calls ‘Avagan’. [D. G. B. de Silva]
http://www.island.lk/2001/05/12/satmag01.html
BELOW WE DISCUSS THE MORE SCENTIFIC ETYMOLOGY OF THE NAME AFGHAN:
ACCEPTABLE MODERN VIEW:
The
above views by writers do confirm that the name Afghan or its
equivalent form was indeed in existence much before Prophet Mohammad.
But what was the true etymology and the acceptable logical and
scientific explanation to the origin of the term AFGHAN has not been
satisfactorily explained. It is fashion with numerous modern Moslem
clans these days to link themselves/or trace their origin to Arab and
claim that name Afghan has Arabic origin. But fashion or fad does not
constitute genuine history.
The true origin of name Afghan….the
more logical, scientific and reliable view comes from famous scholar of
the classics, J. W. Mcgrindle, who states that:
“ The name Afghan
however has evidently been derived from ASHVAKAN, the ASSAKENOIS of
historian Arrian” (ref: Mcgrindle in Megasthenes and Arrian., p 180).
Dr
Nand Lal Dey further endorses the above views of J. W. Mcgrindle
(Goeographical Dictionery of Ancient and Medieval India, by N. L.
Dey,).
Front ranking Indian historians and scholar like Dr J. C.
Vidyalankar, in his classical book, ‘Itihaas Parvesh (An Introduction
to History, 1948) also accept that the name Afghan is apparently seem to
be evolved from Aspas or/and Ashvaks of the Sanskrit texts (Ashakayan/
Ashvakan and Asvayan of Panini).
Phillip Smith states that: “Some
modern scholars think that Afghan preserve the name of Assaceni
(Curtius VIII, 10, 5.38), Assacani (Arrian Anab IV 25, V.20) “ .
Note
here that Assaceni and Assacani of the Greeks are the same tribes as
the Aspasios and Assakenois of the other Greek writers. [These
Asscani/Assaceni and Assakenois/Aspasios are the same as Sanskrit
Ashavak/Ashvakan/Ashvakayan, Asvayan etc mentined in Panini IV-1, 110,
99 Ashtadhyai]
Cf: “The tribes living in the hilly regions in
the valleys of Kunar, Swat and Panjkora valleys have been called
Aspasios and Assakenois (from Iranian Aspa=Sanskrit Ashva). Their Indian
names may be taken to be Ashvayana and Ashvakayana, as mentioned by
Panini (IV. 1,110,99). The coins known as vatasvaka are attributed to
these people, who might be identified with Ashvaka (=Ashmaka mentioned
by Panini (IV,1, 173)”. [Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, pp 98-100:
History and Culture of Indian People, the Age of Imperial Unity, Vol II,
p 45, Dr A. D. Pusalkar, Dr R. C. Majumdar, Dr Munshi etc.; cf: Ancient
Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, pp 177178, Dr J. L. Kamboj; cf:
These Kamboj People, 1980, pp118, 119,192].
NOTE THE
CLASSICAL TRIBES OF PAROPAMISADEAN REGION: Assaceni (Curtius, VIII, 16.
5.38), Assacani Arrian Anab. IV, 25,V.20) Arrian treats them as
separate tribes. Strabo distinguishes his Astaceni from the subjects of
Asscenus, Aspasii, Guraei, Masiani and Nysaei. Nysaei are described as
non-Indian while all the rest are described as Indian tribes[Dictionery
of Greek and Roman Geography, 1843/1966, Vol I, p 243]
The CHIEF CITIES are described as Massaga, Peucela, Aornos (Ora), Bazira, Arigaeum, Andaka, Orobatis, Embolima and Dyrita.
Besides
the views of the scholars as referred to above, there are numerous
more well known scholars and Indologists like Luis Bishop and others
also accept that that the name ‘Afghan’ is apparently derived from
Ashvak/Ashvakan/Ashvakayan/Asvayan of Panini/Sanskrit texts.
Further also refer to ‘Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography’: Vol I, 1843/1966, William Smith, DCL, LLD, p 243).
Dr
J. L. Kamboj, a distinguished Sanskrit scholar and specialist on
ancient Kambojas, also agrees with scholars like J. W. Mcgrindle, Dr J.
C. Vidyalankar etc who state that name ‘Afghan’ evolved from Sanskrit
ASHVAKAN, the ASSAKENOIS of historian Arrian. (Ancient Kamboja, People
and the Country, 1981, p 118: also cf: K. S. Dardi: These Kamboj People,
1980, p 192).
COMMENTS:
[The use of ‘Ogan’ for Afghan has been reported by Sir Rober Scot in his well known book “The Kafirs of Hindukush, 1895,]
[The
term ‘Awagan’ for Afghan is also is in use in Afghanistan till date [p
14, Afganistan, its People, its Society, its Culture, 1962, by Donald N.
Milber].
[The use of Avagan for Afghan is documented by Vrahamihira in his Brahata Samhiti, 16.38, as already stated above].
THE
FOLLOWING SEEM TO BE THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF ANCIENT SANSKRIT
‘ASHVAKA/ASHVAKAN’ INTO MODERN AFGHAN DOWN THE ROAD, IN THE OPNIONS OF
MODERN SCHOLARS: AND WE QUITE AGREE WITH THIS ANALYSIS:
Ashvaka
(Sanskrit texts)== > Ashvakayan (Panini IV-1, 110, 99; Ashtadhyai]
== > Ashvakan (J. W. Mcgrindlle) == > Awakan == >Avakan
(=Avukan, Denis N. Fernando) ==> Avagan (Brahta-Samhita of Varaha
Mihira, cf: also ‘Avagan’ in Turkish, cf: also ‘Avagan’ in Firdousi’s
Shahnama) == Awagan (= Ogan, Robert Scot) ==Apkan (=Abgan) [official
records of Persian king Shapur III, 309-379 AD we find the term Apkan
which term also appears as ‘Abagan’ in Sassanian records; also cf:
A-po-kien (=Apkan) of Chinese Hiuen Tsang] == > Apagan (Dr
Jayswal) == > Afghan. (seems quite logical to us).
The
modern descendents of the ancient Ashvakan/Ashvakayan Kamboja clans of
Panini are the Aspins of the Chitral and Yashkuns or Mashkuns of the
Gilgit. The Massaga city of the Greek historians has its modern name as
Mashkayan. This is the same city as the Mashkavati of Panini. This
city is about 24 miles from Bazaur. The Asvayan Kamboja clans of Panini
(Aspasins/Aspasians, Aspas) find their modern descendents in Asp, Isap,
Pachai and Yusufzais. (A Comprehensive Hist of India, Vol II, p 118, Dr
N. K. Shastry; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, p 278, Dr
J. L. Kamboj, These Kamboj People, 1980, p 120, K. S. Dardi). Asvayans,
the ancestors of these people lived between Indus and Kabol rivers at
the times of Alexander invasion.
BUT THEN WHO WERE THESE ANCIENT ASHVAKAN, ASHVAKAYAN, ASVAYAN TRIBES?:
There
is one school of eminent scholars/Indologists identifying or locating
ancient Kamboja mentioned in the Buddhist Jatakas and Sanskrit texts in
the Paropamisadean region [SE of Hindukush covering Kabol, Begram,
Alishang, Kunar, Swat Panjkora regions of Afganistan and N.W.F.P
of Pakistan] . There are numerous indisputable and irrefutable evidence
which puts the ancient Kamboja in the above mentioned territories .
This region was called Paropamisadean in Persian/Greek terminology. And
it was the land of the Kambojas who stand prominently mentioned in
Ashoka’s Inscriptions (Asoka’s Rock edicts V XIII). [PHAI, 1996,
commentary , pp 601,604-613 etc, Dr Raychaushury, Dr Mukerjee]
[For
more evidence and further details, refer to the website
‘Location/Identification of Ancient Kamboja Mahajanapada’……the views of
seconds school about Kamboja location.].
http://indiaculture.net/talk/messages/128/9181.html?1005368678
The
first scholar who identified the Asssakenois and Aspasios of the
classical writers….(= variously called
Ashvaka/Ashvakan/Ashvakayan/Asvayan/Aspasian/Aspasin tribes in Sanskrit
texts) with the Kambojas of Ashoka’s R.E. V (Yona-Kamboj-Gandharanam)
R.E. XIII (Yone-Kambojesu) as well as the Kambojas of other
numerous Sanskrit and Pali texts was a well known French Indologist,
E. Lamotte. (ref: Historie the Buddhism Indien, p 110).
Dr K.
P. Jayswal has also established independently that the Assakenois,
Aspaasios etc tribes of Greek writers and Ashvakas tribes of the
Sanskrit were a clans of the Kambojas [which term was the general name
for their vast tribe] mentioned in Ashoka’s R.E (V XIII) and
numerous Sanskrit and Pali Texts.
Argues Dr Jayswal: “From Arrian,
we get some light on the identification of Yona-Kamboja-Gandharas of the
Ashoka. In the edicts these are grouped together, which means, they
were all neighbors situated in that order. The enumeration is
scientific, being in geographical sequence from west to east, which is
confirmed by Arrian (I):--
“The region beyond the river Indus
on west are inhabited, upto the river Kophen by two Indian tribes, the
Astakenois and Assakenois…….The Nysois however are not Indian race, but
descendents of those who came into India with Dyonisos…The district in
which he planted this colony the named Nysaia (=the Naisaya Janapada of
Patanjli)…and city itself Nysa. But the mountain close by the city and
on the lower slopes of which is built, is designated Meros (Meru)…In the
dominions of the Assakenois, there is a great city called Massaka
(Massaga), the seat of of the soverign power which controls the whole
realm. And there is is another city, Peukelaitis (Pusklavati=Peshawer)
which is also of great size and is not far from Indus. These settlements
lie on the otherside of river Indus, and extend in western direction as
far as Kophen (Kabol).”
Says Dr K. P. Jayswal: Arrian, in the above
passage, indicates that the Pusklavati was easternmost in this
enumeration, and his Assakenois, or the Ashvakas, were on river Kabol
and between the Nysa Yavanas and the Puskalavati. Puskalavati was in
Gandhara. Ashoka’s Kambojas were between the Yavaans and the Gandhara.
The Kambojas of Ashoka and of Sanskrit and Palli Texts thus occupy
exactly the same position as Arrian’s Assakenois (Ashvakas). We thus get
another name for the Kambojas i.e. Ashvakas. The Kambojas were famous
for their horses and as CAVALARY-MEN (Ashva-Yuddha-Kushlah) [MBH Santi
Parva , 105.5 (Kumbakonam, ed.); Ashvakas ,horsemen’ was the term
popularly applied to them. [Hindu Polity, 1978, Part I II, pp
139-140, Dr K. P. Jayswal).
********************************************************************************************
COMMENTS:
The
Kambojas had been known in history for their best specimen of horses.
Not only were they breeder/raisers of best breed of horses, but also
were they wonderful cavalary-men and have been designated as
Ashva-yudh-kushlah in classical Sanskrit literature.
(1)The Kamboja Cavalry-men in Mahabharata war had played a most prominent role on behalf of Kaurvas.
(2)Kamboja
Cavalry had also played a key role in the composite army of
Chandergupta Maurya nasd won him the throne of Magadha. (Buddhist Play,
Mudrarakshas II.2).
(3)Kamboja cavalary men had aided the
Haiyava/Talzung Kashatryas and had usurped the throne of Aydhya from
Aryan king Bahu. The Kamboja cavalry-men again fought the second battle
of Aydhya against king Sagara.
(4)In Kalika/ Kali war between
Vedic king Kalika (Pushpamitra) and the last king of Mauryan, the
Buddhist Kamboja Cavalry again sided with the Mauryan king against
Vedic king Shungvaamsa Pushpamitra. The Kamboja cavalry has been
described as BHIM-VIKARAMA…[i.e. of terrific prowess] in the Kalika
Purana (Shloka 20/40).
(5) Kambohojas highlander cavalary-men
had also joined the forces of Persian kings and had fought against
Greeks and other tribes of the west.
We can quote zillions of instances like the above which clearly proves that Kamboja cavalry was much sought-
after in the ancient times and had helped in raising and maintaining some of the famous empires in ancient world history.
Also Compare:
“Both
the Puranas and the epics agree that the horses of the Sindhu and
Kamboja regions were the finest breed and that the services of the
Kambojas as cavalry troopers were requisitioned in ancient wars. In the
Mahabharata war the Kambojans were enlisted”
source: War in Ancient India - By V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar 1944. p. 103 -105)
http://atributetohinduism.com/War_in_Ancient_India.htm
Compare:
“They
(Kamboja cavalry- soldiers) are said to have fought as far as Egypt and
Greek while serving in the armies of Achaemenian kings of Ancient
Persia. In this process many of these soldiers had settled in as far as
Sudan/Africa” [Dr J. L. Kamboj, People and the Country, 1981).
Compare:
“Kamboja
and Gandhara were the outermost regions and they had by the fifth
century BC already developed significant relations with the Achaemenid
Empire of Persia. Evidence exists of tributes being paid to Cyrus of
Persia and armies recruited from the two regions battling against the
Greeks………”.
http://www.foil.org/history/greekinv.html
********************************************************************************************
By LS.THIND on Sunday, November 18, 2001 - 9:54 am: GENESIS OF TERM AFGHAN
PART III
Let us resume the main topic:
“The
Vata (=Varta)-Ashavkas were the Ashvakas who inhabited Eastern
Afghanistan and who were included in the general term Kambojas. On their
coins, there is a Kaboli in long robes doing obesiecance to Maurya
symbol, Chandra on hill (J. R. A. S. 1936, 437). ………..The legend is in
old Sanskrit script (brahmi)—Vatasvake. Here Vata is corruption of Varta
which reminds us of varta-shasteropajivin description of theirs
(Kambojas) in the Arathshastera…..” [Hindu Polity, Part I II,
1978, p 121, Dr jayswal]
Cf:
Kambhoj-Surashtra-Kashatrya-shrenadyo-varta-shasteropajivin (A. S.
XI.1.160, p 376) One of this group of republics seem to bear the name
vata (=varta) ashvakas, the Ashvakas following varta (horse
breeding/raising/trading). [see J.B.O.R.S. , XX, 289 on their coins].
(cf: op cit p 51, Dr Jayswal).
Pahlava-Sveta-Huna (white
Huns)-chola (i.e.northern) (cf Ency Brit (11th ed, XIII, 330)- Avagana
(=apagana=afghan)=Maru-China (XVI, 38, Vrahamihira, Brahata-Samhita).
Cf:
“….But the Mecedonian conqueror made short shrift of the arrangement of
Darius and over-running the Achaemenian empire, dashed into Afghanistan
and encountered the stiff resistence from the Kambojas tribes called
Aspasian and Assakenois, known in Indian texts as Ashvaya and
Ashvakayana…..”…[source: Punjab Past and Present, pp 9-10, History of
Poros, pp 12, 38, by Dr Buddha Parkash).
Dr L. M. Joshi and Dr
Fauja Singh, the two well known scholars of Punjab have also identified
the Aspasios and Assakenois of the Greek with the Kambojas of Indian
Texts. [History of Punjab, Vol I, by Dr L. M. Joshi, Dr Fauja Singh).
Dr
H. C. Raychaudhury and Dr B. N. Mukerjee, two very well known scholars
of Bengal also identify the Assakenois/Aspasiois of the Greeks with the
Ashvakas of Sanskrit texts and further with the Kambojas of ancient
Sanskrit/Opalli Texts. (ref: Political History of Ancient India, 1996, p
133, 216, Dr H. C. Raychaudhury, Dr B. N. Mukerjee). The reigning king
of the Assakenois tribe at the time of Alexandra Assakenos. (P.H.A.C,
1996, p 217, Dr Raychaudhary, Dr B. N. Mukerjee). States Dr
Raychaudhury: “With the expression Assanam-ayatanam, ‘land of horses’
used by Pali texts in reference to the Kambojas (Dictionery of ali
Proper Names, I, 526; cf MBH., VI.90.3) may be compared to the names
Aspasio ans Assakenois given by the classical writers to the sturdy
tribes living in Alishang and Swat valleys in the days of Alexandra
(Camb Hidt Ind. I, 352 n). [PHAI 1996, p 133 fn 5, cf: p 216 fn 3).
IMPORTANT COMMENT:
Afrikes
or Erix was an offshoot of the Ashvaka/Ashvakan Kamboja subtribe, whose
chieftain had also been called Aphrikes by Diodoros or Erix by Curtius,
obviously after the name of the sub-tribe (Aphrikese/Erixes) he
represented or headed, as is usual for the Greek writers. ( The Afrikes
tribe also appears mentioned as Aprytae in other classical writings of
the Greeks: Ref: Gates of India, 1910 by Colonel Sir Dr Thomas Holdich,
K. C. M. G., K. C.I. E., C. B. D. Sc; for Aparita/Apritah=Afridi, cf
Hindu Polity, Part I II, 1978, p 123, Dr Jayswal). This Afrikes,
the king of Afrikese tribe, faced the onslaught of Alexandra after the
defeat of other wing of his tribal branch called Aornos or Ora. The
tribal name Afridi whose representaives are the modern Afridi Pashtuns,
living mainly around the Khyber Pass these days is evidently derived
from this above Aphrikes or Erix or Aprytae, according to the historians
(Ref: Kamboja People and the Country 1979 by Dr. J. Lal Kamboj, These
Kamboj people 1979 by K. S. Dard p 128, History of Panjaby Vol I II
by Dr. Fauja Singh and Dr L. M. Joshi). This Aphrikes of Diodoros and
Erix of Curtius has been described as the brother of the king or chief
of Assakenois (=Ashvakan) Kamboja tribe. (ref: Political History of
Ancient India, 1996, p 217, Dr Raychaudhury, Dr B. N. Mukerjee)..Chief
Aphrikes led the flying defenders of the famous fortress of Aornos (Ora)
against the Greeks (Camb Hist Ind I 356). Aornos is identified by Sir
Aurel Stein with the height of Una between Swat and the Indus
(Alexandera’s Campaign on the Frontier, Benares Hindu University,
Magazine, Jan, 1927). The southern side of the stronghold was washed by
the Indus (Invasion of Alexandra, 271). The inhabitants thus seem to
have migrated to Khyber Pass and Kamma valley. The geographical region
of Afghanistan to the south-east of Kabol river, falling between Jalabad
and the famous Khyber Pass of Sfedkoh mountain system is also still
called the Kamm or Kamma valley (Ref: Struggle for Afghanistan 1991 page
158 by Nancy P Newell, Richards C. Newell) which further reminds us of
the ancient Kamboja vestige left in this area, south-east of the Kabol
river. [cf: ref: Military Text Books Series: “From Black Mountain to
Wazirstan, by Col H. C. Wylly, C. B. 1912, p 237, 227 cf also: Kamma
Daka, Kamma Shilman, Kamma Bela regions names]. These regions are the
modern habitats of the Afridi tribe. Thus we learn that Afridis are also
the descendents of ancient Ashvakan/Ashvakayan/Aspasin/Asvayan Kamboja
tribes. [cf: History of Punjab, Vol I, by Dr Fauja Singh, Dr L. M.
Joshi; also cf: These Kamboj People, 1980, p 128, K. S. Dardi; also cf:
Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, p 287].
The
Ancient Kamboja was a country famous for its finest breed of horses.
Says Dr Michael Witzel: “….The best horses, according to Kautalya, are
said to come from Kamboja (Kautlya Arathshaster 2.30.29) which is also
well known from Mahabharata and Buddhist Jatakas (see Journal of Royal
Asiatic Society 1912, p 253)”….The Buddhist Jataka Sumanglavilasini
designates the Kamboja land as the land of horses [‘Kambojo-
Assan-ayatanam’: Sumanglavilasini (P.T.S.), Vol I, p 124] …which
expression means: Kamboja== > home of horses. {also compare:
Brahamanda, II, 2.16.16. D.P.P.N., I, p 526; Visuddhimagga, (.P.T.S.)
332; Jataka no 504, according to Jain Uttaradhyanasutra, a trained
Kamboja steed excels all other horses (S.B.E. XLV, p 47; MBH II., 49.20;
51.4; 90.3; VII, 23.7; 36.36;X.132; Vamsa Bhaskara Madhyapithika etc
etc. For Association of Kambojas with Ashvas, see our earlier write-up
on "Kambojas and Their World Class Horses").
The horse is
called Ashava in Sanskrit and Assan in Pali. Thus the ‘Assan’ of the
Sumandlavilasini and several other Buddhist Jatakas refer to Ashva
/Ashvaka of Sanskrit texts. The Kambojas were also popularly known as
Ashvaka or Ashvakan, Ashvakayan or Asvayan in Sanskrit literature (e.g.
Panini IV.3.99). The name also appears as Assaka in Palli texts. Here
Ashvaka/Ashvakan/Ashvakayan (nickname) etc refer to the people connected
with the horses..they were so nicknamed because of their prominent
profession for breeding/rasing and trading horses etc. == >Thus the
Kambojas, by virtue of their profession connected with horses, were
popularly called Ashvakas or Ashvakans etc (cf: Dr K. P. Jayswal, Hindu
Polity, p 140).
Besides the several authorities quoted above,
other scholars like Dr Romila Thapar, B. Mathew etc and several more
also identify the Ashavakas/Aspasins (Greek Assakenois/Aspasios) as
being the sub-tribes of the general major tribe known in Sanskrit/Palli
texts as Kambojas.
ASPASIOI/ASPASIS (Asvayans, Aspasins,
Aspasians): “Tribal people who were living in the valley of
Kunar/Chitral rivers to north-west Indian Frontiers at the time of
invasion of Alexandra, the great, had offered stiff resistance to Greek
invader and Alexandra had to fight two battles with them before were
finally reduced to submission” [extract taken from: Dictionary of
Indian History, 1967 by S. N. Bhattacharya, George Braziller, N. Y.]
ASAKANOIS
(Ashvak/Ashvakan/Ashvakayan/Askenians): Tribal people who occupied at
the time of invasion of India by Alexandra; the great portion of their
the Swat valley near Markand pass, had a large army and seat of their
government was at the fortified place called Massaga. It was formidable
fortress , protected by nature and human art. Assakenois offered very
stout resistance on one occasion succeeded in wounding Alexandra
with an arrow. But in the end, Alexandra triumphed, the fort of Massaga
was captured and Assakenois were reduced to submission after severe
slaughter.” [extract taken from: Dictionary of Indian History, 1967 by
S. N. Bhattacharya, Goerge Brazillar, N. Y.]
The relics of
these clans are still identifiable from the modern Kamboja clan names
like Ashoke, Asoi/Soi, Asavan/Sawan etc. The other well known Kamboja
clans living in Kunar/Swat Valley
During the times of Alexandra
were Gureans (=Gore), Gandaris (=Gandhe/Gaindey/Gandher), Mallois
(=Mallas), Sabagrae (=Sabras), Glauganicians/Gillausians (=Gillauvey)
etc. The names within brackets are the modern Kamboja surnames of these
ancient clans.
The area of Kunar/Swat and Panjkors etc was
inhabited by these Kamboja tribes during Alexdra’s times. The
descendents of the Gureans are modern Gore tribe whose branches can
still be found around the confluence of Swat/Panjkora rivers as well as
on both sides of Kabol river where it merges with Lundei river. Note
also that Lunde/Lundei is also a clan of the modern Kambojas.
Thus
we gather that the Ashvakas/Ashvakans/Ashvakayans/Asvayans people were
the clans of Kambojas. The general name for the tribe to which these
people belonged was Kamboja. But local name Ashvaka was applied to the
inhabitants of Kunar/Swat and Panjkora valleys simply because of their
chief profession i.e. because they were famous people as horse
breeders/raisers/traders.[ Cf: “The Vata (=Varta)-Ashavkas were the
Ashvakas who inhabited Eastern Afghanistan and who were included in the
general term Kambojas” ref p 121 of Hindu Polity, Dr Jayswal]
The
modern Kambojas have physiognomic features resembling most prominently
with many clans of modern Afghans. According to researcher K. S. Dardi,
“the Kambojas can be easily identified from other clans of Punjab on
account of their unique physiognomic features. Ethnically, they are
generally well built and tall people with brown eyes, sharp noses,
reddish transparent body color, broad chests and long necks……. They
resemble more with the Iranians and Afghans than any other tribes of
north India” (op cit. K. S. Dardi, p 346/47, 192-193 etc).
Cf
also: “Kambojas probably had both Iranian as well as Indian
affinities”. (Vedic Index of Names and Subjects Vol-I, p 138, by Dr A.
A. Mcdonnel, Dr. A. B. Keath)
A. H. Bingley, in his well known
book [The Sikhs], endorses the opinions of another English
investigator about the Kambojas. Writes A. H. Bingley: “…..One critique
describes them ( Kambohs) as a tall, strong, skillful and stiff-
necked race and therefore RESMBLING MORE WITH THE AFGHANS than ANY OF
THE OTHER HINDU RACES living in the plains of Punjab among whom they
(Kambohs) have now settled for several generations…….They are fit for
military recruitment because they are generally a hardy and of powerful
physique” . [The Sikhs, A. H. Bingley, 1970, p 57].
The above
are the comments of one English investigator about the Kambojas of
Punjab which A. H. Bingley has reproduced as above in reference to the
Kambojas, in his well known book.
A PASSING COMMENT:
[On
Kambojas’ excellent physical build, hardiness and enduring courage
which have been appreciated as their great qualities for military
recruitment, please also compare: “They (Kambohs) make excellent
soldiers, being of a very fine physique and possessing great
courage……….” [Source: The Sikhs and the Sikhs wars: Reginald Holder
(From the Punjab past and present Vol IV, Part I, April 1970 Serial No
7, edited by Dr Ganda Singh).]
And we have already demonstrated
above based on scientific etymology, the name AFGHAN is evidently
derived from the name of Ashvakan/Ashvakayan/Asvayan Kamboja
sub-tribes…And these sub- tribes were just a particular clans of a vast
frontier tribe known by the general name “Kamboja” in Sanskrit/Pali
literature .
After his detailed investigation of the Kambojas
and the Avestan language, Dr Michael Witzel ( Harvard University, USA)
has concluded that ‘Kamboja’ was a general name for a numerous Iranian
speaking people (non-Indo-Aryans=Iranian Aryans) living on the border
lands of India and Iran. “Most probably, the Kamboja was a blanket term
covering all non-Indo-Aryans on the western border (cf: Corpus
Inscriptionum Indicarum, I, p 10, with ann; p. XXXVIII)” [Early Eastern
Iran And the Atharaveda, Persica-9, 1980, p 115, fn 87], Dr Witzel.
THUS
WE HAVE NO HESITATION IN STATING THAT IT WERE UNDOUBTEDLY THE WARLIKE
“ASHVAKAN” KAMBOJAS OF THE ALISHANG/SWAT/KUNAR/PANJKORA VALLEYS WHO HAD
GIVEN THE AFGHAN PEOPLE/ THEIR COUNTRY THEIR PRESENT NAME.
IMPORTANT
NOTE:: Kophen, Kaoufu, Kophes, Kubha, Kabol, Kipin, Kapicene, Kapish,
Kambysis etc are synonymous terms, according to numerous scholars who
further link these terms with Sanskrit Kamboj, Kabuj etc [, J.W.
Mcgrindle, Sir H. M. Elliot, R. K. Mukerjee, Dr D. C. Sircar, Dr J. L.
Kamboj etc]
For Kabuj=Kamboj, also ref to Dasam Granth, M/S Bhai
Chater Singh ji Co by Bhai Narain Singh Ji Giani, corrections by
Dr Ajit singh Ji Aulakh Ph D
********************************************************************************************
By LS.THIND on Sunday, November 18, 2001 - 9:51 am:GENESIS OF NAME AFGHAN.
PART IV
WHO ARE PATHANS AND WHO ARE ARYANS:
The following text is by Ali Reza, an Iranian national, in response to Mr Najeeb’s comments about Pashtuns:
Najeeb had argued:
“Pathans
believe that they are all descended from a common ancestor, Qais. He is
said to have met the Prophet Muhammad. The prophet gave Qais the name
"Pthun, and Qais was to take Islam back to his home. One of Qais's sons
was name Afghana, who had four sons. Every Pathan traces its descent
from one of these four sons”
BUT HISTORY SAYS THE FOLLOWING: [ACCORDING TO ALI REZA]
Variations
on the word "Afghan" may go back as early as a 3rd-century-AD Sasanian
(a Persian dynasty) reference to "Abgan." (and that was only for
Pashtuns) The earliest Muslim reference to the Afghans probably dates to
AD 982, but tribes related to the modern Afghans have lived in the
region for many generations.
History also said the Pashtuns
have been living in Afghanestan about 5000 years ago and at that time
prophet Mohammad wasn't yet born!
So AFGHAN, as Najeeb said by himself means PASHTUN and all the people of Afghanistan.
Islamic
armies defeated the Sasanians in AD 642 at Nahavand (near modern
Hamadan, Iran) and moved on to the Afghan area, but they were unable to
hold the territory; cities submitted, only to rise in revolt, and the
hastily converted returned to their old beliefs once the armies had
passed. The 9th and 10th centuries witnessed the rise of numerous local
Islamic dynasties. One of the earliest was the "Tahirids" of "KHORASSAN"
whose kingdom included Balkh and Herat. they established virtual
independence from the 'Abbasid caliphate in AD 820. The Tahirids were
succeeded in 867-869 by a native dynasty from Seistan, the Saffarids.
Local princes in the north soon became feudatories of the powerful
Samanids, who ruled from Bukhara. From 872 to 999 Bukhara, Samarkand,
and Balkh enjoyed a golden age under Samanid rule. sp Pashtuns were not
the first who became Moslem in Afghanestan [as they claim!!]
ABOUT THE FATHER OF PASHTUNS, AHMAD SHAH ABDALI:
Nader
Qoli Beg took Herat in 1732 after a desperate siege. Impressed by their
courage, Nader recruited many Heratis to serve in his army. He was
elected shah of Persia, with the name Nader Shah, in 1736.
In 1738,
after a year's siege, the city of Qandahar fell to Nader Shah's army of
80,000 men. Nader Shah seized Ghazna and Kabul and occupied the Mughal
capital at Delhi in 1739. His booty included the Koh-i-noor diamond and
the Peacock Throne.
THE DURRANI DYNASTY [FIRST PASHTUN DYNASTY]
The
commander of the Nadir Shah's 4,000-man Afghan bodyguard was "Ahmad
Khan Abdali" who returned to Qandahar where he was elected king (shah)
by a tribal council. He adopted the title Durr-i Durran ("Pearl of
Pearls"). Supported by most tribal leaders, Ahmad Shah Durrani extended
Afghan control from Meshed to Kashmir and Delhi, from the Amu River to
the Arabian Sea. The Durrani was the "second greatest Muslim empire" in
the second half of the 18th century, surpassed in size only by the
Ottoman.Ahmad Shah died in 1772. That means the first Pashtun Empire was
working for an Aryan Empire then he became King!
ABOUT ARYANS.
”About
6,500 Years ago, successive waves of people were migrating into a land
which is now called Iran and Khorassan which is now called Afghanestan
and northern Iraq. They called themselves the black-headed (dark-
haired) people. We know them as the Aryan/Sumerian, ancestors of
Iranians and the land in which they settled as the land of Sumer (Iran
Plateau).Aryans in prehistoric times settled in Central Asia, which
later around 2nd millennium BC, as isolated groups of people had
appeared in Iranian plateau. The word Aryan, for the first time was
mentioned in AVESTA (book of Zoroastrians)as the "AERYAN VAEJAH" (Land
of Nobles) as one of sixteen lands including, Khwarazmia, Soghdia,
Margiana, Balkh, Hilmand and etc (dated around 18th century BC).”
As you can see there's no Kandahar in this list!
This means the pashtuns didn't exist at that time, 7000 years ago, the history of Pashtuns are about 4500 or 5000 years]
"Like it or not, Aryans of Afghanistan are Iranians, Iranian is the modern name for Aryans"
The
Aryans/Sumerians established the first recognizable civilization with a
workable system of government. Their other achievements include the
invention of WHEELED VEHICLES and the use of written language. The
ancient Iranians developed the scientific practice of agriculture; on
the arts side, a distinctive style of architecture and a complex
religion which is reflected in their literature.
The Aryans of
ancient Land of Aryans were Mazdayasni Zarathushtris, ie. Worshippers of
Ahura Mazda (the name of God in Avestan language i.e Allah in Arabic
mean God) as revealed by the ancient prophet Zarathushtra (one of the
124000 prophets of God) thousands of years before Christ.(Isa)
The Arabic religion, Islam only began in Land of Aryans 1300 years ago.
The
"Vendidad" is one of the ancient scriptures of the Zoroastrians,
actually called the "Vi-daevo-dat" or the law to fight against evil. In
the first "Fargad" or chapter, the Golden Age of the ancient Aryans is
outlined with their greatest king, "Yima Kshaeta" who banished old age
and death. Then, the ice age broke on the ancient home and the Aryans
were forced to migrate southwards, to the southeast and the southwest.
The
Aryans migrated from the ancient home to Iran and from there to India
and Greece and Europe such as Germany, Italy, IRELAND (which also mean
land of Aryans).
The ancient Iranian Aryans believed that the
world as created by Ahura Mazda (God)was perfect, with no evil. The
first man Gayo Maretan had no disease, no illness, no hunger and thirst.
Only the good creation of God existed eg., the Dog, Cow and Bull,
Horse,Birds etc. Then Ahriman the evil one attacked the world and caused
evil to appear, disease and illness and old age, and the animals and
the first man started to die. Night began to fall (before the sun was at
the noon position - fixed, so there was no time). The evil brood of
animals appeared eg. snakes, insects, and the cat breed. So evil in the
ancient faith is an external introduction, which one day will be purged
when the world will be bathed with the purification of fire - the latter
also found in old German mythology. Paradise itself will be established
on the earth, in the form of the Kingdom of Ahura Mazda. The English
word "paradise" itself stems from the Avestan "PairiDaize", meaning the
same. Also, the word "garden" probably stems from the Avestan
"Garod-man" meaning the House of songs - the ancient name of heaven for
the Aryans.
Today 60% of the people of the world are Aryans,
in Europeans, Americans, Indians, Greece, Iranians (Includes Aryans from
Afghanestan) and many more are all from Noble Race, Aryans, it's Aryans
who brought civilisation to this world but it was religion which
separate them, it was religion which make them kill eachother and hate
eachother, the religion of Aryans, Zoroastrian, was the religion of
brotherhood and love. it came to Zoroaster by Angel Gabriel and it was
the first Religion of God in 7000 years ago. [Ali Reza]
********************************************************************************************
ONE IMPORTANT COMMENT:
PASHTO US AN EAST IRANIAN LANGUAGE:[EAST IRAN=AVESTAN SPEAKER’S REGION= PART OF ANCIENT KAMBOJA COUNTRY]
“…..The Afghan language, or Pashto, is one of the EAST IRANIAN groups
of languages. Among its characteristics, it contains a stratum of Indian
words (Sanskrit) and its phonetic system has been influenced by Indian
phonetic systems, which is not the case of other Iranian languages……..”.
(Source: Volume III, The crossroads of
civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. Editor B.A. Litvinsky Co-editors Zhang
Guang-da and R. Shabani Samghabadi; Tokharistan and Gandhara under
Western Türk rule (650 - 750) Part One History of the regions (J.
Harmatta) Part Two Languages, literature, coinage, architecture and art
(B. A. Litvinsky)
http://www.unesco.org/culture/asia/html_eng/chapitre316/chapitre1.htm
According
to scholars, (Michael Witzel, Dr J. C. Vidyalankar, Rodney Lingam etc)
Avestan was the language of the east Iranians whom they call the
Kambojas.
According to Dr Michael Witzel, Avestan in the
earlier times was the language of the region where the Pashto is spoken
today.
The modern Pashto language had also evolved from the Avestan language.
The
Young Avestan was the language of the Iranian Kambojas i.e. the
Kambojas living in East Iran…the land of the Avestan speakers. [cf:
Michael Witzel: East Iran=Ancient Kamboja].
Concludes Dr
Michael witzel: “In short, my Siddhaanta is that the Kambojas are an
east Iranian people living in the Arachosia/Kandahar area and that they
spoke a form of later Avestan, long before Pashto etc. took over in
these areas…” [Dr. Michael Witzel, Harvard University]
According
to Sir Grierson, a distinguished Indianist and linguistic expert,
“Kambojas were a barbarous tribe of the north-west who either spoke
Sanskrit with an infusion of Iranian words to which they gave Indian
Inflexions or also spoke a language partly Indo-Aryan and partly
Iranian” (J.R.A.S. 1911, pp 801-802: See also ancient
evidence/documentation from Yasaka (Nirukuta II.2)
“………. and
they (Kambojas) spoke a language which was either half Indian and half
Iranian or any how had an infusion of Iranian words.” (The Greeks in
Bacteria and India, 1966, Pp 170, 138 by W.W. Tarn).
“Yaska in
the Nirukta, a text of about 500 B.C. explaining with illustrations
certain selected Vedic words, tells us that the speech of the Kambojas
differed in certain respects from the ordinary Indian speech, referring
doubtless to the tribes living north-west of the Indus who bore that
name.” [Ref: Extension of the Aryan Civilisation; later Samhitas,
Brahmanas, p 104, ch V, p 104)
“Several European scholars have
suggested that the Kamboja people were a MIXED TRIBE HAVING ETHNIC,
LINGUISTIC AND POLITICAL AFFINITIES shared both with the IRANIANS AND
INDIANS PEOPLE. (ref: Afghanistan, its people, its Society, its culture,
by Dr Donald Wilber 1962, p 50; Afghanistan, Study of Political
Developments in Central and Southern Asia, 1967, p 58, by Dr W. K.
Fraser Tytler, Dr M. C. Gillet, cf: Dr Serge Thion etc etc).
“Kambojas
probably had both Iranian and Indian affinities”. (Vedic Index of
Names and Subjects Vol-I, p 138, by Dr A. A. Mcdonnel, Dr. A. B. Keath)
There are approximately 23 million Pashto-speakers in Afghanistan and Pakistan today[ . Morgenstierne, 1942; Gryunberg, 1987]