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who were the Pactyans? They were said to be living west of the river Indus and the eastern areas of arachosia and gadrosia regions of this greek map. Are pashtuns related to them? because the area they lived fits very well with the pashtun areas of today
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Pakthas (also Pakta or Pactyans) are an ancient people, that find reference in Sanskrit and Greek sources and as a people living in the areas now in Afghanistan, as well as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan.
They are sometimes speculated to be related to the modern-day Pashtun people.[3]
Rigved Pakthas
The Pakthas were one of the tribes that fought against Sudas in the Dasarajna the Battle of the Ten Kings (dāśarājñá), a battle alluded to in Mandala 7 of the Rigveda (RV 7.18.7).[4]
Herodotus records Pactyans
Heinrich Zimmer connects them with a tribe already mentioned by Herodotus (Pactyans), and with Pashtuns in Afghanistan.[5][6]
The Greek historian Herodotus mentioned a people called Pactyan living on the eastern frontier of the Persian Arachosia Satrapy as early as the 1st millennium BCE.[7]
Gandhara Paktas
The area of the Gandhara has been associated with the Pakta or Pakthas.
“ The Pashto or Pakhto is a well-known Aryan tribe mentioned in the Rigveda along with others, Jadu (or Yadu), Kuru, Sivas and Bhalanases. The Jaduns are the modern Gaduns, Sivas have left behind their name in the modern village of Siva in Swabi tehsil, and Kuru can be recognised in the valley of Panchkora in the district of Dir and Bhalanases have left their name in Bolan Pass. It is the Aryans who first started the geographic name of Gandhara in about the middle of the second millennium BC that extended on either side of the river Indus, with two capitals, Pushkalavati (modern Charsadda) on the west and Taxila on the east. Later the western capital was transferred to Peshawar (old Purushapura). In Gandhara lived eight Aryan tribes, known as Ashtakas, whose king, named as Astes in the Greek accounts fought with Alexander’s forces. The place name Hashtnagar recalls their memory. The Ashtakas have probably left behind their trace in the name Khattaks, who spread out south of the river Kabul right up to Attock.The Achaemenian Iranian Empire extended into this part, and Herodotus names the provinces as Gandhara, Paktyike, Sattagudi (i.e. Sapta Gomati, inclusive of Bannu, D.I. Khan, Zhob and Loralai districts, and finally Maka or Makran in the coastal region. Next province is called Hindu or Sindhu to the east of the river Sindhu. He also mentions the country of Darad in the north and refers to the Babylonian name Paropamisadae, i.e. the hilly area beyond, which in Sanskrit is called Avagana, or Apagana or Afgana (ava meaning far and gana meaning tribe) and hence tribes of the distant area, referring to Kabul region. Paktyike still survives in the provincial name of Paktya in Afghanistan, although it is much reduced in size.
The geographical name Gandhara continued until AD10 century, i.e for nearly twenty-five hundred years, when after the overthrow of the Hindu Shahi dynasty by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, it was incorporated into his Ghazni empire and Gandhara was forgotten into the limbo of history. The Arab conquest of this region does not record Pakhto or Pakya because the Arabs fought with the Turki Shahi or Hindu Shahi rulers. However, the spread of Islam transformed the whole mental make-up and tradition of the people. Many of the tribes started connecting themselves with the Semitic tribes or with Iranian heroes of Shanamah fame; e.g. Gakkhars call themselves Kianis, and the Awans associate themselves with Qutub Shahis. Similarly, the Pakhtuns trace their traditional origin from the lost tribes of the Jews, as recorded in the Makhzan-i-Afghana of the time of Sher Shah Suri. It is after the conquest of the Arabs that the name Khyber was applied to the pass and Ali Masjid was built there near the old Buddhist site. But the name Khyber was never used this side of Jamrud. However, the Pakhto tribes got associated with Turkic conquerors and along with them they spread out into north India right up to Bengal.
From 10 century onward the Muslim historians use the word Afghan in their works but in India the world Pakhto is corrupted as Pathan or sometimes a new word is deprived from Roh, i.e. Koh Sulaiman and we get the world Rohilla or Rohilkhand, which played an important part in the later Mughal history.With the spread of the Timurid Empire the Afghan tribes were much disturbed. With Timur’s son Shah Rukh sitting at his new capital of Herat, having full control over Kandahar, the Pakhtun tribes around Kandahar were shaken. Some tribes, like Tarin, moved into norther part of Balochistan, and others like Lodhis, Suris, Niazis and Durranis came to Punjab. The Yusufzais moved towards Kabul and later when Babar occupied Kabul, the Yusufzais spread eastward towards Bajaur, Dir, Swat, Mardan and Peshawar districts, displacing the earlier tribes who took shelter in Hazara.[10]
More on them:
Pakthas (also Pakta or Pactyans) are an ancient people, that find reference in Sanskrit and Greek sources and as a people living in the areas now in Afghanistan, as well as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan.
The Pakthas, Bhalanases, Vishanins, Alinas, and Sivas were the five frontier tribes. The Pakthas lived in the hills from which the Krumu originates. Zimmer locates them in eastern Afghanistan, identifying them with the modern Pakthun[1].
In the Rigveda, the Kurrum is mentioned as Krumu.[2].They are sometimes speculated to be related to the modern-day Pashtun people.[3]
Rigved Pakthas
The Pakthas were one of the tribes that fought against Sudas in the Dasarajna the Battle of the Ten Kings (dāśarājñá), a battle alluded to in Mandala 7 of the Rigveda (RV 7.18.7).[4]
Herodotus records Pactyans
Heinrich Zimmer connects them with a tribe already mentioned by Herodotus (Pactyans), and with Pashtuns in Afghanistan.[5][6]
The Greek historian Herodotus mentioned a people called Pactyan living on the eastern frontier of the Persian Arachosia Satrapy as early as the 1st millennium BCE.[7]
Gandhara Paktas
The area of the Gandhara has been associated with the Pakta or Pakthas.
The description Gandhara can be found in the Rigveda and it is also known as the Peshawar valley and the people of the area were known as Paktha.[8]
—Abdul Ghaffar Khan
According various scholars such as Ibbetson and Wahid Slymankhel, the Pakhat or Paktues lived in Afghanistan.—Abdul Ghaffar Khan
The Pakhat (Paktues) were the original inhabitants of Ariana (Afghanistan) and major portion of Gandhara. Their area was then known as Pactica. The clan was further sub-divided into Gandhari, Aparytae, Satragydae and Dadicae
—Wahid Slymankhel
—Wahid Slymankhel
The Ghandari were one of the four great divisions of the Pactiyae of Herodotus. The other three nations included under the name were the Apartyce or Afridi, the Satragydde or Khattak and the Dadicae or Dadi, all alike of Indian origin. At the beginning of the Muhammadan era the Afridi held all the country of the Safed Koh, the Satragydde held the Sulaiman range and the northern part of the plains between it and the Indus, while the Dadi held modern Sawistan and the country between the Qandahar Province and the Sulaimans. These three nations constitute the nucleus of the Pathans proper.[9]
—H.A. Rose
The eminent Pakistani historian and Archaeologist, Prof Dr Ahmad Hasan Dani, extensively researched on the people and history of the North West Frontier province of Pakistan and adjoining areas of modern Afghanistan.—H.A. Rose
“ The Pashto or Pakhto is a well-known Aryan tribe mentioned in the Rigveda along with others, Jadu (or Yadu), Kuru, Sivas and Bhalanases. The Jaduns are the modern Gaduns, Sivas have left behind their name in the modern village of Siva in Swabi tehsil, and Kuru can be recognised in the valley of Panchkora in the district of Dir and Bhalanases have left their name in Bolan Pass. It is the Aryans who first started the geographic name of Gandhara in about the middle of the second millennium BC that extended on either side of the river Indus, with two capitals, Pushkalavati (modern Charsadda) on the west and Taxila on the east. Later the western capital was transferred to Peshawar (old Purushapura). In Gandhara lived eight Aryan tribes, known as Ashtakas, whose king, named as Astes in the Greek accounts fought with Alexander’s forces. The place name Hashtnagar recalls their memory. The Ashtakas have probably left behind their trace in the name Khattaks, who spread out south of the river Kabul right up to Attock.The Achaemenian Iranian Empire extended into this part, and Herodotus names the provinces as Gandhara, Paktyike, Sattagudi (i.e. Sapta Gomati, inclusive of Bannu, D.I. Khan, Zhob and Loralai districts, and finally Maka or Makran in the coastal region. Next province is called Hindu or Sindhu to the east of the river Sindhu. He also mentions the country of Darad in the north and refers to the Babylonian name Paropamisadae, i.e. the hilly area beyond, which in Sanskrit is called Avagana, or Apagana or Afgana (ava meaning far and gana meaning tribe) and hence tribes of the distant area, referring to Kabul region. Paktyike still survives in the provincial name of Paktya in Afghanistan, although it is much reduced in size.
The geographical name Gandhara continued until AD10 century, i.e for nearly twenty-five hundred years, when after the overthrow of the Hindu Shahi dynasty by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, it was incorporated into his Ghazni empire and Gandhara was forgotten into the limbo of history. The Arab conquest of this region does not record Pakhto or Pakya because the Arabs fought with the Turki Shahi or Hindu Shahi rulers. However, the spread of Islam transformed the whole mental make-up and tradition of the people. Many of the tribes started connecting themselves with the Semitic tribes or with Iranian heroes of Shanamah fame; e.g. Gakkhars call themselves Kianis, and the Awans associate themselves with Qutub Shahis. Similarly, the Pakhtuns trace their traditional origin from the lost tribes of the Jews, as recorded in the Makhzan-i-Afghana of the time of Sher Shah Suri. It is after the conquest of the Arabs that the name Khyber was applied to the pass and Ali Masjid was built there near the old Buddhist site. But the name Khyber was never used this side of Jamrud. However, the Pakhto tribes got associated with Turkic conquerors and along with them they spread out into north India right up to Bengal.
From 10 century onward the Muslim historians use the word Afghan in their works but in India the world Pakhto is corrupted as Pathan or sometimes a new word is deprived from Roh, i.e. Koh Sulaiman and we get the world Rohilla or Rohilkhand, which played an important part in the later Mughal history.With the spread of the Timurid Empire the Afghan tribes were much disturbed. With Timur’s son Shah Rukh sitting at his new capital of Herat, having full control over Kandahar, the Pakhtun tribes around Kandahar were shaken. Some tribes, like Tarin, moved into norther part of Balochistan, and others like Lodhis, Suris, Niazis and Durranis came to Punjab. The Yusufzais moved towards Kabul and later when Babar occupied Kabul, the Yusufzais spread eastward towards Bajaur, Dir, Swat, Mardan and Peshawar districts, displacing the earlier tribes who took shelter in Hazara.[10]
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