The Ashvakas are very ancient people of north-east Afghanistan. They find mention in the Puranas, Mahabharata and other ancient Sanskrit and Pali literature. The Puranas are part of Hindu Smriti; these religious scriptures discuss devotion and mythology. ... The Mahabharata (Devanagari: महाभारत, phonetically Mahābhārata - see note), sometimes just called Bharata, is one of the two major ancient Sanskrit epics of India, the other being the Ramayana. ... The Sanskrit language ( संस्कृता वाक्) is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family and is not only a classical language, but also an official language of India. ... . Pāli (ISO 639-1: pi; ISO 639-2: pli) is a Middle Indo-Aryan dialect or prakrit. ...

Sanskrit term ashva , Iranian aspa and Prakrit assa means horse. The name Ashvaka or Assaka is said to nbe derived from Sanskrit Ashva or Prakrit Assa and it litterally denotes someone connected with the horses---hence: a horseman, or a cavalryman. The Ashvakas were especially engaged in the occupation of breeding, raising and training war horses, as also in providing expert cavalry services to outside nations, hence they also constituted the ayudhajivis (or shastra-opajivis) class of warriors. Prakrit (Sanskrit prakrta: natural, usual, vulgar) refers to the broad family of the Indic languages and dialects spoken in ancient India. ... Italian cavalry officers practice their horsemanship in 1904 outside Rome. ... Italian cavalry officers practice their horsemanship in 1904 outside Rome. ... // For publications of this name, see also Nation (disambiguation). ... A warrior is a person habitually engaged in combat. ...

Panini notes the Ashvakas and Aspas of the Kunar and Swat valleys as Ashvayana and Ashvakayana respectively (Ashtadshyayi: IV-1, 110; IV-1, 99). Panini can refer to: Pāṇini, the 5th century BC Sanskrit grammarian Panini (sandwich), a type of Italian sandwich Panini (stickers), a brand of collectible stickers Giovanni Paolo Panini, an Italian artist This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Classical writers use the respective equivalents Aspasios (or Aspasii, Hippasii) and Assakenois (or Assaceni/Assacani, Asscenus/Assacanus). The word classical has several meanings: Pertaining to the societies of the classical antiquity, ancient Greece or Rome. ...

Geographical location

The Ashvakas were located in the eastern parts of modern Afghanistan in the intervening river valleys starting from Laghman in the west upto river Sindhu in the east. Their main concentrations were in Kunar and Swat valleys on the north of river Kabol. Fljótsdalur in East-Iceland A valley is a landform, which can range from a few square miles (square kilometers) to hundreds or even thousands of square miles (square kilometers) in area. ... Laghman province is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... The Indus (सिन्‍धु नदी) (known as Sindhu in ancient times) is the principal river of Pakistan. ... Kunar province is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country and on the border with Pakistan. ... SWAT officers SWAT (an acronym for Special Weapons and Tactics; originally Special Weapons Attack Team) is a specialized paramilitary police unit in major United States city police departments, which is trained to perform dangerous operations. ... Kabul (Kâbl, in Persian کابل) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan with a population variously estimated at 2 to 4 million. ...

Ancient Sanskrit literature refers to another clan called Ashmaka or Assaka which represented an Indo-Aryan Janapada located on river Godavari in south-west India. Ashmaka literally means land of stone. Some people believe that the Ashmakas/ Assakas of the Godavari were a section of the Ashvakas of Kunar/Swat people who had migrated to southern India in remote past sometime before the Mahajanapada age (Geographical Data in Early Purana, 1972, p 287-288) The Indo-Aryan languages form a subgroup of the Indo-Iranian languages, thus belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. ... The political process among the ancient Aryans appears to have originally started with semi-nomadic tribal units called Jana (Sanskrit: Jana = tribe). ... The Godavari River is a major waterway in India, next to the Ganges and Indus rivers. ... The political process among the ancient Aryans appears to have originally started with semi-nomadic tribal units called Jana (meaning tribe). ...

Ashvakas are the Kambojas

Buddhist Texts evidence

Aruppa-Niddesa of Visuddhimagga by Buddhaghosa describes the Kamboja land as the base of horses (10/28). Buddhist texts like Manorathapurni, Kunala Jataka and Samangalavilasini speak of Kamboja land as the land of horses e.g: Bhadantācariya Buddhaghosa was a 5th century Indian Theravadin Buddhist commentator and scholar. ... Statues of Buddha such as this, the Tian Tan Buddha statue in Hong Kong, remind followers to practice right living. ...

Kambojo assa.nam ayata.nam......................... || Samangalavilasini, Vol I, p 124||.

Translation:

Kamboja, the land of horses (assa).

The cluster assa in the above expression of Sumangavilasini means horse, which on adding suffix -ka gives the Prakrit Assaka which term when considered in the context of the above expression denotes the following:

• Assaka = The Kambojas connected with horses; horsemen; cavalry.
• Assaka = The Kamboja land or Janapada.

Similarly, the Sanskrit Ashvaka can be derived from Sanskrit Ashva which, likewise, denote the following:

• Ashvaka = The Kambojas connected with horses; horsemen; cavalry.
• Ashvaka = The Kamboja land or Janapada.

Commenting on the above verse of Sumangalavilasini, scholars like Dr H. C. Raychayudhury, Dr B. N. Mukerjee write: "With the expression Assa.nam Ayata.nam---land of horses used by Pali texts in reference to the Kambojas, may be compared 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 " (Ref: Political History of Ancient India, 1996, p 133, p 216 ffn 2, p 576; Commentary Dr B. N. Mukerjee; cf: MBH VI.90.3). . Pāli (ISO 639-1: pi; ISO 639-2: pli) is a Middle Indo-Aryan dialect or prakrit. ... The word classical has several meanings: Pertaining to the societies of the classical antiquity, ancient Greece or Rome. ... Bust of Alexander the Great in the British Museum. ...

From the above atatement, it is very obvious that term Assaka or Ashvaka stood for the Kamboja land, Kamboja people, Kamboja horsemen or the Kamboja cavalry..

Mahabharata evidence

In the Anushasnaparava section of Mahabharata, the Kambojas are specifically designated ashava.yuddha.kushalah (expert cavalry). This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

tatha Yavana Kamboja Mathuram.abhitash cha ye |

ete 'ashava.yuddha.kushalahdasinatyasi charminah. || 5 ||

— (MBH 12/101/5, Kumbhakonam Ed)

Commenting on the above verse of Mahabharta, scholars like Dr K. P. Jayswal observe that "Since the Kambojas were famous for their horses (ashva) and as as a cavalry-men (Ashva-yudhah kushalah), hence the Ashvakas i.e. horsemen was the term populary applied to them" (Hindu Polity, 1978, pp 121, 140, Dr K. P. Jayswal)

Ashvaka coins and Arthashastra evidence

The coins of Ashsvakas refer to themselves as vatasavaka (vata.asvaka), which in Sanskrit, equals varta-ashvaka i.e Ashvakas engaged in varta profession (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). The use of prikritic vata (Sanskrit varta) appellation by the Ashvakas in their coins reminds one of the Varta.shastr.opajivin descriptions of the Kambojas as attested by Kautiliya in his Arthashastra (Arthashastra 11.1.4). ... Arthashastra is an ancient Indian treatise on economics and politics written by king maker Chanakya (also known as Kautilya) in the 4th century BC during the rule of the Mauryan dynasty. ...

The above view is further reinforced by Brahtsamhita of Varaha Mihira which also says that the Kambojas lived by shastr and varta (Brhatsamhita, 5.35).

The Asvayanas (Kambojas) have been attested to be good cattle breeders and agricuturists by classical writers. 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). Alexander the Great fighting the Persian king Darius (Pompeii mosaic, from a 3rd century BC original Greek painting, now lost). ...

The Ashvaka Kambojas are attested to have fielded 30,000 strong cavalry, 30 elephants and 20,000 infantry against Alexander [Ancient India, 2000, p 261, Dr V. D. Mahajan)

These above staggering figures about agricultural cattles and the war horses of the Ashvakas sufficiently prove the correctness of Kautiliya's statement on the Kambojas which portrays the Kambojas as living both by warfare (shastr.opajivin) as well as by agriculture/cattle-culture (varta.opajivin).

The above facts, when viewed in the light of time and space contiguity evidently connect the Ashvakas with the varta.shastr.opajivin Kambojas of the Arthashastra (Ref: Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, p 11, 226).

More opinions from scholars

Leading French scholras like Dr E. Lamotte have identified the Ashvakas with the Kambojas of ancient Sanskrit literature (Ref: Historie du Bouddhisme Indien, p 110, E. Lamotte) The Sanskrit language ( संस्कृता वाक्) is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family and is not only a classical language, but also an official language of India. ...

Dr L. M. Joshi and Dr Fauja Singh, like E. Lamotte, also identify the Assakenois and Aspasios of classical writings as the clans of the Kambojas (History of Panjab, Vol I, Dr Fauja Singh, Dr L. M. Josh; see also Ancient Kamboja, People and country, 1981, pp 271-72, 278, Dr J. L. Kamboj; These Kamboj People, 1979, pp 119, 192, K. S. Dardi)

J. W. McCrindle says that the modern Afghanistan itself was ancient Kamboja -- the Kaofu (Kambu) of Hiun Tsang, and further says that the name Afghan evidently derives from the Ashavakan, the Assakenoi of Arrian. Thus, Dr McCrindle clearly identifies the classical Assakenois/Aspasios with the Sanskrit Kambojas (Alexandra's Invasion of India, p 38; Megasthenes and Arrian, p 180, J. McCrindle) Xuanzang, Dunhuang cave, 9th century. ... Lucius Flavius Arrianus Xenophon (c 92-c 175), known in English as Arrian, was a Roman historian. ...

Dr Romila Thappar, a noted historian of India identifies the Ashvakas as the clans of the Kambojas.

Dr Buddha Parkash notes: "The Macedonian conqueror made short shrifts of the arrangments of Darius and over-running Achaemenian empire, dashed into Afghanistan and encountered stiff residstence of the Kamboja tribes called Aspasios and Assakenois known in the Indian texts as Ashvayana and Ashvakayana " (Panjab Past and Present, pp 9-10, Dr Buddha Parkash; See also: History of Porus, pp 12, 38). Seal of Darius I, showing the king hunting on his chariot, and the symbol of Ahuramazda Darius the Great (Pers. ... Missing image Achaemenid empire in its greatest extent The Achaemenid Dynasty was a dynasty in the ancient Persian Empire, including Cyrus II the Great, Darius the Great and Xerxes I. At the height of their power, the Achaemenid rulers of Persia ruled over territories roughly encompassing some parts of today... An empire (also known technically, abstractly or disparagingly as an imperium, and with powers known among Romans as imperium) comprises a set of regions locally ruled by governors, viceroys or client kings in the name of an emperor. ...

The Ashvayana and Ashvakayana Kamboja clans had fought the invader to a man. When worst came to worst, even the Ashvakayana Kamboj women had taken up arms and joined their fighting husbands, thus preferring 'a glorious death to a life of dishonor' (See: Diodorus in McCrindle, p 270). Look up Kamboj in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Kamboj is frequently used as surname or last name by many Kambojs, currently living in India. ...

Afghan and Ashvakan relationship

According to modern view, the name Afghan derives from Sanskrit Ashvaka or Ashvakan, the Assakenoi of classical writings.

McCrindle observes: "The name Afghan has evidently been derived from Asvakan, the Assakenoi of Arrian " (Megasthenes and Arrian, p 180; Alexander's Invasion of India, p 38; J. W. McCrindle)

Numerous scholars like Christian Lassen, Saan Martin, L. Bishop, Dr Crooks, Dr. J. C. Vidyalnar, Dr M. R. Singh, William Smith, N. L. Dey and several others think that the word Afghan has originated from the Sanskrit word Ashvaka......the Assakenois of the classical writings.

See also

• Kamboja Horsemen
• Kambojas
• List of country name etymologies

The profession of breeding, domesticating, training and utilizing the horses in warfare had originated in the vast Steppes of Central Asia. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... This list covers English language country names with their etymologies. ...

References

• Geographical Data in Early Puranas, A Critical Study, 1972, p 179 Dr M. R. Singh
  
• Dictionary of Greek & Roman Geography, Vol-I, 1966, William Smith, Phillip Smith
  
• Geographical Dictionary of ancient and Medieval India, Dr Nundo Lal Dey
  
• Itihaas Parvesh (Hindi), 1948, Dr Jaychandra Vidyalankar
  
• Ancient India as Described in Megasthenes and Arrian, 1960, J. W. McCrindle
  
• The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great, 1896, J. W. McCrindle
  
• Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, Dr J. L. Kamboj
  
• The Geographical Data in Early Purana, 1972, Dr M. R. Singh
  
• Hindu Polity, Part I & II, 1978, Dr K. P. Jayswal
  
• Panjab Past and Present, Dr Buddha Parkash
  
• Journal of Bihar and Orissa Research Society, Vol XX
  
• Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, 1900
  
• History and Culture of Indian People, Age of Imperial Unity, Vol II, Dr A. D. Pusalkar, Dr R. C. Majumdar
  
• History of Panjab, Vol I, Dr Fauja Singh, Dr L. M. Josh