The Paropamisadae is an ancient area of the Hindu-Kush, in the Eastern part of Afghanistan. The territory is centered on the cities of Kabul and Charikar, around where the ancient cities of Kapisa and Begram have been identified.
The name "Paropamisadae" comes from the Greek language, and was used extensively in Greek litterature to describe the conquests of Alexander the Great and those of the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kings, from the 3rd to the 1st century BCE.
The area of Paropamisadae is located to the east of Bactria, and to the north of Arachosia.
See also
Indo-Greek kingdom Greco-Bactrian kingdom
References
"The Greeks in Bactria and India" W.W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press
The Paropamisadae, also called Paropamisus, is a Greek name for an ancient area of the Hindu-Kush, in the Eastern part of Afghanistan.
The Greek name Παροπαμισάδαι or Παροπαμισσός "Paropamisadae" was used extensively in Greek literature to describe the conquests of Alexander the Great and those of the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kings, from the 3rd to the 1st century BCE.
The area of Paropamisadae is located to the east of Bactria, and to the north of Arachosia.
In the Akkadian and Elamite versions of the same text, the name of Gandâra is replaced by that of the Paropamisadae (Akk.: pa-ar-u‚-pa-ra-e-sa-an-na; Elam.: [par-ru-ba-ra-e]-sa-na).
The latter name is also found in later classical sources and was used to denote the foothills south of the Hindu Kush watershed, near ancient Capisa and the modern city of Kabul.
The name of the Paropamisadae can be given an Iranian etymology, "(the land) beyond (the land) above the eagle/falcon," and would thus indicate an appellation given to the country by (Iranian) people living to the north of the Hindu Kush, namely in or near ancient Bactria (q.v.).
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