Ashvakas
Encyclopedia
The Aśvakas or Aśvakayanas, classically called the Assacenii/Assacani (Sanskrit: अश्वक), is the Sanskrit name of a people who supposedly lived in northeastern Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

 and the Peshawar Valley. They are/were believed to be a sub-group of the Greater Kamboja
Kambojas
The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...

 tribe profusely referenced in ancient Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

/Pali
Páli
- External links :* *...

 literature and were partitioned into eastern and western Aśvakas . They find mention in the Puranas
Puranas
The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...

, Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

 and numerous other ancient Sanskrit and Pali texts. Today, their descendants are mostly heterogeneous people.

The Sanskrit term aśva
Asva
Asva is a village in Laimjala Parish, Saare County, on the eastern part of Saaremaa Island, Estonia....

, Iranian
Iranian languages
The Iranian languages form a subfamily of the Indo-Iranian languages which in turn is a subgroup of Indo-European language family. They have been and are spoken by Iranian peoples....

 aspa and Prakrit
Prakrit
Prakrit is the name for a group of Middle Indic, Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Old Indic dialects. The word itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as, "original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual", or "vernacular", in contrast to the literary and religious...

 assa means horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

. The name Aśvaka/Aśvakan or Assaka is said to be derived from Sanskrit Aśva or Prakrit Assa and it literally denotes someone connected with the horses---hence: a horseman, or a cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

man or "breeder of horses" . The Aśvakas were especially engaged in the occupation of breeding, raising and training war horses, as also in providing expert cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 services to outside nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...

s, hence they also constituted an excellent class of Kshatriyas (warrior
Warrior
A warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...

s). Like tribal term Kamboja
Kambojas
The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...

, the tribal term Aśvaka is also interpreted as
"land or home of horses"'.

Pāṇini styled the Aspa and the Aśvaka clan
Clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...

s of the Kunar and Swat valleys (earlier Kafiristan
Kafiristan
Kāfiristān or Kāfirstān was a historic name of Nurestan , a province in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan and Pakistan, prior to 1896. This historic region lies on, and mainly comprises, basins of the rivers Alingar, Pech , Landai Sin, and Kunar, and the intervening mountain ranges...

--- modern Nuristan) as Aśvayanas and Aśvakayanas respectively . The Classical
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...

 writers use the respective equivalents Aspasioi or Aspasii (Hippasii) and Assakenoi (or Assaceni/Assacani). Based on evidence from Indika of Megasthenes
Megasthenes
Megasthenes was a Greek ethnographer in the Hellenistic period, author of the work Indica.He was born in Asia Minor and became an ambassador of Seleucus I of Syria possibly to Chandragupta Maurya in Pataliputra, India. However the exact date of his embassy is uncertain...

 (c. 350 BC-290 BC), Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...

 (Gaius Plinius Secundus) (23 AD–79 AD) refers to clans like Osii (Asii), Asoi, and Aseni in his Historia Naturalis
Historia Naturalis
Historia Naturalis may refer to:*Natural History , a natural history encyclopedia by Pliny the Elder*Historia naturalis palmarum, a botanical book by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius published between 1823 and 1850...

and locates them on river Indus mainly in the northern western frontier parts parts of modern Pakistan which region exactly constituted the ancient Kamboja
Kambojas
The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...

. The Osii, Taxilae, Amanda, Peucolaitae, Arsagalitae (=Urasa + Gilgit), Asoi, Geretae and Aseni etc were all related clans and constituted mostly the Gandhara and Kamboja population. Amanda (Gandhara) , Taxilae, Peucolaitae etc belonged to the Gandhara set-up whereas Asoi (Aspasioi—the Aśvayanas), Geretaei (Guraeans) , Asii (Aśvakas/Aśvakayanas), Aurasa (=Hazaras), (i.e. the Arsa-(Aurasa-) component of the Arsagalitae), and the Aseni etc belonged to the Kamboja. John Watson McCrindle also regards the Asoi and Geretae to be respectively equivalent to the Aspasioi and the Gouraei of Arian--both being western-branch of the Assakenoi (Aśvakas). Bucephala
Bucephala
Bucephala may refer to:* Bucephala , the goldeneye, a duck genus* Bucephala is the name of at least two Greek cities:** Bucephala, or Alexandria Bucephalus, a city founded by Alexander the Great and named in honor of his horse, Bucephalus...

 was the capital of Aseni which stood on Hydaspes (Jhelum
Jhelum River
Jehlum River or Jhelum River , ) is a river that flows in India and Pakistan. It is the largest and most western of the five rivers of Punjab, and passes through Jhelum District...

) . Alexander had named this city after his horse Becephalus when it had died sometime in June of 326 BC after being fatally wounded at the Battle of Hydaspes with king Porus (Paurava) of Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...

. A view has been held that the clan names like Osii, Asioi, and Aseni of Indika of Megasthenes equate to Asii referred to by Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...

 and Asiani as referred to in Historiae Philippicae by Trogue Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus
Gnaeus Pompēius Trōgus, known as Pompeius Trogus, Pompey Trogue, or Trogue Pompey, was a 1st century BC Roman historian of the Celtic tribe of the Vocontii in Gallia Narbonensis, flourished during the age of Augustus, nearly contemporary with Livy.His grandfather served in the war against Sertorius...

 and further, they also equate to the Aspasioi (Aspasii, Hipasii) and Assakenoi (Assacenii/Assacani) clans of upper Indus referred to as Aśvayana and Aśvakayana in Pāṇini's Ashtadhyayi.

Geographical location

The Aśvakas, according to Hindu tradition, were resident in the eastern parts of modern Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

, south of Hindu Kush
Hindu Kush
The Hindu Kush is an mountain range that stretches between central Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. The highest point in the Hindu Kush is Tirich Mir in the Chitral region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.It is the westernmost extension of the Pamir Mountains, the Karakoram Range, and is a...

 and their population reached up to the Indus River
Indus River
The Indus River is a major river which flows through Pakistan. It also has courses through China and India.Originating in the Tibetan plateau of western China in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar in Tibet Autonomous Region, the river runs a course through the Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir and...

 and to parts of Punjab in Pakistan. Their metropolitan areas were believed to be in the area of Swat (near modern Kalash-Valley and Pakistani side of Nuristan) and in some part regions of Gandhara (today Peshawar), again in Pakistan.

Ancient Sanskrit literature also refers to another clan
Clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...

 called Asmaka or Assaka (Asvakas) which represented an Indo-Aryan
Indo-Aryans
Indo-Aryan is an ethno-linguistic term referring to the wide collection of peoples united as native speakers of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-Iranian family of Indo-European languages...

 Janapada
Janapadas
The Janapadas were the major realms or kingdoms of Vedic India which, by the 6th century BC, evolved into the sixteen classical Mahajanapadas.-Etymology:...

 located on river Godavari
Godavari River
The Godavari is a river that runs from western to southern India and is considered to be one of the big river basins in India. With a length of 1465 km, it is the second longest river in India , that runs within the country and also the longest river in South India...

 in south-west India. Aśmaka literally means land of stone. Some scholars believe that the south-western Asmakas/Assakas were also an offshoot from the North-west Aśvakas.

Buddhist Texts evidence

Aruppa-Niddesa of Visuddhimagga by Buddhaghosa
Buddhaghosa
Bhadantācariya Buddhaghoṣa(Chinese: 覺音)was a 5th-century Indian Theravadin Buddhist commentator and scholar. His best-known work is the Visuddhimagga, or Path of Purification, a comprehensive summary and analysis of the Theravada understanding of the Buddha's path to liberation...

 describes the Kamboja land as the base of horses.

Buddhist texts like Manorathapurni, Kunala Jataka, and Samangalavilasini speak of Kamboja land as the land of horses e.g:
Kambojo assa.nam ayata.nam... or Kambojo asvdnda ayatanam... .

Translation:
Kamboja, "the land/home 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 Aśvaka can be derived from Sanskrit Aśva meaning horse , which, likewise, denote the following:
  • Aśvaka = The Kambojas connected with horses; horsemen; cavalry.
  • Aśvaka = The Kamboja land or Janapada.


From the above statement, it is quite obvious that term Assaka or Aśvaka stood for the Kamboja land, Kamboja people, Kamboja horsemen or the Kamboja cavalry.

The formation of clannish name Aśvaka or Assaka from the Sanskrit "Aśva" or the Prakrit "Assa" has exactly a similar formation as followed by tribal terms such as Kambojika/Kambojaka (from Kamboja), Madaraka (from Madra) and Yonaka (from Yona), Lichchhivika (from Lichchhivi), Vrijika (from Vriji), Mallaka (from Malla), Jartaka (from Jarta = modern Jat) etc etc.

For justifiable reasons, the name Aśvaka has also been interpreted by scholars as the "land of horses"
. In ancient Buddhist and Hindu texts, Kamboja has repeatedly been styled as the "home of horses" . Thus, based on the name and the geographical location of Aśvaka tribe, numerous scholars have concluded that the Aśvakas were a sub-branch of the more general tribal name Kamboja
Kambojas
The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...

.

Arrian's and Asoka's evidence

Bevan and many other scholars have connected the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 name Assakenoi and Asapasio with Sanskrit Asva i.e. horse .

The companions of Alexander (~326 BCE) do not record the names of Kamboja and Gandhara and rather locate numerous small political units in their territories .

Arrian
Arrian
Lucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon , known in English as Arrian , and Arrian of Nicomedia, was a Roman historian, public servant, a military commander and a philosopher of the 2nd-century Roman period...

  informs us that the region on west of Indus up to Kophen (Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

) was inhabited by tribe
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...

s called Assakenoi and Aspasioi. In the dominions of the Assakenoi there was a great city called Massaka, the seat of sovereign power, which controlled whole region. And there was another city called Peukelaitis which was also of great size and was not far from Indus. It was the seat of Astakenoi (western Gandharas). These settlements were on the west side of Indus and extended in the western direction as far as the Kophen. From Arrian we learn that the Aspasioi and the Assakenoi (Asvakas) were located west of Indus on river Kabul extending towards Hindukush. The Astakenoi (western Gandharas) had occupied Peukelaitis and their other section—the Taxilae (eastern Gandharas) were located on east of Indus.

Fifth Major Rock Edict (~250 BCE) of king Asoka found at Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra in north-west frontier province of Pakistan (the supposed location of the Kambojas) enumerates the Yavanas, Kambojas
Kambojas
The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...

 and Gandhara
Gandhara
Gandhāra , is the name of an ancient kingdom , located in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau and on the Kabul River...

 in that order. Scholars believe that the order of enumeration implies that these people were geographically located in that order . Asoka's Thirteenth Major Rock Edict (~250 BCE) found in the same locations speaks saliently of the Yonas and the Kambojas but excludes the Gandharas altogether. His Minor Rock Edict (~342 BCE) inscribed in Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 and Aramaic languages and located in Kandahahar is said to be specifically directed at the Yonas and the Kambojas . His other three epigraphic inscriptions in Aramaic found in 1932, 1969 and 1973 in Lamghan valley at Pul-i-Darunta, Sultan Baba and Sam Baba respectively, and yet another one found in Kandhahar in 1964, again in Aramaic, undoubtedly speak high of the eminence of the Kambojas during Maurya
Maurya Empire
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in ancient India, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BC...

 rule .

Thus, we see that the Yonas and the Kambojas are referenced more numerously and more prominently in king Asoka's edicts whereas the Gandharas find only lesser reference. This clearly implies that during Asoka's time, the Yonas and the Kambojas were more significant people of Afghanistan .
  • Now king Asoka's Yavanas were undoubtedly located in Arachosia
    Arachosia
    Arachosia is the Latinized form of the Greek name of an Achaemenid and Seleucid governorate in the eastern part of their respective empires, around modern-day southern Afghanistan. The Greek term "Arachosia" corresponds to the Iranian land of Harauti which was between Kandahar in Afghanistan and...

     (Kandhahar)
  • And his Gandharas were in Pushkalavati
    Pushkalavati
    Pushkalavati is an ancient site situated in Peshawar valley in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located on the banks of Swat River, near its junction with Kabul River, now it is known as Charsadda...

    /Peshawar
    Peshawar
    Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....

     west of Indus (territory of the Astakenoi of Arrian) as well as in Taxila
    Taxila
    Taxila is a Tehsil in the Rawalpindi District of Punjab province of Pakistan. It is an important archaeological site.Taxila is situated about northwest of Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi in Panjab; just off the Grand Trunk Road...

     (the kingdom of Taxiles) on east side of river Indus .
  • Therefore, the Kambojas of king Asoka are left with no alternative other than to be placed exactly and precisely in the same position as the Assakenoi and Aspasioi of Arrian . The Kambojas had accordingly occupied Paropamisadae
    Paropamisadae
    Paropamisadae or Paropamisus was the ancient Greek name for a region of the Hindu-Kush in eastern Afghanistan, centered on the cities of Kabul and Kapisa .-History of Paropamisadae:...

     (Kabul, Kunar and Swat valleys) where the Aramaic records of king Asoka have been found
    .
  • Cf: 'Where the Kambojas geographically should have been we exactly find the Assakenoi and the Aspasioi whose names were derived from the reputation they enjoyed for the excellence of their horse. And the Kambojas—found as they are in Indian traditions as the splendid horsemen and breeders of notable horses—surely are included among them' .
  • Cf:"The word Aśvaka derived from Aśva a horse signified merely the cavaliers (or horsemen); it was less an ethnic in the rigorous acceptance of the word than a general appellation applied by the Indians of Punjab to the tribes of the region of Kophes (Kabul) renowned from antiquity for the excellence of its horses. In popular dialect, the Sanskrit word took the usual form Assaka which reappears scarecely unmodified in Assakennoi" .


Since the Kophese (or Kabul valley) was precisely the seat of the Kamboja tribes, hence Aśvaka as an appellation was undoubtedly applied to this people i.e the Kambojas.

We, thus get another name for the Kambojas i.e Asvakas. Since the Kambojas were famous as cavalrymen (Asva-yuddhah-Kushalah); Aśvakas, 'horsemen' was the term popularly applied to them .

Further observations

The Yonas of king Asoka get adequately accounted for in Arachosia
Arachosia
Arachosia is the Latinized form of the Greek name of an Achaemenid and Seleucid governorate in the eastern part of their respective empires, around modern-day southern Afghanistan. The Greek term "Arachosia" corresponds to the Iranian land of Harauti which was between Kandahar in Afghanistan and...

. And his Gandharas get adequately accounted for by the Astakenoi of Peukelaitis (eastern Gandharas) and the Taxilae located on east side of Indus (Eastern Gandharas). Could any scholar tell as to how can we account for the Kambojas unless we equate them to the Aspasioi and Assakenoi of Arrian?. Do we have any answer?

How could the Kambojas who otherwise find so prominent a mention (1) as independent rulers of a great Mahajanapada
Mahajanapadas
Mahājanapadas , literally "great realms", were ancient Indian kingdoms or countries...

 per Buddhist texts of 500 BCE ; 2) as a very salient Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...

 tribe
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...

 in Pāṇini's Ashtadhyayi of 400 BCE ; (3) as an important self-ruling
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...

 people in Arthashastra
Arthashastra
The Arthashastra is an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy which identifies its author by the names Kautilya and , who are traditionally identified with The Arthashastra (IAST: Arthaśāstra) is an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and...

 of Kautiliya (~300 BCE)–the prime minister of Chandragupta Maurya
Chandragupta Maurya
Chandragupta Maurya , was the founder of the Maurya Empire. Chandragupta succeeded in conquering most of the Indian subcontinent. Chandragupta is considered the first unifier of India and its first genuine emperor...

 which authority also glorifies the war horses of the Kamboja to be the foremost among the best breed of the known horses while making no reference whatsoever to the Gandharas or their horses; and (4) lastly but not the least, also being so importantly referred to the Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra Rock Edicts of Asoka (~250 BCE) etc–fell out of limelight so abruptly and becoming virtually extinct so suddenly in the intervening period of Alexander's invasion (326 BCE) just 50–60 years anterior to king Asoka's reign unless we equate them to same people as the Aspasioi and Assakenoi of the Greek writings? Do we have any answer?

It is quite notable that whereas the companions of Alexander (326 BCE) give very high prominence to the Aspasioi of Kunar
Kunar
Kunar may refer to:*Kunar Valley, Afghanistan and Pakistan*Kunar Province, Afghanistan*Kunar River, Afghanistan and Pakistan...

 valley, the Assakenoi of Swat valley and Astakenoi of Peukelaitis, the Edicts (~250 BCE) king Asoka, on the other hand give high prominence only to Yonas (in Arachosia) and Kambojas (in Paropamisadae) . There is no mention of any Aśvaka people in Asoka's records. The contemporary Buddhist texts also repeatedly refer to the Kambojas and Gandharas but not to the Aśvakas of Kabul valley . Also although the numerous Buddhist texts repeatedly style the Kamboja as the "home of horses"', there is absolutely no reference to any Gandhara horse or to the Gandhara being a "home of horses" in the same Buddhist sources.

This single and very important historical fact rules out any identification of the Aśvakas with the Gandharas as some writers erroneously tend to establish.

Thus, the expression "home of horses" specifically used by numerous Buddhist texts with reference to the Kambojas (and only the Kambojas) should clearly establish their identity and connection with the Aśvakas. Indisputably, the Aśvakas were a sub-section of the wider Kamboja tribe (K. P. Jayaswal).

Apart from the Buddhist sources, the epic Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

 as well as numerous Puranic texts also repeatedly refer to the excellent horses (Aśvas) of the Kambojas and also frequently style the latter people as "Aśva-yudha-Kushalah" (expert cavalry), yet none of them makes even a slightest reference to the Aśvakas of Kabul or their horses . Very interestingly, Mahabharata in its enumeration of best class horses, mentions the Kamboja, Aratta, Mahi, Sindhu and Vanayu horses only but makes no reference to the Gandhara as well as any Aśvaka horses. Valmiki Ramayana also glorifies the horses of Kamboja, Bahlika, Vanayu etc and styles them as of foremost breed but it does not refer to any Gandhara or any Aśvaka horses at all . Arthashastra
Arthashastra
The Arthashastra is an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy which identifies its author by the names Kautilya and , who are traditionally identified with The Arthashastra (IAST: Arthaśāstra) is an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and...

 of Kautiliya gives high prominence to the Kambhoja, Sindhu, Aratta and Vanayu horses and lesser to those from the Bahlíka (Bactria), Papeya, Sauvira and Taitala countries but this important text on state-craft also makes no reference to the Gandhara and Aśvaka horses . Similarly, numerous other ancient Indian texts like Upamiti Bhava Prapancha Katha, Abhidhamma Ratanamala, Samaraiccakaha of Haribhadra Suri, Manasollasa of Chalukya king Somesavara III, Amarakosa of Amara Simha, Asvashastra of Nakula, Karanabhara of Bhasa etc etc refer to the horses from countries like Kamboja, Bahlika, Vanayu, Sindhu, Saka, Yavana, Tushara, Khorasan, Tajik, Turushaka etc but not mention any horses from Gandhara or Asvaka country. As a matter-of-fact, none of the numerous Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

, Buddhist as well as the Jaina texts make even a slightest reference to the Aśvaka horses while references to the Kamboja horses loom very large in all of these texts
.

The Bengal recension of Ramayana , Mahabharata , Vayu Purana , Brahamanda Purana , Vishnudharmottara Mahapurana Matsya Purana, and Markendeya Purana etc etc all refer to the southern Asmakas (Assakas of the Buddhist texts) only but has no reference to the Kabul Asvakas. Padma Purana however, seems to locate the Asmakas in northern as well as in southern India . Brhat-Samhita of Varaha Mihira (6th c. CE) mentions the Asmakas living near to the Madra
Madra
Madra, Mada or Madraka is the name of an ancient region and its inhabitants, located in the north-west division of the ancient Indian sub-continent.-Uttaramadra division:...

s in north-western division . The northern Asmakas of Padama Purana as well as Brhatsamhita are obviously the same people as the Asvakas of Kunar/Swat valleys. Ashtadhyayi of Pāṇini specifically refers to the Asvakas of the Kunar/Swat valleys as Asvayanas and the Asvakayanas (highlander republican people) located south of Hindukush who are considered equivalent to Arrian's Aspasioi and Assakenoi respectively. They had constituted the Ganas of the Paropamisadian
Paropamisadae
Paropamisadae or Paropamisus was the ancient Greek name for a region of the Hindu-Kush in eastern Afghanistan, centered on the cities of Kabul and Kapisa .-History of Paropamisadae:...

 Kambojas. In his sutras, Pāṇini also makes separate mention of the Asmakas of south and associates them with Avantis in a single appellation as Avantyasmakah, thus obviously referring to the southern Asmakas located on Godavary.

Vishnudharmotra Purana/Agni Purana evidence

Puranic text like Vishnudharmotra Purana too specifically attests that the Kambojas
Kambojas
The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...

 and Gandhara
Gandhara
Gandhāra , is the name of an ancient kingdom , located in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau and on the Kabul River...

s were proficient in cavalry warfare i.e. in Aśva'-Yuddha.. A similar information is also provided in the Agni Purana
Agni Purana
The Agni Purana, one of the 18 Mahapuranas, a genre of Hindu religious texts, contains descriptions and details of various incarnations of Vishnu. It also has details account about Rama, Krishna, Prithvi, and the stars...

 . This again seems to confirm a connection between the Kambojas and Aśvakas.

Mahabharata evidence

In the Anushasnaparava section of Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

, the Kambojas
Kambojas
The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...

 are specifically designated as aśava.yuddha.kushalah (expert cavalry).

Commenting on the above verse of Mahabharta, noted scholars like Dr K. P. Jayswal observe that "Since the Kambojas were famous for their horses (aśva) and as a cavalry-men (Aśva-yudhah kushalah), hence the Aśvakas i.e. horsemen was the term popularly applied to them".

Shakti Sangham Tantra evidence

Shatt.panchashad.desha.vibhaga of Shakti Sangama Tantra also testifies that the Kamboja
Kambojas
The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...

 was not only famous for its fine horses (aśva) but also for its excellent horsemen
Horsemen
Horsemen may refer to:*Equestrianism, including cavalry*Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse*Four Horsemen *Royal Canadian Mounted Police*Horsemen , starring Dennis Quaid*The Horsemen , starring Omar Sharif...

 .

Aśvaka coins and Arthashastra evidence

The coins of Aśvakas refer to themselves as vatasvaka (vata.asvaka), which in Sanskrit, equals varta-aśvaka i.e Aśvakas engaged in varta profession.

The use of prikritic vata (Sanskrit varta) appellation by the Aśvakas in their coins reminds one of the Varta.shastr.opajivin descriptions of the Kambojas as attested by Kautiliya in his Arthashastra
Arthashastra
The Arthashastra is an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy which identifies its author by the names Kautilya and , who are traditionally identified with The Arthashastra (IAST: Arthaśāstra) is an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and...

.

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

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 Macedon
Macedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....

ians had not known, which Alexander captured from them and decided to send them to Macedonia for agriculture.

The Aśvaka Kambojas are also attested to have fielded 30,000 strong cavalry, 30 elephants and 20,000 infantry against Alexander.

These above staggering figures about agricultural cattle and the war horses of the Aśvakas 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 propinquity, evidently connect the Aśvakas with the varta.shastr.opajivin Kambojas of the Arthashastra.

More opinions from scholars

Sir Thomas H. Holdich
Thomas Holdich
Colonel Sir Thomas Hungerford Holdich, KCMG, KCIE, CB was an English geographer and president of the Royal Geographical Society. He is best known as Superintendent of Frontier Surveys in British India and author of numerous books, including The Gates of India, The Countries of the King's Award and...

, in the his classic book, The Gates of India, writes that the Aspasians (Aspasioi) represent the modern Kafirs. But the modern Kafirs, especially the Siyah-Posh Kafirs (Kamoz/Camoje, Kamtoz) etc are considered to be modern representatives of the ancient Kambojas Kafirs of Hindukush#Kafirs and the Kambojas, this shows that the Aspasioi (Aspas), who were the western branch of the Assakenoi (Aśvakas) of classical writings, represented a section of the Sanskrit Kambojas.

According to Pakistan Review: "These Kafirs
Kafiristan
Kāfiristān or Kāfirstān was a historic name of Nurestan , a province in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan and Pakistan, prior to 1896. This historic region lies on, and mainly comprises, basins of the rivers Alingar, Pech , Landai Sin, and Kunar, and the intervening mountain ranges...

 once occupied a wider region before the pressure of events squeezed them into their present narrow valleys. They or some earlier ethnic type on which they become superimposed, may have been the Kambhojas
Kambojas
The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...

 and the Alinas of the Vedas
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....

 whose offshoots were probably the tribes encountered by Alexander in Kunar
Kunar
Kunar may refer to:*Kunar Valley, Afghanistan and Pakistan*Kunar Province, Afghanistan*Kunar River, Afghanistan and Pakistan...

, Bajaur and Swat. Among the Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 writers Arrian
Arrian
Lucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon , known in English as Arrian , and Arrian of Nicomedia, was a Roman historian, public servant, a military commander and a philosopher of the 2nd-century Roman period...

 refers to them as Assakenoi and Aspasioi. These names are associated with the old Aryan
Aryan
Aryan is an English language loanword derived from Sanskrit ārya and denoting variously*In scholarly usage:**Indo-Iranian languages *in dated usage:**the Indo-European languages more generally and their speakers...

 word for horse (asva) and that the horse's head is still recognized as a sacred symbol by these Kafir remnants..." . Thus according to this view also, the Assakenoi and Aspasioi of Arrian were offshoots from the Kambojas.

French scholars Dr E. Lamotte has also identified the Aśvakas with the Kambojas of ancient Sanskrit literature. "Par ailleurs le Kamboja est régulièrement mentionné comme la "patrie des chevaux" (Asvanam ayatanam), et cette reputation bien etablie gagné peut-etre aux eleveurs de chevaux du Bajaur et du Swat l'appellation d'Aspasioi (du v.-p. aspa) et d’assakenoi (du skt asva "cheval")"

While discussing Aspasioi and Assakenoi tribes living west of Indus and north of river Kabul in the valleys of Alishang, Kunar, Swat and Panjkora, in context of Alexander's invasion of India, Paul Goukowsky observes: "Pour les sources Indiennes, ce pays est celui des Kamboja eleveurs de chevaux. De fait, les tribus signalées dans cette région par les historiens d'Alexandre portent des noms tirés de celui du cheval (iranien aspa, sanscrit asva...). Pāṇini connait deux peuplades les Asvayana (vallees de l'Alishang et du Kunar) et les Asvakayana (habitat l'Udyana, cest-a-dire le Swat le Buner et la vallee de la Panjkora. Les premiers paraissent correspondre aux Aspasiens/Hipasiens (par l'intermediate d'une forme Iranienne en Aspa); les seconds aux Assakeniens (la forme pracrite en Assa etant celle de la langue parlee a l'epoque le d'Alexandre). Il semble donc que la langue Iranienne predominait au nord du Kunar le pracrit au sud" . Thus, Paul considers the Assakenoi and Aspasioi as sections of the Kambojas.

Cf: "Kamboja is regularly mentioned as the "homeland of horses" and it was this well-established reputation which possibly earned the horse-breeders of Bajaur and Swat the epithet of Aspasioi (from Old Pers Aspa) and Assakenoi (from Sanskrit Asva "horse")" .

While referring to a certain Sakya legend connected with Udyana locale (north-west frontiers province of Pakistan), James Fergusson connects the Udyana country with the Kambojas
Kambojas
The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...

 of the Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 texts . But the territories of Kunar
Kunar
Kunar may refer to:*Kunar Valley, Afghanistan and Pakistan*Kunar Province, Afghanistan*Kunar River, Afghanistan and Pakistan...

, Udyana
Oddiyana
', a small country in early medieval India, ascribed importance in the development and dissemination of Tantric Buddhism. The physical location of is disputed and open to conjecture. Possible locations that have been identified are:...

, Swat and Varana (Aorna of classical writers) etc were the very habitats of the Aśvaka Kambojas since remote antiquity...thus proving that the Asvakas were same as the Kambojas.

J. W. McCrindle says that the modern Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

 -- the Kaofue (Kambu) of Hiun Tsang was ancient Kamboja, and further says that the name Afghan evidently derives from the Aśavakan, the Assakenoi of Arrian
Arrian
Lucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon , known in English as Arrian , and Arrian of Nicomedia, was a Roman historian, public servant, a military commander and a philosopher of the 2nd-century Roman period...

. Thus it can be seen that Dr McCrindle clearly identifies the classical Assakenoi/Aspasioi with the Sanskrit Kambojas.

While discussing Kambojas, Dr H. C. Raychayudhury, Dr B. N. Mukerjee write: "With the expression Assa.nam Ayata.nam---land of horses used by Pali
Páli
- External links :* *...

 texts in reference to the
Kambojas, may be compared the names Aspasioi and Assakenoi given by classical
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...

 writers to the sturdy people living in the Alishang and Swat valleys in the days of Alexander "
.

According to John Muir, the Kambojas had inhabited north-west of India from river Indus to as far as Hindukush. They had the same Aryan origin as the Indians however, they were afterwards reckoned to be barbarians because their manners became changed afterwards and they were justly called Indians and barbarians by the Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....

  and the Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

. The same therefore, happened to the Kambojas although in a less marked manner as took place between the Zend people and the Indians in a more remote period". Since Fah-hien's Indians were people of Swat/Udyana, Hiuen Tsang's Indians were the people of Kapisa to Rajapura (Rajauri) and Arrian's Indians were the Assakenoi, Aspasio and Asteknoi localised in Kapisa/Swat/Kunar/Aornos regions of Paropamisadae
Paropamisadae
Paropamisadae or Paropamisus was the ancient Greek name for a region of the Hindu-Kush in eastern Afghanistan, centered on the cities of Kabul and Kapisa .-History of Paropamisadae:...

 in the west of Indus and north of Kabol
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

 as far as up to the Hindu Kush
Hindu Kush
The Hindu Kush is an mountain range that stretches between central Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. The highest point in the Hindu Kush is Tirich Mir in the Chitral region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.It is the westernmost extension of the Pamir Mountains, the Karakoram Range, and is a...

, hence, Johm Muir's Kambojas are exactly the same as the Aspasio, Guraeus, Assakenoi and Astekenoi of Arrian, or the people from Kapisa to Udyana/Swat territories, stated to be rude frontier Indians by Chinese pilgrims Hiuen Tsang and Fa-hien.

Dr S. M. Ali has identified the ancient Kambojas of the Puranic literature with the inhabitants of the Kafir valleys, who, as we know from classical writings, were none else than the Aspasioi off-shoot of the Aśvakan Kambojas.

According to Dr J. L. Kamboj: "It is now generally accepted that the Ashvakas (Assakenoi/Aspasioi of Arrian
Arrian
Lucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon , known in English as Arrian , and Arrian of Nicomedia, was a Roman historian, public servant, a military commander and a philosopher of the 2nd-century Roman period...

, Ashvakayanas/Asvayanas of Pāṇini) were a sub-branch of the Kambojas. Their coins have been found with the legend 'Vatasvaka'. The significance of the Prakritic word 'vata' in 'Vatasvaka' (Vata+asvaka) is to be sought in its Sanskrit form (
Varta) which means (among other things) trade, industry, and agriculture. These were also precisely the professions of the Kambojas since Kautilya specifically styles the Kambojas as Varta.sastr.opajivin i.e living by agriculture, trade and wielding weapons . The Asvaka coins also bear a long robed figure in trousers (i.e an Asvaka) standing with folding hands before the moon-on-hill. In a series of coins from Pataliputra (Mauriyas), a similar moon-on-hill symbol is placed over a standard. The homageful figure in Vatasvaka coins has been interpreted by some scholars to express the subordination of the Asvakas to the dynasty of Candra (i.e Chandragupta Maurya
Chandragupta Maurya
Chandragupta Maurya , was the founder of the Maurya Empire. Chandragupta succeeded in conquering most of the Indian subcontinent. Chandragupta is considered the first unifier of India and its first genuine emperor...

)" .

"History of Panjab" by Dr L. M. Joshi and Dr Fauja Singh (Ed) also identifies the Assakenoi and Aspasioi of the classical writings with the clans of the Kambojas..

Dr R. C. Majumdar, Romila Thappar, noted historians of India also take the Aśvakas to be same people as the Kambojas and they all connect them with the people of Kafirstan.

Dr Buddha Parkash notes: "The Macedon
Macedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....

ian conqueror made short shrifts of the arrangements of Darius and over-running Achaemenian empire
Empire
The term empire derives from the Latin imperium . Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy....

, dashed into modern Pakistan (achemenid satrapen) and encountered stiff residstence of the Kamboja tribes called
Aspasioi and Assakenoi known in the Indian texts as Aśvayana and Aśvakayana " .

These Asvayana and Asvakayana clans had fought the invader to a man. When worst came to worst, even the Asvakayana Kamboj
Kamboj
The Kambojs , also Kamboh, are an ethnic community of the Punjab region. They may relate to the Kambojas, an Iranian tribe known to the people of Iron Age India and mentioned in ancient Sanskrit texts and epigraphy. Kamboj is frequently used as a surname in lieu of the sub-caste or the gotra name...

 women had taken up arms and joined their fighting husbands, thus preferring "a glorious death to a life of dishonor". Diodorus
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doings beyond what is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca...

 gives a detailed graphic picture as to how the Aśvakayanas (Kambojs) had conducted themselves when faced with the sudden treacherous onslaught from Alexander.

Commenting on the heroic resistance and courage displayed by the Aśvakayanas (Kambojas) in the face of treacerous onslaught of Alexander, Dr Buddha Prakash remarks: "Hardly could any Thermopylae
Battle of Thermopylae
The Battle of Thermopylae was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August...

 be more glorious !"

Afghan and Aśvakan relationship

Numerous scholars of note now believe that the name Afghan has been derived from Sanskrit Aśvaka or Aśvakan (Aśvakayana), the Assakenoi of Arrian
Arrian
Lucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon , known in English as Arrian , and Arrian of Nicomedia, was a Roman historian, public servant, a military commander and a philosopher of the 2nd-century Roman period...

. This view was propounded by scholars like Dr Christian Lassen
Christian Lassen
Christian Lassen was a Norwegian-German orientalist.-Life:He was born at Bergen, Norway. Having received a university education at Oslo, he went to Germany and continued his studies at the University of Heidelberg and the University of Bonn. In Bonn, Lassen acquired a sound knowledge of Sanskrit...

 , Dr J. W. McCrindle , M. V. de Saint Martin etc, and has been supported by numerous modern scholars
. In Sanskrit, the word aśva (Iranian
Iranian languages
The Iranian languages form a subfamily of the Indo-Iranian languages which in turn is a subgroup of Indo-European language family. They have been and are spoken by Iranian peoples....

 aspa, Prakrit
Prakrit
Prakrit is the name for a group of Middle Indic, Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Old Indic dialects. The word itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as, "original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual", or "vernacular", in contrast to the literary and religious...

 assa) means "horse", and aśvaka (Prakrit assaka) means "horseman" , "horse people" , "land of horses"

Kamboja Cavalry in ancient wars

The Kambojas
Kambojas
The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...

 had been famous throughout all periods of history for their excellent breed of horses as well as famous horsemen or cavalry troopers
. They repeatedly appear in the characteristic Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

ian roles of splendid horsemen
Horsemen
Horsemen may refer to:*Equestrianism, including cavalry*Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse*Four Horsemen *Royal Canadian Mounted Police*Horsemen , starring Dennis Quaid*The Horsemen , starring Omar Sharif...

 and breeders of notable horses
. The epic
Indian epic poetry
Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent, traditionally called Kavya . The Ramayana and Mahabharata, originally composed in Sanskrit and translated thereafter into many other Indian languages, are some of the oldest surviving epic poems on earth and form part of...

, the Puranic and numerous other ancient literature profusely attest the Kambojas among the finest horsemen . They were constituted into Military Sanghas and Corporations to manage their political affairs, as Kautiliya and Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

 amply attest for us. They are also attested to have been living as Ayuddha-jivi or Shastr-opajivis, which means that the Kamboja cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 offered their military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

 services to other nations as well. There are numerous references to Kambojas being requistioned as cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 trooper
Trooper (rank)
Trooper from the French "troupier" is the equivalent rank to private in a regiment with a cavalry tradition in the British Army and many other Commonwealth armies, including those of Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. Today, most cavalry units operate in the armoured role, equipped...

s in ancient wars by outside nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...

s. V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar observes: "Both the Puranas and the epics agree that the horses of the Sindhu and Kamboja regions were of the finest breed, and that the services of the Kambojas as cavalry troopers were requisitioned in ancient wars ".

Greek historiographers

Herodotus attests that the Gandarian mercenaries (Gandharans/Kambojans) from the twentieth strapy of the Achaemenids were recruited in the army of emperor Xerxes I (486-465 BCE) which he led against the Hellas.

Similarly, the men of the Mountain Land (Akaufaka), from north of Kabol-River equivalent to medieval Kohistan
Kohistan
Kohistan, also transliterated Kuhistan, Kuhiston, Quhistan , may refer to:in Afghanistan*Kohistan, Kapisa Province, Kapisa Province, a town and administrative center of Hesa Awal Kohistan District...

 (Pakistan), figure in the army of Darius III against Alexander at Arbela
Arbela
Arbela may refer to:*An important city in ancient Jordan, located on the site of modern Irbid, Jordan*The ancient name of the city of Arbil in northern Iraq*Ancient Jewish settlement in Galilee, near the modern moshav Arbel, Israel....

 with a cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 and fifteen elephants.

These mercenaries were the well known parvatiya Ayuddhajivins of Pāṇini's Ashtadhyayi located on either side of the Hindu Kush
Hindu Kush
The Hindu Kush is an mountain range that stretches between central Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. The highest point in the Hindu Kush is Tirich Mir in the Chitral region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.It is the westernmost extension of the Pamir Mountains, the Karakoram Range, and is a...

 and who belonged to Kamboja/Gandhara group of a warrior caste.

Sanskrit epics

General Sudakshina of the Kambojas was invited by Duryodhana
Duryodhana
In the Hindu epic the Mahābhārata, Duryodhana is the eldest son of the blind king Dhritarashtra by Queen Gandhari, the eldest of the one hundred Kaurava brothers, Emperor of the world at that time which means Emperor of India or Bharatvarsha as it was known at that time, cousin and the chief...

, the Kuru king of Hastinapura
Hastinapura
Hastinapur is a town and a nagar panchayat in Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.-History:Hastinapur was the capital of the kingdom of the Kauravas, belonging to the Kuru dynasty of kings. The throne of this city was the prize over which the Kurukshetra War of the epic...

 to help him in the Mahabharata war against the Pandava
Pandava
In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, the Pandava are the five acknowledged sons of Pandu , by his two wives Kunti and Madri. Their names are Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. Although, Karna is told by Lord Krishna that according to the laws and ethics he is the first son of Kunti making...

s. Sudakshina Kamboj
Kamboj
The Kambojs , also Kamboh, are an ethnic community of the Punjab region. They may relate to the Kambojas, an Iranian tribe known to the people of Iron Age India and mentioned in ancient Sanskrit texts and epigraphy. Kamboj is frequently used as a surname in lieu of the sub-caste or the gotra name...

 came to his side with one Akshauhini powerful army of ferocious Central Asian warriors which also included the Shakas and Yavanas, besides the Kambojas
Kambojas
The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...

. Of the ten distinguished Generals appointed by Duryodhana to efficiently manage his vast host of army, Sudakshina Kamboja
Sudakshina Kamboja
Sudakshina was a king of the Kambojas, mentioned in theMahābhārata as fighting on the side of the Kauravas and being slain by Arjuna....

 was one such distinguished General.

Bala Kanda of Valmiki Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...

 refers to a battle between sage Vasishtha and king Vishwamitra of Kanauj. Sage
Wise old man
The wise old man is an archetype as described by Carl Jung, as well as a classic literary figure, and may be seen as a stock character...

 Visishtha had sought the military assistance of the Kambojas, Shakas, Yavanas, Pahlavas, Kiratas and other Mlechchas from the north-west. King Vishwamitra had lost all his sons in the battle. In remorse, he renounced the world and turned into an ascetic after the war.

Mauryan period

The ancient Sanskrit drama Mudra-rakashas by Vishakhadatta and the Jaina work Parisishtaparvan refer to Chandragupta
Chandragupta Maurya
Chandragupta Maurya , was the founder of the Maurya Empire. Chandragupta succeeded in conquering most of the Indian subcontinent. Chandragupta is considered the first unifier of India and its first genuine emperor...

's alliance with Himalayan king Parvataka. The Himalayan alliance gave Chandragupta a formidable composite army made up of the Shakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Kiratas, Parasikas and Bahlikas as attested by Mudra-Rakashas (Mudra-Rakshasa 2).

With the help of these frontier martial
Martial
Marcus Valerius Martialis , was a Latin poet from Hispania best known for his twelve books of Epigrams, published in Rome between AD 86 and 103, during the reigns of the emperors Domitian, Nerva and Trajan...

 tribe
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...

s from Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

, Chandragupta was able to defeat the Greek
Hellenistic Greece
In the context of Ancient Greek art, architecture, and culture, Hellenistic Greece corresponds to the period between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the annexation of the classical Greek heartlands by Rome in 146 BC...

 successors of Alexander the Great and the Nanda
Nanda
Nanda is a surname of Punjabis . Nanda is a Tarkhan , Ahluwalia and Kamboj surname. All the clans of Tarkhan , Lohar, Gujjar, Kamboj, Ahluwalia tribes have a close genetic and ancestral relationship with each other, and together they form the Khatri/Rajput caste.-Among Kamboj people:*Nanda is a...

/Nandin rulers of Magadha
Magadha
Magadha formed one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas or kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganga; its first capital was Rajagriha then Pataliputra...

 so as to found the powerful Maurya empire
Maurya Empire
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in ancient India, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BC...

 in northern India, at least for a short time till the Kushans and other ruler conquered north-west India.

The Kalika Purana, one of the eighteen Upa-Puranas of the Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

s, refers to a war between King Kalika and notes the Shakas, Kambojas, Khasas etc as a powerful military allies of king Kali. The Purana further notes these Barbarian
Barbarian
Barbarian and savage are terms used to refer to a person who is perceived to be uncivilized. The word is often used either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage...

s as taking orders from their women, which culture was typical of tribes located on Oxus/north-west.

Patanjali

Patanjali
Patañjali
Patañjali is the compiler of the Yoga Sūtras, an important collection of aphorisms on Yoga practice. According to tradition, the same Patañjali was also the author of the Mahābhāṣya, a commentary on Kātyāyana's vārttikas on Pāṇini's Aṣṭādhyāyī as well as an unspecified work of medicine .In...

 around 150 BCE and Yuga Purana chapter of Gargi-Samhita refer to second century BCE Yavana attack on Saketa, Panchala
Panchala
Panchala is an ancient region of northern India, which corresponds to the geographical area around the Ganges River and Yamuna River, the upper Gangetic plain in particular. This would encompass the modern-day states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. During the ancient times, it was home to a...

, Mathura and Pataliputra located in Majjhima-desa or Mid India. Anushasnaparava of Mahabharata attests that Mathura country in Mid India was under the joint control of the Yavanas and the Kambojas (12.101.05). The Kamboja royal family at Mathura is also attested from Mathura Lion Capitol inscriptions of Saka
Saka
The Saka were a Scythian tribe or group of tribes....

 Strap
Strap
A strap, sometimes also called strop, is an elongated flap or ribbon, usually of fabric or leather.Thin straps are used as part of clothing or baggage, or bedding such as a sleeping bag. See for example spaghetti strap, shoulder strap...

 (Kshatrapa) Rajuvula
Rajuvula
Rajuvula was an Indo-Scythian Great Satrap who ruled in the area of Mathura in northern India in the years around 10 CE. In central India, the Indo-Scythians conquered the area of Mathura over Indian kings around 60 BCE...

. Vanaparava of Mahabharata woefully deplores that the sacred earth (Indo-Aryan land), in Kaliyuga, would be ruled un-righteously by Mlechchha kings of the Yavanas, Kambojas, Sakas etc. These references show that the Kamboja cavalry from north-west in conjunction with the Yavanas had invaded Mid India and ruled over it prior to Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 era
Era
An era is a commonly used word for long period of time. When used in science, for example geology, eras denote clearly defined periods of time of arbitrary but well defined length, such as for example the Mesozoic era from 252 Ma–66 Ma, delimited by a start event and an end event. When used in...

 Migration of Kambojas#The Kambojas in Mathura Yona#Invasion of India.

Puranas

According to numerous Puranas, the military Corporations of the Shakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Pahlavas and Paradas, known as pānca-ganah (five horde
Horde
Horde may refer to:* Ordo * a clan or army of steppe nomads . See Orda * the Blue and White Horde, formed 1226, 1227* the Golden Horde, a Turkic-Mongol state established in the 1240s...

s
) as well as foremost of the Kshatriya or warrior clans (Kshatriya-ganah & Ksatriya pungvah), had militarily supported the Haihaya and Talajunga Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...

s in depriving Ikshvaku
Ikshvaku
Ikshvaku pāli: Okkāka) was the first king of the Ikshvaku dynasty and founder of the Solar Dynasty of Kshatriyas in Vedic civilization in ancient India.-In Hinduism:He is remembered in Hindu scriptures as a righteous and glorious king...

 king Bahu (the 7th king in descent from Harishchandra
Harishchandra
Harishchandra, in Hindu religious texts is the 36th king of the Solar Dynasty, Surya Maharishi Gothram . His legend is very popular and often told as a benchmark for an ideal life. He was renowned for his piety and justice. His name is Sanskrit for "having golden splendour".Harishchandra had two...

), of his Ayodhya kingdom
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...

.

A generation later, Bahu's son, Sagara recaptured Ayodhya after totally destroying the Haihaya and Talajangha Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...

s in the battle. Story goes that king Sagara had punished these foreign horde
Horde
Horde may refer to:* Ordo * a clan or army of steppe nomads . See Orda * the Blue and White Horde, formed 1226, 1227* the Golden Horde, a Turkic-Mongol state established in the 1240s...

s by changing their hair-styles and turning them into degraded Kshatriyas.

Bhagavata Purana
Bhagavata purana
The Bhāgavata Purāṇa is one of the "Maha" Puranic texts of Hindu literature, with its primary focus on bhakti to the incarnations of Vishnu, particularly Krishna...

 refers to a war between Jarasandha and Yadavas led by Sri Krshna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...

. The Kambojas came as military allies of Jarasandha
Jarasandha
Jarasandha was a great and legendary king of Magadha. He was the son of a vedic king named Brihadratha. He was also a great devotee of Lord Shiva. But he is generally held in negative light owing to his enmity with the Yadav clan in the Mahābhārata....

, king of Magadha
Magadha
Magadha formed one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas or kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganga; its first capital was Rajagriha then Pataliputra...

. There is reference to the siege of Gomant Parvata where the Kamboja army was positioned on its east flank. Bhagavata Purana speaks of the Kamboja General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

 as a powerfully armed mighty warrior (samiti-salina atta-capah Kamboja).

Pala Empire

The Palas employed mercenary forces and certainly recruited horses from Kambojas as is clear from their own Inscriptions. According to Dr N. G. Majumdar, if horses could be brought from Kamboja, it is also perfectly reasonable to suppose that for trade and other purposes, some adventurers (from Kamboja) could also have found their way into that province. Scholars like Dr R. C. Majumdar observe that the armed forces of Pala
Pala Empire
The Pāla Empire was one of the major middle kingdoms of India existed from 750–1174 CE. It was ruled by a Buddhist dynasty from Bengal in the eastern region of the Indian subcontinent, all the rulers bearing names ending with the suffix Pala , which means protector. The Palas were often described...

 Dynasty
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...

 of Bengal had included foreigners like the Khasas
Khasas
The Khasas / Khas or Khasiyas are an ancient people, believed to be a section of the Indo-Iranians who originally belonged to Central Asia from where they had penetrated, in remote antiquity, the Himalayas through Kashgar and Kashmir and dominated the whole hilly region...

, Hunas, Kambojas
Kambojas
The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...

, Kulitas, Karnatas, Latas and Malavas etc. Writes Dr R. C. Majumdar: "Mercenary soldiers (Specially cavalry) might have been recruited from the Kambojas and some of them might have been influential chiefs". According Dr Majumdar and many other scholars, some courageous military General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

 of the Kambojas had later captured north-western parts of Bengal from the Palas and founded the Kamboja
Kambojas
The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...

 dynasty
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...

 in Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

.

Scholars also state that the Kamboja cavalry had also formed part of the Gurjara-Pratihara armed forces in 8th/10th centuries AD. They had come to Bengal with the Pratihara
Pratihara
The Gurjara Pratihara , often simply called Pratihara Empire, was an imperial Indian dynasty that ruled much of Northern India from the 6th to the 11th centuries. At its peak of prosperity and power , the Gurajara-Pratihara Empire rivaled or even exceeded the Gupta Empire in the extent of its...

s when the latter conquered part of the province. In fact, there is stated to have been a separate regiment of the Kambojas in the army of the Pratiharas which was given the responsibility to defend the northern-eastern parts of their empire adjoining with the Palas of Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

. When the fortunes of the Palas sagged low after the death of Narayanapala in early tenth century, these Kambojas, the military associates of the Pratiharas had seized Gauda
Gauda
*Sanskrit ' :**Gauḍa region is a historical country in eastern India, which included Gaur in Bengal, of its eponymous capital, and of its inhabitants .**The ' , a branch of Panch-Gauda...

 from Pala king Rajyapala and laid the foundation of the Kamboja empire
Empire
The term empire derives from the Latin imperium . Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy....

 in north-west Bengal.

See also

  • Kamboja Horsemen
  • Kambojas
    Kambojas
    The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...

  • Parama Kambojas
  • Yavanas
  • Sakas
  • List of country name etymologies

Further reading

  • 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
  • The Gates of India, Sir Thomas H. Holdich
  • 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
  • Historie du bouddhisme Indien, p 110, Dr E. Lammotte
  • East and West, 1950, pp 28, 157-58, Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, Editor, Prof Giuseppe Tucci, Co-editors Prof Mario Bussagli, Prof Lionello Lanciotti.
  • History of Indian Buddhism: From the Origins to the Saka Era, 1988, p 100 - History
  • Raja Poros, 1990, Publication Buareau, Punjabi University, Patiala
  • History of Poros, 1967, pp 12,39, Dr Buddha Prakash
  • 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. Joshi.
  • The Kambojas Through the Ages, 2005, Kirpal Singh.
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