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THE
HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY.
FROM THE GERMAN
OF
PROFESSOR MAX DUNCKER,
BY
EVELYN ABBOTT, M.A., LL.D.,
_FELLOW AND TUTOR OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD._
VOL. V.
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen.
1881.
Bungay:
CLAY AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS.
CONTENTS.
BOOK VII.
_THE ARIANS OF EASTERN IRAN._
CHAPTER I. PAGE
THE LAND AND THE TRIBES 3
CHAPTER II.
THE KINGDOM OF THE BACTRIANS 19
CHAPTER III.
THE SCRIPTURES OF IRAN 49
CHAPTER IV.
ZARATHRUSTRA AND THE DATE OF THE COMPOSITION OF THE AVESTA 68
CHAPTER V.
THE GODS OF THE ARIANS IN IRAN 106
CHAPTER VI.
THE REFORM OF THE FAITH 129
CHAPTER VII.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE AVESTA 149
CHAPTER VIII.
THE PRIESTHOOD OF IRAN 184
CHAPTER IX.
THE LAW OF THE PRIESTS 201
CHAPTER X.
THE LATER DEVELOPMENT OF EASTERN IRAN 239
BOOK VIII.
_THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES AND PERSIANS._
CHAPTER I.
THE FOUNDATION OF THE MEDIAN KINGDOM 267
CHAPTER II.
THE EMPIRE OF THE MEDES 292
CHAPTER III.
THE TRIBES OF THE PERSIANS 319
CHAPTER IV.
THE FALL OF THE MEDIAN KINGDOM 335
CHAPTER V.
THE RISE OF THE PERSIAN KINGDOM 382
BOOK VII.
THE ARIANS OF EASTERN IRAN.
EASTERN IRAN.
CHAPTER I.
THE LAND AND THE TRIBES.
Between the valley of the Indus and the land of the Euphrates and
Tigris, bounded on the south by the ocean and the Persian Gulf, on the
north by the broad steppes which the Oxus and Jaxartes vainly attempt
to fertilise, by the Caspian Sea and the valley of the Aras, lies the
table-land of Iran. Rising to an average height of 4000 feet above the
level of the sea, it forms an oblong, the length of which from east to
west is something more than 1500 miles. The breadth in the east is about
1000 miles, but at the narrowest point, from the Caspian Sea to the
Persian Gulf, it is not much more than 500 miles; while the western
edge, reaching from the Persian Gulf to the mountains of Aderbeijan,
again extends over a distance of about 750 miles.
In this seclusion, neither penetrated by bays of the sea nor traversed
by mighty rivers, the region exhibits a certain similarity to the
highlands of Arabia. The centre of the Iranian land, like that of
Arabia, is occupied by a great desert where only nomadic life is
possible. But the soil of Iran is more diversified in regard to
elevation and depression. The northern half of the land is higher than
the southern, the centre is hollowed out in the form of a trough, so
that in the east, at any rate, the waters from the inner slopes of the
mountainous rim fall into the depression, and collect in fructifying
lakes. The oases and fertile valleys are more numerous and extensive
than in Arabia, and though the rivers of the inner table-land, like the
streams of the northern edge, which flow to the north, are lost in the
sand or end in unimportant lakes, they nevertheless render agriculture
possible over wide tracts of country.
The northern side is more diversified and superior in formation to
the south. The southern edge, which sinks down to the ocean, closely
resembles Arabia in the climate and the nature of the country; the
mountains of the north, on the other hand, exhibit green pastures and
splendid forests where Arabia has nothing but bare peaks: in the Hindu
Kush, and Elburz on the Caspian Sea, as well as in Aderbeijan, they rise
into vast Alpine districts. The eastern edge, extending over a distance
of 900 miles, rises like a steep wall out of the valley of the Indus; a
few long and difficult passes lead from the Indus to the high ground,
which on the north commences with cold bare flats, and on the south with
slopes still more desolate and barren, and at the same time intolerably
hot. Only the terraces of the valley of the Cabul, which flows down into
the Indus, allow a convenient exit towards the north, and present a soil
to a great extent so fertile that three harvests can be reaped in the
year. The western edge of Iran, on the other hand, is formed by parallel
ridges running from the north-west to the south-east, between which,
beside extensive mountain pastures, lie narrow and well-watered valleys.
In the north-west the low-lying regions are rich in meadows and forest;
while those between the abutting ridges of the western and southern edge
are warm, and even hot, in climate, rich and luxuriant in vegetation.
On this table-land the heat is softened, though not entirely, by the
elevation of the soil. After violent storms in the spring, no cloud
darkens the sky from May to September; the atmosphere is peculiarly dry
and clear, and through the fine air can be seen, bright and sharp, the
outlines of the mountains and the whole country, while at night the
star-lit sky almost replaces the light of day. The changes in
temperature are sudden and severe. From cold, snow-covered terraces,
8000 feet in height, we suddenly descend to the glowing heat of the
plains, lying barely 2000 feet above the sea. In the north-east
oppressive heat alternates with great cold; the north suffers from a
severe winter, with heavy falls of snow and icy storms, blowing over the
Caspian Sea and the broad steppes; in the south the air is filled with
the dust of the desert, here extraordinarily fine, and the hot winds
give the heaps of sand the appearance of changing waves, and roll masses
of it to the sky.[1]
As far back as our information extends, we find the table-land of Iran
occupied by a group of nations closely related to each other, and
speaking dialects of the same language. On the edges of that great
desert, which occupies the centre of the land, are tracts of pasture,
and further inland, treeless steppes, which, however, are watered here
and there by brackish pools, and produce a salt vegetation barely
sufficient to provide buffaloes and camels with sustenance, until the
soil becomes entirely barren. In the western part of these steppes
wandered a pastoral people, whom Herodotus calls Sagartians. They were
horsemen, but, according to the historian's statement, carried no
weapons of attack beyond a dagger and a rope of twisted straps, at one
end of which was a loop. In this they placed their confidence in battle;
they threw it over men and horses, and so dragged them down and
strangled them. In the inscriptions of the Achaemenids this nation is
called _Acagarta_.[2]
Close to the Indus, and beyond the bare, hot, treeless shores of the
ocean, the southern part of the plain consists of sandy flats, in which
nothing grows but prickly herbs and a few palms. The springs are a day's
journey from each other, and often more. This region was possessed by a
people whom Herodotus calls Sattagydae, and the companions of Alexander
of Macedonia, Gedrosians.[3] Among the nations of the East who were
subject to them, the inscriptions of the Achaemenids mention the
"_Thataghus_," which the Greeks understood as Sattagush and Gadrush.
Neighbours of the Gandarians, who, as we know, dwelt on the right bank
of the Indus down to the Cabul, the Gedrosians led a wandering,
predatory life; under the Persian kings they were united into one
satrapy with the Gandarians.[4] To the south of the Gedrosians, on the
coast, there dwelt, according to the Greeks, a miserable race, eaters of
fish and tortoises, who built their houses of the bones of whales
thrown up by the sea. They wove their nets from the bark of palms, and
their weapons were javelins hardened in the fire.[5] The edge on the
south allows no streams of any size to flow to the sea, so that even to
this day this coast presents only a few small fertile spots. About
equally distant from the northern and southern edge of the table-land,
to the east of the desert of the interior, lies a considerable lake, now
called Hamun, but known to the Greeks as Areios. It forms the centre of
a cultivated district, though the storms from the west often drive the
sand of the desert to its shores. This basin is formed by and receives
important streams flowing from the inner slopes of the northern and
eastern edge. From the southern spurs of the Hindu Kush comes the
Hilmend, the Haetumat of the Avesta, _i.e._ rich in bridges, the
Etymandros of the Greeks, which has a course of about 400 miles, and
before falling into the lake is joined by the Arghandab. The Lora, which
flows from the east, but further to the south, does not now reach the
lake. From the north flow the Harut and Chashrud. Round this lake, and
on the banks of the Hilmend, the Arghandab, and the Lora, lies a
fruitful region; higher up the walls of the valleys are covered with
forests, until towards the east the upper course of the rivers is
enclosed by bare cliffs. On the shores of the Hamun, and in the valley
of the Hilmend, dwelt a people whom the inscriptions of the Achaemenids
call _Zaraka_, i.e. dwellers on the lake. A lake in Old Persian is
_Daraya_; in the ancient language of the East, _Zarayanh_; in modern
Persian, _Zareh_. Hence we understand why Herodotus calls this nation
Sarangians, the later Greeks, Zarangians and Drangians. According to the
Greeks the Zarakas were a warlike nation, armed with Median bows and
spears, unsurpassed in battle on horseback; and a tribe of them which
lived under good and equitable laws bore the name of Ariacpians.[6] The
ruins of cities and works of irrigation testify to the former prosperity
of this region. East of the Zarakas, up the valley of the Arghandab,
dwelt the Arachoti. In the inscriptions of the Achaemenids they are
called _Harauvati_; in the Avesta, _Harahvaiti_, i.e. the rich in
water. These names the Arachoti received from the river on which they
were settled, the older name of which was Arachotus (_Sarasvati_).[7]
Herodotus does not designate the Arachoti by this name derived from the
river of their land, but by the tribal name of Pactyes; he tells us that
they wore peculiar bows, daggers, and skins.[8] The Afghans, who in
ancient times occupied the region from the Suleiman mountains on the
east as far as the Arghandab on the west, Shorawak on the south, the
Cabul and the range of the Sefid-Kuh on the north, and in the middle
ages forced their way to Cabul and Peshawur, still call themselves
Pashtun and Pakhtun, or Rohilo, _i.e._ mountaineers. They still speak
their old rough mountain language, which is closely connected with the
dialects of the Arian tribes on the Indus.[9]
Eastward of Elburz, the point where the northern edge of Iran again
rises into a lofty range to the west (Demavend is more than 18,000 feet
in height), and then sinks down to the Caspian Sea, lay the Hyrcanians.
In the inscriptions of the Achaemenids their land is known as _Varkana_;
the modern name is Jorjan. Here, according to the Greeks, the mountains
were covered with forests of oaks, where swarms of wild bees had their
hives; in the valleys vines and fig-trees flourished, and the soil down
to the sea was so luxuriant that corn grew from the fallen grains
without any special sowing.[10] The description is hardly exaggerated.
The waters pouring from the heights and snow-fields of Elburz water the
soil of the coast so thoroughly, that a tropical growth flourishes in
Jorjan, Taberistan, and Ghilan, the luxuriance of which is assisted by
the volcanic heat of the earth. The lagunes of the coast are succeeded
by marsh forests; higher up are fields of rice and plantations of
sugarcane, and beyond these fertile meadows, above which splendid
forests of oaks, planes, and elms clothe the heights of Elburz. There is
abundance of water fruits, figs and mulberries, olives and oranges, and
the vigorous creepers of the vines run even to the summits of the
trees.[11] Nevertheless, these favoured regions have a darker side.
Frequent earthquakes disturb the soil; in the winter furious north winds
blowing over the Caspian rage along the walls of Elburz, and even on the
outlying spurs the snow falls to the depth of several fathoms; the
rain-clouds, hemmed in by the mountain ranges, often burst in
water-spouts, which lay the land far and wide under water, and roll as
torrents down the gorges; the marsh air blanches the inhabitants, while
in the summer the hot and moist climate breeds deadly fever.
Further to the east, where the Caspian Sea ends and the mountains of
Iran descend towards the desolate, pathless steppes of the Oxus, is a
wild, hilly country. In the depressions, and there only, the region of
the Parthians (_Parthava_ in the inscriptions of the Achaemenids[12])
exhibits fruitful lands, and, further eastward still, agriculture is
favoured by the long, narrow valley of the Areios (Herirud). Springing
from the southern slope of the Hindu Kush, the river flows towards the
west along the inner edge of the table-land, till it bursts through the
northern barrier in order to lose itself in the sand of the steppes. In
this valley the district of the modern Herat, lay the Areians, who are
called _Haraiva_ in the inscriptions of the Persian kings. The name
points to the possession of water. To the north of the Areians, in the
valley of the Margos (now Murghab), which rises in the northern edge of
the table-land, and flows to the north-west, where it also ends in the
sands of the desert, in Margiana (Old Persian, Marghush; Bactrian,
Mouru; modern Merv), lay the Margiani, in a well-cultivated region, rich
in vineyards, with numerous cities and a large population. But the
fertility only extends so far as the soil can be watered from the Margos
and the neighbouring streams.
At the foot of the mountain barrier, towards the northern steppes, and
on the edge of the steppes of the Oxus, to the north of the Hyrcanians,
Parthians, and Margiani, in a land which only partially admits of
agriculture, lay the Chorasmians, a people partly stationary and partly
migratory--the _Uvarazmiya_ of the Achaemenids, the _Hvairizem_ of the
Avesta. Further to the east, where the edge rises to the lofty Hindu
Kush, there lies on its northern slope a favoured district in the region
of the Upper Oxus. That river flows from the table-land of Pamire, which
lies more than 15,000 feet above the sea, exactly at the point where the
Hindu Kush abuts on the Belurdagh, the western edge of the central
table-land. On the banks of the river, which flows in a north-westerly
direction, extend broad mountain pastures, where support is found in the
fresh mountain air for numerous herds of horses and sheep, and beneath
the wooded hills are blooming valleys. On these slopes of the Hindu
Kush, the middle stage between the table-land and the deep plain of the
Caspian Sea, lay the Bactrians--the _Bakhtri_ of the Achaemenids, the
_Bakhdhi_ of the Avesta. Curtius, following the accounts of the
companions of Alexander, tells us of the land of the Bactrians that it
was much diversified in character; in one part were pastures, another
was rich in beautiful fruit-trees and vines, and frequent springs
watered the rich soil, on which corn was cultivated. These districts
supported a large number of oxen and horses. Under the range of
Paropanisos (_i.e._ on the slope of the Hindu Kush) lay the city of
Bactra, on the river of the same name, which washed its walls. But a
great part of the country was covered with waste tracts of sand. If the
winds blew from the Caspian Sea, they swept the sand into high hills,
under which not only did every trace of the road disappear, but
travellers were at times overwhelmed; and, as if voyaging by sea, it was
necessary to guide the course by the stars.[13] Strabo remarks, after
Apollodorus of Artemita, that Bactria was the best part of East Iran
(Ariana). In ancient times the Bactrians were hardly distinguished from
nomads; but their land was extensive, and produced fruits of all kinds,
with the exception of the vine. The fertility of the land enabled the
Hellenic princes to make great conquests. Their cities were Bactra,
traversed by the river of the same name, Darapsa, Aornus (_avarana_,
_i.e._ protection), Kariata, and many others, and besides these cities,
the Bactrians had citadels on lofty rocks.[14] According to Strabo,
Bactra was also called Zariaspa, and Pliny asserts that at any rate in
earlier times it was called by that name. In Arrian Zariaspa is the
largest city of Bactria, while Ptolemy places Zariaspa to the north of
Bactra, on the bank of the Oxus. Zariaspa means golden horse. A river
might possibly be known by such a name, but hardly a city, unless it
belonged to a tribe of the name of Zariaspians, and was inhabited by
them. In fact Ptolemy places the tribe of the Zariaspians in his
Zariaspa.[15]
The air on these north-western terraces of the Hindu Kush is warm, and
the soil sufficiently vigorous, under irrigation, to produce rice and
southern fruits. Eight leagues below the snow-fields of the mountains,
which resist even the hottest months of the year, two good leagues to
the north of the place where the Dehas, after forcing a passage through
the last heights, reaches the plains, lies the city of Balkh, on the
banks of that river. At this day it is a town only partially inhabited;
but the ruins of the ancient city are said to cover a circuit of several
leagues. The adjacent soil is now well cultivated; the fields are
thickly planted with trees, and beside old water-courses, now dried up,
and extensive ruins of yet older aqueducts, eighteen channels still
convey their rills to fields under active cultivation.[16]
North of the Bactrians, beyond the Oxus, on the western slope of
Belurdagh, in the valley of the Polytimetus (Zarefshan, _i.e._ strewing
gold), which flows towards the Oxus from the east, but, instead of
joining it, ends in Lake Dengiz, lay the Sogdiani of the Greeks, the
_Suguda_ of the Old Persian inscriptions, and _Cughdha_ of the Avesta,
in the region of the modern Sogd. As the Oxus in its upper course
separates the Bactrians from the Sogdiani, the Jaxartes, further to the
north, separates the latter from the Scyths. According to Strabo, the
manners of the Bactrians and Sogdiani were similar, but the Bactrians
were less rude.[17] Maracanda (Samarcand), the chief city of the
Sogdiani, on the Polytimetus, is said to have had a circuit of 70
stades in the fourth century B.C. The soil is not without fertility, but
the climate varies between great heat and severe cold.
Herodotus observes that the Bactrians, who carried bows of reed and
short lances, closely resembled the northern Indians in armour,
clothing, and mode of life, and then informs us that the Areians,
Parthians, Sogdiani, and Chorasmians resembled the Bactrians. All these
tribes of the east, according to the account of Herodotus, carried the
Indian bow of reed; the Areians alone used the Median bow, which
Herodotus states to have been in vogue not only among the Medes, but
also among all the nations of Western Iran. He adds that in ancient
times the Medes were called Areians by all men. Strabo uses the name
Ariana for the land of all the nations of Iran, except that of the Medes
and Persians, _i.e._ for the whole eastern half of Iran.[18] In
Diodorus also the nations of Eastern Iran are Arians.[19] The Avesta,
which, as we shall show, belongs to the east of Iran, calls its native
land _Airyao Dahvyu_, i.e. abode of the Airyas; or _Airyao Danhavo_,
_i.e._ land of the Airyas, in contrast to the _Anairyao Danhavo_, i.e.
the non-Arian lands.[20] In his inscriptions king Darius styles himself
"a Persian, son of a Persian, an Arian (_ariya_) of an Arian tribe,"[21]
and therefore the name must have held good of the west of Iran also, and
have included all the nations of Iran, though afterwards it continued in
use more especially for the tribes of the east. The inhabitants of the
modern Persian kingdom call their kingdom by the general name of Iran.
Iran is only the regular new Persian form of the old name, which in the
west was pronounced Ariyana, and in the east Airyana.
We remember that the ruling nation of India called themselves Arya, and
this name compared with Airya and Ariya shows us that the nations of
Iran assumed the same title with very little difference. Among the
Greeks Ariya and Airya became Areioi and Arioi, and the name of the
land, Ariyana and Airyana, became Ariana. We have learnt the meaning of
the names Aryas, Ariyas, Airyas; they signify "the noble or ruling
people" (IV. 8). Much the same is the sense of the name Artaeans,[22]
which, according to the assertion of Herodotus, was the title by which
the Persians called themselves; it signifies "the exalted," or "mighty."
The Persians may have assumed it after they became the ruling people in
Iran and Hither Asia.
These distinctions show us that the Aryas whom we found on the Indus and
in the Panjab, and who forced their way from thence to the conquest and
colonisation of the valley of the Ganges, and then extended their
dominion over the Deccan, and imported their religion and their
civilisation into those wide regions, were closely connected with the
group of nations which occupied the table-land of Iran. It is obvious
that this relationship was most strictly maintained and most strongly
marked where the intercourse between the neighbouring nations was most
lively, _i.e._ among the nations of Eastern Iran. The conclusion drawn
from the common title of the two nations on the west and east of the
Indus, and from the statements of Herodotus about the manners of the
eastern and the name of the western nations of Iran, is confirmed by the
examination of the existing remnants of the ancient languages of Iran,
whether spoken in the east or the west. This evidence derived from the
names and the language is confirmed yet further by the coincidence in
certain traits of religion and worship.
We are not in a position to fix the place from which and the time when
the Arian tribes entered the table-land of Iran and peopled it. That
Iran was not their native country is clear from the divergence of the
Arian stock from the common stem of the Indo-Europeans (IV. 4). Still
less can we decide whether the Arians found an older population already
settled in Iran. So far as the ancient monuments of east and west allow
us to form an opinion, there exist no elements of an alien language from
which we could deduce the existence of an earlier population, which the
Arians conquered. Yet we cannot deny that tribes of an alien origin and
character were settled on the western spurs of the mountain wall of
Iran, in the north no less than in the south.[23] The foreign elements
which the later forms of the language of Iran have adopted are due to
the influence which the Semitic neighbours of the Arians on the west,
and the dominion of the Arabs, exercised on Iran. As to the direction in
which the Arians entered Iran, we can only conclude, from their close
relationship to the Arians of India, that they peopled the east of Iran
before the west. If the Arians of India came into the Panjab, as we
assumed, soon after 2000 B.C., the Arians of Iran entered the eastern
part of that country at a date certainly not later. According to the
list of dynasties furnished by Berosus, the Arians about 2500 B.C. were
not only settled in Iran, but already possessed the western part of the
country. He represents the Medes as conquering Babylonia in 2458 B.C.,
and from this date down to 2224 B.C. mentions eight Median kings as
ruling over Babylon (I. 241, 247).
In spite of their cruel treatment, the nucleus of the ancient Arian
population of Iran has not succumbed to the alien dynasties, the
Seleucids, Arabs, and Mongols who have invaded the land since the fall
of the Achaemenids; and the ancient territory has been maintained, with
some losses, even against the incursions and immigrations of the Sacae,
Yuechis, and Turkish hordes. As in the vast regions of the Indus and the
Ganges, so in Iran the ancient language still lives on the lips of the
modern population. Yet the changes have been great. Under the Arsacids
the Old Persian passed into Middle Persian, which at a later time was
known by the name of the Parthians, the tribe at that time supreme in
Persia. Pahlav and Pehlevi mean Parthian, and, as applied to language,
the language of the Parthians, _i.e._ of the Parthian era.[24] In the
west this older Middle Persian grew up out of the Old Persian, in the
east out of the Old Bactrian. In the latest period of the dominion of
the Sassanids, the recent Middle Persian or Parsee took the place of
Pehlevi. When the kingdom of the Sassanids succumbed to the Arabs, and
Arabic became the language of the ruling people in Iran, the reaction
which took place in the eastern districts of the country against the
dominion of the Abbasids brought about the formation of the new Persian,
which was finally completed when the national reaction broke out in the
beginning of the eleventh century of our era. Beginning from Merv,
Balkh, and Sejestan (the ancient Haetumat), that rising found its
strongest point in Ghasna and Cabul. It did not preserve the religion,
but it saved the language, nationality, and independence of Iran. The
change from the Middle Persian to the modern began with the
north-eastern dialects; in the south-east the Afghans and Beluchees
still speak in ancient forms, closely akin to the dialects of the
peasants of the Panjab. To this day the greater part of the entire
population of Iran consists of the descendants of the Arians, in spite
of all the distress and ruin which the land has suffered,[25] though the
residuum of foreign elements is larger here than beyond the Indus,
especially in the north-west, in Aderbeijan, and above all in Bactria
and Sogdiana, in the north-east. The descendants of the Arians are still
recognised by the formation of their bodies, which appeared so striking
to Western nations in antiquity--the slender growth, the semicircular,
united eyebrows, and the yellow skin, which becomes browner towards the
east. The Persians and Afghans still possess a sound judgment, a keen
intelligence, and lively sense of poetry--characteristics which, as we
saw, belonged in a pre-eminent degree to the Arians of India.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Ritter, "Erdkunde," 7, 234-240; 8, 721.
[2] Herod. 1, 125; 7, 85; Lassen, "Z. D. M. G." 6, 55. Herodotus reckons
the Paretaceni among the tribes of the Medes (1, 101); the Sagartians,
whom he represents as armed partly like Persians, partly like Pactyans,
with the Carmanians, he places among the Persians. Yet the nomad
Sagartians seem rather to have had relations with the Medes than the
Persians; for, according to the inscription of Behistun, a rebel obtains
a following among the Sagartians by giving himself out to be a
descendant of Cyaxares, the Median king. Ptolemy places the Sagartians
in Media; cf. Plin. "Hist. Nat." 6, 29.
[3] Arrian, "Anab." 6, 22 ff.; "Ind." 25, 26; Curtius, 9, 10, 5.
[4] Behistun, 1, 6; Persep. 1, 17; Herod. 3, 91.
[5] Strabo, p. 711; Arrian, "Ind." 25, 26; "Anab." 6, 23.
[6] Arrian, "Anab." 3, 27; Diod. 17, 81; Strabo, p. 724.
[7] Vol. IV. p. 33.
[8] The city of Kapisakani, which Darius, according to the inscription
of Behistun (3, 9, 1), conquered in the land of the Arachoti, is no
doubt the Capissa of Pliny, in the district of Capissene; "Hist. Nat."
6, 25. Pliny speaks of the city and river of Cabul as belonging to the
Arachoti. The inhabitants of the southern slope of the Hindu Kush are
known to the Greeks as Paropanisadae. The explanation of the name by
Paropanisos (Paropamisus), Paropanishadha, given by Lassen, is quoted in
Vol. IV. p. 21, _n._ 2. In the Babylonian text of the inscription of
Behistun, the Gandaras of the Persian text are called Parupanisana. In
the narrower sense the name denotes the south-western part of the range
of the Hindu Kush, the group which forms the cradle of the Herirud and
Hilmend, the modern Ghuristan, to the west of the plateau of Ghasna.
[9] Lassen, "Indische Alterthumskunde," 1, 428. Fr. Mueller ("Ueber die
Sprache der Afghanen") is of the opinion that the Afghan does not come
between Indian and Persian, but belongs to the Iranian stem, and the
Afghan has preserved the old Bactrian relations of sound more faithfully
than the Persian, and thus shows itself to be a direct descendant of the
old eastern dialect of Iran. Trump proves that Afghan is an ancient
independent language of strong Indian type. "Z. D. M. G." 21, 10 ff.
[10] Strabo, pp. 508, 514, 724; Plin. "Hist. Nat." 6, 29; Diod. 17, 75.
[11] Ritter, "Erdkunde," 8, 425 ff.
[12] Isid. "Charac. Mans. Parth." 10-14. The Parthians rose with the
Hyrcanians against Darius; Parthians and Hyrcanians formed one satrapy.
The Parthians are the Pahlav of Moses of Khorene, the Pehlew of later
writers. The mention of them in the inscriptions of Darius proves that
they are not a later immigrant Scythian, _i.e._ non-Arian, nation, as
Justin, Strabo, and others maintain. The cities which the inscription of
Behistun mentions in Parthia (2, 95; 3, 4), Vicpauzatis and Patigrabana,
we cannot fix more definitely; Ammian (23, 6) mentions Patigran in
Media. Parthunisa, with the graves of the Parthian kings, mentioned in
Isidorus, "which the Greeks call Nisaea," is Parthava-Nicaya, and must be
sought for near the modern Nishapur. It must be the Nica which the
Vendidad places between Mouru and Bakhdhi. Justi, "Beitrage," 2, 6
compares Isidorus' [Greek: Batzigraban, ho esti telonion].
[13] Curt. 7, 4.
[14] Strabo, pp. 118, 516, 682; Arrian, "Anab." 3, 29. On Aornus, cf.
Vol. IV. p. 395.
[15] Ptolem. 6, 11; 8, 7; Strabo, pp. 514, 516; Arrian, "Anab." 3, 29;
4, 1, 16, 22; Plin. "Hist. Nat." 6, 17, 18; Steph. Byz. _sub voc._
Firdusi mentions a hero Zarasp.
[16] Elphinstone, "Kabul," 2, 213, 214.
[17] Strabo, _loc. cit._
[18] Herod. 7, 62; Strabo (pp. 516, 517, 724) includes in Ariana,
Gedrosia, Arachosia, Drangiana, Paropanisus, Aria, Parthia, and
Caramania. Cf. Pausan. 2, 3, 8.
[19] Diod. 1, 94. Damascius ("De Primis Principiis," p. 384) speaks of
the [Greek: Magoi de kai pan to arion genos].
[20] "Vendid." 19, 132; "Mihr Yasht," 4, 13; "Tistar Yasht," 9, 56, 60.
[21] Naksh-i-Rustem, a., 14.
[22] Herod. 7, 61. Cf. Steph. Byz. [Greek: Artaia].
[23] On the tribe of the Brahuis in the south-east, on this side of the
Indus, cf. Vol. IV. p. 10.
[24] Haug, "The book of Arda Viraf," p. xxv. Mordtmann has shown on the
coins of the Arsacids and Sassanids the stages between the older forms
and the language of Firdusi; "Z. D. M. G." 4, 84 ff., 8, 9 ff. On the
forms of the Old Bactrian on the coins of the Graeco-Bactrian and
Indo-Scythian princes: Lassen, "Indische Alterthum." 2^2, 834 ff.
Spiegel, "Parsigrammatik," s. 116 ff.
[25] It has been recently proved that the inhabitants of the mountain
country between Cabul and Herat, the Aimaks and Hazares, speak Persian.