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Puṣkalāvatī
Pushkalavati, was the capital of the ancient region of Gāndhāra, situated in present day's Pakistan. Its ruins are located on the outskirts of the modern city of Charsadda, in Charsadda District, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 35-42 kilometres northeast of Peshawar, at the banks of Jindi River, near the junction of Swat River with Kabul River. The earliest archaeological remains in Bala Hisar mound are from 1400 to 800 BCE. Pushkalavati (in Bala Hisar mound) may have been incorporated as an Achaemenid regional settlement around 520 BCE, and it remained an important city (in Shaikhan Dheri mound) through to the beginning of 3rd century CE. The ruins of Pushkalavati consist of two sites, separated by the small Shambor river. To the south is Bala Hisar, which consists of two separate mounds, one eastern and one western. To the north is Shaikhan Dheri, wedged between the Shambor and Jindi rivers. Etymology Pushkalavati (Sanskrit: पुष्कलावती, ) means "Lotus Cit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxila
Taxila or Takshashila () is a city in the Pothohar region of Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area and is just south of the Haripur District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Established during the Vedic period, Old Taxila was for a time the capital city of ancient Gandhāra. It was situated on the eastern shore of the Indus River—the pivotal junction of the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia;Raymond Allchin, Bridget Allchin''The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan''.Cambridge University Press, 1982 p.127 it was possibly founded around 1000 BCE. Takshashila and Pushkalavati remained prominent cities in Gandhāra during the Mahajanapadas. The city was later conquered by the Achaemenid Empire and incorporated into the Hindush satrap, between 550 – 326 BCE. In 326 BCE, the city was claimed by Alexander the Great, after overthrowing the Achaemenids. He gaine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swat River
The Swat River (, ) is a perennial river in the northern region of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. The river's source is in the high glacial valleys of the Hindu Kush mountains, where it then flows into the Kalam Valley before forming the spine of the wider Swat Valley. Name The word Swat comes from the Sanskrit name ''Suvāstu'' which may mean "clear blue water." Another theory derives the word Swat from the Sanskrit word ''shveta'' (), also used to describe the clear water of the Swat River. To the ancient Greeks, the river was known as the ''Soastus.'' The Chinese pilgrim Faxian referred to Swat as the ''Su-ho-to''. Course The Swat's source lies in the Hindu Kush mountains, from where it is fed by glacial waters throughout the year. From the high valleys of Swat Kohistan, the river begins at the confluence of the Usho, and Gabral rivers (also known as the Utrar River) at Kalam. From the confluence, the Swat river flows through the narrow gorges of the Kalam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ramayana
The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics of Hinduism known as the ''Itihasas'', the other being the ''Mahabharata''. The epic narrates the life of Rama, the seventh ''avatar'' of the Hindu deity Vishnu, who is a prince of Ayodhya (Ramayana), Ayodhya in the kingdom of Kosala. The epic follows Exile of Lord Rama, his fourteen-year exile to the forest urged by his father King Dasharatha, on the request of Rama's stepmother Kaikeyi; his travels across the forests in the Indian subcontinent with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana; the kidnapping of Sita by Ravana, the king of Lanka, that resulted in bloodbath; and Rama's eventual return to Ayodhya (Ramayana), Ayodhya along with Sita to be crowned as a king amidst jubilation and celebration. Scholarly estimates for the earliest stage ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indo-Greek Kingdom
The Indo-Greek Kingdom, also known as the Yavana Kingdom, was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era Ancient Greece, Greek kingdom covering various parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India. The term "Indo-Greek Kingdom" loosely describes a number of various Hellenistic states, ruling from regional capitals like Taxila, Sagala, Pushkalavati, and Bagram. Other centers are only hinted at; e.g. Ptolemy's ''Geographia (Ptolemy), Geographia'' and the nomenclature of later kings suggest that a certain Theophilos (king), Theophilus in the south of the Indo-Greek sphere of influence may also have had a royal seat there at one time. The kingdom was founded when the Graeco-Bactrian king Demetrius I of Bactria invaded India from Bactria in about 200 BC. The Greeks to the east of the Seleucid Empire were eventually divided to the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, Graeco-Bactrian Kingdom and the Indo-Greek Kingdoms in the North Western Indian Subcontinent. During the two cent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Jindi
The River Jindi, also known as ''Kot'' and ''Manzari Baba'', begins in the hills of Malakand Agency, in the northern district of Charsadda, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. During the early months of each year, the River Jindi has a very limited water supply, but the summer months bring with them much needed rain to water the area. As the river proceeds downstream, the local people use dams, similar to the Warsak Dam on the Kabul River, to take out water for irrigation; therefore, the amount of water flowing downstream decreases. The area surrounding the Kabul and Jindi rivers is one of the largest irrigated areas within Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.Atlas of Pakistan, 1990 This coupled with an exponentially growing population alludes to problems in the future. The River Jindi used to have enough water to sustain the surrounding area, but over the last few years, due to the environmental changes including massive droughts and rising global temperatures, the river does no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bala Hissar, Peshawar
Bala Hissar (Pashto/Urdu/Hindko language, Hindko: ), also spelt Bala Hisar, is an historic fortress located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. First mentioned by 7th-century explorer Xuanzang, the fort was used as a royal residence for the Durrani Empire since 1747, when the Afghan king, Ahmad Shah Durrani, conquered Peshawar. The Maratha Empire, Marathas briefly occupied it after capturing Peshawar in 1758 but it was soon retaken by the Afghans. The Sikh Empire, Sikhs destroyed and reconstructed the fort after Battle of Nowshera, capturing Peshawar in March 1823. In 1849, the British East India Company reconstructed the fort's outer walls. The fort now serves as headquarters for Pakistan's Frontier Corps. Etymology The word ''Bālā Hissār'' () is from Dari, Dari Persian, meaning "elevated or high fort." According to historian Hussain Khan, this name was given by the Afghan Emperor Timur Shah Durrani. In 1834, the Sikhs named the fort ''Samīr Gaṛh'' or ''Sameer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom () was a Ancient Greece, Greek state of the Hellenistic period located in Central Asia, Central-South Asia. The kingdom was founded by the Seleucid Empire, Seleucid satrap Diodotus I, Diodotus I Soter in about 256 BC, and continued to dominate Central Asia until its fall around 120 BC. At its peak the kingdom consisted of present-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, and for a short time, small parts of Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Iran. An extension further east, with military campaigns and settlements, may have reached the borders of the Qin (state), Qin State in China by about 230 BC. Although a Greek population was already present in Bactria by the 5th century BC, Alexander the Great conquered the region by 327 BC and founded many cities, most of them named List of cities founded by Alexander the Great, Alexandria, and further settled with Ancient Macedonians, Macedonians and other Ancient Greece, Greeks. After the death of Alexande ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander The Great
Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II of Macedon, Philip II to the throne in 336 BC at the age of 20 and spent most of his ruling years conducting Wars of Alexander the Great, a lengthy military campaign throughout West Asia, Western Asia, Central Asia, parts of South Asia, and ancient Egypt, Egypt. By the age of 30, he had created one of the List of largest empires, largest empires in history, stretching from History of Greece, Greece to northwestern History of India, India. He was undefeated in battle and is widely considered to be one of history's greatest and most successful military commanders. Until the age of 16, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle. In 335 BC, shortly after his assumption of kingship over Macedon, he Alexander's Balkan campaign, campaigned in the Bal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arrian
Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; ; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander, and philosopher of the Roman period. '' The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best source on the campaigns of Alexander the Great. Scholars have generally preferred Arrian to other extant primary sources, though this attitude has changed somewhat in light of modern studies into Arrian's method. Arrian's life Arrian was born in Nicomedia (present-day İzmit), the provincial capital of Bithynia. Cassius Dio called him Flavius Arrianus Nicomediensis. Sources provide similar dates for his birth, within a few years prior to 90, 89, and 85–90 AD. The line of reasoning for dates belonging to 85–90 AD is because of Arrian being made a consul around 130 AD, and the usual age for this, during this period, being 42 years of age. (ref. pp. 312, & SYME 1958, ''ibid.''). His family was from the Greek provincial aristocracy, and his full name, ''L. F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Painted Grey Ware Culture
The Painted Grey Ware culture (PGW) is an Iron Age in India, Iron Age Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan Archaeological culture, culture of the western Gangetic plain and the Ghaggar-Hakra River, Ghaggar-Hakra valley in the Indian subcontinent, conventionally dated 1200 to 600–500 BCE, or from 1300 to 500–300 BCE. It is a successor of the Cemetery H culture and Black and red ware culture (BRW) within this region, and contemporary with the continuation of the BRW culture in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain, Gangetic plain and Central India. Characterized by a style of fine, grey pottery painted with geometric patterns in black, the PGW culture is associated with village and town settlements, domesticated horses, ivory-working, and the advent of iron metallurgy. , 1,576 PGW sites have been discovered. Although most PGW sites were small farming villages, "several dozen" PGW sites emerged as relatively large settlements that can be characterized as towns; the largest of these were fort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bactria
Bactria (; Bactrian language, Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush, an area within the north of modern Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Bactria was strategically located south of Sogdia and the western part of the Pamir Mountains. The extensive mountain ranges acted as protective "walls" on three sides, with the Pamir on the north and the Hindu Kush on south forming a junction with the Karakoram, Karakoram range towards the east. Called "beautiful Bactria, crowned with flags" by the Avesta, the region is considered, in the Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrian faith, to be one of the "Avestan geography, sixteen perfect Iranian lands" that the supreme deity, Ahura Mazda, had created. It was once a small and independent kingdom struggling to exist against nomadic Turya (Avesta), Turanians. One of the early centres of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ahura Mazda
Ahura Mazda (; ; or , ),The former is the New Persian rendering of the Avestan form, while the latter derives from Middle Persian. also known as Horomazes (),, is the only creator deity and Sky deity, god of the sky in the ancient Iranian religion Zoroastrianism. He is the first and most frequently invoked spirit in the ''Yasna''. The literal meaning of the word ''Wikt:Ahura, Ahura'' is "lord", and that of ''Wikt:Mazda, Mazda'' is "wisdom". The first notable invocation of Ahura Mazda occurred during the Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid period () with the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great. Until the reign of Artaxerxes II (), Ahura Mazda was worshipped and invoked alone in all extant royal inscriptions. With Artaxerxes II, Ahura Mazda was gathered in a triad with Mithra and Anahita. In the Achaemenid period, there are no known representations of Ahura Mazda at the royal court other than the custom for every emperor to have an empty chariot drawn by white horses to invit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
