# Paropamisadae

Part of a series on the :
History of Afghanistan :
The palace of the emir in 1839 :
Timeline :
Ancient Indus Valley civilisation 2200–1800 BC Oxus civilization 2100–1800 BC Gandhara kingdom 1500–535 BC Median Empire 728–550 BC Achaemenid Empire 550–330 BC Macedonian Empire 330–312 BC Seleucid Empire 312–150 BC Maurya Empire 305–180 BC Greco-Bactrian kingdom 256–125 BC Parthian Empire 247 BC–224 AD Indo-Greek kingdom 180–90 BC Indo-Scythian kingdom 155–80? BC Kushan Empire 135 BC – 248 AD Indo-Parthian kingdom 20 BC – 50? AD Sasanian Empire 230–651 Kidarite kingdom 320–465 Rob Alchon Huns 380–560 Hephthalite Empire 410–557 Nezak Huns 484–711 :
Medieval Kabul Shahi 565–879 Principality of Chaghaniyan 7th–8th centuries Rashidun Caliphate 652–661 Tang China 660–669 Tibetan Empire 660–842 Umayyads 661–750 Zunbils 680–870 Lawik750-977 Abbasids 750–821 Tahirids 821–873 Saffarids 863–900 Samanids 875–999 Ghaznavids 963–1187 Ghurids before 879–1215 Seljuks 1037–1194 Khwarezmids 1215–1231 Mongol Invasion 1219–1226 Chagatai Khanate 1226–1245 Qarlughids 1224–1266 Ilkhanate 1256–1335 Kartids 1245–1381 Timurids 1370–1507 Arghuns 1520–1591 :
Modern Mughals 1501–1738 Safavids 1510–1709 Kunduz Khanate ?–1859 Hotak dynasty 1709–1738 Sadozai Sultanate 1716–1732 Afsharid Iran 1738–1747 Durrani Empire 1747–1823 Maimana Khanate 1747–1892 Herat 1793–1863 Principality of Qandahar1818–1855 Emirate 1823–1926 Saqqawist Emirate 1929 Kingdom 1926–1973 Daoud coup 1973 Republic 1973–1978 Saur Revolution 1978 Democratic Republic 1978–1992 Tanai coup attempt 1990 Islamic State 1992–1996 Islamic Emirate 1996–2001 US invasion 2001 Islamic State (reinstated) 2001 Interim/Transitional Administration 2001–2004 Islamic Republic (politics) 2004–2021 Islamic Emirate (reinstated) since 2021 :
Related historical regions
Arachosia
Aria
Ariana
Bactria
Gandhara
Iran
Kabulistan
Kafiristan
Khorasan
Kushanshahr
Paropamisadae
Sistan
Zabulistan :
Related topics
Political history
Political violence
Culture
Economic history
Name
Afghan (ethnonym)
List of years
List of heads of state
Wars
List of wars
Hinduism history
Hindu and Buddhist heritage
Jewish history
Muslim conquests :
Category
Afghanistan portal :
vte :
Paropamisadae or Parapamisadae (Ancient Greek: Παροπαμισάδαι or Παροπανισάδαι) was a satrapy of the Alexandrian Empire in modern Afghanistan and Pakistan, which largely coincided with the Achaemenid province of Parupraesanna. It consisted of the districts of Sattagydia (Bannu basin), Gandhara (Kabul, Peshawar, and Taxila), and Oddiyana (Swat Valley). Paruparaesanna is mentioned in the Akkadian language and Elamite language versions of the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great, whereas in the Old Persian version it is called Gandāra. The entire satrapy,was subsequently ceded by Seleucus I Nicator to Chandragupta Maurya following a treaty.

## Name

Paropamisadae is the Latinized form of the Greek name Paropamisádai (Παροπαμισάδαι), which is in turn derived from Old Persian Para-uparisaina, meaning "Beyond the Hindu Kush", where the Hindu Kush is referred to as Uparisaina ("higher than the eagle").
In the Greek language and Latin, "Paropamisus" (Παροπαμισός, Paropamisós) came to mean the Hindu Kush. In many Greek and Latin sources, particularly editions of Ptolemy's Geography where their realm is included on the 9th Map of Asia, the names of the people and region are given as Paropanisadae and Paropanisus. They also appeared less frequently as Parapamisadae and Parapamīsus (Παραπάμισος, Parapámisos), Paropamīsii, etc.
The name was also applied to a nearby river, probably the Obi river. The mountain range Selseleh-ye Safīd Kūh is also called Paropamisus or Paropamisus Mountains.

## Geography and peoples

Strabo describes the region as follows:
   The geographical position of the tribes is as follows: along the Indus are the Paropamisadae, above whom lies the Paropamisus mountain; then, towards the south, the Arachoti; then next, towards the south, the Gedroseni, with the other tribes that occupy the seaboard; and the Indus lies, latitudinally, alongside these places; and of these places, in part, some that lie along the Indus are held by Indians, although they formerly belonged to the Persians. Alexander took these away from the Arians and established settlements of his own, but Seleucus I Nicator gave them to Sandrocottus, upon terms of intermarriage and of receiving in exchange 500 elephants.
   Alongside the Paropamisadae, on the west, are situated the Arii, and alongside the Arachoti and Gedrosii the Drangae; but the Arii are situated alongside the Drangae on the north as well as on the west, almost surrounding a small part of their country.
Thus the region was north of Arachosia, stretching up to the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountains, and bounded in the east by the Indus River. It mainly included the Kabul region, Gandhara and the northern regions such as Swat and Chitral.
The nations who composed the Paropamisadae are recorded as the Cabolitae (Καβολῖται) in the north near modern Kabul; the Parsii (Πάρσιοι) in the northwest, the Ambautae (Ἀμβαῦται) in the east and the Par(g)yetae (Παρ(γ)υῆται) in the south, who were also found in Arachosia. The major cities of the land were the city of Ortospana (Ὀρτοσπάνα) or Carura (Κάρουρα), probably identifiable with Kabul, Gauzaca (Γαύζακα), probably modern Ghazni, Capissa (Καπίσσα), modern-day Kapisa, and Parsia (Παρσία), the capital of the Parsii.

## History

In the ancient Buddhist texts, the Mahajanapada kingdom of Kamboja compassed the territories of Paropamisus and extended to the southwest of Kashmir as far as Rajauri. The region came under Achaemenid Persian control in the late 6th century BC, either during the reign of Cyrus the Great or Darius I.
In the 320s BC, Alexander the Great conquered the entire Achaemenid Empire, beginning the Hellenistic period. The Greek name Παροπαμισάδαι or Παροπαμισσός was used extensively in Greek literature to describe the conquests of Alexander and those of the kings of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and the Indo-Greek Kingdom, from the 3rd to the 1st centuries BC.
After Alexander's death in 323 BC, the area came under control of the Seleucid Empire, which gave the region to the Mauryan Dynasty of India in 305 BC. After the fall of the Mauryans in 185 BC, the Greco-Bactrians under King Demetrius I annexed the northwestern regions of the former Mauryan Empire, including Paropamisus, and it became part of his Euthydemid Indo-Greek Kingdom. The Eucratidians seized the area soon after the death of Menander I, but lost it to the Yuezhi around 125 BC.