111-504: Hinduism in Afghanistan is practiced by a tiny minority of Afghans , about 30-40 individuals as of 2021, who live mostly in the cities of Kabul and Jalalabad . Afghan Hindus are ethnically Pashtun , Hindkowan (Hindki), Punjabi , or Sindhi and primarily speak Dari , Pashto , Hindko , Punjabi , Sindhi , and Hindustani ( Hindi - Urdu ). Before the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan ,
222-755: A Macedonian princess, a gift from Seleucus to formalize an alliance. In a return gesture, Chandragupta sent 500 war elephants , a military asset which would play a decisive role at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC. In addition to this treaty, Seleucus dispatched an ambassador, Megasthenes , to Chandragupta, and later Deimakos to his son Bindusara , at the Mauryan court at Pataliputra (modern Patna in Bihar state ). Megasthenes wrote detailed descriptions of India and Chandragupta's reign, which have been partly preserved to us through Diodorus Siculus . Later Ptolemy II Philadelphus ,
333-574: A castle celebrated for its strength, accessible only by one road. In it there are Musulmáns , and it has a town, in which are infidels from Hind ." The first confirmed mention of a Hindu in Afghanistan appears in the 982 AD Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam , where it speaks of a king in "Ninhar" ( Nangarhar ), who shows a public display of conversion to Islam, even though he had over 30 wives, which are described as " Muslim , Afghan , and Hindu" wives. These names were often used as geographical terms. For example, Hindu (or Hindustani ) has been historically used as
444-605: A geographical term to describe someone who was native from the region known as Hindustan (Indian subcontinent), and Afghan as someone who was native from a region called Afghanistan . When Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni began crossing the Indus River into Hindustan (land of Hindus) in the 10th century, the Ghaznavid Muslims began bringing Hindu slaves to what is now Afghanistan. Martin Ewans in his 2002 book writes: Even then
555-857: A rump state in Syria after a civil war, until their conquest by Tigranes the Great of Armenia in 83 BC, and ultimate overthrow by the Roman general Pompey in 63 BC. Contemporary sources, such as a loyalist decree honoring Antiochus I from Ilium , in Greek language define the Seleucid state both as an empire ( ἀρχή , archḗ ) and as a kingdom ( βασιλεία , basileía ). Similarly, Seleucid rulers were described as kings in Babylonia. The rulers did not describe themselves as being of any particular territory or people, but starting from
666-588: A sun god by the name of Zun , from which they derived their name. André Wink writes that "the cult of Zun was primarily Hindu , not Buddhist or Zoroastrian"; nonetheless he still mentions them having parallels with Tibetan Buddhism and Zoroastrianism in their rituals. The Kabul Shahi ruled north of the Zunbil territory, which included Kabulistan and Gandahara . The Arabs reached Kabul in 653–654 CE when Abdur Rahman bin Samara , along with 6,000 Arab Muslims, penetrated
777-606: A Hindu dynasty the Hindu Shahis, held Gandhara and the eastern borders. From the tenth century onwards as Persian language and culture continued to spread into Afghanistan, the focus of power shifted to Ghazni , where a Turkic dynasty, who started by ruling the town for the Samanid dynasty of Bokhara , proceeded to create an empire in their own right. The greatest of the Ghaznavids was Mahmud who ruled between 998 and 1030. He expelled
888-554: A Turkic rebel, with the command given to a Hindu named Tilak according to Baihaki . In his war on Peshawar and Waihind says al-Utbi , Mahmud acquired 500,000 slaves that included children and girls. Men were sold as slaves to even common merchants. The amount of slaves captured in Nardin plummeted their price and male slaves were even bought by common merchants. After raiding Thanesar , he acquired 200,000 slaves. The renowned 14th-century Moroccan Muslim scholar Ibn Battuta remarked that
999-477: A marriage contract, and received in return five hundred elephants. Other territories ceded before Seleucus' death were Gedrosia in the south-east of the Iranian plateau, and, to the north of this, Arachosia on the west bank of the Indus River . Following his and Lysimachus ' decisive victory over Antigonus at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, Seleucus took control over eastern Anatolia and northern Syria . In
1110-545: A more limited, ethnological point of view, " Afḡhān " is the term by which the Persian -speakers of Afghanistan (and the non-Pashtō-speaking ethnic groups generally) designate the Pashtūn. The equation Afghans = Pashtūn has been propagated all the more, both in and beyond Afghanistan, because the Pashtūn tribal confederation has maintained its hegemony in the country, numerically and politically. The less common Afghanistani (افغانستانی)
1221-540: A regular basis, with occasional intervention from Ptolemaic Egypt and other outside powers. The Seleucids existed solely because no other nation wished to absorb them—seeing as they constituted a useful buffer between their other neighbours. In the wars in Anatolia between Mithridates VI of Pontus and Sulla of Rome, the Seleucids were largely left alone by both major combatants. Mithridates' ambitious son-in-law, Tigranes
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#17328440008351332-466: A reply to lay before the senate." For a few moments he hesitated, astounded at such a peremptory order, and at last replied, "I will do what the senate thinks right." He then chose to withdraw rather than set the empire to war with Rome again. On his return journey, according to Josephus , he made an expedition to Judea , took Jerusalem by force, slew a great many who had favored Ptolemy , sent his soldiers to plunder them without mercy. He also spoiled
1443-477: A result of geographic obstacles that divide the country. Afghanistan's culture is historically linked to nearby Persia , including both countries following the Islamic religion , the Solar Hijri calendar and speaking similar languages, this is due to Iran and Afghanistan being culturally close to each other for thousands of years. Seleucid Empire The Seleucid Empire ( / s ɪ ˈ lj uː s ɪ d / )
1554-452: A rump Seleucid kingdom was restored under Antiochus XIII . Even so, civil wars could not be prevented, as another Seleucid, Philip II , contested rule with Antiochus. After the Roman conquest of Pontus, the Romans became increasingly alarmed at the constant source of instability in Syria under the Seleucids. Once Mithridates was defeated by Pompey in 63 BC, Pompey set about the task of remaking
1665-549: A sect of Ancient Hinduism , mixed with tribal cultural identities. Pashtuns , the majority ethnic group in Afghanistan (officially, no ethnic census ever made), have a component of Vedic ancestors from the Pakthas . "The Pakthas, Bhalanases, Vishanins, Alinas, and Sivas were the five frontier tribes. The Pakthas lived in the hills from which the Kruma originates. Zimmer locates them in present-day eastern Afghanistan, identifying them with
1776-458: A series of religious persecutions. This cumulated in a localized revolt in Jerusalem. Antiochus IV's violent retaking of the city and the banning of traditional Judean practices led to the eventual loss of control of Judea by the Seleucid government, paving the way for the rise of an independent Hasmonean kingdom . As with the other major Hellenistic armies , the Seleucid army fought primarily in
1887-596: A statue of Gardez Ganesha being found in Paktia province . Most of the remains, including marble statuettes, date to the 7th–8th century, during the time of the Turk Shahi . The statue of Ganesha from Gardez is now attributed to the period of Turk Shahis in the 7-8th century CE, rather than to their successors the Hindu Shahis (9th-10th century) as has also been suggested. The dating is essentially based on stylistic analysis, as
1998-606: A successful war against the old enemy, Ptolemaic Egypt , which met with initial success as the Seleucids defeated and drove the Egyptian army back to Alexandria itself. As the king planned on how to conclude the war, he was informed that Roman commissioners, led by the Proconsul Gaius Popillius Laenas , were near and requesting a meeting with the Seleucid king. Antiochus agreed, but when they met and Antiochus held out his hand in friendship, Popilius placed in his hand
2109-461: A tiny minority of the overall population, these Greeks were the backbone of the empire: loyal and committed to a cause that gave them vast territory to rule, they overwhelmingly served in the military and government. Unlike Ptolemaic Egypt , Greeks in the Seleucid Empire seem to rarely have engaged in mixed marriages with non-Greeks; they kept to their own cities. The various non-Greek peoples of
2220-689: Is an alternative identity marker for citizens of Afghanistan. The term "Afghanistani" refers to someone who is a citizen of Afghanistan, regardless of race, ethnicity or religion. In multiethnic Afghanistan, the term "Afghan" has always been associated with the Pashtun people. Some non-Pashtun citizens such as the Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks equate the term with Pashtun hegemony and the risk of having their own ethnic identities erased by it. The term Afghanistani has been used among some refugees and diasporas, particularly among non-Pashtuns. The term Afghani refers to
2331-467: Is estimated to be 60:40 according to historian Inderjeet Singh. With a wide range of population approximations in the absence of official census data and with much of the community concentrated in the provinces of Kabul, Nangarhar, Ghazni, and Kandahar, the Afghan Hindu population was estimated to be between 80,000 and 280,000 in the 1970s, as per estimates by historian Inderjeet Singh, Ehsan Shayegan with
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#17328440008352442-487: Is mostly based in the city of Kabul . The 2002 loya jirga had two seats reserved for Hindus and former President Hamid Karzai 's economic advisor, Sham Lal Bhatija was an Afghan Hindu. During the Taliban 1996 to late 2001 rule, Hindus were forced to wear yellow badges in public to identify themselves as non-Muslims. Hindu women were forced to wear burqas , a measure which was claimed to "protect" them from harassment. This
2553-485: Is now Afghanistan and Pakistan , therefore including a diverse array of cultures and ethnic groups. Greeks , Assyrians , Armenians , Georgians , Persians , Medes , Mesopotamians, Jews , and more all lived within its bounds. The immense size of the empire gave the Seleucid rulers a difficult balancing act to maintain order, resulting in a mixture of concessions to local cultures to maintain their own practices while also firmly controlling and unifying local elites under
2664-603: Is the anglicized form of "Afghani" when translating from Dari Persian, but not from Pashto. Another variant is Afghanese , which has been seldom used in place of Afghan. Afghans come from various ethnic backgrounds. The largest ethnic groups are Pashtuns , Tajiks , Hazaras , and Uzbeks , who make up approximately 95% of the population of Afghanistan. They are of diverse origins including of Iranic , Turkic or Mongolic ethnolinguistic roots. The Afghan people of all ethnicities are predominantly and traditionally followers of Islam , of whom around 90% are of Sunni and 10%
2775-534: The Arians and established settlements of his own, but Seleucus Nicator gave them to Sandrocottus ( Chandragupta ), upon terms of intermarriage and of receiving in exchange 500 elephants. When the Chinese travelers Faxian , Song Yun , and Xuanzang explored Afghanistan between the 5th and 7th centuries CE, they wrote numerous travelogues in which reliable information on Afghanistan was stored. They stated that Buddhism
2886-630: The Battle of Mount Labus and Battle of the Arius and besieged the Bactrian capital . He even emulated Seleucus with an expedition into India where he met with King Sophagasenus ( Sanskrit : Subhagasena ) receiving war elephants, perhaps in accordance of the existing treaty and alliance set after the Seleucid-Mauryan War. Actual translation of Polybius 11.34 (No other source except Polybius makes any reference to Sophagasenus): He [Antiochus] crossed
2997-581: The Durranis . The main ethnic groups in Afghanistan which practice Hinduism today are the Punjabis and Sindhis who are believed to have come along with Sikhs as merchants to Afghanistan in the 19th century. Till the collapse of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan , there were several thousand Hindus living in the country but today their number is only about 1,000. Most of the others immigrated to India,
3108-605: The European Union , North America or elsewhere. Afghan Hindus and Afghan Sikhs often share places of worship. Along with the Sikhs, they are all collectively known as Hindki . Linguistic demographics among the Hindu community are diverse and generally follow regional origins: those hailing from Punjab generally speak Punjabi , Sindhis speak Sindhi , and the northern and southern dialects of Hindko . The local Hindu community in Afghanistan
3219-598: The Fifth Syrian War , the Seleucids ousted Ptolemy V from control of Coele-Syria . The Battle of Panium (200 BC) definitively transferred these holdings from the Ptolemies to the Seleucids. Antiochus appeared, at the least, to have restored the Seleucid Kingdom to glory. Following the defeat of his erstwhile ally Philip by Rome in 197 BC, Antiochus saw the opportunity for expansion into Greece itself. Encouraged by
3330-659: The Hindu Kush meant the "slayer of Indians", because slaves brought from India who had to pass through there died in large numbers due to the extreme cold and quantity of snow. The Ghaznavid Empire was further expanded by the Ghurids . During the Khalji dynasty , there was also free movement between people from India and Afghanistan. It continued this way until the Mughals followed by the Suris and
3441-681: The Indian ruler Chandragupta of the Maurya Empire in 305 BC led to the cession of vast territory west of the Indus and a political alliance. In the early second century BC, Antiochus III the Great attempted to project Seleucid power and authority into Hellenistic Greece , but his attempts were thwarted by the Roman Republic and its Greek allies. The Seleucids were forced to pay costly war reparations and had to relinquish territorial claims west of
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3552-547: The Near Eastern territories that encompass modern-day Iraq , Iran , Afghanistan , Syria , and Lebanon , all of which had been under Macedonian control after the fall of the former Persian Achaemenid Empire . At the Seleucid Empire's height, it had consisted of territory that covered Anatolia , Persia , the Levant , Mesopotamia , and what are now modern Kuwait , Afghanistan , and parts of Turkmenistan . The Seleucid Empire
3663-586: The Netherlands and other nations. The Afghan Hindu population declined to approximately 50 in 2020. Later, following the Fall of Kabul in 2021, the Government of India evacuated many Sikhs and Hindus out of the country due to the Taliban takeover . As a result, only one Hindu priest remains in the nation today, also acting as Temple guard . Afghans Afghans ( Dari : افغانها ; Pashto : افغانان ) are
3774-608: The Saffarids from medieval Zaranj , located at the Nad-e Ali site of modern-day Iran (not to be confused with the similarly named modern city of Zaranj in Afghanistan), conquered most of Afghanistan, establishing Muslim governors throughout the land. It is reported that Muslims and non-Muslims still lived side by side before the arrival of the Ghaznavids in the 10th century. "Kábul has
3885-597: The Shia branch. Other religious minorities include the Afghan Hindus , Afghan Sikhs , Afghan Zoroastrians , Afghan Jews and Afghan Christians . Afghan culture has existed for over three millennia, dating back to the time of the Achaemenid Empire in 500 BCE. Afghans have both common cultural features and those that differ between regions with each of the 34 provinces having its own unique distinctive cultures partly as
3996-460: The Taurus Mountains in southern Anatolia , marking the gradual decline of their empire. Mithridates I of Parthia conquered much of the remaining eastern lands of the Seleucid Empire in the mid-second century BC including Assyria and what had been Babylonia , while the independent Greco-Bactrian Kingdom continued to flourish in the northeast. The Seleucid kings were thereafter reduced to
4107-459: The temple , and interrupted the constant practice of offering a daily sacrifice of expiation, for three years and six months. The latter part of his reign saw a further disintegration of the Empire despite his best efforts. Weakened economically, militarily and by loss of prestige, the Empire became vulnerable to rebels in the eastern areas of the empire, who began to further undermine the empire while
4218-466: The 21st century, when its number of followers fell to a few hundred. By roughly 2000–1500 BCE, Indo-Aryan inhabitants of the region (mainly in the eastern parts of present-day Afghanistan) were adherents of Hinduism . Notable among these were the Gandharis and Kambojas . The Pashayi and Nuristanis are present day examples of these Indo-Aryan Vedic people. Most historians maintain that Afghanistan
4329-572: The 2nd century BC, ancient writers referred to them as the Syrian kings, the kings of Syria or of the Syrians, the kings descended from Seleucus Nicator, the kings of Asia, and other designations. Alexander , who quickly conquered the Persian Empire under its last Achaemenid dynast, Darius III , died young in 323 BC, leaving an expansive empire of partly Hellenised culture without an adult heir. The empire
4440-520: The 8th and 9th centuries AD the eastern terroritries of modern Afghanistan were still in the hands of non-Muslim rulers. The Muslims tended to regard them as Indians (Hindus), although many of the local rulers and people were apparently of Hunnic or Turkic descent. Yet, the Muslims were right in so far as the non-Muslim population of eastern Afghanistan was, culturally linked to the Indian sub-continent . Most of them were either Hindus or Buddhists. " In 870 AD
4551-627: The Afghan people were multi-religious. Religious persecution , discrimination , and forced conversion of Hindus in Afghanistan perpetrated by Muslims , has caused the Afghan Hindus , along with Buddhist and Sikh population, to dwindle from Afghanistan. Apart from the Hindkowans, the Indo-Aryan native inhabitants of the region, including Pashayi and Nuristanis , were also known to be followers of
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4662-562: The Caucasus Indicus (Paropamisus) ( Hindu Kush ) and descended into India; renewed his friendship with Sophagasenus the king of the Indians; received more elephants, until he had a hundred and fifty altogether; and having once more provisioned his troops, set out again personally with his army: leaving Androsthenes of Cyzicus the duty of taking home the treasure which this king had agreed to hand over to him. Having traversed Arachosia and crossed
4773-447: The Great , king of Armenia , however, saw opportunity for expansion in the constant civil strife to the south. In 83 BC, at the invitation of one of the factions in the interminable civil wars, he invaded Syria and soon established himself as ruler of Syria, putting the Seleucid Empire virtually at an end. Seleucid rule was not entirely over, however. Following the Roman general Lucullus ' defeat of both Mithridates and Tigranes in 69 BC,
4884-577: The Greco-Macedonian style, with its main body being the phalanx . The phalanx was a large, dense formation of men armed with small shields and a long pike called the sarissa . This form of fighting had been developed by the Macedonian army in the reign of Philip II of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great. Alongside the phalanx, the Seleucid armies used numerous native and mercenary troops to supplement their Greek forces, which were limited due to
4995-520: The Greek language, wrote in Greek, absorbed Greek philosophical ideas, and took on Greek names; some of these practices then slowly filtered down to the lower classes. Hellenic ideas began an almost 250-year expansion into the Near East, Middle East, and Central Asian cultures. Synthesizing Hellenic and indigenous cultural, religious, and philosophical ideas – an ethnic unity framework established by Alexander – met with varying degrees of success. The result
5106-527: The Hellenistic East , by creating new client kingdoms and establishing provinces. While client nations like Armenia and Judea were allowed to continue with some degree of autonomy under local kings, Pompey saw the Seleucids as too troublesome to continue; doing away with both rival Seleucid princes, he made Syria into a Roman province . The domain of the Seleucids stretched from the Aegean Sea to what
5217-521: The Hindus from Ghandhara, made no fewer than 17 raids into India. He encouraged mass conversions to Islam, in Pakistan as well as in Afghanistan." Al-Idirisi testifies that until as late as the 12th century, a contract of investiture for every Shahi king was performed at Kabul and that here he was obliged to agree to certain ancient conditions which completed the contract. The Ghaznavid military incursions assured
5328-523: The Indus was subject to Seleucus. Chandragupta Maurya ( Sandrokottos ) founded the Maurya Empire in 321 BC after the conquest of the Nanda Empire and their capital Pataliputra in Magadha . Chandragupta then redirected his attention to the Indus River region, and by 317 BC, he conquered the remaining Greek satraps left by Alexander. Expecting a confrontation, Seleucus gathered his army and marched to
5439-404: The Indus. It is said that Chandragupta could have fielded a conscript army of 600,000 men and 9,000 war elephants. Chandragupta received, formalized through a treaty, territory west of the Indus, including the Hindu Kush , modern day Afghanistan , and the eastern part Balochistan province of Pakistan , bordering on the Indus. Archaeologically, concrete indications of Mauryan rule, such as
5550-737: The Parthians moved into the power vacuum to take over the old Persian lands. Antiochus' aggressive Hellenizing (or de-Judaizing) activities provoked a full scale armed rebellion in Judea —the Maccabean Revolt . Efforts to deal with both the Parthians and the Jews as well as retain control of the provinces at the same time proved beyond the weakened empire's power. Antiochus orchestrated a military campaign, capturing Artaxias I , King of Armenia, and reoccupying Armenia. His offensive ventured as far as Persepolis, but he
5661-434: The Porsesh Research and Studies Organisation and Rawail Singh, an Afghan Sikh civil rights activist. In the time of 1980's after the Afghan civil war 1979 the population of Hindus and Sikh fell at a very fast rate due to Taliban's rise to power and religious persecution and discrimination and they migrated from Afghanistan to other countries, The continue rise of Islamization and Taliban insurgency also contributed in
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#17328440008355772-404: The Seleucid banner. The government established Greek cities and settlements throughout the empire via a program of colonization that encouraged immigration from Greece; both city settlements as well as rural ones were created that were inhabited by ethnic Greeks. These Greeks were given good land and privileges, and in exchange were expected to serve in military service for the state. Despite being
5883-399: The United States wore yellow badges with the inscription "I am a Hindu", on the floor of the Senate during the debate as a demonstration of their solidarity with the Hindu minority in Afghanistan. Since the 1990s, many Afghan Hindus have fled the country, seeking asylum in countries such as India , Germany and United States. In July 2013, the Afghan parliament refused to reserve seats for
5994-403: The Zunbil territory and made their way to the shrine of Zun in Zamindawar , which was believed to be located about five kilometres (three miles) south of Musa Qala in today's Helmand Province of Afghanistan. The General of the Arab army "broke of a hand of the idol and plucked out the rubies which were its eyes in order to persuade the Marzbān of Sīstān of the god's worthlessness." Though
6105-415: The citizens and nationals of Afghanistan , as well as their descendants in the Afghan diaspora . The country is made up of various ethnic groups, of which Pashtuns , Tajiks , Hazaras , and Uzbeks are the largest. The three main languages spoken among the Afghan people are Dari , Pashto , and Uzbek . Historically, the term "Afghan" was a Pashtun ethnonym , but later came to refer to all people in
6216-409: The city of Pergamum in the west was asserting its independence under the Attalid dynasty . The Seleucid economy started to show the first signs of weakness, as Galatians gained independence and Pergamum took control of coastal cities in Anatolia. Consequently, they managed to partially block contact with the West. A revival would begin when Seleucus II's younger son, Antiochus III the Great , took
6327-439: The country, regardless of their ethnicity. The earliest mention of the name Afghan ( Abgân ) is by Shapur I of the Sassanid Empire during the 3rd century CE, In the 4th century, the word "Afghans/Afghana" (αβγανανο) as reference to the Pashtun people is mentioned in the Bactrian documents found in Northern Afghanistan. The word 'Afghan' is of Persian origin and refers to the Pashtun people. Some scholars suggest that
6438-416: The diaspora. The decline was seen mostly in Pashtuns -dominated areas, due to Pashtunistan and Pashtun nationalism , with the Afghan Hindu population declining to 3,000 by 2009. As per the 2017 data, more than 99% of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus have left the country in the last 3 decades. Many of Afghan Hindus and Sikhs have been settled in Germany , France , United States , Australia , India , Belgium ,
6549-455: The distance from the Seleucid rulers' Macedonian homeland. The size of the Seleucid army usually varied between 70,000 and 200,000 in manpower. The distance from Greece put a strain on the Seleucid military system, as it was primarily based around the recruitment of Greeks as the key segment of the army. In order to increase the population of Greeks in their kingdom, the Seleucid rulers created military settlements. There were two main periods in
6660-415: The domination of Sunni Islam in what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan. Various historical sources such as Martin Ewans, E.J. Brill and Farishta have recorded the introduction of Islam to Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan to the conquests of and Mahmud: The Arabs advanced through Sistan and conquered Sindh early in the eighth century. Elsewhere however their incursions were no more than temporary, and it
6771-470: The early Arab invaders spread the message of Islam, they were not able to rule for long. Hence, many contemporary ethnic groups in Afghanistan, including the Pashtuns , Kalash , Pashayi , Nuristanis and Hindkowans continued to practice Hinduism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism. The Kabul Shahis decided to build a giant wall around the city to prevent more Arab invasions, and this wall is still visible today. Willem Vogelsang in his 2002 book writes: "During
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#17328440008356882-403: The east, where he sought to extract money to pay the indemnity. The reign of his son and successor Seleucus IV Philopator (187–175 BC) was largely spent in attempts to pay the large indemnity, and Seleucus was ultimately assassinated by his minister Heliodorus . Seleucus' younger brother, Antiochus IV Epiphanes , now seized the throne. He attempted to restore Seleucid power and prestige with
6993-399: The empire were still influenced by the spread of Greek thought and culture, a phenomenon referred to as Hellenization . Historically significant towns and cities, such as Antioch , were created or renamed with Greek names, and hundreds of new cities were established for trade purposes and built in Greek style from the start. Local educated elites who needed to work with the government learned
7104-410: The establishment of settlements, firstly under Seleucus I Nicator and Antiochus I Soter and then under Antiochus IV Epiphanes . The military settlers were given land, "varying in size according to rank and arm of service'. They were settled in 'colonies of an urban character, which at some point could acquire the status of a polis". The settler-soldiers were called katoikoi ; they would maintain
7215-514: The exiled Carthaginian general Hannibal , and making an alliance with the disgruntled Aetolian League , Antiochus launched an invasion across the Hellespont . With his huge army he aimed to establish the Seleucid empire as the foremost power in the Hellenic world, but these plans put the empire on a collision course with the new rising power of the Mediterranean, the Roman Republic . At the battles of Thermopylae (191 BC) and Magnesia (190 BC), Antiochus's forces suffered resounding defeats, and he
7326-475: The famed Nisean horse herd); and Roman intervention was an ever-present threat. Sidetes managed to bring the Maccabees to heel and frighten the Anatolian dynasts into a temporary submission; then, in 133, he turned east with the full might of the Royal Army (supported by a body of Jews under the Hasmonean prince, John Hyrcanus ) to drive back the Parthians. Sidetes' campaign initially met with spectacular success, recapturing Mesopotamia, Babylonia, and Media. In
7437-475: The historian Appian : Always lying in wait for the neighboring nations, strong in arms and persuasive in council, he [Seleucus] acquired Mesopotamia, Armenia, 'Seleucid' Cappadocia, Persis, Parthia, Bactria, Arabia, Tapouria, Sogdia, Arachosia, Hyrcania, and other adjacent peoples that had been subdued by Alexander, as far as the river Indus, so that the boundaries of his empire were the most extensive in Asia after that of Alexander. The whole region from Phrygia to
7548-426: The inscriptions of the Edicts of Ashoka , are known as far as Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. According to Appian: He [Seleucus] crossed the Indus and waged war with Sandrocottus [Maurya], king of the Indians, who dwelt on the banks of that stream, until they came to an understanding with each other and contracted a marriage relationship. It is generally thought that Chandragupta married Seleucus's daughter, or
7659-448: The kingdom's guards' regiments. The rest of the Seleucid army would consist of native and mercenary troops, who would serve as light auxiliary troops. While the Seleucids were happy to recruit from less populated and outlying parts of the Empire such as the Arabs and Jews, Iranian peoples in the east, and inhabitants of Asia Minor to the north, they generally eschewed recruiting native Syrians and native Mesopotamians ( Babylonians ). This
7770-408: The land as their own and in return, they would serve in the Seleucid army when called. The majority of settlements were concentrated in Lydia , northern Syria , the upper Euphrates and Media . Antiochus III brought Greeks from Euboea , Crete and Aetolia and settled them in Antioch . These Greek settlers would be used to form the Seleucid phalanx and cavalry units, with picked men put into
7881-459: The last was defeated and killed by the invading Parni of Arsaces —the region would then become the core of the Parthian Empire . Diodotus , the Seleucid governor for the Bactrian territory, asserted independence in around 245 BC, although the exact date is far from certain, to form the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom . This kingdom was characterized by a rich Hellenistic culture and was to continue its domination of Bactria until around 125 BC when it
7992-659: The latter area, he founded a new capital at Antioch on the Orontes , a city he named after his father. An alternative capital was established at Seleucia on the Tigris , north of Babylon. Seleucus's empire reached its greatest extent following his defeat of his erstwhile ally, Lysimachus, at Corupedion in 281 BC, after which Seleucus expanded his control to encompass western Anatolia. He hoped further to take control of Lysimachus's lands in Europe – primarily Thrace and even Macedonia itself, but
8103-550: The law. The fourth article of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan , which was valid until 2021, states that citizens of Afghanistan consist of Pashtun, Tajik, Uzbek, Turkmen, Baloch, Pashayi, Nuristani, Aimaq, Arab, Kyrgyz , Qizilbash , Gurjar , Brahui , and members of other ethnicities. There are political disputes regarding this: there are members of the non-Pashtun ethnicities of Afghanistan that reject
8214-429: The minority group as a bill reserving seats for the mentioned was voted against. The bill by the then president Hamid Karzai , had tribal people and "women" as "vulnerable groups" who got reservation, but not religious minorities as per the religious equality article in the constitution. As both populations are frequently merged in historic and contemporary estimations, the population ratio between Afghan Sikhs and Hindus
8325-621: The modern Pakthun ." Gandhara , a region encompassing the South-east of Afghanistan, was also a center of Hinduism since the time of the Vedic Period ( c. 1500 – c. 1200 BCE ), along with Buddhism . Later forms of Hinduism were also prevalent in this south-eastern region of the country during the Turk shahis , with Khair Khaneh , a Brahmanical temple being excavated in Kabul and
8436-598: The name of the Aśvakan or Assakan , the ancient inhabitants of the Hindu Kush region. Some have theorized that the name of the Aśvakan or Assakan has been preserved in that of the modern Pashtun , with the name Afghan being derived from Asvakan . As an adjective, the word Afghan also means "of or relating to Afghanistan or its people, language or culture". According to the 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan , all Afghans citizens are equal in rights and obligations before
8547-805: The new system, which eventually led to the demise of Perdiccas. Ptolemy's revolt created a new subdivision of the empire with the Partition of Triparadisus in 320 BC. Seleucus , who had been "Commander-in-Chief of the Companion cavalry " ( hetairoi ) and appointed first or court chiliarch (which made him the senior officer in the Royal Army after the regent and commander-in-chief Perdiccas since 323 BC, though he helped to assassinate him later) received Babylonia and, from that point, continued to expand his dominions ruthlessly. Seleucus established himself in Babylon in 312 BC,
8658-573: The newly formed Parthian Empire . The Seleucid satrap of Parthia, named Andragoras , first claimed independence, in a parallel to the secession of his Bactrian neighbour. Soon after, however, a Parthian tribal chief called Arsaces invaded the Parthian territory around 238 BC to form the Arsacid dynasty , from which the Parthian Empire originated. Antiochus II's son Seleucus II Callinicus came to
8769-492: The recovered eastern territories were recaptured by the Parthians. The Maccabees again rebelled, civil war soon tore the empire to pieces, and the Armenians began to encroach on Syria from the north. By 100 BC, the once-formidable Seleucid Empire encompassed little more than Antioch and some Syrian cities. Despite the clear collapse of their power, and the decline of their kingdom around them, nobles continued to play kingmakers on
8880-455: The river Enymanthus, he came through Drangene to Carmania; and as it was now winter, he put his men into winter quarters there. When he returned to the west in 205 BC, Antiochus found that with the death of Ptolemy IV , the situation now looked propitious for another western campaign. Antiochus and Philip V of Macedon then made a pact to divide the Ptolemaic possessions outside of Egypt, and in
8991-531: The rule of Antiochus IV introduced significant changes. Antiochus IV instigated a bidding process for the High Priest position—this led to Menelaus , a radical Hellenist, outbidding Jason , a moderate Hellenist who upheld many traditional Judean practices. The shift from Jason to Menelaus unsettled the Jewish populace due to Menelaus's more extreme Hellenistic leanings. Aggravating the situation, Antiochus IV initiated
9102-634: The ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt and contemporary of Ashoka the Great , is also recorded by Pliny the Elder as having sent an ambassador named Dionysius to the Mauryan court. The Indians occupy [in part] some of the countries situated along the Indus, which formerly belonged to the Persians: Alexander deprived the Ariani of them, and established there settlements of his own. But Seleucus Nicator gave them to Sandrocottus (Chandragupta Maurya) in consequence of
9213-507: The statue displays great iconographical and stylistic similarities with the works of the Buddhist monastery of Fondukistan , which is also dated to the same period. Hinduism further flourished under the rule of Hindu Shahis , but went into sharp decline with the advent of Islam through the Ghaznavids , who defeated the Shahis. Nonetheless, it continued as a significant minority in Afghanistan until
9324-436: The tablets on which was written the decree of the senate and told him to read it. The decree demanded that he should abort his attack on Alexandria and immediately stop waging the war on Ptolemy. When the king said that he would call his friends into council and consider what he ought to do, Popilius drew a circle in the sand around the king's feet with the stick he was carrying and said, "Before you step out of that circle give me
9435-435: The term Afghan being applied to them, and there are Pashtuns in Pakistan that wish to have the term Afghan applied to them. The pre-nation state, historical ethnonym Afghan was used to refer to a member of the Pashtun ethnic group. Due to the changing political nature of the state, the meaning has changed, and the term has shifted to refer to the national identity of people from Afghanistan of all ethnicities. From
9546-546: The throne after his brother's capture. He faced the enormous task of restoring a rapidly crumbling empire, one facing threats on multiple fronts. Hard-won control of Coele-Syria was threatened by the Jewish Maccabee rebels. Once-vassal dynasties in Armenia, Cappadocia, and Pontus were threatening Syria and northern Mesopotamia ; the nomadic Parthians, brilliantly led by Mithridates I of Parthia , had overrun upland Media (home of
9657-720: The throne around 246 BC. Seleucus II was soon dramatically defeated in the Third Syrian War against Ptolemy III of Egypt and then had to fight a civil war against his own brother Antiochus Hierax . Taking advantage of this distraction, Bactria and Parthia seceded from the empire. In Asia Minor too, the Seleucid dynasty seemed to be losing control: the Gauls had fully established themselves in Galatia , semi-independent semi-Hellenized kingdoms had sprung up in Bithynia , Pontus , and Cappadocia , and
9768-536: The throne in 223 BC. Although initially unsuccessful in the Fourth Syrian War against Egypt, which led to a defeat at the Battle of Raphia (217 BC), Antiochus would prove himself to be the greatest of the Seleucid rulers after Seleucus I himself. He spent the next ten years on his anabasis (journey) through the eastern parts of his domain and restoring rebellious vassals like Parthia and Greco-Bactria to at least nominal obedience. He gained many victories such as
9879-608: The town for the Samanid dynasty of Bokhara, proceeded to create an empire in their own right. The greatest of the Ghaznavids was Muhmad who ruled between 998 and 1030. He expelled the Hindus from Gandhara, made no fewer than seventeen raids into northwestern India and succeeded in conquering territory stretching from the Caspian Sea to Varanasi. Bokhara and Samarkand also came under his rule. He encouraged mass conversions to Islam, of Indians as well as Afghans, looted Hindu temples and carried off immense booty, earning for himself, depending on
9990-486: The unit of Afghan currency . The term is also often used in the English language (and appears in some dictionaries) for a person or thing related to Afghanistan, although some have expressed the opinion that this usage is incorrect. The reason for this usage might be because the term "Afghani" (افغانی) is in fact a valid demonym for Afghans in the overall Persian language , whereas "Afghan" is derived from Pashto. Thus, "Afghan"
10101-594: The usurping general Diodotus Tryphon —held out in Antioch . Meanwhile, the decay of the Empire's territorial possessions continued apace. By 143 BC, the Jews in the form of the Maccabees had fully established their independence. Parthian expansion continued as well. In 139 BC, Demetrius II was defeated in battle by the Parthians and was captured. By this time, the entire Iranian Plateau had been lost to Parthian control. Demetrius Nicator's brother, Antiochus VII Sidetes , took
10212-471: The viewpoint of the observer, the titles of 'Image-breaker' or 'scourge of India'. Mahmud used his plundered wealth to finance his armies which included mercenaries. The Indian soldiers, presumably Hindus, who were one of the components of the army with their commander called sipahsalar -i-Hinduwan lived in their quarter of Ghazna practicing their own religion. Indian soldiers under their commander Suvendhray remained loyal to Mahmud. They were also used against
10323-415: The west, including repeated wars with Ptolemy II and a Celtic invasion of Asia Minor —distracting attention from holding the eastern portions of the Empire together. Towards the end of Antiochus II's reign, various provinces simultaneously asserted their independence, such as Bactria and Sogdiana under Diodotus , Cappadocia under Ariarathes III , and Parthia under Andragoras . A few years later,
10434-419: The winter of 130/129 BC, his army was scattered in winter quarters throughout Media and Persis when the Parthian king, Phraates II , counter-attacked. Moving to intercept the Parthians with only the troops at his immediate disposal, he was ambushed and killed at the Battle of Ecbatana in 129 BC. Antiochus Sidetes is sometimes called the last great Seleucid king. After the death of Antiochus VII Sidetes, all of
10545-666: The word "Afghan" is derived from the words awajan/apajan in Avestan and ava-Han/apa-Han in Sanskrit , which means "killing, striking, throwing and resisting, or defending." Under the Sasanians , and possibly the Parthian Empire , the word was used to refer to men of a certain Persian sect. In the past, several scholars sought a connection with "horse", Skt.aśva-, Av.aspa-, i.e. the Aśvaka or Aśvakayana,
10656-565: The year later used as the foundation date of the Seleucid Empire. The rise of Seleucus in Babylon threatened the eastern extent of the territory of Antigonus I Monophthalmus in Asia. Antigonus, along with his son Demetrius I Poliorcetes , unsuccessfully led a campaign to annex Babylon. The victory of Seleucus ensured his claim of Babylon and legitimacy. He ruled not only Babylonia, but the entire enormous eastern part of Alexander's empire, as described by
10767-744: Was a Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period . It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator , following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great , and ruled by the Seleucid dynasty until its annexation by the Roman Republic under Pompey in 63 BC. After receiving the Mesopotamian regions of Babylonia and Assyria in 321 BC, Seleucus I began expanding his dominions to include
10878-423: Was a major center of Hellenistic culture . Greek customs and language were privileged; the wide variety of local traditions had been generally tolerated, while an urban Greek elite had formed the dominant political class and was reinforced by steady immigration from Greece . The empire's western territories were repeatedly contested with Ptolemaic Egypt —a rival Hellenistic state. To the east, conflict with
10989-742: Was assassinated by Ptolemy Ceraunus on landing in Europe. His son and successor, Antiochus I Soter , was left with an enormous realm consisting of nearly all of the Asian portions of the Empire, but faced with Antigonus II Gonatas in Macedonia and Ptolemy II Philadelphus in Egypt, he proved unable to pick up where his father had left off in conquering the European portions of Alexander's empire. Antiochus I (reigned 281–261 BC) and his son and successor Antiochus II Theos (reigned 261–246 BC) were faced with challenges in
11100-535: Was compelled to make peace and sign the Treaty of Apamea (188 BC), the main clause of which saw the Seleucids agree to pay a large indemnity, to retreat from Anatolia and to never again attempt to expand Seleucid territory west of the Taurus Mountains . The Kingdom of Pergamum and the Republic of Rhodes , Rome's allies in the war, gained the former Seleucid lands in Anatolia. Antiochus died in 187 BC on another expedition to
11211-504: Was forced from the city by the populace. On his return home, Antiochus died in Isfahan in 164 BC. After the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes , the Seleucid Empire became increasingly unstable. Frequent civil wars made central authority tenuous at best. Epiphanes' young son, Antiochus V Eupator , was first overthrown by Seleucus IV's son, Demetrius I Soter in 161 BC. Demetrius I attempted to restore Seleucid power in Judea particularly, but
11322-715: Was inhabited by ancient Arians followed by the Achaemenid before the arrival of Alexander the Great and his Greek army in 330 BC. It became part of the Seleucid Empire after the departure of Alexander three years later. In 305 BCE, the Seleucid Empire lost control of the territory south of the Hindu Kush to the Indian Emperor "Sandrocottus" as a result of the Seleucid-Mauryan War . Alexander took these away from
11433-527: Was inhabited by various peoples, including Persians , Khalaj , Turks , and Pashtuns . Parts of the territory South of Hindu Kush were ruled by the Zunbils , offspring of the southern-Hephthalite. The eastern parts ( Kabulistan ) were controlled by the Turk Shahis . The Zunbil and Kabul Shahis were connected with the Indian subcontinent through common Buddhism and Zun religions. The Zunbil kings worshipped
11544-507: Was not until the rise of the Saffarid dynasty in the ninth century that the frontiers of Islam effectively reached Ghazni and Kabul. Even then a Hindu dynasty the Hindushahis , held Gandhara and eastern borders. From the tenth century onwards as Persian language and culture continued to spread into Afghanistan, the focus of power shifted to Ghazni , where a Turkish dynasty, who started by ruling
11655-565: Was overrun by the invasion of northern nomads. One of the Greco-Bactrian kings, Demetrius I of Bactria , invaded India around 180 BC to form the Indo-Greek Kingdoms . The rulers of Persis , called Fratarakas , also seem to have established some level of independence from the Seleucids during the 3rd century BC, especially from the time of Vahbarz . They would later overtly take the title of Kings of Persis , before becoming vassals to
11766-447: Was overthrown in 150 BC by Alexander Balas —an impostor who (with Egyptian backing) claimed to be the son of Epiphanes. Alexander Balas reigned until 145 BC when he was overthrown by Demetrius I's son, Demetrius II Nicator . Demetrius II proved unable to control the whole of the kingdom, however. While he ruled Babylonia and eastern Syria from Damascus , the remnants of Balas' supporters—first supporting Balas' son Antiochus VI , then
11877-786: Was part of the Taliban's plan to segregate "un-Islamic" and "idolatrous" communities from Islamic ones. The decree was condemned by the Indian and U.S. governments as a violation of religious freedom. Widespread protests against the Taliban regime broke out in Bhopal , India. In the United States, Abraham Foxman , chairman of the Anti-Defamation League , compared the decree to the practices of Nazi Germany , where Jews were required to wear labels identifying them as such. Several influential lawmakers in
11988-555: Was practiced in different parts between the Amu Darya (Oxus River) in the north and the Indus River . However, they did not mention much about Hinduism although Song Yun did state that the Hephthalite rulers did not recognize Buddhism but "preached pseudo gods and killed animals for their meat". Before the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan , the territory was a religious sediment of Zoroastrianism , Zunbils , Hinduism and Buddhism . It
12099-523: Was presumably mostly from a desire not to train and arm the people who were an overwhelming majority in the trade and governmental centers of the Empire in Antioch and Babylon, risking revolt. While a revolt in a remote place could be put down by resolute action from the center, an uprising in Syria-Coele would have undermined the kingdom's very existence. Following losses of territory in Asia Minor during
12210-419: Was put under the authority of a regent, Perdiccas , and the vast territories were divided among Alexander's generals, who thereby became satraps at the Partition of Babylon , all in that same year. Alexander's generals, known as diadochi , jostled for supremacy over parts of his empire following his death. Ptolemy I Soter , a former general and then current satrap of Egypt , was the first to challenge
12321-444: Was times of simultaneous peace and rebellion in various parts of the empire. In general, the Seleucids allowed local religions to operate undisturbed, such as incorporating Babylonian religious tenets , to gain support. Tensions around the integration of Judaism were present during the reign of the Seleucid governments. Though previous governments had managed a relatively seamless integration of Judean religious and cultural practices,
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