Arachosia

It was built on top of an earlier Persian military fortress after Alexander's conquest of Persia, and is the site of today's Kandahar in Afghanistan.[6] This form is the "etymological equivalent" of Vedic Sanskrit Sarasvatī-, the name of a river literally meaning "rich in waters/lakes" and derived from sáras- "lake, pond.But a recent discovery of an inscription on a clay tablet has provided proof that 'Kandahar' was already a city that traded actively with Persia well before Alexander's time."[citation needed] In his list, Ptolemy also refers to a city named Arachotus (English: Arachote /ˈærəkoʊt/; Greek: Ἀραχωτός) or Arachoti (acc.In the Behistun inscription (DB 3.54-76), the King recounts that a Persian was thrice defeated by the Achaemenid governor of Arachosia, Vivana, who so ensured that the province remained under Darius' control.Following Alexander's conquest of the Achaemenids, the Macedonian appointed his generals as governors (Arrian 3.28.1, 5.6.2; Curtius Rufus 7.3.5; Plutarch, Eumenes 19.3; Polyaenus 4.6.15; Diodorus 18.3.3; Orosius 3.23.1 3; Justin 13.4.22).In 316 BCE Antigonus I Monophthalmus sent most of the elite Argyraspides, a veteran Macedonian corps with over forty years experience, to Arachosia to protect the Eastern frontier with India.However they were sent with the order to Sibyrtius, the Macedonian satrap of Arachosia, to dispatch them by small groups of two or three to dangerous missions so that their numbers would rapidly dwindle and remove them as a military threat to his power.
Depiction of Arachosian magi carrying various gifts and animals for ritual sacrifice at Persepolis
Map showing the Arachosian satrapy and the Pactyan people (500 BCE)
According to Roman historian Arrian , Greek explorer Megasthenes lived in Alexandropolis (now Kandahar, Afghanistan ), from where he travelled to Pataliputra (now Patna, India ) in the Mauryan Empire , to be received at the court of Chandragupta Maurya .
Alexander the Great with Greek troops in Arachosia (329 BCE)
15th-century reconstruction by German cartographer Nicolaus Germanus of a 2nd-century map by Roman geographer Ptolemy , depicting Arachosia and surrounding satrapies
Relief at Naqsh-e Rostam , on the tomb of Xerxes I , depicting an Arachosian soldier of the Achaemenid army ( c. 470 BCE )
Arachosia (spider)SatrapyAchaemenid PersiaPersepolisOld PersianAchaemenid EmpireArghandab RiverHelmand RiverIndus RiverSárasvatīVedic SanskritAlexander the GreatAlexandria ArachosiaMacedonian EmpireKandaharAfghanistanPactyan peopleLatinized form of GreekAvestanVidēvdātSarasvatī-Aredvi Sura Anahitaancient GreekDrangianaParopamisadaeHindushGedrosiaPtolemyAlexandriacampaign towards IndiaStraboPliny the ElderStephen of ByzantiumHsuan TsangArghandabArrianMegasthenesAlexandropolisKandahar, AfghanistanPataliputraPatna, IndiaMauryan EmpireChandragupta MauryaAchaemenidElamiteAkkadianAramaicDarius IXerxes IBehistun inscriptionPersianDarius IIIAlexanderCurtius RufusAntigonus I MonophthalmusArgyraspidesSibyrtiusWars of the DiadochiSeleucid EmpireShunga dynastyGreco-Bactrian KingdomIndo-Greek KingdomIndo-ScythiansArsacidsIndo-ParthiansKushansSassanidsKushanshasIndo-SassanidsChionitesKidarite KingdomKidaritesHephthalitesKushano-HephthaliteKapisaSaffaridsSamanid EmpireGhaznavidsPashtun peopleNicolaus GermanusNaqsh-e RostamAchaemenid armyIranian peoplesPashtunsIsidore of CharaxParthiansWhite IndiaCroatiaCroatianČakavian dialectKajkavian dialectHistory of AfghanistanKandahar provinceOld KandaharWayback MachineBehistunNaqsh-e RustamQuhistanArabiaArmeniaAssyriaBactriaCappadociaCarmaniaChorasmiaCiliciaColchis1st Egypt2nd EgyptEber-NariLevantGandāraHyrcaniaMargianaMassagetaeParthiaPersisPhoeniciaPhrygiaHellespontine PhrygiaSattagydiaSkudra (Thrace)SogdiaTaxation districts of the Achaemenid EmpireHerodotus