#ashvaka

[pollyj]

"The etymological view supported by numerous noted scholars is that the name Afghan evidently derives from Sanskrit Aśvakan, or the Assakenoi of Arrian, which was the name used for ancient inhabitants of the Hindu Kush. Aśvakan literally means "horsemen", "horse breeders", or "cavalrymen" (from aśva or aspa, the Sanskrit and Avestan words for "horse")."

"The Aśvaka (Sanskrit: अश्वक), also known as the Ashvakan, Aśvakayana, or Asvayana and sometimes Latinised as Assacenii, Assacani, or Aspasioi, were a people who lived in what is now eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. The region in which they lived was also called Aśvaka."

[pollyj]

"The Sanskrit term aśva, Avestan aspa, and Prakrit assa means horse. The name Aśvaka/Aśvakan or Assaka is derived from the Sanskrit Aśva or Prakrit Assa and it denotes someone connected with the horses, hence a horseman, or a cavalryman or horse breeder. The Aśvakas were especially engaged in the occupation of breeding, raising and training war horses, as also in providing expert cavalry services.

The name of the Aśvakan or Assakan has been preserved in that of the modern Afghān.

According to philologist J.W. McCrindle, the name Aśvaka is also "distinctly preserved" in the name of the Esapzai (or Yusufzai) tribe of Pashtuns. McCrindle noted: "The name of the Aśvaka indicates that their country was renowned in primitive times, as it is at the present day, for its superior breed of horses. The fact that the Greeks translated their name into "Hippasioi" (from ἵππος, a horse) shows that they must have been aware of its etymological signification."

[pollyj]

"Diodorus recorded the strength of the Aśvaka opposition, noting that the women took up arms along with the men, preferring "a glorious death to a life of dishonour". Queen Cleophis was the main leader of Ashvaka during their war against Alexander.

Cleophis (Sanskrit: Kripa ) was a ruler and key figure in the war between the Ashvaka people and Alexander the Great. Cleophis was the mother of Assacanus, the Ashvaka's war-leader at the time of Alexander's invasion in 326 BCE. After her son's death in battle, Cleophis assumed command and negotiated a settlement that allowed her to retain her status.

The Ashvaka (from the word Ashva, meaning "horse" in Sanskrit, called Assacani in Greek) were an independent people who lived in parts of what is now the Swat and Buner valleys in modern-day Pakistan. These highlanders were rebellious, fiercely independent clans who resisted subjugation."