|
Gondophares
Gondophares I ( Greek: Γονδοφαρης ''Gondopharēs'', Υνδοφερρης ''Hyndopherrēs''; Kharosthi: 𐨒𐨂𐨡𐨥𐨪 ', '; 𐨒𐨂𐨡𐨥𐨪𐨿𐨣 ', '; 𐨒𐨂𐨡𐨂𐨵𐨪 ', ') was the founder of the Indo-Parthian Kingdom and its most prominent king, ruling from 19 to 46. He probably belonged to a line of local princes who had governed the Parthian province of Drangiana since its disruption by the Indo-Scythians in c. 129 BC, and may have been a member of the House of Suren. During his reign, his kingdom became independent from Parthian authority and was transformed into an empire, which encompassed Drangiana, Arachosia, and Gandhara. He is generally known from the Acts of Thomas, the Takht-i-Bahi inscription, and silver and copper coins bearing his visage. He was succeeded in Drangiana and Arachosia by Orthagnes, and in Gandhara by his nephew Abdagases I. Etymology The name of Gondophares was not a personal name, but an epithet derived ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indo-Parthian Kingdom
The Indo-Parthian kingdom was a Parthian kingdom founded by Gondophares, and active from 19 CE to c. 226 CE. At their zenith, they ruled an area covering parts of eastern Iran, various parts of Afghanistan and the northwest regions of the Indian subcontinent (most of modern Pakistan and parts of northwestern India). The rulers may have been members of the House of Suren, and the kingdom has even been called the "Suren Kingdom" by some authors. The kingdom was founded in 19/20 when the governor of Drangiana ( Sakastan) Gondophares declared independence from the Parthian Empire. He would later make expeditions to the east, conquering territory from the Indo-Scythians and Indo-Greeks, thus transforming his kingdom into an empire. The domains of the Indo-Parthians were greatly reduced following the invasions of the Kushans in the second half of the 1st. century. They managed to retain control of Sakastan, until its conquest by the Sasanian Empire in c. 224/5. In Baluchistan, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gandhara
Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending as far east as the Pothohar Plateau in Punjab, though the cultural influence of Greater Gandhara extended westwards into the Kabul, Kabul valley in Afghanistan, and northwards up to the Karakoram range. The region was a central location for the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism, spread of Buddhism to Central Asia and East Asia with many Chinese Buddhism, Buddhist pilgrims visiting the region. Between the third century BCE and third century CE, Gandhari language, Gāndhārī, a Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language written in the Kharosthi script and linked with the modern Dardic languages, Dardic language family, acted as the lingua franca of the region and through Buddhism, the language spread as far as China based on Gandhār ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gadana
Gondophares III Gudana (Kharosthi: 𐨒𐨂𐨡𐨥𐨪 𐨒𐨂𐨜𐨣 ', 'Gardner, Percy, ''The Coins of the Greek and Scythic Kings of Bactria and India in the British Museum'', p. 109 Cunningham, Alexander, ''COINS OF THE INDO-SCYTHIANS.'' The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Numismatic Society, Third Series, Vol. 8 (1888), pp. 199-248), or Gadana, also called Orthagnes (Ancient Greek: ΟΡΘΑΓΝΗϹ ''Orthagnēs''), was an Indo-Parthian king.Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian Coinage - Michael Mitchiner - 1976, Volumes 7 à 9 - Pages 670, 717 and 770 He may have ruled circa 20–30 CE (25-55 CE according to Mitchiner). He was one of the successors of Gondophares, together with Abdagases, Sases, Gondophares II, Sarpedones, and Pacores.On the Cusp of an Era: Art in the Pre-Kuṣāṇa World, Doris Srinivasan, BRILL, 2007, p.25/ref> He may have ruled from Arachosia Arachosia (; ), or Harauvatis ( ), was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire. Mainly centred around the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abdagases I
Abdagases I (Greek: Ἀβδαγάσης, epigraphically ΑΒΔΑΓΑΣΟΥ; Kharosthi: 𐨀𐨬𐨡𐨒𐨮 ', 'Gardner, Percy, ''The Coins of the Greek and Scythic Kings of Bactria and India in the British Museum'', p. 107-108) was an Indo-Parthian king, who ruled Gandhara and possibly over most of the Indus region from c. 46 to 60 AD. He was a nephew and successor of Gondophares, who had laid foundations for the Indo-Parthian kingdom after revolting against his Arsacid overlords in c. 19 AD. Abdagases was succeeded by Orthaghnes or Pacores. Life Abdagases' origins are unknown. It has been argued that he belonged to the House of Suren, a prominent and influential family within the Arsacid Empire. Because the title Gondophernes has been attributed to that dynasty without sufficient proof. But no other proof related to this argument has been found. He succeeded his uncle Gondophares as the ruler of Gandhara in c. 46 AD, whilst Orthagnes succeeded him at Drangiana and Ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tanlis Mardates
Tanlis Mardates, or Tanlis Maidates (ΤΑΝΛΙC ΜΑΙΔΑTΗC, ruled circa 80-40 BC), was the governor of the Parthian Empire, Arsacid provinces of Sakastan and Arachosia. He might have been of Parthian, or perhaps of Saka origin. The Parthian Empire had been ruling the region of Sakastan since the victory of Mithridates II of Parthia, Mithridates II (124–88 BCE) over the Sakas, and these "Satraps" (another one was probably Cheiroukes) governed in the area until the establishment of the dynasty of Gondophares (19-46 CE). Tanlis Mardates minted coins with portraits of him and a certain Rangodeme, probably his wife. He was probably the last Arsacid governor of the area before the rise of the dynasty of the Indo-Parthian ruler Gondophares (). He ruled west of the territory of Sapadbizes. The portrait from his coinage is thought to illustrate the armour and headgear of Parthian cataphracts: his coins show a low, oval helmet, with a neckguard and a plume. References Sources ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acts Of Thomas
''Acts of Thomas'' is an early 3rd-century text, one of the New Testament apocrypha within the Acts of the Apostles subgenre. The complete versions that survive are Syriac and Greek. There are many surviving fragments of the text. Scholars detect from the Greek that its original was written in Syriac, which places the ''Acts of Thomas'' in Edessa, likely authored before 240 AD. The surviving Syriac manuscripts, however, have been edited to purge them of the most unorthodox overtly Encratite passages, so that the Greek versions reflect the earlier tradition. The earliest external reference to the ''Acts of Thomas'' dates to c.225 in Origen's ''Exegesis on Genesis'', although this text is now lost and its citation survives via later texts, e.g. Eusebius of Caesarea's Ecclesiastical History (3.1.1–3). Fragments of four other cycles of romances around the figure of the apostle Thomas survive, but this is the only complete one. It should not be confused with the early "sayi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indo-Scythians
The Indo-Scythians, also known as Indo-Sakas, were a group of nomadic people of Iranic Scythian origin who migrated from Central Asia southward into the present-day regions of Afghanistan, Eastern Iran and the northwestern Indian subcontinent: present-day Pakistan and northern India. The migrations persisted from the middle of the second century BCE to the fourth century CE. The first Saka king in India was Maues/Moga (first century BCE) who established Saka power in Gandhara, the Indus Valley, and other regions. The Indo-Scythians extended their supremacy over the north-western subcontinent, conquering the Indo-Greeks and other local peoples. They were apparently subjugated by the Kushan Empire's Kujula Kadphises or Kanishka. The Saka continued to govern as satrapies, forming the Northern Satraps and Western Satraps. The power of the Saka rulers began to decline during the 2nd century CE after the Indo-Scythians were defeated by the Satavahana emperor Gautamiputra Satakarni. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Takht-i-Bahi
Takht-i-Bahi (Pashto/), is an Indo-Parthian archaeological site of an ancient Buddhist monastery in Mardan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The site is considered among the most important relics of Buddhism in all of what was once Gandhara. The monastery was founded in the 1st century CE,''Takht-i-Bahi'', UNESCO Office, Islamabad, Pakistan, 2002 and was in use until the 7th century. The complex is regarded by archaeologists as being particularly representative of the architecture of Buddhist monastic centers from its era. Takht-i-Bahi was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1980, with UNESCO describing it as "exceptionally well-preserved." Etymology The origin of the name Takht-i-Bahi is uncertain. According to a local belief, the site got its name from two wells on the hill or the springs nearby. In Persian, ''Takht'' means 'top' or 'throne' while ''bahi'' means 'spring' or 'water'. When put together, their meaning is 'spring from the top' or 'high spring', referencing two spr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kandahar
Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Province and the centre of the larger cultural region called Loy Kandahar. The region around Kandahar is one of the oldest known areas of human settlement. A major fortified city existed at the site of Kandahar, probably as early as 1000–750 BC,F.R. Allchin (ed.)''The Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia: The Emergence of Cities and States'' (Cambridge University Press, 1995), pp.127–130 and it became an important outpost of the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BC.Gérard Fussman"Kandahar II. Pre-Islamic Monuments and Remains", in ''Encyclopædia Iranica'', online edition, 2012 Alexander the Great laid the foundation of what is now Old Kandahar (in the southern section of the city) in the 4th century BC and named it Alexandria ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of Suren
House of Suren or Surenas.. ( Parthian: 𐭎𐭅𐭓𐭉𐭍 Surēn, Middle Persian: 𐭮𐭥𐭫𐭩𐭭) is one of two Parthian noble families explicitly mentioned by name in sources dateable to the Arsacid period.. History The head of Suren family had the privilege to crown the first Parthian king in the 3rd century BC, which founded a tradition that was continued by his descendants. Following the 3rd century AD defeat of the Arsacids and the subsequent rise of the Sassanids, the Surenas then switched sides and began to serve the Sassanids,.. at whose court they were identified as one of the so-called " Parthian clans." The last attested scion of the family was a military commander active in northern China during the 9th century.. It is probable that the Surenas were landowners in Sakastan, that is, in the region between Arachosia and Drangiana in present-day southeast Iran and Southern Afghanistan. The Surenas appear to have governed Sistan (which derives its name from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parthian Empire
The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power centered in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conquering the region of Parthia in Iran's northeast, then a satrapy (province) under Andragoras, who was rebelling against the Seleucid Empire. Mithridates I ( BC) greatly expanded the empire by seizing Media and Mesopotamia from the Seleucids. At its height, the Parthian Empire stretched from the northern reaches of the Euphrates, in what is now central-eastern Turkey, to present-day Afghanistan and western Pakistan. The empire, located on the Silk Road trade route between the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean Basin and the Han dynasty of China, became a center of trade and commerce. The Parthians largely adopted the art, architecture, religious beliefs, and regalia of their culturally heterogeneous empire, which encompassed Pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
