Kukharchyk ARACHOSIA ACCORDING TO OLD PERSIAN ROYAL INSCRIPTIONS
ARACHOSIA ACCORDING TO OLD PERSIAN ROYAL INSCRIPTIONS
Yu. S. Kukharchyk
PhD Student Belarusian State University 6, Krasnoarmeyskaya Str., Minsk, 220030, Belarus kukharchyksch44@gmail.com
The paper considers the position of Arachosia in the governance system of the territories captured by the Old Persian royal, based on the Old Persian royal inscriptions. The Old Persian royal inscriptions are a corpus of written sources created in the 4th–6th centuries BC. They contain the traditional list of dahyu, including a list of territories subject to the Old Persians. Harahuvatiš (Arachosia) is mentioned among of them. It is mentioned in various inscriptions of the Old Persian royal, such as DB, DPE, DNa, DSe, DSm, XPh, DSf. Harahuvatiš (Arachosia) is a vast territory in the basin of the rivers Argentab, Argostan and Ghazni, north of Gedrosia, which was inhabited by Iranian tribes. The Old Persian form of the name of this territory is the equivalent of sank. Sárasvatī-, literally means “rich in waters”, and is named so in accordance with the main river of the region. According to the geographical list of Videodata, Arachosia mentioned in the list of best countries created by Ahuramazda, thus its population probably, for the most part, adheres to the teachings of Zoroaster and perform the same rituals which are set out in the Avesta. The Behistun inscription mentions Arachosia in connection with the uprisings that swept the empire in the early years of Darius’ reign. However, it was not a separate center of the uprising and its population supported the uprising Vahyazdata, as according to the Behistun inscription, the leader of the uprising was not named and the construction “the man who was the head of the army, which Vahyazdata sent against Vivana” was used (DB III.70-71). As the inscriptions of the Achaemenid kings are often accompanied by relief figures, we can determine some of the ethnic characteristics of the inhabitants of Arahosia.
Keywords: Arachosia, Ancient Persian royal inscriptions, administration, Behistun inscription
Preislamic Near East 2021, (2):99-108
https://doi.org/10.15407/preislamic2021.02.099
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