Aśvaka: Difference between revisions

'''Asvaka''' ([[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]]: AśvakáAśvaka){{efn|alsoAlso known in various sources as the'''Āśvakāyana''', '''AshvakanĀśvāyana''', '''AśvakayanaAssakenoi''', or '''AsvayanaAspasioi''',<ref>{{Cite namejournal |last=Majumdar/>Tucci and|first=Giuseppe|author-link=Giuseppe sometimesTucci [[Latinisation|date=1963 |title=The Tombs of namesthe Asvakayana-Assakenoi |Latinised]]url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29754697 as|journal=East '''Assacenii''',and '''Assacani''',West '''Aspii'''|volume=14 or|issue=1/2 |pages=27–28 |issn=0012-8376}}</ref> and '''Aspasii'''.,<ref name=Iranica/> as well as several other Prakrit, Latin and Greek variants.}} were an ancient people from [[Gandhara]] in whatthe are nowpresent-day [[Pakistan]] and [[Afghanistan]].<ref name=Iranica/><ref name=Bosworth>{{Cite book |last=Bosworth |first=C. Edmund |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CAokDwAAQBAJ&newbks=0&hl=en |title=The Turks in the Early Islamic World |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-88087-9 |pages=33 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=Iranica/><ref name=Tarn>{{Cite book |last=Tarn |first=William Woodthorpe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-HeJS3nE9cAC&pg=PA170&dq=&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjP1ZuXmb-EAxVycvEDHSqMAg0Q6AF6BAgIEAM |title=The Greeks in Bactria and India |date=2010-06-24 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-00941-6 |pages=170 |language=en}}</ref> The region in which they lived was also called ''Aśvaka''.<ref>{{cite book |title=Geography from Ancient Indian Coins & Seals |first=Parmanand |last=Gupta |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |year=1989 |isbn=978-8-17022-248-4 |pages=17–18 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LzHpZ5N5MhcC&pg=PA17}}</ref>

The Sanskrit term ''[[aśva]]'', [[Prakrit]] ''assa'' and [[Avestan]] ''aspa'' 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 [[cavalry]]man.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ethnic Settlements in Ancient India: A Study on the Puranic Lists of the Peoples of Bharatavarsa |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12386 |publisher=General Printers and Publishers |year=1955 |page=51 |first=Sashi Bhusan |last=Chaudhuri}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=History of Indian Buddhism: From the Origins to the Saka Era |year=1988 |first=Etienne |last=Lamotte |others=Trans. Webb-Boin, Sara |publisher=Université Catholique de Louvain |isbn=978-9-06831-100-6 |page=100 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sJwEAAAAYAAJ}}</ref><ref name=Majumdar>{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/download/ageofimperialuni07bhar/ageofimperialuni07bhar.pdf|title= The History and Culture of the Indian People |year=2001 |volume=2 |page=45 |first1=Ramesh Chandra |last1=Majumdar |first2= Achut Dattatrya |last2=Pusalker |first3=Bharatiya Vidya |last3=Bhavan |first4=A. K. |last4=Majumdar |first5= Dilip Kumar |last5=Ghose |first6= Vishvanath Govind |last6=Dighe}}</ref> The Asvakas were especially engaged in the occupation of breeding, raising and training [[Horses in warfare|war horses]], as also in providing expert cavalry services.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Tucci |first=Giuseppe |author-link=Giuseppe Tucci |date=1977 |title=On Swāt. The Dards and Connected Problems |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29756375 |journal=East and West |volume=27 |issue=1/4 |pages=9–103 |issn=0012-8376}}</ref> The name of the ''Aśvakan'' or ''Assakan'' is believed by some scholars to have been preserved in that of the modern [[Pashtun]], with the name [[Afghan (ethnonym)|Afghan]] being derived from Asvakan.<ref name=Bosworth/>