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'''Asvakas''' ([[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]]:
Aśvaka){{efn|Also known in various sources as '''Āśvakāyana''', '''Āśvāyana''', '''Assakenoi''', '''Aspasioi''',<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tucci |first=Giuseppe|author-link=Giuseppe Tucci |date=1963 |title=The Tombs of the Asvakayana-Assakenoi |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29754697 |journal=East and West |volume=14 |issue=1/2 |pages=27–28 |jstor=29754697 |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 the present-day [[
== Etymology ==
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Ancient Greek historians who documented the exploits of [[Alexander the Great]] refer to the Aspasioi and Assakenoi (Ἀσσακηνοί) tribes among his opponents. The historian [[Ramesh Chandra Majumdar|R. C. Majumdar]] considers these words to be corruptions of Asvaka.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ancient India |first=Ramesh Chandra |last=Majumdar |author-link=Ramesh Chandra Majumdar |edition=Reprinted |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1977 |orig-year=1952 |isbn=978-8-12080-436-4 |page=99 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XNxiN5tzKOgC&pg=PA99}}</ref> It is possible that the corruption of the names occurred due to regional differences in pronunciation.<ref name="bevan">{{cite book |title=The Cambridge History of India |volume=1 |editor-first=Edward James |editor-last=Rapson |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1955 |page=352 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gYg8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA352 |chapter=Alexander the Great |first=E. R. |last=Bevan}}</ref> Rama Shankar Tripathi thinks it possible that the Assakenoi were either allied to or a branch of the Aspasioi.<ref>{{cite book |title=History of Ancient India |first=Rama Shankar |last=Tripathi |edition=Reprinted |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |orig-year=1942 |year=1992 |isbn=978-8-12080-018-2 |page=119 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rOVpOG6MPMcC&pg=PA119}}</ref> The Greeks recorded the two groups as inhabiting different areas, with the Aspasioi in either the [[Alishang]] or [[Kunar Valley]] and the Assakenoi in the [[Swat Valley]].<ref name="bevan" />
In the [[Major Rock Edicts]] of [[Ashoka]], Asvakas are described as [[Gandhari people|Gandhāras]] (Gandharians).<ref name=Iranica>{{Encyclopædia Iranica Online|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-iranica-online/aspasii-COM_5974|lang=en|title=Aspasii|first=C. J.|last=Brunner|authorlink=|year=2020|doi=10.1163/2330-4804_eiro_com_5974}}</ref><ref name=Tarn/> The Edicts of Ashoka record Gandharians and [[Kambojas]] separately,<ref>{{Encyclopædia Iranica Online|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-iranica-online/kamboja-COM_337524?lang=en|title=Kamboja|first=Rüdiger|last=Schmitt|authorlink=Rüdiger Schmitt|year=2021}}</ref> however, Barbara West treats the ethnonyms ''Kamboja'', ''Aśvaka'', ''Aspasioi'', ''Assakenoi'', ''Asvakayana'', ''[[Kamboj]]'' and ''[[Kamboh]]'' as synonyms, and states present day Kamboj/h caste of Pakistan and India to be their descendants.<ref name="west" />
== History ==
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