Bactria (Bactriana) was the ancient Greek name of the country between the range of the Hindu Kush (Paropamisus) and the Amu Darya (Oxus), with the capital Bactra (now Balkh). It was known to the east in the Indian subcontinent as Gandhara.
The weakness of the Graeco-Bactrian empire was shown by its sudden and complete overthrow, but then its emergence, isolated thousands of miles from Greece, could only be described as a paradox. However, its cultural influences were not completely undone; an artistic style mixing western and eastern elements known as the Gandhara culture survived the empire for hundreds of years.
By around AD 10, all the Greek kings were gone from the region.
^ Please don’t toot only your own horn. Punjabis like myself also can track their ancesty to the Greek conquering generals of the time. Pukhtoon, Punjabis, and Kashmiris for the most part all have traces of Greek (Macedonian) blood running through their veins, babajaan
Good for you, whe did i say that youse can’t? Btw i had not mentioned anything related to ancestry, where did you pull this from?
For sure Punjabis and other races of our continent have mixed up with the Afghans. I do not claim my ancestry to be of Greek, my ancestors were Aryans.
Little known fact but Plato was born a Gujar Bhanariye buffalo herder in what is now northern Pakistan and spent his formative years collecting dung for the local hearth industry and was known as Payto due to his love of the gulab jamun.
It was only much later in his life that he traveled to Athens and set up the Academy following a dispute in his village over marriage to a Bhatariye Gujar man, in those days it was expected that he marry his mother.
Naadir, to answer your question, Gandhara extended eastward into the current NWFP (Peshawar) region in its heyday.
Check this out…very interesting stuff…
“Gandhara is the name of an ancient kingdom located in the north of modern-day Pakistan. The art of Gandhara arose through a process of cultural exchange among the Greco-Roman, West Asian, and Indian cultures. Gandharan art flowered during the Kushan dynasty from the first century. It was during this period that the creation of Buddhist statues rivaling those created in Mathura in India commenced. The decorative motifs used for the statues and temples of that period show strong Western influence and reveal the diversity of Gandharan art that developed through a process of absorbing foreign cultures. One of the most significant expressions of Gandharan art is the depiction of various scenes of the life and preaching of the Buddha.”
how close is pakistan’s dictaotorial culture to greek’s ancient democracy
In ancient Greece, nudity was Games’ great equalizer
On a deeper level, Miller said, nude competition helped foster one of ancient Greece’s best-known contributions to posterity – democracy. Nudity, he said, erases marks of rank and privilege.
“It came to me that the locker room is inherently one of the most democratic places in human experience,” he said, “and that – at the very least – Greek athletics provided an environment in which democracy could, and did, prosper.”
Good for you, whe did i say that youse can't? Btw i had not mentioned anything related to ancestry, where did you pull this from?
For sure Punjabis and other races of our continent have mixed up with the Afghans. I do not claim my ancestry to be of Greek, my ancestors were Aryans.
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Some Pathans do claim Greek descent, Pathans are not all one race.
The word Pathan itself was first used by the people of India for Greek soldiers who settled in those regions and snatched the local women away and later it was used for Pashtuns because of the similar built and light complexion. I think it means wife snatcher or something in Sanskrit.
Some Pathans do claim Greek descent, Pathans are not all one race.
The word Pathan itself was first used by the people of India for Greek soldiers who settled in those regions and snatched the local women away and later it was used for Pashtuns because of the similar built and light complexion. I think it means wife snatcher or something in Sanskrit.
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These are just baseless theories about our origin. Pathan word originated in 18th century i guess, not to go further than 1500 AD. Though the word Pashtun has a history of 5000 years. Herodotus mentions a people called PAKTEEN residing in areas from Amu to Abaseen, and clasifies it as their homeland.
