166-515: Hinduism in Afghanistan is practiced by a tiny minority of Afghans , about 30-40 individuals as of 2021, who live mostly in the cities of Kabul and Jalalabad . Afghan Hindus are ethnically Pashtun , Hindkowan (Hindki), Punjabi , or Sindhi and primarily speak Dari , Pashto , Hindko , Punjabi , Sindhi , and Hindustani ( Hindi - Urdu ). Before the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan ,
332-416: A koinon of elite burials. Lavish warrior burials had been discontinued in southern and central Greece from the seventh century onwards, where offerings at sanctuaries and the erection of temples became the norm. From the sixth century BC, cremation replaced the traditional inhumation rite for elite Macedonians. One of the most lavish tombs dating from the 4th century BC, believed to be that of Phillip II,
498-574: A castle celebrated for its strength, accessible only by one road. In it there are Musulmáns , and it has a town, in which are infidels from Hind ." The first confirmed mention of a Hindu in Afghanistan appears in the 982 AD Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam , where it speaks of a king in "Ninhar" ( Nangarhar ), who shows a public display of conversion to Islam, even though he had over 30 wives, which are described as " Muslim , Afghan , and Hindu" wives. These names were often used as geographical terms. For example, Hindu (or Hindustani ) has been historically used as
664-403: A diadem , luxurious goods, and arms and armor. Scholars have debated about the identity of the tomb occupants since the discovery of their remains in 1977–1978, yet recent research and forensic examination have concluded with certainty that at least one of the persons buried was Philip II (Tomb 2). Located near Tomb 1 are the above-ground ruins of a heroon , a shrine for cult worship of
830-613: A diglossic linguistic area . Attic Greek was standardized as the language of the court, formal discourse and diplomacy from as early as the time of Archelaus at the end of the 5th century BC. Attic was further spread by Macedonia's conquests. Although Macedonian continued to be spoken well into Antigonid times, it became the prevalent oral dialect in Macedonia and throughout the Macedonian-ruled Hellenistic world. However, Macedonian became extinct in either
996-623: A geographical term to describe someone who was native from the region known as Hindustan (Indian subcontinent), and Afghan as someone who was native from a region called Afghanistan . When Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni began crossing the Indus River into Hindustan (land of Hindus) in the 10th century, the Ghaznavid Muslims began bringing Hindu slaves to what is now Afghanistan. Martin Ewans in his 2002 book writes: Even then
1162-596: A sun god by the name of Zun , from which they derived their name. André Wink writes that "the cult of Zun was primarily Hindu , not Buddhist or Zoroastrian"; nonetheless he still mentions them having parallels with Tibetan Buddhism and Zoroastrianism in their rituals. The Kabul Shahi ruled north of the Zunbil territory, which included Kabulistan and Gandahara . The Arabs reached Kabul in 653–654 CE when Abdur Rahman bin Samara , along with 6,000 Arab Muslims, penetrated
1328-722: A (North-)' Achaean ' substratum extending as far north as the head of the Thermaic Gulf , which had a continuous relation in prehistoric times, both in Thessaly and Macedonia, with the Northwest Greek-speaking populations living on the other side of the Pindus mountain range, and contacts became cohabitation when the Argead Macedonians completed their wandering from Orestis to Lower Macedonia, in
1494-623: A Hindu dynasty the Hindu Shahis, held Gandhara and the eastern borders. From the tenth century onwards as Persian language and culture continued to spread into Afghanistan, the focus of power shifted to Ghazni , where a Turkic dynasty, who started by ruling the town for the Samanid dynasty of Bokhara , proceeded to create an empire in their own right. The greatest of the Ghaznavids was Mahmud who ruled between 998 and 1030. He expelled
1660-558: A Turkic rebel, with the command given to a Hindu named Tilak according to Baihaki . In his war on Peshawar and Waihind says al-Utbi , Mahmud acquired 500,000 slaves that included children and girls. Men were sold as slaves to even common merchants. The amount of slaves captured in Nardin plummeted their price and male slaves were even bought by common merchants. After raiding Thanesar , he acquired 200,000 slaves. The renowned 14th-century Moroccan Muslim scholar Ibn Battuta remarked that
1826-467: A byproduct of their transhumance lifestyles of herding livestock such as goats and sheep, while horse breeding and raising cattle were other common pursuits. In these mountainous regions, upland sites were important focal points for local communities. In these difficult terrains, competition for resources often precipitated intertribal conflict and raiding forays into the comparatively richer lowland settlements of coastal Macedonia and Thessaly. Despite
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#17327755676391992-482: A chronology of the expansion by Alexander I's predecessors is more difficult, but generally, three stages have been proposed from Thucydides' reading. The initial and most important conquest was of Pieria and Bottiaea , including the locations of Pydna and Dium . The second stage consolidated rule in Pieria and Bottiaea, captured Methone and Pella , and extended rule over Eordaea and Almopia . According to Hammond,
2158-627: A city in Upper Macedonia which certain scholars have tried to connect with the villages Albus or Velventos . Here, the brothers served as shepherds for a local ruler. After a vision, the brothers fled to another region in Macedonia near the Midas Gardens by the foot of the Vermio Mountains , and then set about subjugating the rest of Macedonia. Thucydides 's account is similar to that of Herodotus, making it probable that
2324-605: A climate of institutional flexibility in a vast, resource-rich land. Non-Argead centres increasingly became dependent allies, allowing the Argeads to gradually assert and secure their control over the lower and eastern territories of Macedonia. This control was fully consolidated by Phillip II ( r. 359 – 336 BC ). Macedonia had a distinct material culture by the Early Iron Age . Typically Balkan burial, ornamental, and ceramic forms were used for most of
2490-488: A comparative abundance of natural resources such as timber and minerals, favored the development of a native aristocracy, with a wealth that at times surpassed the classical Greek poleis. Exploitation of minerals helped expedite the introduction of coinage in Macedonia from the 5th century BC, developing under southern Greek, Thracian and Persian influences. Some Macedonians engaged in farming, often with irrigation , land reclamation , and horticulture activities supported by
2656-590: A critical review of recent research on Macedonian speech, argues that all available evidence points to the conclusion that Macedonian is a Greek dialect of the North-West group. Another source of evidence is metalinguistics and the question of mutual intelligibility. The available literary evidence has no details about the exact nature of Macedonian; however it suggests that Macedonian and Greek were sufficiently different that there were communication difficulties between Greek and Macedonian contingents, necessitating
2822-514: A few surviving fragmentary inscriptions, coins and occasional passages in ancient sources. Most of the vocabulary is regular Greek, with tendencies toward Doric Greek and Aeolic Greek . There can be found some Illyrian and Thracian elements. The Pella curse tablet , which was found in 1986 at Pella and dates to the mid-4th century BC or slightly earlier, is believed to be the only substantial attested text in Macedonian. The language of
2988-721: A history about Alexander and Hieronymus of Cardia wrote a history about Alexander's royal successors. Following the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great , the Macedonian military officer Nearchus wrote a work of his voyage from the mouth of the Indus river to the Persian Gulf . The Macedonian historian Craterus published a compilation of decrees made by the popular assembly of the Athenian democracy , ostensibly while attending
3154-550: A more limited, ethnological point of view, " Afḡhān " is the term by which the Persian -speakers of Afghanistan (and the non-Pashtō-speaking ethnic groups generally) designate the Pashtūn. The equation Afghans = Pashtūn has been propagated all the more, both in and beyond Afghanistan, because the Pashtūn tribal confederation has maintained its hegemony in the country, numerically and politically. The less common Afghanistani (افغانستانی)
3320-572: A move that ultimately convinced the Olympic Hellanodikai authorities of his Greek descent and ability to compete, although this did not necessarily apply to common Macedonians outside of his royal dynasty. By the end of the 5th century BC, the Macedonian king Archelaus I was crowned with the olive wreath at both Olympia and Delphi (in the Pythian Games ) for winning chariot racing contests. Philip II allegedly heard of
3486-528: A result of geographic obstacles that divide the country. Afghanistan's culture is historically linked to nearby Persia , including both countries following the Islamic religion , the Solar Hijri calendar and speaking similar languages, this is due to Iran and Afghanistan being culturally close to each other for thousands of years. Ancient Macedonians The Macedonians ( Ancient Greek : Μακεδόνες , Makedónes ) were an ancient tribe that lived on
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#17327755676393652-558: A sect of Ancient Hinduism , mixed with tribal cultural identities. Pashtuns , the majority ethnic group in Afghanistan (officially, no ethnic census ever made), have a component of Vedic ancestors from the Pakthas . "The Pakthas, Bhalanases, Vishanins, Alinas, and Sivas were the five frontier tribes. The Pakthas lived in the hills from which the Kruma originates. Zimmer locates them in present-day eastern Afghanistan, identifying them with
3818-464: A similar burial rite and grave accompaniments, interpreted to represent the rise of a new regional ruling class sharing a common ideology, customs and religious beliefs. A common geography, mode of existence, and defensive interests might have necessitated the creation of a political confederacy among otherwise ethno-linguistically diverse communities, which led to the consolidation of a new Macedonian ethnic identity. The traditional view that Macedonia
3984-612: A statue of Gardez Ganesha being found in Paktia province . Most of the remains, including marble statuettes, date to the 7th–8th century, during the time of the Turk Shahi . The statue of Ganesha from Gardez is now attributed to the period of Turk Shahis in the 7-8th century CE, rather than to their successors the Hindu Shahis (9th-10th century) as has also been suggested. The dating is essentially based on stylistic analysis, as
4150-464: A true Greek city in the empire of Alexander the Great was the presence of an odeon for musical performances . This was the case not only for Alexandria in Egypt , but also cities as distant as Ai-Khanoum in what is now modern-day Afghanistan . Perdiccas II of Macedon was able to host well-known Classical Greek intellectual visitors at his royal court, such as the lyric poet Melanippides and
4316-770: A tutelary goddess for young girls entering the coming-of-age process, much as Heracles Kynagidas (Hunter) did for young men who had completed it. By contrast, some deities popular elsewhere in the Greek world—notably Poseidon and Hephaestus —were largely ignored by the Macedonians. Other deities worshipped by the ancient Macedonians were part of a local pantheon which included Thaulos (god of war equated with Ares ), Gyga (later equated with Athena ), Gozoria (goddess of hunting equated with Artemis), Zeirene (goddess of love equated with Aphrodite ) and Xandos (god of light). A notable influence on Macedonian religious life and worship
4482-698: Is an alternative identity marker for citizens of Afghanistan. The term "Afghanistani" refers to someone who is a citizen of Afghanistan, regardless of race, ethnicity or religion. In multiethnic Afghanistan, the term "Afghan" has always been associated with the Pashtun people. Some non-Pashtun citizens such as the Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks equate the term with Pashtun hegemony and the risk of having their own ethnic identities erased by it. The term Afghanistani has been used among some refugees and diasporas, particularly among non-Pashtuns. The term Afghani refers to
4648-522: Is at Vergina. It contains extravagant grave goods, highly sophisticated artwork depicting hunting scenes and Greek cultic figures, and a vast array of weaponry. This demonstrates a continuing tradition of the warrior society rather than a focus on religious piety and technology of the intellect, which had become paramount facets of central Greek society in the Classical Period . In the three royal tombs at Vergina , professional painters decorated
4814-473: Is estimated to be 60:40 according to historian Inderjeet Singh. With a wide range of population approximations in the absence of official census data and with much of the community concentrated in the provinces of Kabul, Nangarhar, Ghazni, and Kandahar, the Afghan Hindu population was estimated to be between 80,000 and 280,000 in the 1970s, as per estimates by historian Inderjeet Singh, Ehsan Shayegan with
4980-492: Is mostly based in the city of Kabul . The 2002 loya jirga had two seats reserved for Hindus and former President Hamid Karzai 's economic advisor, Sham Lal Bhatija was an Afghan Hindu. During the Taliban 1996 to late 2001 rule, Hindus were forced to wear yellow badges in public to identify themselves as non-Muslims. Hindu women were forced to wear burqas , a measure which was claimed to "protect" them from harassment. This
5146-603: Is the anglicized form of "Afghani" when translating from Dari Persian, but not from Pashto. Another variant is Afghanese , which has been seldom used in place of Afghan. Afghans come from various ethnic backgrounds. The largest ethnic groups are Pashtuns , Tajiks , Hazaras , and Uzbeks , who make up approximately 95% of the population of Afghanistan. They are of diverse origins including of Iranic , Turkic or Mongolic ethnolinguistic roots. The Afghan people of all ethnicities are predominantly and traditionally followers of Islam , of whom around 90% are of Sunni and 10%
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5312-520: Is usually classified by scholars as a dialect of Northwest Doric Greek , and occasionally as a distinct sister language of Greek or an Aeolic Greek dialect. However, the prestige language of the region during the Classical era was Attic Greek , replaced by Koine Greek during the Hellenistic era . Their religious beliefs mirrored those of other Greeks , following the main deities of
5478-626: Is with Peloponnesian Argos. Appian connects it with Orestian Argos. According to another tradition mentioned by Justin, the name was adopted after Caranus moved Macedonia's capital from Edessa to Aegae , thus appropriating the name of the city for its citizens. A figure, Argeas, is mentioned in the Iliad (16.417). Taking Herodotus's lineage account as the most trustworthy, Appian said that after Perdiccas, six successive heirs ruled: Argeus , Philip , Aeropus , Alcetas , Amyntas and Alexander. Amyntas I ( r. 547 – 498 BC ) ruled at
5644-543: The Arians and established settlements of his own, but Seleucus Nicator gave them to Sandrocottus ( Chandragupta ), upon terms of intermarriage and of receiving in exchange 500 elephants. When the Chinese travelers Faxian , Song Yun , and Xuanzang explored Afghanistan between the 5th and 7th centuries CE, they wrote numerous travelogues in which reliable information on Afghanistan was stored. They stated that Buddhism
5810-699: The Bronze Age . Macedonian burials contain items similar to those at Mycenae, such as burial with weapons, gold death masks etc. From the sixth century, Macedonian burials became particularly lavish, displaying a rich variety of Greek imports reflecting the incorporation of Macedonia into a wider economic and political network centred on the Aegean city-states. Burials contained jewellery and ornaments of unprecedented wealth and artistic style. This zenith of Macedonian "warrior burial" style closely parallels those of sites in south-central Illyria and western Thrace, creating
5976-555: The Chalcidice , neighbouring Thessaly, and from the Ionic colonies of Asia Minor . Ionic influences were later supplanted by those of Athenian provenance. Thus, by the latter sixth century, local elites could acquire exotic Aegean items such as Athenian red figure pottery , fine tablewares, olive oil and wine amphorae, fine ceramic perfume flasks, glass, marble and precious metal ornaments—all of which would serve as status symbols. By
6142-695: The Cretan League and Epirote League (and prior to this, the Kingdom of Epirus ). However, they often fell into conflict with the Achaean League , Aetolian League , the city-state of Sparta , and the Ptolemaic dynasty of Hellenistic Egypt that intervened in wars of the Aegean region and mainland Greece . After Macedonia formed an alliance with Hannibal of Ancient Carthage in 215 BC,
6308-600: The Durranis . The main ethnic groups in Afghanistan which practice Hinduism today are the Punjabis and Sindhis who are believed to have come along with Sikhs as merchants to Afghanistan in the 19th century. Till the collapse of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan , there were several thousand Hindus living in the country but today their number is only about 1,000. Most of the others immigrated to India,
6474-620: The European Union , North America or elsewhere. Afghan Hindus and Afghan Sikhs often share places of worship. Along with the Sikhs, they are all collectively known as Hindki . Linguistic demographics among the Hindu community are diverse and generally follow regional origins: those hailing from Punjab generally speak Punjabi , Sindhis speak Sindhi , and the northern and southern dialects of Hindko . The local Hindu community in Afghanistan
6640-483: The Greek pantheon , although the Macedonians continued Archaic burial practices that had ceased in other parts of Greece after the 6th century BC. Aside from the monarchy, the core of Macedonian society was its nobility. Similar to the aristocracy of neighboring Thessaly , their wealth was largely built on herding horses and cattle . Although composed of various clans, the kingdom of Macedonia , established around
6806-785: The Hellenistic period in West Asia , Greece , and the broader Mediterranean world . The Macedonians were eventually conquered by the Roman Republic , which dismantled the Macedonian monarchy at the end of the Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) and established the Roman province of Macedonia after the Fourth Macedonian War (150–148 BC). Authors, historians , and statesmen of the ancient world often expressed ambiguous if not conflicting ideas about
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6972-683: The Hindu Kush meant the "slayer of Indians", because slaves brought from India who had to pass through there died in large numbers due to the extreme cold and quantity of snow. The Ghaznavid Empire was further expanded by the Ghurids . During the Khalji dynasty , there was also free movement between people from India and Afghanistan. It continued this way until the Mughals followed by the Suris and
7138-602: The Netherlands and other nations. The Afghan Hindu population declined to approximately 50 in 2020. Later, following the Fall of Kabul in 2021, the Government of India evacuated many Sikhs and Hindus out of the country due to the Taliban takeover . As a result, only one Hindu priest remains in the nation today, also acting as Temple guard . Afghans Afghans ( Dari : افغانها ; Pashto : افغانان ) are
7304-612: The Olympic Games and other athletic events such as the Argive Heraean Games . However, athletics were a less favored pastime compared to hunting. Ancient Macedonia produced very few fine foods or beverages that were highly appreciated elsewhere in the Greek world, namely eels from the Strymonian Gulf and special wine brewed in Chalcidice . The earliest known use of flat bread as a plate for meat
7470-706: The Oracle of Zeus Ammon (the Greek equivalent of the Egyptian Amun-Ra ) at the Siwa Oasis of the Libyan Desert in 332 BC to confirm his divine status . After the priest there convinced him that Philip II was merely his mortal father and Zeus his actual father, Alexander began styling himself as the 'Son of Zeus', which brought him into contention with some of his Greek subjects who adamantly believed that living men could not be immortals. Although
7636-682: The Orestian highlands since before the Greek Dark Ages , possibly having originated from the same (proto-Greek) population pool that produced other Greek peoples. The Macedonian tribes subsequently moved down from Orestis in the upper Haliacmon to the Pierian highlands in the lower Haliacmon because of pressure from the Molossians , a related tribe who had migrated to Orestis from Pelagonia . In their new Pierian home north of Olympus,
7802-534: The Platonic Academy of Athens and established the Aristotelian school of thought , moved to Macedonia, and is said to have tutored the young Alexander the Great, in addition to serving as an esteemed diplomat for Alexander's father Philip II. Among Alexander's retinue of artists, writers, and philosophers was Pyrrho of Elis , founder of Pyrrhonism , the school of philosophical skepticism . During
7968-411: The Roman conquest in 167 BC . The nature of the kingship , however, remains debated. One viewpoint sees it as an autocracy , whereby the king held absolute power and was at the head of both government and society, wielding arguably unlimited authority to handle affairs of state and public policy. He was also the leader of a very personal regime with close relationships or connections to his hetairoi ,
8134-630: The Saffarids from medieval Zaranj , located at the Nad-e Ali site of modern-day Iran (not to be confused with the similarly named modern city of Zaranj in Afghanistan), conquered most of Afghanistan, establishing Muslim governors throughout the land. It is reported that Muslims and non-Muslims still lived side by side before the arrival of the Ghaznavids in the 10th century. "Kábul has
8300-478: The Seleucid and Ptolemaic diadochi successor states cultivated their own ancestral cults and deification of the rulers as part of state ideology, a similar cult did not exist in the Kingdom of Macedonia. By the reign of Archelaus I of Macedon , the Macedonian elite started importing significantly greater customs, artwork, and art traditions from other regions of Greece. However, they still retained more archaic, perhaps Homeric funerary rites connected with
8466-437: The Shia branch. Other religious minorities include the Afghan Hindus , Afghan Sikhs , Afghan Zoroastrians , Afghan Jews and Afghan Christians . Afghan culture has existed for over three millennia, dating back to the time of the Achaemenid Empire in 500 BCE. Afghans have both common cultural features and those that differ between regions with each of the 34 provinces having its own unique distinctive cultures partly as
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#17327755676398632-401: The alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios in the northeastern part of mainland Greece . Essentially an ancient Greek people , they gradually expanded from their homeland along the Haliacmon valley on the northern edge of the Greek world, absorbing or driving out neighbouring non-Greek tribes, primarily Thracian and Illyrian . They spoke Ancient Macedonian , which
8798-543: The death of Alexander the Great and the Partition of Babylon in 323 BC, the diadochi successor states such as the Attalid , Ptolemaic and Seleucid Empires were established, ushering in the Hellenistic period of Greece , West Asia and the Hellenized Mediterranean Basin . With Alexander's conquest of the Achaemenid Empire , Macedonians colonized territories as far east as Central Asia . The Macedonians continued to rule much of Hellenistic Greece (323–146 BC), forming alliances with Greek leagues such as
8964-400: The ethnic identity of the Macedonians as either Greeks , semi-Greeks, or even barbarians . This has led to some debate among modern academics about the precise ethnic identity of the Macedonians, who nevertheless embraced many aspects of contemporaneous Greek culture such as participation in Greek religious cults and athletic games , including the exclusive Ancient Olympic Games . Given
9130-589: The painter Zeuxis , the architect Callimachus , the poets Choerilus of Samos , Timotheus of Miletus , and Agathon , as well as the famous Athenian playwright Euripides . Although Archelaus was criticized by the philosopher Plato , supposedly hated by Socrates , and the first known Macedonian king to be insulted with the label of a barbarian , the historian Thucydides held the Macedonian king in glowing admiration for his accomplishments, including his engagement in panhellenic sports and fostering of literary culture. The philosopher Aristotle , who studied at
9296-470: The symposium and drinking rites that were typified with items such as decorative metal kraters that held the ashes of deceased Macedonian nobility in their tombs. Among these is the large bronze Derveni Krater from a 4th-century BC tomb of Thessaloniki , decorated with scenes of the Greek god Dionysus and his entourage and belonging to an aristocrat who had a military career. Macedonian metalwork usually followed Athenian styles of vase shapes from
9462-415: The 21st century, when its number of followers fell to a few hundred. By roughly 2000–1500 BCE, Indo-Aryan inhabitants of the region (mainly in the eastern parts of present-day Afghanistan) were adherents of Hinduism . Notable among these were the Gandharis and Kambojas . The Pashayi and Nuristanis are present day examples of these Indo-Aryan Vedic people. Most historians maintain that Afghanistan
9628-425: The 4th century BC. The Stag Hunt Mosaic of Pella, with its three dimensional qualities and illusionist style, show clear influence from painted artwork and wider Hellenistic art trends , although the rustic theme of hunting was tailored for Macedonian tastes. The similar Lion Hunt Mosaic of Pella illustrates either a scene of Alexander the Great with his companion Craterus , or simply a conventional illustration of
9794-484: The 5th century BC onward, such as the inclusion of Persian grave goods at Macedonian burial sites as well as the adoption of royal customs such as a Persian-style throne during the reign of Philip II. The way of life of the inhabitants of Upper Macedonia differed little from that of their neighbours in Epirus and Illyria, engaging in seasonal transhumance supplemented by agriculture. Young Macedonian men were typically expected to engage in hunting and martial combat as
9960-628: The 5th century BC, these items became widespread in Macedonia and in much of the central Balkans. Macedonian settlements have a strong continuity dating from the Bronze Age, maintaining traditional construction techniques for residential architecture. While settlement numbers appeared to drop in central and southern Greece after 1000 BC, there was a dramatic increase of settlements in Macedonia. These settlements seemed to have developed along raised promontories near river flood plains called tells (Greek: τύμβοι). Their ruins are most commonly found in western Macedonia between Florina and Lake Vergoritis ,
10126-470: The 6th century BC onward, with drinking vessels, jewellery, containers, crowns, diadems , and coins among the many metal objects found in Macedonian tombs. Surviving Macedonian painted artwork includes frescoes and murals on walls, but also decoration on sculpted artwork such as statues and reliefs . For instance, trace colors still exist on the bas-reliefs of the Alexander Sarcophagus . Macedonian paintings have allowed historians to investigate
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#173277556763910292-516: The 7th century BC, is mostly associated with the Argead dynasty and the tribe named after it. The dynasty was allegedly founded by Perdiccas I , descendant of the legendary Temenus of Argos , while the region of Macedon derived its name from Makedon , a figure of Greek mythology . Traditionally ruled by independent families, the Macedonians seem to have accepted Argead rule by the time of Alexander I ( r. 498 – 454 BC ). Under Philip II ( r. 359 – 336 BC ),
10458-426: The 7th century BC. According to this hypothesis, Hatzopoulos concludes that the Macedonian dialect of the 4th century BC, as attested in the Pella curse tablet, was a sort of Macedonian 'koine' resulting from the encounter of the idiom of the 'Aeolic'-speaking populations around Mount Olympus and the Pierian Mountains , whose phonetics had been influenced by a non-Greek (possibly Phrygian or Pelasgian) adstratum, with
10624-470: The 8th and 9th centuries AD the eastern terroritries of modern Afghanistan were still in the hands of non-Muslim rulers. The Muslims tended to regard them as Indians (Hindus), although many of the local rulers and people were apparently of Hunnic or Turkic descent. Yet, the Muslims were right in so far as the non-Muslim population of eastern Afghanistan was, culturally linked to the Indian sub-continent . Most of them were either Hindus or Buddhists. " In 870 AD
10790-417: The Afghan people were multi-religious. Religious persecution , discrimination , and forced conversion of Hindus in Afghanistan perpetrated by Muslims , has caused the Afghan Hindus , along with Buddhist and Sikh population, to dwindle from Afghanistan. Apart from the Hindkowans, the Indo-Aryan native inhabitants of the region, including Pashayi and Nuristanis , were also known to be followers of
10956-442: The Antigonid period, Antigonos Gonatas fostered cordial relationships with Menedemos of Eretria , founder of the Eretrian school of philosophy, and Zenon , the founder of Stoicism . In terms of early Greek historiography and later Roman historiography , Felix Jacoby identified thirteen possible ancient historians who wrote histories about Macedonia in his Fragmente der griechischen Historiker . Aside from accounts in
11122-400: The Argead name to the royal family is uncertain. The words "Argead" and "Argive" derive via Latin Argīvus from Ancient Greek : Ἀργεῖος ( Argeios ), meaning "of or from Argos ", and is first attested in Homer, where it was also used as a collective designation for the Greeks ("Ἀργείων Δαναῶν", Argive Danaans ). The most common connection to the royal family, as written by Herodotus,
11288-429: The Argeads were a family of notables hailing from Vergina. Both Strabo and Thucydides said that Emathia and Pieria were mostly occupied by Thracians ( Pieres , Paeonians ) and Bottiaeans , as well as some Illyrian and Epirote tribes. Herodotus states that the Bryges were cohabitants with the Macedonians before their mass migration to Anatolia . If a group of ethnically definable Macedonian tribes were living in
11454-402: The Greek world with barbarian Europe , the Macedonians first subjugated their immediate northern neighbours — various Paeonian , Illyrian and Thracian tribes — before turning against the states of southern and central Greece . Macedonia then led a pan-Hellenic military force against their primary objective—the conquest of Persia —which they achieved with remarkable ease. Following
11620-401: The Haliacmon valley since the Aegean civilizations is lacking. Hammond's interpretation has been criticized as a "conjectural reconstruction" from what appears during later, historical times. Similarly, the historicity of migration, conquest and population expulsion have also been questioned. Thucydides's account of the forced expulsion of the Pierians and Bottiaeans could have been formed on
11786-422: The Hellenistic or the Roman period, and entirely replaced by Koine Greek . For instance, Cleopatra VII Philopator , the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, spoke Koine Greek as a first language, and by her reign (51–30 BC), or some time before it, the Macedonian language was no longer used. Attempts to classify Ancient Macedonian are hindered by the lack of surviving Ancient Macedonian texts; it
11952-530: The Hindus from Ghandhara, made no fewer than 17 raids into India. He encouraged mass conversions to Islam, in Pakistan as well as in Afghanistan." Al-Idirisi testifies that until as late as the 12th century, a contract of investiture for every Shahi king was performed at Kabul and that here he was obliged to agree to certain ancient conditions which completed the contract. The Ghaznavid military incursions assured
12118-460: The Iron Age. These features suggest broad cultural affinities and organizational structures analogous with Thracian, Epirote, and Illyrian regions. This did not necessarily symbolize a shared cultural identity, or any political allegiance between these regions. In the late sixth century BC, Macedonia became open to south Greek influences, although a small but detectable amount of interaction with
12284-423: The Macedonian interior possibly started from the early 14th century BC. In his A History of Macedonia , Nicholas Hammond reconstructed the earliest phases of Macedonian history based on his interpretation of later literary accounts and archaeological excavations in the region of Macedonia. According to Hammond, the Macedonians are missing from early Macedonian historical accounts because they had been living in
12450-504: The Macedonian pantheon. Makedon, the mythical ancestor of the Macedonians, was held to be a son of Zeus, and Zeus features prominently in Macedonian coinage. The most important centre of worship of Zeus was at Dion in Pieria , the spiritual centre of the Macedonians, where beginning in 400 BC King Archelaus established an annual festival, which in honour of Zeus featured lavish sacrifices and athletic contests. Worship of Zeus's son Heracles
12616-422: The Macedonian state. However, the bedrock of the Macedonian economy and state finances was the twofold exploitation of the forests with logging and valuable minerals such as copper, iron, gold, and silver with mining . The conversion of these raw materials into finished products and their sale encouraged the growth of urban centers and a gradual shift away from the traditional rustic Macedonian lifestyle during
12782-709: The Macedonian tribes mingled with the proto- Dorians . This might account for traditions which placed the eponymous founder, Makedon, near Pieria and Olympus. Some traditions placed the Dorian homeland in the Pindus mountain range in western Thessaly , whilst Herodotus pushed this further north to the Macedonian Pindus and claimed that the Greeks were referred to as Makednon ( Mακεδνόν ) and then as Dorians. A different, southern homeland theory also exists in traditional historiography. Arnold J. Toynbee asserted that
12948-481: The Macedonians are credited with numerous military innovations , which enlarged their territory and increased their control over other areas extending into Thrace . This consolidation of territory allowed for the exploits of Alexander the Great ( r. 336 – 323 BC ), the conquest of the Achaemenid Empire , the establishment of the diadochi successor states , and the inauguration of
13114-682: The Makedones migrated north to Macedonia from central Greece , placing the Dorian homeland in Phthiotis and citing the traditions of fraternity between Makedon and Magnes . The Macedonian expansion is said to have been led by the ruling Temenid dynasty, known as " Argeads " or "Argives". Herodotus said that Perdiccas , the dynasty's founder, was descended from the Heraclid Temenus . He left Argos with his two older brothers Aeropus and Gayanes , and travelled via Illyria to Lebaea ,
13280-542: The Northwest Greek-speaking Argead Macedonians hailing from Argos Orestikon , who founded the kingdom of Lower Macedonia . In Macedonian onomastics , most personal names are recognizably Greek (e.g. Alexandros, Philippos, Dionysios, Apollonios, Demetrios), with some dating back to Homeric (e.g. Ptolemaeos ) or Mycenean times and there are also a few non-Greek names (Illyrian or Thracian; e.g. "Bithys"). This material supports
13446-492: The Olympic victory of his horse (in either an individual horse race or chariot race) on the same day his son Alexander the Great was born, on either 19 or 20 July 356 BC. In addition to literary contests, Alexander the Great also staged competitions for music and athletics across his empire. The Macedonians created their own athletic games and, after the late 4th century BC, non-royal Macedonians competed and became victors in
13612-464: The Pierian highlands prior to their expansion, the first conquest was of the Pierian piedmont and coastal plain, including Vergina. The tribes may have launched their expansion from a base near Mount Bermion, according to Herodotus. Thucydides describes the Macedonian expansion specifically as a process of conquest led by the Argeads: But the country along the sea which is now called Macedonia,
13778-553: The Porsesh Research and Studies Organisation and Rawail Singh, an Afghan Sikh civil rights activist. In the time of 1980's after the Afghan civil war 1979 the population of Hindus and Sikh fell at a very fast rate due to Taliban's rise to power and religious persecution and discrimination and they migrated from Afghanistan to other countries, The continue rise of Islamization and Taliban insurgency also contributed in
13944-568: The United States wore yellow badges with the inscription "I am a Hindu", on the floor of the Senate during the debate as a demonstration of their solidarity with the Hindu minority in Afghanistan. Since the 1990s, many Afghan Hindus have fled the country, seeking asylum in countries such as India , Germany and United States. In July 2013, the Afghan parliament refused to reserve seats for
14110-562: The Zunbil territory and made their way to the shrine of Zun in Zamindawar , which was believed to be located about five kilometres (three miles) south of Musa Qala in today's Helmand Province of Afghanistan. The General of the Arab army "broke of a hand of the idol and plucked out the rubies which were its eyes in order to persuade the Marzbān of Sīstān of the god's worthlessness." Though
14276-621: The acquisition of game meat as well as for sport. Symposia had several functions, amongst which was providing relief from the hardship of battle and marching. Symposia were Greek traditions since Homeric times, providing a venue for interaction amongst Macedonian elites. An ethos of egalitarianism surrounded symposia, allowing all male elites to express ideas and concerns, although built-up rivalries and excessive drinking often led to quarrels, fighting and even murder. The degree of extravagance and propensity for violence set Macedonian symposia apart from classical Greek symposia. Like symposia, hunting
14442-496: The affairs of the municipal government at the behest of the cult's main priest. The ancient Macedonians worshipped the Twelve Olympians , especially Zeus , Artemis , Heracles , and Dionysus . Evidence of this worship exists from the beginning of the 4th century BC onwards, but little evidence of Macedonian religious practices from earlier times exists. From an early period, Zeus was the single most important deity in
14608-446: The age of Demetrius I of Macedon . The symposium (plural: symposia ) in the Macedonian and wider Greek realm was a banquet for the nobility and privileged class, an occasion for feasting, drinking, entertainment, and sometimes philosophical discussion . The hetairoi , leading members of the Macedonian aristocracy , were expected to attend such feasts with their king. They were also expected to accompany him on royal hunts for
14774-422: The appearance of the main Greek dialects. The same data has been analyzed in an alternative manner, which regards the formation of the main Greek dialects as a later convergence of related but distinct groups. According to this theory, Macedonian did not fully participate in this process, making its ultimate position—other than being a contiguous, related 'minor' language—difficult to define. Hatzopoulos, who offers
14940-605: The archaeological evidence does not point to any significant disruptions between the Iron Age and Hellenistic period in Macedonia. The general continuity of material culture, settlement sites, and pre-Greek onomasticon contradict the alleged ethnic cleansing account of early Macedonian expansion. The process of state formation in Macedonia was similar to that of its neighbours in Epirus, Illyria, Thrace and Thessaly, whereby regional elites could mobilize disparate communities for
15106-663: The basis of his perceived similarity of names of the Pierians and Bottiaeans living in the Struma valley with the names of regions in Macedonia; whereas his account of Eordean extermination was formulated because such toponymic correspondences are absent. Likewise, the Argead conquest of Macedonia may be viewed as a commonly used literary topos in classical Macedonian rhetoric. Tales of migration served to create complex genealogical connections between trans-regional ruling elites, while at
15272-412: The belief in magic, as evidenced by curse tablets. It was a significant but secret aspect of Greek cultural practice. A notable feature of Macedonian culture was the ostentatious burials reserved for its rulers. The Macedonian elite built lavish tombs at the time of death rather than constructing temples during life. Such traditions had been practiced throughout Greece and the central-west Balkans since
15438-543: The case, Thucydides' account of the Macedonian state describes its accumulated territorial extent by the rule of Perdiccas II , Alexander I's son. Hammond has said that the early stages of Macedonian expansion were militaristic, subduing or expunging populations from a large and varied area. Pastoralism and highland living could not support a very concentrated settlement density, forcing pastoralist tribes to search for more arable lowlands suitable for agriculture. Present-day scholars have highlighted several inconsistencies in
15604-415: The citizens and nationals of Afghanistan , as well as their descendants in the Afghan diaspora . The country is made up of various ethnic groups, of which Pashtuns , Tajiks , Hazaras , and Uzbeks are the largest. The three main languages spoken among the Afghan people are Dari , Pashto , and Uzbek . Historically, the term "Afghan" was a Pashtun ethnonym , but later came to refer to all people in
15770-421: The clothing fashions as well as military gear worn by ancient Macedonians, such as the brightly-colored tomb paintings of Agios Athanasios, Thessaloniki showing figures wearing headgear ranging from feathered helmets to kausia and petasos caps. Aside from metalwork and painting, mosaics serve as another significant form of surviving Macedonian artwork, especially those discovered at Pella dating to
15936-425: The core of the Macedonian aristocracy. Any other position of authority, including the army , was appointed at the whim of the king himself. The other, " constitutionalist ", position argues that there was an evolution from a society of many minor "kings" – each of equal authority – to a sovereign military state whereby an army of citizen soldiers supported a central king against a rival class of nobility . Kingship
16102-630: The country, regardless of their ethnicity. The earliest mention of the name Afghan ( Abgân ) is by Shapur I of the Sassanid Empire during the 3rd century CE, In the 4th century, the word "Afghans/Afghana" (αβγανανο) as reference to the Pashtun people is mentioned in the Bactrian documents found in Northern Afghanistan. The word 'Afghan' is of Persian origin and refers to the Pashtun people. Some scholars suggest that
16268-415: The course of the 5th century BC. Macedonian society was dominated by aristocratic families whose main source of wealth and prestige was their herds of horses and cattle. In this respect, Macedonia was similar to Thessaly and Thrace. These aristocrats were second only to the king in terms of power and privilege, filling the ranks of his administration and serving as commanding officers in the military. It
16434-505: The dead. In 2014, the ancient Macedonian Kasta Tomb , the largest ancient tomb found in Greece (as of 2017), was discovered outside of Amphipolis , a city that was incorporated into the Macedonian realm after its capture by Philip II in 357 BC. The identity of the tomb's occupant is unknown, but archaeologists have speculated that it may be Alexander's close friend Hephaestion . The deification of Macedonian monarchs perhaps began with
16600-579: The death of Philip II, yet it was his son Alexander the Great who unambiguously claimed to be a living god . As pharaoh of the Egyptians, he was already entitled as Son of Ra and considered the living incarnation of Horus by his Egyptian subjects (a belief that the Ptolemaic successors of Alexander would foster for their own dynasty in Egypt ). However, following his visit to the oracle of Didyma in 334 BC that suggested his divinity, he traveled to
16766-432: The defeated Macedonian communities, his Latin pronouncements were translated for the benefit of the assembled Macedonians into Greek. According to Hatzopoulos, the sole direct attestation of Macedonian speech preserved in an ancient author, is a verse in a non-Attic Greek dialect that the 4th century BC Athenian poet Strattis in his comedy 'The Macedonians' places a character, presumably Macedonian, to give as an answer to
16932-525: The diaspora. The decline was seen mostly in Pashtuns -dominated areas, due to Pashtunistan and Pashtun nationalism , with the Afghan Hindu population declining to 3,000 by 2009. As per the 2017 data, more than 99% of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus have left the country in the last 3 decades. Many of Afghan Hindus and Sikhs have been settled in Germany , France , United States , Australia , India , Belgium ,
17098-415: The domination of Sunni Islam in what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan. Various historical sources such as Martin Ewans, E.J. Brill and Farishta have recorded the introduction of Islam to Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan to the conquests of and Mahmud: The Arabs advanced through Sistan and conquered Sindh early in the eighth century. Elsewhere however their incursions were no more than temporary, and it
17264-470: The early Arab invaders spread the message of Islam, they were not able to rule for long. Hence, many contemporary ethnic groups in Afghanistan, including the Pashtuns , Kalash , Pashayi , Nuristanis and Hindkowans continued to practice Hinduism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism. The Kabul Shahis decided to build a giant wall around the city to prevent more Arab invasions, and this wall is still visible today. Willem Vogelsang in his 2002 book writes: "During
17430-414: The event, despite Athenodorus risking a fine for being absent from the simultaneous Dionysia festival of Athens where he was scheduled to perform (a fine that his patron Alexander agreed to pay). Music was also appreciated in Macedonia. In addition to the agora , the gymnasium , the theatre , and religious sanctuaries and temples dedicated to Greek gods and goddesses, one of the main markers of
17596-481: The generic royal diversion of hunting. Mosaics with mythological themes include scenes of Dionysus riding a panther and Helen of Troy being abducted by Theseus , the latter of which employs illusionist qualities and realistic shading similar to Macedonian paintings. Common themes of Macedonian paintings and mosaics include warfare, hunting and aggressive masculine sexuality (i.e. abduction of women for rape or marriage). In some instances these themes are combined within
17762-652: The internationally esteemed Samothrace temple complex of the Cabeiri mystery cult . This was also the same location where Perseus of Macedon fled and received sanctuary following his defeat by the Romans at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC. The main sanctuary of Zeus was maintained at Dion , while another at Veria was dedicated to Herakles and received particularly strong patronage from Demetrius II Aetolicus ( r. 239 – 229 BC ) when he intervened in
17928-472: The introduction of meats into the dessert course of a meal. The Macedonians also most likely introduced mattye to Athenian cuisine, a dish usually made of chicken or other spiced, salted, and sauced meats served during the wine course . This particular dish was derided and connected with licentiousness and drunkenness in a play by the Athenian comic poet Alexis about the declining morals of Athenians in
18094-463: The languages of the original inhabitants of the region who were assimilated or expelled by the invading Macedonians. He also asserts that little is known about the languages of these original inhabitants aside from Phrygian spoken by the Bryges , who migrated to Anatolia . However, according to Hatzopoulos, Bruno Helly expanded and improved his own earlier suggestion and presented the hypothesis of
18260-564: The law. The fourth article of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan , which was valid until 2021, states that citizens of Afghanistan consist of Pashtun, Tajik, Uzbek, Turkmen, Baloch, Pashayi, Nuristani, Aimaq, Arab, Kyrgyz , Qizilbash , Gurjar , Brahui , and members of other ethnicities. There are political disputes regarding this: there are members of the non-Pashtun ethnicities of Afghanistan that reject
18426-463: The mid-5th century BC. The Macedonians are absent in Homer 's Catalogue of Ships and the term "Macedonia" itself appears late. The Iliad states that upon leaving Mount Olympus , Hera journeyed via Pieria and Emathia before reaching Athos . This is re-iterated by Strabo in his Geography . Nevertheless, archaeological evidence indicates that Mycenaean contact with or penetration into
18592-429: The minority group as a bill reserving seats for the mentioned was voted against. The bill by the then president Hamid Karzai , had tribal people and "women" as "vulnerable groups" who got reservation, but not religious minorities as per the religious equality article in the constitution. As both populations are frequently merged in historic and contemporary estimations, the population ratio between Afghan Sikhs and Hindus
18758-405: The mixed Macedonian-Barbarian colonies in the Thermaic Gulf and western Chalkidiki . The Temenidae became overall leaders of a new Macedonian state because of the diplomatic proficiency of Alexander I and the logistic centrality of Vergina itself. It has been suggested that a breakdown in traditional Balkan tribal traditions associated with adaptation of Aegean socio-political institutions created
18924-641: The modern Pakthun ." Gandhara , a region encompassing the South-east of Afghanistan, was also a center of Hinduism since the time of the Vedic Period ( c. 1500 – c. 1200 BCE ), along with Buddhism . Later forms of Hinduism were also prevalent in this south-eastern region of the country during the Turk shahis , with Khair Khaneh , a Brahmanical temple being excavated in Kabul and
19090-464: The monarchy by the pretender Andriscus led to the Fourth Macedonian War (150–148 BC), after which Rome established the Roman province of Macedonia and subjugated the Macedonians . In Greek mythology , Makedon is the eponymous hero of Macedonia and is mentioned in Hesiod 's Catalogue of Women . The first historical attestation of the Macedonians occurs in the works of Herodotus during
19256-523: The name of a people related to the Dorians ( Herodotus ). It is most likely cognate with the adjective μακρός ( makrós ), meaning "long" or "tall" in Ancient Greek. The name is believed to have originally meant either "highlanders", "the tall ones", or "high grown men". The expansion of the Macedonian kingdom has been described as a three-stage process. As a frontier kingdom on the border of
19422-598: The name of the Aśvakan or Assakan , the ancient inhabitants of the Hindu Kush region. Some have theorized that the name of the Aśvakan or Assakan has been preserved in that of the modern Pashtun , with the name Afghan being derived from Asvakan . As an adjective, the word Afghan also means "of or relating to Afghanistan or its people, language or culture". According to the 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan , all Afghans citizens are equal in rights and obligations before
19588-496: The observation that Macedonian personal names have a predominantly Greek character. Macedonian toponyms and hydronyms are mostly of Greek origin (e.g. Aegae, Dion, Pieria, Haliacmon), as are the names of the months of the Macedonian calendar and the names of most of the deities the Macedonians worshiped. Hammond states that these are not late borrowings. Macedonian has a close structural and lexical affinity with other Greek dialects, especially Northwest Greek and Thessalian. Most of
19754-513: The oldest samples of writing in Macedonia, among them inscriptions bearing Greek names like Θέμιδα (Themida). The inscriptions demonstrate that Hellenism in Upper Macedonia was at a high economic, artistic, and cultural level by the sixth century BC—overturning the notion that Upper Macedonia was culturally and socially isolated from the rest of ancient Greece. By contrast, the alluvial plains of Lower Macedonia and Pelagonia, which had
19920-406: The people" in his play Archelaus , in an attempt to please Archelaus I of Macedon . The earliest sources, Herodotus and Thucydides, called the royal family "Temenidae". In later sources (Strabo, Appian, Pausanias ) the term "Argeadae" was introduced. However, Appian said that the term Argeadae referred to a leading Macedonian tribe rather than the name of the ruling dynasty. The connection of
20086-484: The position of Macedonian, all of which broadly regard it as either a peripheral Greek dialect, a closely related but separate language (see Hellenic languages ), or a hybridized idiom incorporating Brygian, Northwest Greek and Thessalian Greek . Drawing on the similarities between Macedonian, Greek and Brygian, Fanula Papazoglu wrote that she formed an Indo-European macro-dialectical group, which, according to Georgiev, split before circa 14th–13th century BC before
20252-542: The presence of renowned philosophers , such as Aristotle , while native Macedonians contributed to the field of ancient Greek literature , especially Greek historiography . Their sport and leisure activities included hunting, foot races , and chariot races , as well as feasting and drinking at aristocratic banquets known as symposia . The ethnonym Μακεδόνες ( Makedónes ) stems from the Ancient Greek adjective μακεδνός ( makednós ), meaning "tall, slim", also
20418-408: The priest of Asklepios , Greek god of medicine; a similar arrangement existed at Cassandreia , where a cult priest honoring the city's founder Cassander was the nominal municipal leader. Foreign cults from Egypt were fostered by the royal court, such as the temple of Sarapis at Thessaloniki , while Macedonian kings Philip III of Macedon and Alexander IV of Macedon made votive offerings to
20584-519: The purpose of organizing land and resources. Local notables were often based in urban-like settlements, although contemporaneous historians often did not recognize them as poleis because they were not self-ruled but under the rule of a "king". From the mid-6th century, there appears a series of exceptionally rich burials throughout the region—in Trebeništa , Vergina , Sindos , Agia Paraskevi , Pella-Archontiko, Aiani , Gevgelija , Amphipolis —sharing
20750-446: The remoteness of the upper Macedonian highlands, excavations at Aiani since 1983 have discovered finds attesting to the presence of social organization since the 2nd millennium BC. The finds include the oldest pieces of black-and-white pottery, which is characteristic of the tribes of northwest Greece, discovered so far. Found with Μycenaean sherds , they can be dated with certainty to the 14th century BC. The finds also include some of
20916-422: The renowned medical doctor Hippocrates , while Pindar 's enkomion written for Alexander I of Macedon may have been composed at his court. Yet Archelaus I of Macedon received a far greater number of Greek scholars, artists, and celebrities at his court than his predecessors, leading M. B. Hatzopoulos to describe Macedonia under his reign as an "active centre of Hellenic culture." His honored guests included
21082-466: The rival Roman Republic responded by fighting a series of wars against Macedonia in conjunction with its Greek allies such as Pergamon and Rhodes . In the aftermath of the Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC), the Romans abolished the Macedonian monarchy under Perseus of Macedon ( r. 179–168 BC– ) and replaced the kingdom with four client state republics. A brief revival of
21248-450: The same time were used by the ruling dynasty to legitimize their rule, heroicize mythical ancestors and distance themselves from their subjects. Conflict was a historical reality in the early Macedonian kingdom and pastoralist traditions allowed the potential for population mobility. Greek archaeologists have found that some of the passes linking the Macedonian highlands with the valley regions have been used for thousands of years. However,
21414-426: The same work, indicating a metaphorical connection that seems to be affirmed by later Byzantine Greek literature . Philip II was assassinated by his bodyguard Pausanias of Orestis in 336 BC at the theatre of Aigai, Macedonia amid games and spectacles held inside that celebrated the marriage of his daughter Cleopatra of Macedon . Alexander the Great was allegedly a great admirer of both theatre and music. He
21580-661: The scant linguistic evidence, such as the Pella curse tablet , ancient Macedonian is regarded by most scholars as another Greek dialect, possibly related to Doric Greek or Northwestern Greek . The ancient Macedonians participated in the production and fostering of Classical and later Hellenistic art . In terms of visual arts , they produced frescoes , mosaics , sculptures , and decorative metalwork . The performing arts of music and Greek theatrical dramas were highly appreciated, while famous playwrights such as Euripides came to live in Macedonia. The kingdom also attracted
21746-502: The school of Aristotle. Philip V of Macedon had manuscripts of the history of Philip II written by Theopompus gathered by his court scholars and disseminated with further copies. When Alexander I of Macedon petitioned to compete in the foot race of the ancient Olympic Games, the event organizers at first denied his request, explaining that only Greeks were allowed to compete. However, Alexander I produced proof of an Argead royal genealogy showing ancient Argive Temenid lineage,
21912-505: The so-called Lausitz culture between 1200 and 900 BC—and that of the Glasinac culture after circa 900 BC. While some of these influences persisted beyond the sixth century BC, a more ubiquitous presence of items of an Aegean-Mediterranean character is seen from the latter sixth century BC, as Greece recovered from its Dark Ages. Southern Greek impulses penetrated Macedonia via trade with north Aegean colonies such as Methone and those in
22078-432: The south had been present since late Mycenaean times. By the 5th century BC, Macedonia was a part of the "Greek cultural milieu" according to Edward M. Anson, possessing many cultural traits typical of the southern Greek city-states. Classical Greek objects and customs were appropriated selectively and used in peculiarly Macedonian ways. In addition, influences from Achaemenid Persia in culture and economy are evident from
22244-516: The statue displays great iconographical and stylistic similarities with the works of the Buddhist monastery of Fondukistan , which is also dated to the same period. Hinduism further flourished under the rule of Hindu Shahis , but went into sharp decline with the advent of Islam through the Ghaznavids , who defeated the Shahis. Nonetheless, it continued as a significant minority in Afghanistan until
22410-435: The story was disseminated by the Macedonian court, i.e. it accounts for the belief the Macedonians had about the origin of their kingdom, if not an actual memory of this beginning. Later historians modified the dynastic traditions by introducing variously Caranus or Archelaus, the son of Temenus, as the founding Temenid kings—although there is no doubt that Euripides transformed Caranus to Archelaus meaning "leader of
22576-478: The tablet is a distinctly recognizable form of Northwest Greek . The tablet has been used to support the argument that ancient Macedonian was a Northwest Greek dialect and mainly a Doric Greek dialect. Hatzopoulos's analysis revealed some tendencies toward the Aeolic Greek dialect. Hatzopoulos also states that the native language of the ancient Macedonians also betrays a slight phonetic influence from
22742-435: The term Afghan being applied to them, and there are Pashtuns in Pakistan that wish to have the term Afghan applied to them. The pre-nation state, historical ethnonym Afghan was used to refer to a member of the Pashtun ethnic group. Due to the changing political nature of the state, the meaning has changed, and the term has shifted to refer to the national identity of people from Afghanistan of all ethnicities. From
22908-593: The territory as far as the Strymon called Mygdonia, having driven out the Edoni. Moreover, they expelled from the district now called Eordaea the Eordi ;... The Macedonians also made themselves rulers of certain places ... namely Anthemus, Grestonia, and a large part of Macedonia proper. Thucydides's account gives a geographical overview of Macedonian possessions at the time of Alexander I's rule. To reconstruct
23074-500: The third stage occurred after 550 BC, when the Macedonians gained control over Mygdonia , Edonis , lower Paeonia, Bisaltia and Crestonia . However, the second stage might have occurred as late as 520 BC; and the third stage probably did not occur until after 479 BC, when the Macedonians capitalized on the weakened Paeonian state after the Persian withdrawal from Macedon and the rest of their mainland European territories. Whatever
23240-402: The time of the Persian invasion of Paeonia and when Macedon became a vassal state of Achaemenid Persia . However, Alexander I ( r. 498 – 454 BC ) is the first truly historic figure. Based on this line of succession and an estimated average rule of 25 to 30 years, the beginnings of the Macedonian dynasty have thus been traditionally dated to 750 BC. Hammond supports
23406-614: The town for the Samanid dynasty of Bokhara, proceeded to create an empire in their own right. The greatest of the Ghaznavids was Muhmad who ruled between 998 and 1030. He expelled the Hindus from Gandhara, made no fewer than seventeen raids into northwestern India and succeeded in conquering territory stretching from the Caspian Sea to Varanasi. Bokhara and Samarkand also came under his rule. He encouraged mass conversions to Islam, of Indians as well as Afghans, looted Hindu temples and carried off immense booty, earning for himself, depending on
23572-656: The traditional view that the Temenidae did arrive from the Peloponnese and took charge of Macedonian leadership, possibly usurping rule from a native "Argead" dynasty with Illyrian help. However, other scholars doubt the veracity of their Peloponnesian origins. For example, Miltiades Hatzopoulos takes Appian's testimony to mean that the royal lineage imposed itself onto the tribes of the Middle Heliacmon from Argos Orestikon , whilst Eugene N. Borza argues that
23738-431: The traditionalist perspective first set in place by Hammond. An alternative model of state and ethnos formation, promulgated by an alliance of regional elites, which redates the creation of the Macedonian kingdom to the 6th century BC, was proposed in 2010. According to these scholars, direct literary, archaeological, and linguistic evidence to support Hammond's contention that a distinct Macedonian ethnos had existed in
23904-491: The unit of Afghan currency . The term is also often used in the English language (and appears in some dictionaries) for a person or thing related to Afghanistan, although some have expressed the opinion that this usage is incorrect. The reason for this usage might be because the term "Afghani" (افغانی) is in fact a valid demonym for Afghans in the overall Persian language , whereas "Afghan" is derived from Pashto. Thus, "Afghan"
24070-527: The upper and middle Haliacmon River , and Bottiaea . They can also be found on either side of the Axios and in the Chalcidice in eastern Macedonia. By the 5th century BC the Macedonians and the rest of the Greeks worshiped more or less the same deities of the Greek pantheon . In Macedonia, politics and religion often intertwined. For instance, the head of state for the city of Amphipolis also served as
24236-508: The use of interpreters as late as the time of Alexander the Great. Based on this evidence, Papazoglou has written that Macedonian could not have been a Greek dialect, however, evidence for non-intelligibility exists for other ancient Greek dialects such as Aetolian and Aeolic Greek. Hornblower suggests that Greeks were intelligible to Macedonians without an interpreter, as supported by the Athenian orator Aeschines . Livy wrote that when Aemilius Paulus called together representatives of
24402-471: The viewpoint of the observer, the titles of 'Image-breaker' or 'scourge of India'. Mahmud used his plundered wealth to finance his armies which included mercenaries. The Indian soldiers, presumably Hindus, who were one of the components of the army with their commander called sipahsalar -i-Hinduwan lived in their quarter of Ghazna practicing their own religion. Indian soldiers under their commander Suvendhray remained loyal to Mahmud. They were also used against
24568-448: The walls with a mythological scene of Hades abducting Persephone (Tomb 1) and royal hunting scenes (Tomb 2), while lavish grave goods including weapons, armor , drinking vessels and personal items were housed with the dead, whose bones were burned before burial in decorated gold coffins . Some grave goods and decorations were common in other Macedonian tombs, yet some items found at Vergina were distinctly tied to royalty, including
24734-695: The word "Afghan" is derived from the words awajan/apajan in Avestan and ava-Han/apa-Han in Sanskrit , which means "killing, striking, throwing and resisting, or defending." Under the Sasanians , and possibly the Parthian Empire , the word was used to refer to men of a certain Persian sect. In the past, several scholars sought a connection with "horse", Skt.aśva-, Av.aspa-, i.e. the Aśvaka or Aśvakayana,
24900-406: The words are Greek, although some of these could represent loans or cognate forms. Alternatively, a number of phonological, lexical and onomastic features set Macedonian apart. These latter features, possibly representing traces of a substrate language , occur in what are considered to be particularly conservative systems of the language. Several hypotheses have consequently been proposed as to
25066-427: The works of Herodotus and Thucydides, the works compiled by Jacoby are only fragmentary, whereas other works are completely lost, such as the history of an Illyrian war fought by Perdiccas III of Macedon written by the Macedonian general and statesman Antipater . The Macedonian historians Marsyas of Pella and Marsyas of Philippi wrote histories of Macedonia, while the Ptolemaic king Ptolemy I Soter authored
25232-429: Was a mainly oral language and most archaeological inscriptions indicate that in Macedonia there was no dominant written language besides Attic and later Koine Greek. All surviving epigraphical evidence from grave markers and public inscriptions is in Greek. Classification attempts are based on a vocabulary of 150–200 words and 200 personal names assembled mainly from the 5th century lexicon of Hesychius of Alexandria and
25398-406: Was also prominent; coins featuring Heracles appear from the 5th century BC onwards. This was in large part because the Argead kings of Macedon traced their lineage to Heracles, making sacrifices to him in the Macedonian capitals of Vergina and Pella. Numerous votive reliefs and dedications also attest to the importance of the worship of Artemis. Artemis was often depicted as a huntress and served as
25564-408: Was another focus of elite activity, and it remained popular throughout Macedonia's history. Young men participating in symposia were only allowed to recline after having killed their first wild boar . For administrative and political purposes, Attic Greek seems to have operated as a lingua franca among the ethno-linguistically diverse communities of Macedonia and the north Aegean region, creating
25730-532: Was especially fond of the plays by Classical Athenian tragedians Aeschylus , Sophocles , and Euripides , whose works formed part of a proper Greek education for his new eastern subjects alongside studies in the Greek language and epics of Homer . While he and his army were stationed at Tyre (in modern-day Lebanon), Alexander had his generals act as judges not only for athletic contests but also stage performances of Greek tragedies. The contemporaneous famous actors Thessalus and Athenodorus performed at
25896-584: Was first acquired and made a kingdom by Alexander [I], father of Perdiccas [II] and his forefathers, who were originally Temenidae from Argos. They defeated and expelled from Pieria the Pierians ;... and also expelled the Bottiaeans from Bottiaea ... they acquired as well a narrow strip of Paeonia extending along the Axios river from the interior to Pella and the sea. Beyond the Axios they possess
26062-556: Was hereditary along the paternal line , yet it is unclear if primogeniture was strictly observed as an established custom. During the Late Bronze Age (circa 15th-century BC), the ancient Macedonians developed distinct, matt-painted wares that evolved from Middle Helladic pottery traditions originating in central and southern Greece. The Macedonians continued to use an individualized form of material culture—albeit showing analogies in ceramic, ornamental and burial forms with
26228-481: Was in the more bureaucratic regimes of the Hellenistic kingdoms succeeding Alexander the Great's empire where greater social mobility for members of society seeking to join the aristocracy could be found, especially in Ptolemaic Egypt. In contrast with classical Greek poleis, the Macedonians held only few slaves. However, unlike Thessaly, Macedonia was ruled by a monarchy from its earliest history until
26394-815: Was inhabited by ancient Arians followed by the Achaemenid before the arrival of Alexander the Great and his Greek army in 330 BC. It became part of the Seleucid Empire after the departure of Alexander three years later. In 305 BCE, the Seleucid Empire lost control of the territory south of the Hindu Kush to the Indian Emperor "Sandrocottus" as a result of the Seleucid-Mauryan War . Alexander took these away from
26560-538: Was inhabited by various peoples, including Persians , Khalaj , Turks , and Pashtuns . Parts of the territory South of Hindu Kush were ruled by the Zunbils , offspring of the southern-Hephthalite. The eastern parts ( Kabulistan ) were controlled by the Turk Shahis . The Zunbil and Kabul Shahis were connected with the Indian subcontinent through common Buddhism and Zun religions. The Zunbil kings worshipped
26726-517: Was made in Macedonia during the 3rd century BC, which perhaps influenced the later 'trencher' bread of medieval Europe if not Greek pita and Italian pizza . Cattle and goats were consumed, although there was no notice of Macedonian mountain cheeses in literature until the Middle Ages . As exemplified by works such as the plays by the comedic playwright Menander , Macedonian dining habits penetrated Athenian high society; for instance,
26892-491: Was neighbouring Thessaly; the two regions shared many similar cultural institutions. They were tolerant of, and open to, incorporating foreign religious influences such as the sun worship of the Paeonians. By the 4th century BC, there had been a significant fusion of Macedonian and common Greek religious identity, but Macedonia was nevertheless characterized by an unusually diverse religious life. This diversity extended to
27058-518: Was not until the rise of the Saffarid dynasty in the ninth century that the frontiers of Islam effectively reached Ghazni and Kabul. Even then a Hindu dynasty the Hindushahis , held Gandhara and eastern borders. From the tenth century onwards as Persian language and culture continued to spread into Afghanistan, the focus of power shifted to Ghazni , where a Turkish dynasty, who started by ruling
27224-753: Was part of the Taliban's plan to segregate "un-Islamic" and "idolatrous" communities from Islamic ones. The decree was condemned by the Indian and U.S. governments as a violation of religious freedom. Widespread protests against the Taliban regime broke out in Bhopal , India. In the United States, Abraham Foxman , chairman of the Anti-Defamation League , compared the decree to the practices of Nazi Germany , where Jews were required to wear labels identifying them as such. Several influential lawmakers in
27390-638: Was populated by rural ethnic groups in constant conflict is slowly changing, bridging the cultural gap between southern Epirus and the north Aegean region. Hatzopoulos's studies on Macedonian institutions have lent support to the hypothesis that Macedonian state formation occurred via an integration of regional elites, which were based in city-like centres, including the Argeadae at Vergina, the Paeonian/ Edonian peoples in Sindos, Ichnae and Pella, and
27556-451: Was practiced in different parts between the Amu Darya (Oxus River) in the north and the Indus River . However, they did not mention much about Hinduism although Song Yun did state that the Hephthalite rulers did not recognize Buddhism but "preached pseudo gods and killed animals for their meat". Before the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan , the territory was a religious sediment of Zoroastrianism , Zunbils , Hinduism and Buddhism . It
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