Sailing Around Erythraean Sea: Forty Seven

The previous Section had been an account of the tides on the mouth of the River Narmada and the distress that tidal waves bring upon the ships caught in it. Let us look at the next

The country inland from Barygaza is inhabited by numerous tribes, such the Arattii, the Arachosii, the Gandaraei, and the people of Poclais, in which is Bucephalus of Alexandria. Above these is a very war like nation of Bactrians, who are under their king. And Alexander setting out from these parts, penetrated to Ganges, leaving aside Damirica and southern parts of India; and to the present day ancient drachma are current in Barygaza, coming from this country, bearing inscriptions in Greek letters, and the devices of those who reigned after Alexander, Apollodotus and Menander.

My Search:-

1. Arattii: Means the inhabitants of Aratta. Yusef Majidzadeh, an Iranian archeologist has proposed that
Shehdad of Kermam Province of Iran as the possible locality of Aratta, based on archeological excavations and textual analysis. Shahdad was an ancient settlement of third millennium BCE. It was a trade hub between Indus valley and Mesopotamia. It is on the edge of Lut, a salt desert. Being near to the desert it is one of the hottest place. 

Lack of water and drought must have prompted people to abandon the site and move westward to the coast of Oman and gradually spread to Indian subcontinent. Bandar Abbas on the northern coast of Persian Gulf was the nearest port, at a distance of about 600 kilometres.

Archaeological excavations had revealed remains of castles and caravansarai (roadstead ) where travellers could rest and recover from a day's journey. It began to grow as an international trade hub between Mesopotamia and Sindh. Artifacts recovered included clay statues in burial grounds, possibly placed with the dead, lapis lazuli, silver, lead, turquoise imported from Afghanistan and and shells from Persian gulf and Indian Ocean. Ancient settlements were found in what is now an empty desert.

2. Archosii, also known as Harauvatis (old Persian) was a satrapy (province) of Achaemenid Empire, mainly centred around Arghandab River (a river in Afghanistan). It extends as far as Indus River. Harauvatis is etymological equivalent of Vedic Sarasvati. Archosii are people from Arghandab area Khandahar, Afghanistan.

3. Gandaraei: Gandhara, now in Pakistan/Afghanistan. Mahabharata and Puranas mention as Gandhara, while Buddhist texts like Mahavamsa mentioned it as Kandhar. They need not be identical, but more or less similar.

4. Bucephalus: Modern day Jhelum. Bucephalus was the famous horse of Alexander the Great. Bucephalus was killed in Alexander's last great battle in 326 BCE. Alexander gave a state funeral for him and built a city after him. It is modern day Jhelum.

5. Poclais: Not identified. Somewhere in Jhelum.

6. Bactrians: Bactria was a region in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River ( modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of Hindu Kush, an area within the north of modern Afghanistan. The city of Kabul is within this area. Bactrians are the inhabitants of Bactria. 

7. Drachma: a former monetary unit of Greece, replaced in the year 2002.

8. Apollodotus: Apollodotus I was a Indo-Greek king from 180BCE to 160BCE who ruled Taxila and Sindh.

9. Menander: Must have been Menander I Soter, who had a control over northwestern India and Central Asia. He was a patron and  convert to Greco-Buddhism.

End of the Section 

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