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Cyrus Shahmiri
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Topic: Pakistan, Land of Pactyans? Posted: 10-Jun-2012 at 16:04 |
There are still Paktia and Paktika provinces in the southeast of Afghanistan and Pakhtunkhwa, one of the four provinces of Pakistan, as you read about Pakhtas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakthas The Greek historian Herodotus mentioned a people called Pactyan living on the eastern frontier of the Persian Arachosia Satrapy as early as the 1st millennium BCE.
Eastern satrapies of the Persian empire:
It seems to be possible that this land was called Paktistan by Persians and then Pakistan, however Pakistan really means "Land of (the) Pure" in Persian too.
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oxydracae
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Posted: 14-Jun-2012 at 13:52 |
Pactyan resembles Pakhtunistan, a historical name of region inhabited by Pashtun (or Pakhtun) people.
Even if we consider the short-form of 'Paktistan' it would be like "Patistan" rather than "Pakistan" as per linguistic norms, because in the Indian Languages (Indo-Aryan) the first consonant of the cluster gets eliminated.
Edited by oxydracae - 14-Jun-2012 at 13:54
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Cyrus Shahmiri
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Posted: 14-Jun-2012 at 16:03 |
According to that Persian Encyclopedia, Pakta and Pashtun were probably two diferent peoples and these words have diferent origins too, it is believed that "Pashtun" and "Persian" have the same origin, in fact linguistically hard "sh" (ch) sound in the Pashto is the same "rs" sound in the Avestan, so "Pashta" could be changed to "Parsta" and then "Parsa" (Persia).
Anyway the interesting thing is that in the Iranian languages it was the last "t/th" sound which usually was dropped from the names, so we see the land of Scythians is Sakestan not Sathestan and the modern name of Baktra is Balkh.
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oxydracae
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Posted: 18-Jun-2012 at 02:08 |
I have a doubt about the connection between " Pashta" and " Pārsa" as you see the "a" in Pārsa is a long "a" as compare to short "a" in " Pashta" "Pactyans" were inhabitants of "Arachosia" and "Kambojas" were inhabitants of "Paropamisadae". And Before 100 BC both Arachosia and Paropamisadae were Indo-Aryans. Then from 100 BC to 600 AD most of these Indo-Aryan elements migrated to India and were replaced by East Iranians. "Khetrani" an Indo-Aryan Language is still spoken in Arachosia and "Dardic" and "Nuristani", sub-branches of Indo-Aryan Languages are still present in Paropamisadae. The word "Pathan" (an Indian word for "Pakhtun" or "Pashtun") is direct derivative of "Pactyan" and the Indian name for "Sakestān" was "Shakasthān" and for "Balkh" was "Bāhlika"
Edited by oxydracae - 18-Jun-2012 at 02:09
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Cyrus Shahmiri
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Posted: 18-Jun-2012 at 04:34 |
Persians were called as Persis by Greeks, but there were another people who were called Parsioi (Παρσιοι) by ancient Greek historians, they lived in a region called Paropamisadae in the east of Afghanistan and north of Pakistan where modern Pashtun people live.
Anyway Pakta and Pashtun could be the same people but it is possible that both names have been preserved in different langauges.
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balochii
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Posted: 02-Jul-2012 at 01:59 |
real word for pashtun is (pakhtun) this might say some thing
anyways I think they might be the ancestors of several different people of the region, including baloch. and also some groups with in the punjab/sindh area
were pactyans good at fighting?
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Afghanan
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Posted: 04-Aug-2012 at 22:57 |
Herodotus wrote of their lands as Paktuike (Pakhtuika). He said these people live north and west from the Indians, their culture was the same as the Bactrians, and they were the most warlike.
The Iranic root wod of Pakhtuike, Pakhtuan, and Bakhdim aka A-Pakhtara (Bactria) is "Pakht" which alludes to the word North and also "Behind", does it not?
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Nick1986
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Posted: 01-Sep-2012 at 19:30 |
Doesn't Pakistan mean "land of the pure" as Muslim northwest Indians saw themselves as superior to their Hindu neighbors?
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Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains!
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