Notice: This is the official website of the All Empires History Community (Reg. 10 Feb 2002)

  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Register Register  Login Login

Topic ClosedPakistan, Land of Pactyans?
 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
  Share Topic Share Topic  Topic Search Topic Search  Topic Options Topic Options
Cyrus Shahmiri View Drop Down
Administrator
Administrator
Avatar
King of Kings

Joined: 07-Aug-2004
Location: Iran
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6240 		Direct Link To This Post 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.
 
Accroding to this Persian Encyclopedia: http://www.encyclopaediaislamica.com/madkhal2.php?sid=2778 Pakta relates to Persian verb Paktan/Pokhtan "to bake" and Sanskrit Pacati "to cook", it is said they were a people who baked different things as gifts to their God.
Back to Top
oxydracae View Drop Down
Samurai
Samurai
Avatar

Joined: 26-Feb-2012
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 107 		Direct Link To This Post 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
Back to Top
Cyrus Shahmiri View Drop Down
Administrator
Administrator
Avatar
King of Kings

Joined: 07-Aug-2004
Location: Iran
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6240 		Direct Link To This Post 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).
 
These Parsii people lived in Paropamisadae: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paropamisadae which was located north of Arachosia and Drangiana, east of Aria, south of Bactria, and west of Kashmir.
 
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.
Back to Top
oxydracae View Drop Down
Samurai
Samurai
Avatar

Joined: 26-Feb-2012
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 107 		Direct Link To This Post 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
Back to Top
Cyrus Shahmiri View Drop Down
Administrator
Administrator
Avatar
King of Kings

Joined: 07-Aug-2004
Location: Iran
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6240 		Direct Link To This Post 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.
Back to Top
balochii View Drop Down
Colonel
Colonel


Joined: 23-May-2009
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 699 		Direct Link To This Post 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?
Back to Top
Afghanan View Drop Down
Chieftain
Chieftain
Avatar
Durr e Durran

Joined: 12-Jun-2005
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1098 		Direct Link To This Post 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?
The perceptive man is he who knows about himself, for in self-knowledge and insight lays knowledge of the holiest.
~ Khushal Khan Khattak
Back to Top
Nick1986 View Drop Down
Emperor
Emperor
Avatar
Mighty Slayer of Trolls

Joined: 22-Mar-2011
Location: England
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 7940 		Direct Link To This Post 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?
Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains!
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Bulletin Board Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 9.56a [Free Express Edition]
Copyright ©2001-2009 Web Wiz

This page was generated in 0.125 seconds.