Seleucid EmpireThe Seleucid Empire (sɪˈljuːsɪd; Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν) was a Hellenistic power in West Asia. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great, and ruled by the Seleucid dynasty until its annexation by the Roman Republic under Pompey in 63 BC. After receiving the Mesopotamian regions of Babylonia and Assyria in 321 BC, Seleucus I began expanding his dominions to include the Near Eastern territories that encompass modern-day Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon all of which had been under Macedonian control after the fall of the former Persian Achaemenid Empire.
YuezhiThe Yuezhi (;) were an ancient people first described in Chinese histories as nomadic pastoralists living in an arid grassland area in the western part of the modern Chinese province of Gansu, during the 1st millennium BC. After a major defeat at the hands of the Xiongnu in 176 BC, the Yuezhi split into two groups migrating in different directions: the Greater Yuezhi (Dà Yuèzhī 大月氏) and Lesser Yuezhi (Xiǎo Yuèzhī 小月氏). This started a complex domino effect that radiated in all directions and, in the process, set the course of history for much of Asia for centuries to come.
Hindu ShahisThe Hindu Shahis (also known as Odi Shahis, Uḍi Śāhis, or Brahman Shahis, 822–1026 CE) were a dynasty that held sway over the Kabulistan, Gandhara and western Punjab during the early medieval period in the Indian subcontinent. Details regarding past rulers can only be assembled from disparate chronicles, coins and stone inscriptions. Scholarship on Hindu Shahis remain scarce. Colonial scholars—James Prinsep, Alexander Cunningham, Henry Miers Elliot, Edward Thomas et al.
Buddhism in AfghanistanBuddhism, an Indian religion founded by Gautama Buddha, first arrived in modern-day Afghanistan through the conquests of Ashoka (268-232), the third emperor of the Maurya Empire. Among the earliest notable sites of Buddhist influence in the country is a bilingual mountainside inscription in Greek and Aramaic that dates back to 260 BCE and was found on the rocky outcrop of Chil Zena near Kandahar.
Macedonia (ancient kingdom)Macedonia (ˌmæsᵻˈdoʊniə ; Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (ˈmæsᵻdɒn ), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal Argead dynasty, which was followed by the Antipatrid and Antigonid dynasties. Home to the ancient Macedonians, the earliest kingdom was centered on the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, and bordered by Epirus to the southwest, Illyria to the northwest, Paeonia to the north, Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south.
Greco-Buddhist artThe Greco-Buddhist art or Gandhara art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between Ancient Greek art and Buddhism. It had mainly evolved in the ancient region of Gandhara, located in the northwestern fringe of the Indian subcontinent. The series of interactions leading to Gandhara art occurred over time, beginning with Alexander the Great's brief incursion into the area, followed by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka converting the region to Buddhism.
Bamyan ProvinceBamyan Province (ولایت بامیان) also spelled Bamiyan, Bāmīān or Bāmyān is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan with the city of Bamyan as its center, located in central parts of Afghanistan. The terrain in Bamyan is mountainous or semi-mountainous, at the western end of the Hindu Kush mountains concurrent with the Himalayas. The province is divided into eight districts, with the town of Bamyan serving as its capital.
Hindu and Buddhist heritage of AfghanistanCommunities of various religious and ethnic background have lived in the land of what is now Afghanistan. Before the Islamic conquest, south of the Hindu Kush was ruled by the Zunbil and Kabul Shahi rulers. When the Chinese travellers (Faxian, Song Yun, Xuanzang, Wang-hiuon-tso, Huan-Tchao, and Wou-Kong) visited Afghanistan between 399 and 751 AD, they mentioned that Hinduism and Buddhism was practiced in different areas between the Amu Darya (Oxus River) in the north and the Indus River in the south.
Carmania (region)Carmania (Καρμανία, 𐎣𐎼𐎶𐎴𐎠, Middle Persian: Kirmān) is a historical region that approximately corresponds to the current province of Kerman, Iran, and was a province of the Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, and Sasanian Empire. The region bordered Persia proper in the west, Gedrosia in the south-east, Parthia in the north (later known as Abarshahr), and Aria to the northeast. Carmania was considered part of Ariana. In the Early Bronze Age, late third millennium BC, it is postulated that a civilisation known as Jiroft civilisation developed and flourished in the region of Carmania.
EmirEmir (əˈmɪər,_eɪˈmɪər,_ˈeɪmɪər; أمير ʔaˈmiːr), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ceremonial authority. The title has a long history of use in the Arab World, East Africa, West Africa, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.
