Alexander The Great and The Kambojas

Alexander The Great And The Kambojas

Greek historians refer to three warlike peoples - the Astakenoi, the Aspasioi and the Assakenoi, living to the northwest of the river Indus, whom Alexander encountered during his campaign from Kapisi through Gandhara. The Aspasioi were related to the Assakenoi and were a western branch of them. Both the Aspasioi and Assakenoi soldiers earned the admiration of the Greeks for their fighting ability. Alexander personally directed operations against these clans who stubbornly resisted from their mountain strongholds. The Greek names Aspasioi and Assakenoi derive from the Sanskrit Ashva (or Persian Aspa). They appear as Ashvayanas and Ashvakayanas in Pāṇini's Ashtadhyayi and Ashvakas in the Puranas. The Kambojas were famous for their excellent horse breeding as well as their riding skills, hence they were also commonly known as Ashvakas. The Ashvayana and Ashvakayana clans fought the Macedonians fiercely with even the Ashvakayana Kamboj women taking up arms and fighting alongside their husbands, preferring "a glorious death to a life of dishonor".