The Sanskrit term aśva, Prakritassa and Avestanaspa means horse. The name Aśvaka/AśvakanorAssaka is derived from the Sanskrit Aśva or Prakrit Assa and it denotes someone connected with the horses, hence a horseman, or a cavalryman.[6][7][8] The Asvakas were especially engaged in the occupation of breeding, raising and training war horses, as also in providing expert cavalry services.[9] The name of the AśvakanorAssakan is believed by some scholars to have been preserved in that of the modern Pashtun, with the name Afghan being derived from Asvakan.[3]
In the Major Rock EdictsofAshoka, Asvakas are described as Gandhāras (Gandharians)[2][4] who are recorded separately from Kambojas.[10] Ancient Greek historians who documented the exploits of Alexander the Great refer to the Aspasioi and Assakenoi (Ἀσσακηνοί) tribes among his opponents. The historian R. C. Majumdar considers these words to be corruptions of Asvaka.[11] It is possible that the corruption of the names occurred due to regional differences in pronunciation.[12] Rama Shankar Tripathi thinks it possible that the Assakenoi were either allied to or a branch of the Aspasioi.[13] The Greeks recorded the two groups as inhabiting different areas, with the Aspasioi in either the AlishangorKunar Valley and the Assakenoi in the Swat Valley.[12]
The Assakenoi fielded 2,000 cavalry, 30 elephants and 30,000 infantry[b] against Alexander during his campaign in India, which began in 327 BCE, but they eventually had to surrender after losses at places such as Beira, Massaga and Ora. The Aspasioi chose to flee into the hills but destroyed their city of Arigaion before doing so; 40,000 of them were captured, along with 230,000 oxen.[15]Diodorus recorded the strength of the Aśvaka opposition, noting that the women took up arms along with the men, preferring "a glorious death to a life of dishonour".[16]Queen Cleophis was the main leader of Asvakas during their war against Alexander.
The Asvayanas have been attested to be good cattle breeders and agriculturists by classical writers. Arrian said that, during the time of Alexander, there were a large number of bullocks - 230,000 - of a size and shape superior to what the Macedonians had known, which Alexander captured from them and decided to send to Macedonia for agriculture.[17]
^Also known in various sources as Āśvakāyana, Āśvāyana, Assakenoi, Aspasioi,[1] and Aspasii,[2] as well as several other Prakrit, Latin and Greek variants.
^The statistics for the Assakenoi forces that fought Alexander vary. For example, Barbara West says there were 30,000 cavalry, 20,000 infantry and at least 30 elephants.[14]
^Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra; Pusalker, Achut Dattatrya; Bhavan, Bharatiya Vidya; Majumdar, A. K.; Ghose, Dilip Kumar; Dighe, Vishvanath Govind (2001). The History and Culture of the Indian People(PDF). Vol. 2. p. 45.
^ abBevan, E. R. (1955). "Alexander the Great". In Rapson, Edward James (ed.). The Cambridge History of India. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press. p. 352.
^Dani, Ahmad Hasan; Masson, Vadim Mikhaĭlovich; Harmatta, János; Litvinovskiĭ, Boris Abramovich; Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1999). History of Civilizations of Central Asia(PDF). UNESCO. p. 76.
^Achaya, K. T. (2001). cf: A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food. Oxford India Paperbacks. p. 91.
Codrington, K. de B. (July–August 1944). "A Geographical Introduction to the History of Central Asia". The Geographical Journal. 104 (1/2): 27–40. doi:10.2307/1790027. JSTOR1790027.
Gupta, Kalyan Kumar Das (March–June 1972). "The Aśvakas: an Early Indian Tribe". East and West. 22 (1/2): 33–40. JSTOR29755742.
