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{{Short description|Indian province of the Achaemenid empire}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=July 2017}}
{{multiple image
| title=Hindush
| align = right
| image1 = Eastern Satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire.jpg
| width1 = 220
| caption1 = <center>Eastern territories of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] at their greatest extent, including Hindush, [[Sattagydia]] and [[Gandāra]]. (Source: Oxford Atlas of World History, 2002.)</center>
| image2 = Darius I statue India.jpg
| width2 = 111
| caption2 = <center>Hindush among the Achaemenid satrapies on the [[:Commons:Category:Statue of Darius I|Statue of Darius I]].'''<big><big>𓉔𓈖𓂧𓍯𓇌[[𓈉]]</big></big>''' ''H-n-d-[[Aleph|wꜣ]]-y'' ''Hindush''/India<ref name=EI>"Arachosia, Sattagydia, and India are represented and named among the subject nations sculptured on the base of the Egyptian statue of Darius I from Susa."{{cite book |last1=Yar-Shater |first1=Ehsan |title=Encyclopaedia Iranica |date=1982 |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |isbn=9780933273955 |page=10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vBQZAQAAIAAJ |language=en}}</ref></center>
}}

'''Hindush''' (or ''Hindūš'') was a province of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] in lower [[Indus Valley]] (modern [[Sindh]]) established after the [[Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley|Achaemenid conquest]] circa 500 BC. According to Herodotus, it was the "easternmost province" of the empire. It is believed to have continued as a province until the [[Indian campaign of Alexander the Great|invasion of the empire by Alexander the Great]] circa 326 BC.

== Name ==
[[File:DNA inscription Hidush.jpg|thumb|right|The name ''Hidūš'' ([[:Wikt:𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁|𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁]] in [[Old Persian cuneiform]]) as an Achaemenid territory in the [[DNa inscription]] of [[Darius the Great]] (c. 490 BC).]]

Hindush was written in [[Achaemenid]] inscriptions as '''{{trans|peo|Hidūsh}}''' ([[Old Persian cuneiform]]: {{lang|peo|[[:Wikt:𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁|𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁]]}}, {{transl|peo|H-i-du-u-š}}). It is also transliterated as {{transl|peo|Hindūš}} since the nasal "n" before consonants was omitted in the Old Persian script, and simplified as {{transl|peo|Hindush}}).<ref name="Old Persian">Some sounds are omitted in the writing of Old Persian, and are shown with a raised letter.[https://archive.org/stream/OldPersian#page/n177/mode/2up/ Old Persian p.164][https://archive.org/stream/OldPersian#page/n23/mode/2up/ Old Persian p.13]. In particular Old Persian nasals such as "n" were omitted in writing before consonants [https://archive.org/stream/OldPersian#page/n27/mode/2up/ Old Persian p.17][https://archive.org/stream/OldPersian#page/n35/mode/2up/ Old Persian p.25]</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=DNa - Livius |url=https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions/dna/ |language=en}}</ref>

It is widely accepted that the name {{transl|peo|Hindush}} derives from {{transl|sa|Sindhu}}, the Sanskrit name of the [[Indus river]] as well as the region at the lower Indus basin (modern [[Sindh]]). The [[Proto-Iranian language|Proto-Iranian]] sound change ''*s'' > ''h'' occurred between 850–600 BCE, according to [[Asko Parpola]].{{sfnp|Parpola, The Roots of Hinduism|2015|loc=Chapter 9}} The ''-sh'' suffix is common among the names of many Achaemenid provinces, such as {{transl|peo|Harauvatish}} (the land of ''Harauvati'' or ''Haraxvaiti'', i.e., [[Arachosia]]) or {{transl|peo|Bakhtrish}} ([[Bactria]]). Accordingly, {{transl|peo|Hindush}} would mean the land of {{transl|sa|Sindhu}}.

The Greeks of [[Asia Minor]], who were also part of the Achaemenid empire, called the province 'India'. More precisely, they called the people of the province as 'Indians' ({{lang|grc|'Ινδοι}}, {{transl|grc|Indoi}}<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=*%29indoi%2F&la=greek&can=*%29indoi%2F0&prior=oi( 'Ινδοι], Greek Word Study Tool, Tufts University</ref>) The loss of the [[aspirated consonant|aspirate]] {{IPAslink|h}} was probably due to the dialects of Greek spoken in [[Asia Minor]].<ref>{{citation |last=Horrocks |first=Geoffrey |title=Greek: A History of the Language and its Speakers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BwHPKIUXKGsC |date=2009 |edition=Second |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4443-1892-0 |pages=27–28}}: "Note finally that the letter H/η was originally used to mark word-initial aspiration... Since such aspiration was lost very early in the eastern Ionic-speaking area, the letter was recycled, being used first to denote the new, very open, long e-vowel [æ:] ... and then to represent the inherited long e-vowel [ε:] too, once these two sounds had merged. The use of H to represent open long e-vowels spread quite early to the central Ionic-speaking area and also to the Doric-speaking islands of the southern Aegean, where it doubled up both as the marker of aspiration and as a symbol for open long e-vowels."</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Panayotou |first=A. |chapter=Ionic and Attic |editor1=A.-F. Christidis |title=A History of Ancient Greek: From the Beginnings to Late Antiquity |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-83307-3 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WJbd0m6YaFkC |year=2007 |page=410}}: "The early loss of aspiration is mainly a characteristic of Asia Minor (and also of the Aeolic and Doric of Asia Minor)...In Attica, however (and in some cases in Euboea, its colonies, and in the Ionic-speaking islands of the Aegean), the aspiration survived until later... During the second half of the fifth century BC, however, orthographic variation perhaps indicates that 'a change in the phonetic quality of [h] was taking place' too."</ref> Herodotus also generalised the term "Indian" from the people of Hindush to all the people living to the east of Persia, even though he had no knowledge of the geography of the land.<ref>{{citation |last=Arora |first=Udai Prakash |chapter=Ideas of India in Ancient Greek Literature |editor=Irfan Habib |title=India — Studies in the History of an Idea |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AyhuAAAAMAAJ |year=2005 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers |isbn=978-81-215-1152-0 |page=47}}: "The term 'Indians' was used by [[Herodotus]] as a collective name for all the peoples living east of Persia. This was also a significant development over [[Hekataios]], who had used this term in a strict sense for the groups dwelling in Sindh only."</ref>

== Geography ==
[[File:Eastern border of the Achaemenid Empire.jpg|thumb|left|Eastern border of the [[Achaemenid Empire]].]]
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The territory may have corresponded to the area covering the lower and central [[Indus River|Indus]] basin (present day [[Sindh]] and the southern [[Punjab region|Punjab]] regions of India and Pakistan).<ref name="Basham1974">{{cite book |last1=Basham |first1=Arthur Llewellyn |title=The Civilizations of Monsoon Asia |date=1974 |publisher=Angus and Robertson |isbn=978-0-207-12687-1 |page=24 |language=English |quote=... that he annexed parts of India as Hindush, the twentieth satrapy of his empire.}}</ref><ref name="Sethna2000">{{cite book |last1=Sethna |first1=Kaikhushru Dhunjibhoy |title=Problems of Ancient India |date=2000 |publisher=Aditya Prakashan |isbn=978-81-7742-026-5 |page=127 |language=English |quote=Olmstead's Hindush is the Punjāb east of the Indus - as his first Map, “Satrapies of the Persian Empire ”, makes perfectly clear.}}</ref><ref>M. A. Dandamaev. "A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire" p 147. BRILL, 1989 {{ISBN|978-9004091726}}</ref> To the north of Hindush was [[Gandāra]] (spelt as ''Gandāra'' by the Achaememids). These areas remained under Persian control until the [[Indian campaign of Alexander the Great|invasion by Alexander]].<ref>Rafi U. Samad, [https://books.google.com/books?id=pNUwBYGYgxsC&pg=PA33 ''The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys.''] Algora Publishing, 2011, p. 33 {{ISBN|0875868592}}</ref>

Alternatively, some authors consider that ''Hindush'' may have been located in the [[Punjab]] area.<ref name="Sethna2000"/><ref>"''Hidus'' could be the areas of Sindh, or Taxila and West Punjab." in {{cite book |title=Cambridge Ancient History |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2002 |isbn=9780521228046 |page=204 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nNDpPqeDjo0C&pg=PA204 |language=en}}</ref>
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== Hindush in the Achaemenid army ==
{{multiple image
| title=Hindush soldier of the Achaemenid army
| align = right
| image1 = Xerxes detail Hidush enhanced.jpg
| width1 = 144
| caption1 = <center>[[Xerxes I]] tomb, Hindush soldier of the [[Achaemenid army]], circa 480 BCE.<ref>{{cite book |title=Naqs-e Rostam – Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/naqs-e-rostam |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Naqs-e Rostam – Encyclopaedia Iranica List of nationalities of the Achaemenid military with corresponding drawings|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/uploads/files/Clothing/v5f7a014_f1_300.jpg |language=en}}</ref></center>
| image2 = Xerxes_detail_Hidush_head_enhanced.jpg
| width2 = 188
| caption2 = <center>[[Xerxes I]] tomb, Hindush soldier circa 480 BCE (enhanced detail).</center>
}}

According to [[Herodotus]], the 'Indians' participated to the [[Second Persian invasion of Greece]] circa 480 BCE.<ref>Herodotus [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Herodotus/7B*.html VII 64-66]</ref> At the final [[Battle of Platea]] (479 BCE), they formed one of the main corps of Achaemenid troops (one of "the greatest of the nations").<ref name="GS">"A Sindhu contingent formed a part of his army which invaded Greece and stormed the defile at Thermopylae in 480 BC, thus becoming the first ever force from India to fight on the continent of Europe. It, apparently, distinguished itself in battle because it was followed by another contingent which formed a part of the Persian army under Mardonius which lost the battle of Platea"{{cite book |last1=Sandhu |first1=Gurcharn Singh |title=A military history of ancient India |date=2000 |publisher=Vision Books |page=179 |isbn=9788170943754 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0yXcAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref name="H9-32">{{cite book |title=LacusCurtius • Herodotus — Book IX: Chapters 1‑89 |pages=IX-32 |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Herodotus/9A*.html}}</ref> Indians were still supplying troops and elephants for the Achaemenid army at the [[Battle of Gaugamela]] (331 BCE).<ref name="FT165">{{cite journal |last1=Tola |first1=Fernando |title=India and Greece before Alexander |journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |volume=67 |issue=1/4 |date=1986 |page=165 |language=en|jstor=41693244 }}</ref> They are also depicted on the Achaemenid tombs of [[Naqsh-e Rostam]] and [[Persepolis]].

Representatives of Hindush are depicted as delegates bringing gifts to the king on the Apadana staircases, and as throne/ dais bearers on the Tripylon and Hall of One Hundred Columns reliefs at Persepolis
The representatives of Hindush (as well as Gandara and Thatagus) in each in- stance are characterized by their loincloths, sandals, and exposed upper body, which distinguish them from the representatives of other eastern provinces such as Bactria and Arachosia. {{sfn|Magee et al., The Achaemenid Empire in South Asia and Recent Excavations|2005|p=713}}

==See also==
*[[Achaemenid invasion of the Indus Valley]]
*[[India (Herodotus)]]

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==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Achaemenid Provinces}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Achaemenid satrapies]]

Hindush - Revision history

ImportMaster at 14:54, 6 May 2022