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[[Image:AsokaKandahar.jpg|thumb|The [[Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription]] of Ashoka, in which the Kambojas are mentioned.]]<br />
The '''Kambojas''' were a southeastern [[Iranian peoples|Iranian people]]{{Cref2|a}} who inhabited the northeastern most part of the territory populated by Iranian tribes, which bordered the [[Indian subcontinent|Indian lands]]. They only appear in [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] inscriptions and literature, being first attested during the later part of the [[Vedic period]].<br />
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They spoke a language similar to [[Younger Avestan]], whose words are considered to have been incorporated in the Aramao-Iranian version of the [[Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription]] erected by the [[Maurya Empire|Maurya]] emperor [[Ashoka]] ({{reign|268|232|era=BCE}}). They were adherents of [[Zoroastrianism]], as demonstrated by their beliefs that insects, snakes, worms, frogs, and other small animals had to be killed, a practice mentioned in the [[Avesta]]n [[Vendidad]].<br />
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== Etymology ==<br />
''Kamboja-'' (later form ''Kāmboja-'') was the name of their territory and identical to the [[Old Iranian]] name of ''*Kambauǰa-'', whose meaning is uncertain. A long-standing theory is the one proposed by J. Charpentier in 1923, in which he suggests that the name is connected to the name of [[Cambyses I]] and [[Cambyses II]] (''Kambū̌jiya'' or ''Kambauj'' in [[Old Persian]]), both kings from the [[Achaemenid dynasty]]. The theory has been discussed several times, but the issues that it posed were never persuadingly resolved.{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}}<br />
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In the same year, [[Sylvain Lévi]] proposed that the name is of [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]] origin, though this is typically rejected.{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}} <br />
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== History ==<br />
The Kambojas only appear in [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] inscriptions and literature, being first attested during the later part of the [[Vedic period]]. The ''Naighaṇṭukas'', a glossary and oldest surviving writing about Indian [[lexicography]], is the first source to mention them. In his book about etymology—the ''[[Nirukta]]''—the ancient Indian author [[Yāska|Yaska]] comments on that part of the ''Naighaṇṭukas'', in which he mentions that "the word ''śavati'' as a verb of motion is used only by the Kambojas", a statement that is more or less repeated in the exact same way by later authors, such as the grammarian [[Patanjali]] (2nd-century BCE) in his ''[[Mahabhashya]]''. The word ''śavati'' is equivalent to ''š́iiauua-'' in [[Younger Avestan]], which demonstrates that the Kambojas spoke an Iranian tongue with close ties to it. Modern historian M. Witzel surmised that grammarians and lexicographers must have first become acquainted with the word around 500 BCE or perhaps earlier, due to Yaska and Patanjali both using the same example known amongst grammarians and lexicographers.{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}}<br />
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[[Image:Girnar Major Rock Edict No5.jpg|thumb|Drawing of the fifth [[Major Rock Edicts|Major Rock Edict]] of the [[Maurya Empire|Maurya]] emperor [[Ashoka]] ({{reign|268|232|era=BCE}})]]<br />
The [[Major Rock Edicts]] of the [[Maurya Empire|Maurya]] emperor [[Ashoka]] ({{reign|268|232|era=BCE}}) contain the first attestations of the Kambojas that can be precisely dated. The thirteenth edict says "among Greeks and Kambojas" and the fifth edict says "of Greeks, Kambojas and Gandharians". It is uncertain if Ashoka was only referring to just the Kambojas or all the Iranian tribes in his empire. Regardless, the mentioned groups of people were part of the Maurya Empire, being influenced by its politics, culture and religious traditions, and also adhered to ideology of "righteousness" set by Ashoka.{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}}<br />
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The major Indian epic ''[[Mahabharata]]'' also mentions the Kambojas, alongside the Greeks, [[Gandhara]]s, Bactrians and [[Indo-Scythians]]. Geographical texts in [[Sanskrit]] and the ''[[Aṅguttara Nikāya]]'' include the Kambojas as one of the [[Mahajanapadas|sixteen kingdoms]] of the [[Indian subcontinent]] during the lifetime of [[the Buddha]]. Various characteristics of the Kambojas are also described in different types of Sanskrit and [[Pali]] literature; they shaved themselves bald; they had a king; ''Rāja-pura-'' (meaning "King's town") was the name of their capital, but its site remains unknown. As was typical of Iranians, the Kambojas were renowned for their skill in horse breeding, and it is believed that the horses they produced were the most suitable for use in battle. These horses were brought into India in large quantities and also given as tribute.{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}}{{sfn|Sharma|2007|p=145–152}}{{sfn|Boyce|Grenet|1991|pp=129–130}} [[Indology|Indologist]] [[Etienne Lamotte]] further suggests that reputation of Kambojas as homeland of horses possibly earned the horse-breeders known as [[Aspasioi]] (from Old Persian ''aspa'') and [[Assakenoi]] (from Sanskrit ''aśva'' "horse") their epithet.{{sfn|Lamotte|1988|p=100}}<br />
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Following the death of Ashoka, the Maurya Empire fell into decline. During the start of the 2nd-century BCE, they lost their Indian-Iranian frontier lands (including Gandhara and [[Arachosia]]) to the forces of [[Demetrius I of Bactria|Demetrius I]] ({{reign|200|180|era=BCE}}), the king of the [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]]. As a result, the Greek population of those areas were once again under the dominion of their Greek countrymen, while the Kambojas met other Iranians, as the Bactrians were likely a major component of the conquering army along with the Greeks.{{sfn|Boyce|Grenet|1991|p=149}}<br />
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Some historians consider the Kambojas to have established the [[Kamboja Pala dynasty]] in [[Bengal]], but this remains uncertain. Some historians consider it to have founded by Kambojas who had settled in Bengal, a theory which may be supported by the attestation of a ''Kambojadeśa'' in the [[Lushai Hills]] by the [[Tibet]]an book ''Pag Sam Jon Zang''. [[Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri]] proposed that the Kambojas may have travelled to Bengal from the northwestern frontier in the wake of [[Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty|Gurjara-Pratihara]] conquests during the lifetime of [[Narayanapala]]. He adds that those Kambojas perhaps acquired positions and, at a suitable time, seized power.{{sfn|Caudhurī|1967|p=73}}<br />
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At [[Sithulpawwa Rajamaha Viharaya]] in the southern part of present-day [[Sri Lanka]], three inscriptions mention the name "Kaboja", which Sri Lankan archaeologist and [[Epigraphy|epigraphist]] [[Senarath Paranavithana]] suggested is related to the name "Kamboja". Similar variants of the name appears in other inscriptions in Sri Lanka, which has led to the suggestion that a group of Kambojan traders were active in Sri Lanka.{{sfn|Bopearachchi|2025|pp=396–397}}<br />
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[[Richard Strand]] considers the Nuristani [[Kom people (Afghanistan)|Kom people]] (aka Kamôzî or Kamôǰî) to be the descendants of the Kamboja people.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Strand |first=Richard |date=2022 |title=Kamboǰas and Sakas in the Holly-Oak Mountains: On the Origins of the Nûristânîs |url=https://nuristan.info/peristan.pdf |website=Nuristan: Hidden Land of the Hindu Kush}}</ref><br />
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== Language and location ==<br />
{{location map+ |Afghanistan |float=right|width=250 |caption=Location of the two inscription sites in present-day [[Afghanistan]], whose engraved Iranian languages have been suggested to have been spoken by the Kambojas<br />
|places=<br />
{{location map~ |Afghanistan| label = [[Dasht-e Nawar]] |lat=33.396556|long=68.416056|position=top}}<br />
{{location map~ |Afghanistan| label = [[Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription|Kandahar Edict of Ashoka]] |lat=31.732|long=65.8267|position=left}}<br />
}}<br />
The Kambojas inhabited the northeastern most part of the territory populated by Iranian tribes, which bordered the Indian lands.{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}} In 1918, Lévi suggested it to be [[Kafiristan]], but later retracted it in 1923; B. Liebich suggested they lived in the [[Kabulistan|Kabul Valley]]; J. Bloch suggested that they lived to the north-east of [[Kabul]]; Lamotte considered them to live them from Kafiristan to the southwestern part of [[Kashmir]].{{sfn|Lamotte|1988|p=100}}{{sfn|Bailey|1971|p=66}}<br />
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In 1958, a new suggestion was put forward by the French linguist [[Émile Benveniste]].{{sfn|Bailey|1971|p=66}} He drew a comparison between the Kambojas and Greeks described in Ashoka's [[Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription|edicts in Kandahar]] and the two languages it was written in; Greek and "Aramao-Iranian", which refers to the Iranian language hidden in the text of the [[Aramaic alphabet]]. Ashoka wanted to use these two languages to convey his religious message to the inhabitants of what is now present-day eastern [[Afghanistan]], around the Gandhara area, approximately between Kabul and Kandahar. Because of this, Benveniste considered the Iranian language used in Ashoka's inscriptions to be spoken by the Kambojas.{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}} The [[Iranian studies|Iranologists]] [[Mary Boyce]] and Frantz Grenet also support this view, saying that "The fact that Aramaic versions were made indicates that the Kambojas enjoyed a measure of autonomy, and that they not only preserved their Iranian identity, but were governed in some measure by members of their own community, on whom was laid the responsibility of transmitting to them the king's words, and having these engraved on stone."{{sfn|Boyce|Grenet|1991|p=136}}<br />
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[[Gérard Fussman]] suggested that the unidentified Iranian language of the two rock-inscriptions (IDN 3 and 5) in [[Dasht-e Nawar]] was spoken by the Kambojas, perhaps an early stage of the [[Ormuri|Ormuri language]]. According to Rüdiger Schmitt; "If this hypothesis should prove to be true, we would be able to locate the Kambojas more precisely in the mountains around [[Ghazni]] and on the Upper [[Arghandab River|Arghandab]]."{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}}<br />
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== Religious beliefs ==<br />
The [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryans]] considered the Kambojas to be "non-Aryan" (''anariya-'') strangers with their own peculiar traditions, as demonstrated in a portion of the [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] [[Jataka tales]]. Insects, snakes, worms, frogs, and other small animals had to be killed according to the Kambojas' religious beliefs.{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}}{{sfn|Boyce|Grenet|1991|pp=129–130}} This practice has been linked by academics to the [[Avesta]]n [[Vendidad]] for a long time, leading them to the conclusion that the Kambojas were adherents of [[Zoroastrianism]].{{sfn|Schmitt|2021}} These beliefs are based on Zoroastrian dualism, which attributes the Evil Spirit to creatures like these and others that are poisonous or repulsive to humans. Hence, Zoroastrians were commanded to destroy them, and careful pursuit of this goal has been observed by outside spectators since the 5th-century BCE to the present.{{sfn|Boyce|Grenet|1991|p=130}}<br />
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== Notes ==<br />
{{Cnote2 Begin|liststyle=upper-alpha}}<br />
{{Cnote2|a|Scholarship agree that the Kambojas were Iranian.<ref>{{harvnb|Schmitt|2021}}; {{harvnb|Boyce|Grenet|1991|p=129}}; {{harvnb|Scott|1990|p=45}}; {{harvnb|Kubica|2023|p=88}}; {{harvnb|Emmerick|1983|p=951}}; {{harvnb|Fussman|1987|pp=779–785}}; {{harvnb|Eggermont|1966|p=293}}.</ref> [[Richard N. Frye]] stated that "Their location and the meaning of the word Kamboja are much debated, but it is at least agreed that they were Iranians living to the northwest of the subcontinent."{{sfn|Frye|1984|p=154}}<br />
}}<br />
{{Cnote2 End}}<br />
{{notelist}}<br />
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== See also == <br />
* [[Kamboj]]<br />
* [[Cambodia]]<br />
* [[Khmer people]]<br />
* [[Parama Kamboja kingdom]]<br />
* [[Komedes]]<br />
* [[Arta (Kamuia)]]<br />
* [[Kingdom of Kapisa]]<br />
* [[Parachi language|Parachi]]<br />
* [[Saptarishi Tila statue]]<br />
* [[Rishikas]]<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFSchmitt2021|CITEREFEmmerick1983|CITEREFFussman1987}}<br />
{{reflist|2}}<br />
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== Sources ==<br />
* {{cite book |last=Bailey|first=H. W.|authorlink=Harold Walter Bailey|chapter=Ancient Kamboja |title=Iran and Islam: In Memory of the Late Vladimir Minorsky |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=1971 |pages=65–71|isbn=978-0085224201|editor=[[Clifford Edmund Bosworth]] |url=https://archive.org/details/iranislaminmemor0000unse}}<br />
* {{cite book |last=Bopearachchi|first=Osmund|authorlink=Osmund Bopearachchi|chapter=Ancient Kamboja |title=From Bactria to Taprobane: Selected Works of Osmund Bopearachchi. Volume II: Art History and Maritime Trade|publisher=Brill Publishers |year=2025|isbn= 978-9350980705}}<br />
* {{cite book |last1=Boyce |first1=Mary |author-link1=Mary Boyce|last2=Grenet |first2=Frantz |editor1-last=Beck |editor1-first=Roger |title=A History of Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrianism under Macedonian and Roman Rule |date=1991 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden|isbn=978-9004293915}}<br />
* {{cite book |last=Caudhurī|first=Ābadula Mamina|title=Dynastic History of Bengal, C. 750-1200 A.D. |date=1967 |publisher=Asiatic Society of Pakistan}}<br />
* {{cite journal |last=Eggermont|first=P.H.L.|title=The Murundas and the Ancient Trade-Route From Taxila To Ujjain|publisher=Brill |year=1966|pages=257–296|journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient|volume=9 |issue=3 |doi=10.1163/156852066X00119}}<br />
* {{Cambridge History of Iran|volume=3b|last=Emmerick|first=R. E.|chapter=Buddhism among Iranians|pages=949–964|chapter-page=949}}<br />
* {{cite book |last1=Kubica |first1=Olga |title=Greco-Buddhist Relations in the Hellenistic Far East: Sources and Contexts |date=2023 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1032193007}}<br />
* {{Encyclopaedia Iranica | volume=2 | fascicle=7 | title = Aśoka ii. Aśoka and Iran | last = Fussman | first = G. | url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/asoka-mauryan-emperor#pt2 | pages = 779–785 }}<br />
* {{cite book | title = The History of Ancient Iran | year = 1984 | publisher = C.H. Beck | last = Frye | first = R. N. | authorlink = Richard N. Frye | isbn = 978-3406093975 | url = https://archive.org/details/historyofancient0000frye | url-access = registration }}<br />
* {{cite book |last1=Lal |first1=Deepak |author-link=Deepak Lal |title=The Hindu Equilibrium: India C.1500 B.C. - 2000 A.D. |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-927579-3 |page=xxxviii |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dps-A5gOmA8C&pg=PR38 |language=en}}<br />
* {{cite book |last=Lamotte|first=Etienne Lamotte|author-link1=Etienne Lamotte|editor1-last=Webb-Boin|editor1-first=Sara|title=History Of Indian Buddhism |date=1988|publisher=Peters Press|isbn=978-9068311006}}<br />
* {{Encyclopædia Iranica Online|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-iranica-online/kamboja-COM_337524?lang=en|title=Kamboja|first=Rüdiger|last=Schmitt|authorlink=Rüdiger Schmitt|year=2021}}<br />
* {{cite journal |last=Scott|first=David Alan|year=1990|title=The Iranian Face of Buddhism |journal=East and West|volume=40 |issue =1 |pages=43–77 |jstor=29756924 }} {{Registration required}}<br />
*{{cite book |last=Sharma |first=Ram Sharan |author-link=Ram Sharan Sharma |title=India's Ancient Past |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/27690 |pages=145–152 |chapter= Chapter 15: Territorial States and the Rise of Magadha |quote=The rise of large states with towns as their base of operations strengthened the territorial idea. People owed strong allegiance to the janapada or the territory to which they belonged rather than to their jana or tribe. The Pali texts reveal that the janapadas grew into mahajanapadas. Gandhara and Kamboja were important mahajanapadas. Kamboja is called a janapada in Panini and a mahajanapada in the Pali texts. |isbn=9780199080366}}<br />
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{{Ancient India and Central Asia}}<br />
{{Tribes and kingdoms of the Mahabharata}}<br />
{{Mahajanapada |state=collapsed}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Mahajanapadas]]<br />
[[Category:Kambojas]]<br />
[[Category:Historical Iranian peoples]]<br />
[[Category:Kingdoms in the Mahabharata]]<br />
[[Category:Ancient peoples of Afghanistan]]<br />
[[Category:Ancient peoples of India]]<br />
[[Category:Ancient peoples of Pakistan]]<br />
[[Category:History of Zoroastrianism]]</div>MatthewEbner