Curated category
Ancient history of Afghanistan
- Gandharan BuddhismThe year 268 BCE marked the beginning of a profound transformation in the Peshawar basin. Emperor Ashoka, who ruled from 268 to 233 BCE, sent missionaries to…
- Indo-Greek KingdomIn about 200 BC, Demetrius I of Bactria led an army south across the Hindu Kush mountains into the Indian subcontinent. This invasion marked the beginning of…
- Greco-BuddhismIn 326 BC, Alexander the Great crossed the Indus River and fought King Porus at the Battle of the Hydaspes. This military engagement marked the furthest…
- Indo-Scythian KingdomIn the second century BCE, a nomadic group known as the Yuezhi fled westward after being defeated by the Xiongnu tribe of Mongolia.
- Parthian EmpireIn 247 BC, a man named Arsaces I led the Parni tribe to seize control of Parthia, a northeastern province then ruled by a rebel satrap called Andragoras.
- Sasanian EmpireIn 224 AD, Ardashir I defeated Artabanus IV at the Battle of Hormozdgan to end four centuries of Parthian rule. The victor crowned himself shahanshah, or…
- Maurya EmpireIn 321 BCE, a young man named Chandragupta stood at the edge of the Punjab region. He had just witnessed Alexander the Great's army mutiny at the Beas River…
- AshokaAshoka ruled one of the largest empires the Indian subcontinent had ever seen, then nearly vanished from memory. For centuries his name survived mostly in…
- Kushan EmpireIn 176 BC, the Yuezhi king was beheaded by the Xiongnu, forcing his people to flee their grasslands in eastern Xinjiang and northwestern Gansu.
- Silk RoadIn 1877, German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen published a series of lectures that introduced the phrase "Silk Road" to describe ancient trade networks…