KAPISI (CITY)

Statue of Buddh found in the monastery of Fondukistan, Gurband Valley, Parwan. VII century AD. Guimet Museum

Kapisi (Kapisi, Chinese: Jiapishi) was the capital city of the former Kingdom of Kapis (now part of modern Afghanistan). While the name of the kingdom has been used for the modern Kapis Province, the ancient city of Kapis was located in Parwan Province, in or near present-day Bagram.

The first references to Kapis appear in the writings of 5th-century BCE Indian scholar Achariya Panini. Panini refers to the city of Kapisi, a city of the Kapis kingdom. Panini also refers to Kapisyan, a famous wine from Kapis. The city of Kapisi also appeared as Kavisiye on Indo-Greek coins of Apollodotus/Eucratides, as well as the Nezak Huns.

Archeology discoveries in 1939 confirmed that the city of Kapis was an emporium for Kapisyan wine, discovering numerous glass flasks, fish-shaped wine jars, and drinking cups typical of the wine trade of the era. The grapes (Kapisyani Draksh) and wine (Kapisyani Madhu) of the area are referred to by several works of ancient Indian literature. The Mahabharat also noted the common practice of slavery in the city. The Begram ivories, inlays surviving from burnt furniture, were important artistic finds.

In later times, Kapis seems to have been part of a kingdom ruled by a Buddhist Kshatriya king holding sway over ten neighboring states including Lampak, Nagarahar, Gandhar and Banu, according to the Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang who visited in 644 AD. Xuan Zang notes the Shen breed of horses from the area, and also notes the production of many types of cereals and fruits, as well as a scented root called Yu-kin.

Etymology :

Equivalence to Sanskrit Kamboj :

Asia in 565 AD, showing Kapis and its neighbors

Kapis is related to and included Kafiristan. [citation needed] Scholar community holds that Kapis is equivalent to Sanskrit Kamboj. [excessive citations] In other words, Kamboj and Kapis are believed to be two attempts to render the same foreign word (which could not appropriately be transliterated into Sanskrit). Historian S. Levi further holds that old Persian Ka(m)bujiya or Kau(n)bojiya, Sanskrit Kamboj as well as Kapis, all etymologically refer to the same foreign word.

Even the evidence from the 3rd-century Buddhist tantra text Mahamayuri (which uses Kabush for Kapish) and the Ramayan-manjri by Sanskrit Acharya, Kshemendra of Kashmir (11th century AD), which specifically equates Kapis with Kamboj, thus substituting the former with the latter, therefore, sufficiently attest that Kapis and Kamboja are equivalent. Even according to illustrious Indian history series: History and Culture of Indian People, Kapis and Kamboj are equivalent. Scholars like Dr Moti Chandra, Dr Krishna Chandra Mishra etc. also write that the Karpasik (of Mahabharat) and Kapis (Ki-pin/Ka-pin/Chi-pin of the Chinese writings) are synonymous terms.

Thus, both Karpasik and Kapis are essentially equivalent to Sanskrit Kamboj. And Paninian term Kapisi is believed to have been the capital of ancient Kamboj. Kapis (Ki-pin, Ke-pin, Ka-pin, Chi-pin of the Chinese records), in fact, refers to the Kamboj kingdom, located on the south-eastern side of the Hindukush in the Paropamisadae region. It was anciently inhabited by the Asvakayan (Greek: Assakenoi), and the Asvayan (Greek Aspasio) (q.v.) sub-tribes of the Kambojs. Epic Mahabharat refers to two Kamboj settlements: one called Kamboj, adjacent to the Darads (of Gilgit), extending from Kafiristan to south-east Kashmir including Rajauri/Poonch districts, while the original Kamboj, known as Param Kamboj was located north of Hindukush in Transoxiana territory mainly in Badakshan and Pamirs/Allai valley, as neighbors to the Rishiks in the Scythian land. Even Ptolemy refers to two Kamboja territories/and or ethnics - viz.: (1) Tambyzoi, located north of Hindukush on Oxus in Bactria/Badakshan and (2) Ambautai located on southern side of Hindukush in Paropamisadae. Even the Komoi clan of Ptolemy, inhabiting towards Sogdiana mountainous regions, north of Bactria, is believed by scholars to represent the Kamboj people.

Scholars like S. Levi and Michael Witzel accept the identity of Tambyzoi and Ambautai with Sanskrit Kamboj. The Ptolemian Ambautai formed parts of the Kapis kingdom under sway of Asvakayan/Asvayan (Ashvak) Kambojs. It appears probable that the original home of the Kambojs was trans-Oxian Kamboj, from where, some tribal sections moved south-wards and planted colonies in Paropamisan on southern side of Hindukush. With passage of time, the Paropamisan settlements came to be addressed as Kamboj proper, whereas the original Kamboj settlement lying north of Hindukush, in Transoxiana, became known as 'Param-Kamboj' i.e. furthest Kamboj. Some scholars call Param Kamboj as 'Uttar-Kamboj' i.e. northern Kamboj or Distant Kamboj. The Kapis-Kamboj equivalence also applies to the Paropamisan Kamboj settlement.

Physical characteristics of the people of Kapis :

Hiuen Tsang says that "the people of Kapis (Kai-pi-chi(h)) are cruel and fierce; their language is coarse and rude. Their marriage ceremonies are mere intermingling of sexes. Their literature is like that of Tukhar country but the customs, the common language, and rule of behavior are somewhat different. For clothing they use hair garments (wool); their garments are trimmed with furs. In commerce, they use gold and silver coins and also little copper coins. Hiuen Tsang further writes that the king of Kapis is Kshatriya by caste. He is of shrewd character (nature) and being brave and determined, he has brought into subjection the neighboring countries, some ten of which he rules ".

According to scholars, much of the description of the people from Kapis to Rajapur as given by Hiuen Tsang agrees well with the characteristics of the Kambojs described in the Buddhist text, Bhuridatt Jatak as well in the great Indian epic Mahabharat. Moreover, the Dron Parv of Mahabharat specifically attests that Rajapuram was a metropolitan city of the epic Kambojs. The Rajapuram (=Rajapur) of Mahabharat (Ho-b-she-pu-lo of Hiuen Tsang) has been identified with modern Rajauri in south-western Kashmir. Culturally speaking, Kapis had significant Iranian influence.

The early Shahis of Kapis/Kabul :

The affinities of the earlier shahi rulers (the so-called Turk Shahi) of Kapis/Kabul, who are believed to have probably ruled from the early 5th century till 870 AD, are still not clear. The different scholars link their affinities to different ethnics. 11th-century Muslim histriographer Alberuni's confused accounts on the early history of Shahis based mainly as they are on folklore, do not inspire much confidence on the precise identity of the early Shahis of Kapis/Kabul. They call them as Hindus on the one hand and claim their descent from the Turks, while at the same time, they also claim their origin/descent from Tibet.

Dr V. A. Smith calls the early Shahis as a Cadet Branch of the Kushans. H. M. Elliot identifies them with Kators/Katirs and further link them to Kushans. George Scott Robertson writes that the Kators/Katirs of Kafiristan belong to the well known Siyaposh tribal group of the Kams, Kamoz and Kamtoz tribes. Charles Fredrick Oldham identifies them with Nag-worshiping Takkas or Kaths and groups the Nag-cum-Sun worshipping Urasass (Hazaras), Abhisars, Gandhars, Kambojs and Darads collectively as the representatives of the Takkas or Kathas. Dr D. B. Pandey traces the affinities of the early Kabul Shahis to the Hunas. Bishan Singh and K. S. Dardi etc. connect the Kabul Shahis to the ancient Kshatriya clans of the Kambojas/Gandharas. 7th-century Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang, who visited INdis (629 AD - 645 AD) calls the ruler of Kapis as Buddhist and of a Kshatriya caste.

Kalhan, the 12th-century Kashmirian historian and author of the famous Rajatarangini, also calls the Shahis of Gandhar/Waihind as Kshatriyas. These early references link this Kshatriya ruler and his dynasty undoubtedly to the Indo-Iranian Aryan lineage. Further, though Kalhan takes the history of the Shahis to as early as or even earlier than 730 century AD [clarification needed], but he does not refer to any supplanting of the Shahi dynasty at any time in the entire history of the Shahis.

It is also worth mentioning here that the ancient Indian sources like Panini's Astadhyayi, Harivamsa, Vayu Puran, Manusmriti, Mahabharat, Kautiliya's Arthshastra, etc. call the Kambojs and the Gandhars as Kshatriyas. According to Olaf Caroe, the earlier Kabul Shahis, in some sense, were the inheritors of the Kushan-Hephthalite chancery tradition and had brought in more Hinduised form with time. There does not yet exist in the upper Kabul valley any documentary evidence or any identifiable coinage which can establish the exact affinities of these early Shahis who ruled there during the first two Islamic centuries.

Obviously, the affinities of the early Shahis of Kapis/Kabul are still speculative, and the inheritance of the Kushan-Hephthalite chancery tradition and political institutions by Kabul Shahis do not necessarily connect them to the preceding dynasty i.e. the Kushans or Hephthalites. From the 5th century to about 794 AD, their capital was Kapis, the ancient home of the cis-Hindukush Kambojs – popularly also known as Ashvaks. After the Arab Moslems began raiding the Shahi kingdom, the Shahi ruler of Kapis moved their capital to Kabul (until 870 AD). Alberuni's accounts further claim that the last king of the early Shahiya dynasty was king Lagaturman (Katorman) who was overthrown and imprisoned by his Brahmin vizier called Kallar. Alberuni's reference to the Brahman vizier as having taken over the control of the Shahi dynasty, in fact, may be a reference to Kallar (and his successors) as having been followers of Brahmanical religion in contrast to Shahi Katorman (Lagaturman) or his predecessors Shahi rulers, who were undoubtedly staunch Buddhists. It is very likely that a change in religion may have been confused with change in dynasty. In any case, this started the line of so-called Hindu Shahi rulers, according to Alberuni's accounts.

It was part of Delhi Sultanate, Khalji dynasty in particular.

Modern ethnics of Kapis :

Scholars have identified the former Kafir clans of the Kams, Kamoje/Kamoz, Kamtoz etc. (or modern Nuristanis) as the relics of the Kapiss i.e. Kambojs of the Paropamisan region. Similarly, the former Kafir-like Aspins of Chitral and Ashkuns or Yashkuns of Gilgit are identified as the modern representatives of the Paninian Asvakayanas (Greek: Assakenoi) and the Asip/Isap or Yusufzai (from Aspazai) in the Kabul valley (between river Kabul and Indus) are believed to be modern representatives of the Paninian Asvayanas (Greek: Aspasioi) respectively.

The Asvakayans and Asvayans are also believed to be sub-tribes of Paropamisan Kambojs, who were exclusively engaged in horse breeding/trading and also formed a specialised cavalry force.

Source :

https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Kapisi_(city)