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Cleophis (Sanskrit: ''Kripa'')〔According to scholars, Indian equivalent of classical name Cleophis is Kripa: See e.g: Chandragupta Maurya and His times, 1988, p 25, Dr R. K. Mukerjee; Ancient India, 2003, p 261, Dr V. D. Majan; History of Punjab, Vol I, 1997, p 229 Editors Dr L. M. Joshi, Dr Fauja Singh; Bhavan's Journal, 1960, p 90, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan; Archaeology of Punjab, 1992, p 76, Bālā Madhu, Punjab (India); Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, p 284, Dr J. L. Kamboj; Problems of Ancient India, 2000, p 149, K. D. Sethna.〕 was the mother of Assakenos or Assacanus, the war-leader of the Assakenoi or Assacani people at the time of Alexander's invasion (Curtius). The Assakenoi (Sanskrit Ashvakas: ''from Ashva = horse'', known today as ethnic Afghans or Pashtuns)〔 The Achaemenids in India, 1950, p 48, Dr Sudhakar Chattopadhyaya; The Indian Historical Quarterly, 1949, p 104, India.〕 were a free people (Republic)〔History of Indian People, The Age of Imperial Unity, p 46, Dr R. C. Majumdar, Dr A. D. Pusalkar; Glimpses of Ancient Panjab, 1966, p 23, Dr Buddha Prakash - Punjab (India); Raja Poros, 1990, p 9, Publication Bureau, Punjabi University Patiala; Alexander the Great, Cambridge University Press, Dec 2003, W. W. Tarn; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981.〕 who formed a sub-section of the Kambojas (q.v.) of Paropamisade and lived in parts of Swat and Buner valleys during Alexander's invasion.〔Political History of Ancient India, 1996, p 133 fn 6, pp 216-20, (Also Commentary p 576 fn 22), Dr H. C. Raychaudhury, Dr B. N. Mukerjee; History of Indian Buddhism: From the Origins to the Saka Era, 1988, p 100 - History; Panjab Past and Present, pp 9-10, Dr Buddha Parkash; Historie du bouddhisme Indien, p110, Dr E. Lammotte; Cf also: Essai sur les origines du mythe d'Alexandre: 336-270 av. J. C:, 1978, p 152, Paul Goukowsky; Hindu Polity, A constitutional History of India in Hindu Times, 1978, p 140, Dr K. P. Jayswal; The History of Punjab, Vol I, 1997, p 225, Editors Dr L. M. Joshi, Dr Fauja Singh; Raja Poros, 1990, Publication Bureau, Punjabi University Patiala; History of Poros, 1967, p 89, Dr Buddha Prakash; The Pakistan review, 1962, p 15, Published by Ferozsons, History. Dr J. W. McCrindle says that the modern Afghanistan – the Kaofu (Kambu) of Xuanzang was ancient Kamboja, and the name Afghan evidently derives from the Ashavakan, the Assakenoi of Arrian (Alexandra's Invasion of India, p 38; Megasthenes and Arrian, p 180, J. McCrindle); Ancient Kamboja, People and Country, 1981, pp 271-72, 278, Dr J. L. Kamboj; These Kamboj People, 1979, pp 119, 192, K. S. Dardi; Kambojas, Through the Ages, 2005, pp 129, 218-19, S Kirpal Singh; Sir Thomas H. Holdich, in his classic book, ''(The Gates of India, p 102-03)'', writes that the Aspasians (Aspasioi) represent the modern Kafirs. But the modern Kafirs, especially the Siah-Posh Kafirs (Kamoz/Camoje, Kamtoz) etc are considered to be modern representatives of the ancient Kambojas.〕 The habitat of the Assakenoi roughly corresponded to modern Kafirstan (Dr R. K. Mukerjee). Since this region was comparatively more Indo-Aryan than Iranian in language and culture, hence the Assakenoi have been referred to as Indians by Arrian.〔Chinnick, Arrian's Anabasis, p 399; Political History of Ancient India, 1996, p 211-12, Dr Raychaudhury.〕 Their territory stretched as far as Indus on the east with the capital at Massaga (Sanskrit ''Mashakavati'') which was a formidable fortress situated not far to the north of the Malakand Pass. In modern times, it corresponds to Mashkine located between the rivers Panjkora and Kunar about 24 miles from Bajour. The Assakenoi were excellent breeders of horses as well as expert cavalrymen〔i.e. ''Ashva.yuddha.kushalah'' (MBH 12/101/5, Kumbhakonam Ed); See Pali evidence: 'Kambojo. Assanam.Ayatanam' =''Kamboja, the land of horses'' (Sumangavilasini, Vol I, p 121); See: Dictionary of Pali Proper Names (DPPN), Vol I, 526, Dr. G. P. Malalasekara for ''Kamboja as the birth place of horses''; See also Mahabharata VI.90.3; For more details see the Articles: Kamboja Horsemen & Ashvakas.〕 who also rented their cavalry services (''as mercenaries''), hence they also earned the popular nickname as Ashvakas i.e. expert cavalrymen.〔See: Hindu Polity, A constitutional History of India in Hindu Times, 1978, p 140, 121, Dr K. P. Jayswal; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, 272, Dr J. L. Kamboj.〕 They are referred to as Ashvakayanas in Pāṇini's Ashtadhyayi.〔Ganapatha, Nadadigana IV.1.99.〕 The coins known as ''Vatashvaka'' are attributed to these peoples.〔p 45, Dr R. C. Majumdar, Dr A. D. Pusalkar; Hindu Polity, A constitutional History of India in Hindu Times, 1978, p 51, Dr K. P. Jayswal; Journal of Bihar and Orissa Research Society, XX, 289 on their coins. "The Varta (or Vata) -Ashvakas (Arrian, Bk. V, Chap. I; Arrian Indika) were the Ashvakas who inhabited Eastern Afghanistan and who were included in the general term Kamboja.......Here ''Vata-'' stands for ''Varta-'' which reminds us of the ''Varta.shastr.opajivin'' (Nation-in-arms) description of theirs (i.e. Kambojas) in the Arthashastra......" (Ref: Hindu Polity, Part I & II, pp 51, 121, Dr Jayswal; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, p 11, Dr J. L. Kamboj).〕 There was also a western branch of the Ashvakas located in the region watered by the rivers Alishang and Kunar.〔Cambridge History of India, 352, n 3; Political History of Ancient India, 1996, p 215, Dr H. C. Raychaudhury, Dr B. N. Mukerjee; Indological Studies, 1950, p 2, Dr B. C. Law.〕 They are the Aspasioi of the classical writings. They were Iranian branch of the Kambojas since the classical writers address them as Aspasioi (''from Iranian Aspa = horse''). They are known as Ashvayanas in Pāṇini's Ashtadhyayi.〔Ashtadhyayi Sutra IV.1.110.〕 According to Paul Goukowsky, an Iranian language was spoken on the north of Kunar whereas Pracrit on its south.〔Essai sur les origines du mythe d'Alexandre: 336-270 av. J. C., 1978, p 152, n 12, Paul Goukowsky.〕 ==Alexander's war with Ashvakas== Alexander personally led a campaign against the Aspasioi and later against the Assakenoi. The Assakenoi (Ashvakas) had opposed the invader with an army of 20,000 cavalry, 38,000 infantry and 30 elephants (as stated by Curtius). A contingent of 7,000 Kamboj soldiers were brought from Abhisara.〔Abhisara and Ursa were parts of Kamboja. See: Political History of ancient India, 1996, p 21920; A History of India, p 269-71, N. R. Ray, N. K. Sinha; Military History of India, 1980, p 38, Hemendra Chandra Kar - History; The Mahābhārata, Its Genesis and Growth: A Statistical Study, 1986, p 115, M. R. Yardi, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute - Mahābhārata.〕 The Ashvakas had fought valiantly and offered a stubborn resistance to the invader in many of their strongholds. Massaga was the scene of the bloodiest fight. Alexander received a serious wound in the fighting at Massaga. The city could not be stormed even after five days (''nine days according to Curius'') of bloody fighting. On the fifth day, ''Assakenos'', the Chieftain of the Ashvakas fell a martyr in the field. Thereupon, the supreme command of the military operations was assumed by Cleophis.〔Hindu Civilization: (From the earliest times up to the establishment of the Maurya Empire), 1936, p 283, Dr Radhakumud Mookerji - Hindu Civilization.〕 Like her son, Cleophis stood determined to defend her motherland to the last extremity. The example of Cleophis assuming the command of the military operations also brought the entire women of the locality into the fighting.〔Ancient India, 1971, p 99, Dr R. C. Majumdar; History and Culture of Indian People, The Age of Imperial Unity, Foreign Invasion, p 46, Dr R. K Mukerjee; Ancient India, 2003, p 261, Dr V. D. Mahajan; Aspects of Ancient Indian Administration, 2003, p 53, D.K. Ganguly; Ancient Kamboja, Peopoe and the Country, 1981, pp 283, 285, Dr J. L. Kamboj; Chandragupta Maurya and His times, 1988, p 25, Dr R. K. Mukerjee.〕 See also: (). Referring to Massaga battle, Greek historian Arrian (''Lucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon'') asserts that only ''25 soldiers of Alexander had died during the five days of bloody fighting at Massaga''.〔Anabasis, Book 4b, Ch XXVI.〕 He further asserts that after the fall of their chieftain, the Ashvakas became dispirited and sent an embassy to Alexander for a ceasefire. An agreement was reached between Alexander and the tribes-people, according to which the latter were to vacate the fort and the mercenaries were to join Alexander's forces. After vacating the fort, tribes-people had gathered on a ridge when Alexander (according to Arrian) received intelligence through his spies that the mercenaries did not want to fight against their own countrymen and were planning to escape during the night. Alexander surrounded the ridge and slaughtered all the tribes-men gathered there.〔. The Invasion of Alexander The Great, pp 68-69, J. W. McCrindle.〕 But the accounts of Curtius (''Quintus Curtius Rufus'') do not support any such train of events. The earlier accounts of Diodorus (''Diodorus Siculus'') also give a complete lie to the above accounts of Arrian.〔History of Punjab, Vol I, p 228.〕 Diodorus, nowhere refers to any agreement whereby the tribes-men or mercenaries had agreed to join Alexander's forces but later on backed out and planned to escape under the pall of darkness. Rather, he specifically states that the tribes-people had vacated the fort in accordance with the agreement and had gone about 80 stadia when Alexander, who was 'actuated by an implacable enmity' and ''had kept his troops under arms, ready for action'', treacherously fell upon the tribes-people and made a great slaughter of their ranks.〔Diodorus in McCrindle, p 269.〕〔cf: History of Ancient India, 1967, pp 120-21, Rama Shankar Tripathi.〕〔cf: ''"After promising the surrounded Assaceni their lives upon capitulation, he executed all their soldiers who had surrendered. Their strongholds at Ora and Aornus, were also likewise stormed. Garrisons were probably all slaughterd"'' (Ref: ''Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power, 2002, p 86, Victor Hanson'').〕〔cf: ''"In Massaga-the lands of the Assaceni, Alexander violated pacts and ordered the slaughter of several thousand Indian soldiers who had surrendered"'' (Ref: Alexander the Great: The Conqueror, February 2005, Thunder Bay Press, p 105, Giampaolo Casati).〕 Diodorus gives a very graphic and vivid account of the battle that had ensued and also greatly applauds the courage and heroism shown by the tribes-men and their women against Alexanderian forces.〔Diodorus gives following pictorial details as to how the Ashvakayanas (Kambojas) had conducted themselves when faced with sudden treacherous onslaught of Alexander: ''"Undismayed by the greatness of their danger, the Ashvakayanas drew their ranks together in the form of a ring within which they placed their women and children to guard them on all sides against their assailants. As they had now become desperate, and by their audacity and feats of valour, made the conflict in which they closed, hot work for the enemy—great was the astonishment and alarm which the peril of the crisis had created. For, as the combatants were locked together fighting hand-to-hand, death and wounds were dealt round in every variety of form. While many were thus wounded, and not a few killed, the women, taking the arms of the fallen, fought side by side with their men. Accordingly, some of them who had supplied themselves with arms, did their best to cover their husbands with their shields, while the others, who were without arms, did much to impede the enemy by flinging themselves upon them and catching hold of their shields. The defenders, however, after fighting desperately along with their wives, were at last overpowered by superior numbers, and thus met a glorious death which they would have disdained to exchange for the life of dishonour"'' (''See'': Diodorus in McCrindle, p 269-70; History of Punjab, 1997, p 229, Editors: Dr Fauja Singh, Dr L. M. Joshi; Classical Accounts of India, p 112-113.〕〔Commenting on the heroic resistance displayed by the Ashvakayanas (Kambojas), in the wake of the treacherous onslaught of Alexander, Dr Buddha Prakash remarks: ''"Hardly could any Thermopylae be more glorious !"'' (History of Punjab, Vol I, 1997, p 229).〕 Still another Greek chronicler Plutarch (''Mestrius Plutarchus'') prior to Arrian, attests that ''"Alexander incurred serious losses and accordingly, concluded a treaty of peace with Assaceni but, afterwards, as they were going away, set upon them while they were on the road and committed a complete carnage"''. Rightly therefore, Plutarch swears at Alexander for his treacherous action and calls it ''"a foul blot on the his martial fame"''.〔Plutarch in McCrindle, p 306; Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona, 1926, p 140, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute - Indo-Aryan philology; Studies in Indian History and Civilization, 1962, 127, Dr Buddha Prakash - India.〕 ''"In view of these clear remarks, the account of Arrian seems to be a tendentious effort to window-dress a despicable act of abject treachery and perfidy"''.〔History of Punjab, Vol I, 1997, p 229, Dr Budda Prakash.〕 Curtius attests: ''"Not only did Alexander slaughter the entire population of Massaga, but also did he reduce its buildings to rubble"''. The above statement also clearly shows that Alexander must have suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Assakenian Kambojas so that he consequently lost his mental poise and attacked the buildings of Massaga, thus committing arson and man-slaughter to give vent to his boiling wrath. From the foregoing discussion, it becomes quite clear that not only did Arrian throw a veil over the ''treachery of Alexander'', but also did he ''downplay the bravery and heroism of the Ashvakas'' when the latter faced with sudden treacherous onslaught of Alexander. His claims that ''only 25 soldiers of Alexander had died in five days of bloody fighting for the control of Massaga fort'', cast very serious doubts on his integrity as an impartial chronicler.〔 The war accounts of Diodorus who preceded Arrian by about 200 years differ materially from the latter and gives a lie to Arrian. Also the accounts of Plutarch indisputably prove that the initiative for the peace treaty came not from the Ashvakas but from Alexander himself which clearly indicates that Alexander had suffered severe losses in this battle with the Assakenoi. Arrian indeed seems to be a partial chronicler and a liar on top of it who has intentionally tried to misrepresent the historical facts. (詳細はウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cleophis」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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