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KINGDOMS OF GANDHĀRA
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two social grades among the Yonas and the Kambojas, viz., Aryan and Dāsa).”
According to Holdich the lower spurs and valleys of Kohi-Mor in the Swat country are where the ancient city of Nysa once stood. At the time of Alexander's invasion the Nysaeans had Akouphis for their President. They had a Governing Body of 300 members. 2
5. Peukelaotis (in the Peshāwar District) :
It lay on the road from Kābul to the Indus. Arrian tells us 3 that the Kābul falls into the Indus in the land called Peukelaotis, taking with itself the Malantus, Soastus and Guraeus. Peukelaotis represents the Sanskrit Pushkarāvati. It formed the western part of the old kingdom of Gandhāra. The people of the surrounding region are sometimes referred to as the "Astakenoi” by historians. The capital is represented by the modern Mir Ziyārat and Chārsadda, about 17 miles N. E. of Peshāwar, on the Swat river, the Soastus of Arrian, and the Suvāstu of the Vedic texts.
The reigning hyparch at the time of Alexander's invasion was Astes * identified with Hasti or Ashtaka. He was defeated and killed by Hephaestion, a general of the Macedonian king.
6. Taxila or Takshasilā (in the Rāwalpindi District) :
Strabo says "between the Indus and the Hydas pes (Jhelum) was Taxila, a large city, and governed by good laws. The neighbouring country is crowded with inhabitants and very fertile.” The kingdom of Taxila formed the eastern part of the old kingdom of Gandhāra.
1 Smith, EHI, 4th ed. p. 57. Camb. Hist., I, p. 353. 2 Invasion of Alexander, p. 81. 3 Chinnock's Arrian's Anabasis of Alexander and Indica, p. 403. 4 Chinnock, Arrian, p. 228. 5 H. and F.'s. tr., III, p. 90,
