The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c24.147

v1.c24.147

To confine attention first to the land that is now Afghānistān, it may be noted that the Hindu Kush range may possibly be referred to in the Avestan allusion to Us-Hindava, mentioned above (p. 326). It is likewise possible to conjecture that the ridge of Band-i-Baiān, somewhat to the west, may perpetuate the old Avestan name Bayana in the list of mountain names enumerated in the Nineteenth Yasht (Yt. XIX, 3); while the chain familiarly known from the classics as Paropanisus or Paropamisus appears to be included under the Avestan designation Upāirisaēna, lit. ‘Higher than the eagle’.² To the north of these barriers lay Bactria (Av. Bākhdhī, O.P. Bākhtrī, Gk. Βάκτροι, Βακτριανή, Mod. Balkh), a centre which was destined to play an important part in India’s history.³