The Greeks in Bactria and India c18.13

c18.13

But what did stand at the τρίοδος was Kapisa; the above-mentioned figure of Hecate τριοδῖτις on the hand of the god of Kapisa is conclusive (see p. 158). Kapisa then stood at somewhere about the same place as Alexandria, and its history leaves no doubt that it was in fact the gateway of India, as Alexandria was said to be. The Milindapañha (ante) forbids the assumption that in the second century B.C. Alexandria had ceased to exist and that Kapisa had taken its place. And a physical identification of the two towns is impossible, for Alexandria stood in Opiane, to the west of the united Panjshir-Ghorband rivers, and Kapisa stood in Kapisene³ to the east of them. There is no doubt this, for Kapisene was Kafiristan or part of it; the province could only have lain to the east of the united rivers, because the province to the west of them, Opiane, is fixed by the modern name Opian; and in fact it has been suggested that Kapisa and Kamboja, the name of the people of Kafiristan, must be the same word.⁴ Doubtless the native town of Kapisa was in existence long before Alexander’s time.⁵