| Conventional Long Name: | Hindush |
| Common Name: | Hindush |
| Era: | Iron Age |
| Subdivision: | Satrapy |
| Nation: | the Achaemenid Empire |
| Image Map Caption: | Approximate territorial extent of the Achaemenid realm in the Indus Valley |
| Flag: | Shahbaz (bird) |
| Flag Type: | Standard of Cyrus the Great |
| P1: | Sindhu-Sauvīra |
| S1: | Wars of Alexander the GreatMacedonian Empire |
| Leader1: | Darius I (first) |
| Year Leader1: | 513–499 BCE |
| Leader2: | Darius III (last) |
| Year Leader2: | 336–330 BCE |
| Government Type: | Monarchy |
| Title Leader: | Monarchs |
| Event Start: | Persian conquest of the Indus Valley |
| Event End: | Indian campaign of Alexander the Great |
Hindush was an administrative division of the Achaemenid Empire, in modern-day Punjab. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, it was the "easternmost province" governed by the Achaemenid dynasty. Established through the Persian conquest of the Indus Valley in the 6th century BCE, it is believed to have continued as a province for approximately two centuries, ending when it fell to the Macedonian Empire during the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great.
Hindush was written in Persian inscriptions as (Old Persian cuneiform: Persian, Old (ca.600-400 B.C.);: [[:Wikt:|]],). It is also transliterated as since the nasal "n" before consonants was omitted in the Old Persian script, and simplified as .[1] [2]
It is widely accepted that the name derives from, the Sanskrit name of the Indus river as well as the region at the lower Indus basin. The Proto-Iranian sound change *s > h occurred between 850–600 BCE, according to Asko Parpola.[3] The -sh suffix is common among the names of many Achaemenid provinces, such as (the land of Harauvati or Haraxvaiti, i.e., Arachosia) or (Bactria). Accordingly, would mean the land of .
The Greeks of Asia Minor, who were also part of the Achaemenid empire, called the province 'India'. More precisely, they called the people of the province as 'Indians' (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: 'Ινδοι, [4]) The loss of the aspirate pronounced as /link/ was probably due to the dialects of Greek spoken in Asia Minor.[5] [6] Herodotus also generalised the term "Indian" from the people of Hindush to all the people living to the east of Persia, even though he had no knowledge of the geography of the land.[7]
The territory of Hindush may have corresponded to the area covering the lower and central Indus basin, which roughly covers the present-day Punjab and Sindh regions.[8] [9] [10] Hindush bordered Gandāra (spelt as Gaⁿdāra by the Achaememids) to the north. These areas remained under Persian control until the invasion by Alexander.[11] Alternatively, some authors consider that Hindush may have been located in the Punjab region.[9] [12]
According to Herodotus, the 'Indians' participated to the Second Persian invasion of Greece circa 480 BCE.[13] At the final Battle of Platea (479 BCE), they formed one of the main corps of Achaemenid troops (one of "the greatest of the nations").[14] [15] Indians were still supplying troops and elephants for the Achaemenid army at the Battle of Gaugamela (331 BCE).[16] They are also depicted on the Achaemenid tombs of Naqsh-e Rostam and Persepolis.
Representatives of Hindush are depicted as delegates bringing gifts to the king on the Apadana staircases, and as throne/ dais bearers on the Tripylon and Hall of One Hundred Columns reliefs at PersepolisThe representatives of Hindush (as well as Gandara and Thatagus) in each in- stance are characterized by their loincloths, sandals, and exposed upper body, which distinguish them from the representatives of other eastern provinces such as Bactria and Arachosia.[17]
"Note finally that the letter H/η was originally used to mark word-initial aspiration... Since such aspiration was lost very early in the eastern Ionic-speaking area, the letter was recycled, being used first to denote the new, very open, long e-vowel [æ:] ... and then to represent the inherited long e-vowel [ε:] too, once these two sounds had merged. The use of H to represent open long e-vowels spread quite early to the central Ionic-speaking area and also to the Doric-speaking islands of the southern Aegean, where it doubled up both as the marker of aspiration and as a symbol for open long e-vowels."
"The early loss of aspiration is mainly a characteristic of Asia Minor (and also of the Aeolic and Doric of Asia Minor)...In Attica, however (and in some cases in Euboea, its colonies, and in the Ionic-speaking islands of the Aegean), the aspiration survived until later... During the second half of the fifth century BC, however, orthographic variation perhaps indicates that 'a change in the phonetic quality of [h] was taking place' too."
"The term 'Indians' was used by Herodotus as a collective name for all the peoples living east of Persia. This was also a significant development over Hekataios, who had used this term in a strict sense for the groups dwelling in Sindh only."