The Southeastern Regions of the Persian Empire on the Indo-Iranian Frontier: Arachosia, Drangiana, Gedrosia, Sattagydia, Gandhara, and India

The southeastern territories of the Persian Empire (figure 63.1) cov- ered by this chapter—Harauvatish/Arachosia (section 63.2), Zranka/ Drangiana (section 63.3), Maka/Gedrosia and Oman (section 63.4), ThatagušshSattagydia (section 63.6), Gandara/Gandhara and Hindussh/ India (section 63.7), as well as the region occupied by the Akaufačiya people (section 63.5)—correspond in Jacobs’s reconstruction to differ- ent degrees and concepts of administrative geography, and the available documentation differs greatly. On the other hand, a common denomina- tor did exist between these different areas, given their position at the edge of the Iranian world and on the border of the Indian world, south of the Hindukush: this common denominator thus makes it possible to bring these satrapies (with the exception of Drangiana) together under the name of the “Indo-Iranian frontier,” using an adjective, Indo-Iranian, that brings to mind the cultural and religious affinities of ancient Iran and ancient India, which were originally much closer to each other in culture, religion, and language than the Iranian and Mesopotamian worlds were. Historical events, however, led the first great Iranian empire known with certainty to gravitate more toward its western neighbors than toward its eastern ones, for which, moreover, written sources are much rarer, shrouding the area with doubts and uncertainties that archaeological research has not been able to completely overcome.