Once upon a time, Afghanistan was not how we see it today, that is what studies say. It was once known as Gandhara and the fact that it still has a city known by the name of Kandahar confirms the truth. As per the experts, the Gandhara kingdom covered portions of today’s northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. It was spread over Pothohar Plateau, Peshawar Valley and Kabul River Valley.
The word Gandh?ra finds a mention in the Rig Veda, Uttara-Ramayana and Mahabharata. The word means gandha (fragrance), i.e. the land of fragrances.
Mahabharata, the scripture authored by sage Veda Vyasa also mentions the Kingdom of Gandhara. As the story goes, King Subala ruled Gandhara some 5500 years ago. He had a daughter named Gandhari, who was married to the prince of Hastinapur kingdom, Dhritrashtra. Gandhari also had a brother, Shakuni, who later took over the kingship of Gandhara after his father’s death. Gandhari gave birth to a hundred sons, who became famous as the Kauravas.
It is believed that after failing miserably at the hands of the Pandava brothers in the Mahabharata war, several Kaurava descendants settled in the Gandhara kingdom. Later, they slowly migrated to today’s Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
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