Lampaka

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

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Lampaka (लंपाक) was an ancient city and Janapada which has been identified with Laghman in Afghanistan.

Variants

• Lampaka लंपाक, अफगानिस्तान, (AS, p.808)
• Limpaka (of Rajasekhara)
• Lambatai/Lambatae (of Ptolemy)
• Lanpo (of Xuanzang)
• Lombard / Lombardi (European)
• Lambagae (Greek)

Jat clans

• Lamba (लांबा)

History

Tej Ram Sharma writes that In the Abhidhana Chintamani and the Vaijayanti the Limpakas are identified with Murundas. The Lampakas are the same as the Lambatai of Ptolemy. The Puranas, mention Lampakas, the people who were residing in Lampaka, the modern Laghman in Afghanistan. Rajasekhara seems to be referring to Lampaka as Limpaka.

Aramaic inscriptions found in Laghman indicate an ancient trade route from India to Palmyra.

In the seventh century, a Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang visited Laghman, which he called "Lanpo" and considered part of India. He indicated the presence of Mahayana Buddhists and numerous Hindus.

By the tenth century, Laghman was still connected to the Greater Indian world. Hudud al-'alam which was finished in 982 AD mentioned the presence of some idol worshipping temples in the area.

According to Muslim historian Al Utbi, the region was converted to Islam towards the end of the tenth century by the Ghaznavids, led by Abu Mansur Sabuktigin.

Sabuktigin then won one of his greatest battles in Laghman against the Hindu Shahis whose ruler, Jayapala, had amassed an army for the battle that numbered 100,000. The area later fell to the Ghurids followed by the Khilis and Timurids.

During the early years of the 16th century, the Mughal ruler Babur spent much time in Laghman, and in Baburnama (memoirs of Babur) he expatiated on the beauty of forested hillsides and the fertility of the valley bottoms of the region.

Laghman was recognized as a dependent district of Kabulistan in the Mughal era, and according to Baburnama, "Greater Lamghanat" included the Muslim-settled part of the Kafiristan, including the easterly one of Kunar River. Laghman was the base for expeditions against the non-believers and was frequently mentioned in accounts of jihads led by Mughal emperor Akbar's younger brother, Mohammad Hakim, who was the governor of Kabul.

In 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani defeated the Mughals and made the territory part of the Durrani Empire. In the late nineteenth century, Amir Abdur Rahman Khan forced the remaining kafirs (Nuristani people) to accept Islam.

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Ashoka's inscriptions chiseled on rocks and stone pillars located at strategic locations throughout his empire--such as Lampaka (Laghman in modern Afghanistan), Mahastan (in modern Bangladesh), and Brahmagiri (in Karnataka)--constitute the second set of datable historical records.

In Mahabharata

Loha (लॊह) = Lampaka (लंपाक) in Mahabharata (II. 24.24)

Sandhya Jain mentions in the list of Mahabharata Tribes with unclear position in Kurukshetra War - Lampaka : A variant of Loha (II. 24.23); a northern people. The Mahabharata Tribe - Lampaka may be identified with Jat Gotra - Lamba (लांबा)

Sabha Parva, Mahabharata/Book II Chapter 24 mentions countries subjugated by Arjuna that lay to the North. Loha (लॊह) = Lampaka (लंपाक) in Mahabharata (II. 24.24) ....And, O great king, the son of Indra (Arjuna) also subjugated the allied tribes of the Lohas, the Paramakambojas, and Uttara Rishikas.

In Puranas

The Vayu Purana (47, 44) and the Matsya Purana, (121, 45) mention that: सान्ध्रान् स्तुखारान् लम्पकान् पह्लवान् दरदान् छकान्, अताञ्जनापदाञ्चक्षु प्लावयन्ती गतोदधिम्

The Chaksu or Oxus river goes to the sea after irrigating the lands of the Sandhrans (Jats) , Tukharas (Takhar Jats), Lampakas (Lamba Jats), Pahlavas (Pehlavi-Iranians) Daradas (of Kashmir) and Chhakans (Chhikara Jats).

Visit by Xuanzang in 630 & 644 AD

Alexander Cunningham writes about 4. Lamghan: The district of Lan-po, or Lamghan, is noted by Hwen Thsang as being 600 li, or just 100 miles, to the east of Kapisene. He describes the road as a succession of hills and valleys, some of the hills being of great height. This description agrees with all the recent accounts of the route along the northern bank of the river from Opian to Lamghan. The bearing and distance also coincide so exactly with the position of Lamghan that there can be no doubt of the identity of

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[p.43]: the two districts. Ptolemy, also, places a people called Lambatae in the very same position. From a comparison of this term with the modern appellation of Lamghan, it seems probable that the original form of the name was the Sanskrit Lampaka. I would, therefore, correct Ptolemy's Lambatae to Lambagae, by the slight change of Γ for T. The modern name is only an abbreviation of Lampaka, formed by the elision of the labial. It is also called Laghman by the simple transposition of the middle consonants, which is a common practice in the East. The credulous Muhammadans derive the name from the patriarch Lamech, whose tomb they affirm still exists in Lamghan. It is noticed by Baber and by Abul Fazl.

The district is described by Hwen Thsang as being only 1000 li, or 166 miles, in circuit, with snowy mountains on the north, and black hills on the other three sides. Prom this account it is clear that Lan-po corresponds exactly with the present Lamghan, which is only a small tract of country, lying along the northern bank of the Kabul river, bounded on the west and east by the Alingar and Kunar rivers, and on the north by the snowy mountains. This small tract is very nearly a square of 40 miles on each side, or 160 miles in circuit. It had formerly been a separate kingdom ; but in the seventh century the royal family was extinct, and the district was a dependency of Kapisene.

Jat History

Bhim Singh Dahiya mentions Lampakas with the Attris referring to Markandeya Purana 57/39. These Attris are separate from Brahmans of this designation, as the Mahabharata (Bhisma Parva, 10/67) says they were Mlecchas.

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Bhim Singh Dahiya mentions that Lamba Jats of India are called Lampakas or Lampas in the Indian literature, although Garuda Purana mentions them as Lamba. Markandeya Purana (Ch.LVII ) mentions them with the Kuserus, Chulikas, etc., as people of the north. The Matsya Purana, too, mentions them. The Mahabharata (Drona Parva, 121/42-43) while mentioning them, seems to indicate their fierce warlike qualities. The Greeks mentioned them as Lambagae. Lassen has identified their habitat as the region of Lambagae, south of Hindu Kush near modern Lamghan. Abhidhana Chintamani of Hema Chandra says, "Lampakastu Murundah Syuh", showing that they were considered Sakas. Murunda is a Saka/Scythian title, meaning 'Chief/Head.

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Bhim Singh Dahiya provides Clan Identification Chart.

Sl	West Asian/Iranian	Greek	Chines	Central Asian	Indian	Present name
	1	2	3	4	5	6
82.	Lombardi (European)	Lambagae	-	-	Lampaka	Lamba

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Hukum Singh Panwar (Pauria) writes... Just see the remarkable parallels between the functioning of the Germans and the Indian Jat tribal "Khaap" and "Sarvakhaap" panchayats. This further reminds us of the Vedic republican communities (the Panchajatah or Panchajna), who are, as we shall have occasion to show in the next chapter, considered by us as the common ancestors of the Indian Jats and the German Goths or Gots.

Before concluding, we may go into the question of identity of the Teutons and the Swedes. The Teutons were Aryans including High and low Germans and Scandanavians, and to be more specific Goths (Gots, Getae, Jats, Juts), Lombards (Lampaka or Lamba), Normans, Franks (Vrkas, Saxons (Sacae Getae) and Angles The Suevis (Sivis) including the Vilka (Virkas), the Manns (Mans) the Schillers (Chhilller) (Within brackets I gave the Indian names of the tribes.) etc. who, as we shall note (infra), migrated from the Sapta Sindhu to the Scandanavian countries in ancient times, were known as

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The Jats:Their Origin, Antiquity and Migrations: End of p.159

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Svi Thjoth or Sui or (Suiones) Joth, (Sivi or Sibi Jat), in archaic Norse, and ultimately as the Swedes. Mr. B.S.Dahiya has assiduously pin-pointed nearly 250 European communities whose names are identified by him with the surnames (gotras) of the Indian Jats. The Sivis were probably earliest migrants as leaders of these tribes. It is these tribes whose anthropological details are given above. In the light of the aforesaid evidence we can reasonably assert that the physical characteristics of the Sivisa (Suevis) and their descendents (the victims of Dasarajna wars, who managed, by hook or by crook, to remain in the Harappan region, cannot be different from those of ones who perforce left the country for good or were deported to their new home in the Scandanavian countries.

लंपाक, अफगानिस्तान

लंपाक (AS, p.808): अफ़ग़ानिस्तान का ऐतिहासिक स्थान है। लंपाक का वर्तमान 'लमग़ान' से अभिज्ञान किया गया है। इतिहासकार हेमचंद्र रायचौधरी के 'अभिधान चिंतामणि' नामक कोश के उल्लेख से प्रकट होता है कि लंपाक में 'मुरुंड' या 'शक' लोग बसते थे- 'लंपाकास्तु मुरुंडास्युः।' प्रसिद्ध चीनी यात्री युवानच्वांग ने अपनी भारत यात्रा के दौरान इस स्थान को देखा था। युवानच्वांग ने इस स्थान को कपीसीन (कपीसीन=कपिशा) से 100 मील पूर्व में बताया था।

विकिस्रोत

उत्तर की ओर के मलेच्छ लोगों की सूची के अणुक्रमांक 27 पर सम्मिलित है जो निम्न श्लोक में आया है -- 'लंपाकाश्च पुलिन्दाश्च चिक्षिपुः'.