Research groups

Members of the research group are starting from the toponyms of the Daedala regio mentioned by the historians of Alexander. The study area roughly corresponds to the Swat valley and adjacent territories, an area which has been extensively surveyed by the Italian Archaeological Mission, and others. The geographical limits of the area can be defined by two loci of the Alexander's narrative, i.e. Nysa (Nuristan) to the West, and the Indus (Punjab) to the East. The combination of the various "layers", (1) archaeological data, (2) Greek and Latin toponyms, (3) Indic toponyms, and (4) non-Pashto modern toponyms, might represent a good line of research, never attempted before. The outcomes of the interrelated research might include (a) a tentative reconstruction of this segment of the Alexander's itinerary, (b) the definition of elements useful for the analysis of the sources of the Alexander's historians, (c) an insight on the Greek (and Achaemenian) tradition in ancient NW India between end-4th century BCE and mid-1st century CE, i.e. from Alexander to the Saka-Parthians, and their allied families in Swat.