Drangiana

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Drangiana or Zarangiana (Greek: Δραγγιανή, also attested in Old Persian as Zranka) was a historical region of the Achaemenid Empire. This region comprises territory around lake Hâmûn, wetlands in endorheic Sīstān basin on the Irano-Afghan-Pakistan border, and its primary watershed Helmand river in nowadays southwestern Afghanistan and the "Nok Kondi" ("blunt point") of western Pakistan.

In ancient times it was inhabited by an Iranian tribe which ancient Greeks were referring to as Sarangians or Drangians. The Drangians were first subdued by another Iranian people, the Medes, and later, by Cyrus the Great. According to Herodotus, during the reign of Darius I, the Drangians were placed in the same district as the Utians, Thamanaeans, Mycians, Drangians, and those deported to the Persian Gulf. In 330 BC, the region was conquered by Alexander the Great.

References

• Schmitt, Rüdiger (15 December 1995). "DRANGIANA or Zarangiana; territory around Lake Hāmūn and the Helmand river in modern Sīstān". Encyclopædia Iranica. 
• Drangiana by Jona Lendering