One of the earliest written accounts of the land and people of modern Pakistan to make it into Europe was the work of Scylax of Karyanda who sailed the course of the Indus in 517 BCE and wrote an account of the Indus Basin nearly 2500 years ago.
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1/n (๐งต).
Scylax was a Greek sea captain from the city of Caryanda in Anatolia. He was employed by the Achaemenid emperor Darius I of Persia to sail the Indus and procure an account of the land and people so as to aid the Persians in bringing the Indus Basin under their sway.
The 30 month long trip began from a grand city known as Caspatyrus which itself for all reasons is lost to us. Some historians see it to be Ancient Peshawar, others as Ancient Pushkalavati (Charsadda), some as Ancient Multan, and some place it altogether north as Kashmir.
The 30 month long trip was a sail from this city through the very course of the Indus traversing most probably todayโs KPK, Punjab and Sindh provinces before moving across the Arabian Sea and into to the Red Sea towards Egypt.
Although the account itself it lost completely, we have references of some of its portions made by layer historians which revealed to us that the account had much marvel and fantasy to appease the Greek readers who themselves were very fond of such stories.
Of the nations written about in it were the Skiapodes who used their large feet for shade, the Otonikloi who used to cover themselves using their gigantic ears, the Monophthlmai who were single eyed, the Henotiktoi who only gave birth once and Troglodytes who lived underground.
Another Greek writer Ctesias would also write an account through second hand sources which would include even more such nations. Though Scylaxโs work is lost, we know that Darius I conquered the Indus Valley with or without help from Scylaxโs lost account of the Indus Basin.
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