Indo-Scythian kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| c. 150 BCE–400 CE | |||||||||||||||||||||||
 Territories and expansion of the Indo-Scythians at their greatest extent, including territories of theNorthern Satraps andWestern Satraps. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capital | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Saka,[1] Greek, Pali (Kharoshthi script), Sanskrit, Prakrit (Brahmi script) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Hinduism | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| King | |||||||||||||||||||||||
• 85–60 BCE | Maues | ||||||||||||||||||||||
• 10 CE | Hajatria | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Antiquity | ||||||||||||||||||||||
• Established | c. 150 BCE | ||||||||||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 400 CE | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20 est.[6] | 2,600,000 km2 (1,000,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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TheIndo-Scythians, also known asIndo-Sakas, were a group ofnomadic people ofIranicScythian origin who migrated fromCentral Asia southward into the present-day regions ofAfghanistan, EasternIran and the northwesternIndian subcontinent: present-dayPakistan andnorthern India. The migrations persisted from the middle of the second century BCE to the fourth century CE.
The firstSaka king inIndia wasMaues/Moga (first century BCE) who established Saka power inGandhara, theIndus Valley, and other regions. The Indo-Scythians extended their supremacy over the north-western subcontinent, conquering theIndo-Greeks and other local peoples. They were apparently subjugated by theKushan Empire'sKujula Kadphises orKanishka.[a] The Saka continued to govern assatrapies,[b] forming theNorthern Satraps andWestern Satraps. The power of the Saka rulers began to decline during the 2nd century CE after the Indo-Scythians were defeated by theSatavahana emperorGautamiputra Satakarni.[9][10] Indo-Scythian rule in the northwestern subcontinent ended when the last Western Satrap,Rudrasimha III, was defeated by theGupta emperorChandragupta II in 395 CE.[11][12]
The invasion of the northern Indian subcontinent by Scythian tribes from Central Asia, often referred to as the Indo-Scythian invasion, played a significant role in thehistory of the subcontinent and nearby regions. The Indo-Scythian war was triggered by the nomadic flight of Central Asians from conflict with tribes such as theXiongnu in the second century CE, which had lasting effects onBactria,Kabul and the Indian subcontinent and Rome andParthia in the west. Ancient Roman historians, includingArrian[13] andClaudius Ptolemy, have mentioned that the ancient Sakas ("Sakai") werenomadic people.[14] The first rulers of the Indo-Scythian kingdom wereMaues (c. 85–60 BCE) andVonones (c. 75–65 BCE).[15]
The ancestors of the Indo-Scythians are thought to have beenSaka (Scythian) tribes.
One group of Indo-European speakers that makes an early appearance on theXinjiang stage is the Saka (Ch. Sai). Saka is more a generic term than a name for a specific state or ethnic group; Saka tribes were part of a cultural continuum of early nomads across Siberia and the Central Eurasian steppe lands from Xinjiang to the Black Sea. Like the Scythians whomHerodotus describes in book four of hisHistory (Saka is an Iranian word equivalent to the GreekScythes, and many scholars refer to them together as Saka-Scythian), Sakas were Iranian-speaking horse nomads who deployed chariots in battle, sacrificed horses, and buried their dead in barrows or mound tombs calledkurgans.[19]
The Saka of western India spoke theSaka language (also known as Khotanese), first documented in theTarim Basin.[20]
During theAchaemenid conquest of the Indus Valleyc. 515 BCE, the Achaemenid army was not Persian and the Saka probably participated in the invasion of northwest India. The Achaemenid army was composed of a number of ethnic groups who were part of theAchaemenid Empire. The army included Bactrians, Saka,Parthians, andSogdians.[21] Herodotus listed the ethnicities of the Achaemenid army, which includedIonians (Greeks) andEthiopians.[22][21] These groups were probably included in the Achaemenid army which invaded India.[21]
Some scholars (includingMichael Witzel)[23] andChristopher I. Beckwith[24] suggested that theShakya – the clan ofGautama Buddha – were originally Scythians from Central Asia, and the Indian ethnonymŚākya has the same origin as "Scythian".[21] This would explain the strong Saka support of Buddhism in India.[24]
The Persians, the Saka and the Greeks may have participated in the later campaigns ofChandragupta Maurya to gain the throne ofMagadhac. 320 BCE. TheMudrarakshasa says that afterAlexander the Great's death,Chandragupta Maurya used aShaka-Yavana-Kamboja-Parasika-Bahlika alliance in his campaign to take the throne inMagadha and found theMaurya Empire.[25][26][27] The Saka were the Scythians; the Yavanas were theGreeks, and the Parasikas were thePersians.[26][28]
During the second century BCE, anomadic movement began among the Central Asian tribes. Recorded in the annals of theHan dynasty and other Chinese records, the movement began after theYuezhi tribe was defeated by theXiongnu and fled west; this created adomino effect, displacing other central Asian tribes in their path.[29]
According to these ancient sources,Modu Shanyu of theXiongnu tribe ofMongolia attacked theYuezhi (possibly related to theTocharians, who lived in the easternTarim Basin) and evicted them from their homeland between theQilian Shan andDunhuangc. 175 BCE.[30] Leaving a few people behind, most of the population moved west to theIli River region. They displaced the Saka, who migrated south intoFerghana andSogdiana. According to the Chinese historical chronicles (who call the Saka "Sai" 塞): "[The Yuezhi] attacked the king of the Sai, who moved a considerable distance to the south and the Yuezhi then occupied his lands."[31][32]
Sometime after 155 BCE, the Yuezhi were again defeated by an alliance of theWusun and theXiongnu. They were forced to move south, again displacing the Scythians (who migrated south towardsBactria and present-dayAfghanistan and south-west towardsParthia. A tribe known to ancient Greek scholars as theSacaraucae (probably from the Old PersianSakaravaka, "nomadic Saka") and an allied people, theMassagetae, came into conflict with theParthian Empire in Parthia between 138 and 124 BCE. The Sacaraucae-Massagetae alliance won several battles and killed the Parthian kingsPhraates II andArtabanus I. The Yuezhi tribes migrated east into Bactria after their defeat, from which they conquered northern India to establish theKushan Empire.[33]
The Saka settled in regions mostly corresponding to the region ofDrangiana, which was later called Sakastan orSistan, a region of south-western Afghanistan, south-eastern Iran and extending across the borders of western Pakistan.[34] The mixed Scythianhordes who migrated to Drangiana and the areas of Sakastan later gave rise to the Indo-Scythian Kingdom and vassel states in north and south-west India via the lower Indus valley. Beginning fromSovira, Gujarat, Rajasthan and north India, and expanding into kingdoms on the Indian mainland as well as increasing influence on other kingdoms.
TheArsacid emperorMithridates II (c. 123–88/87 BCE) pursued an aggressive military policy in Central Asia and added a number of provinces to theParthian Empire.[35] This included western Bactria, which he seized from the Indo-Scythians.[36]
Following military pressure from the Yuezhi (predecessors of the Kushana), some Indo-Scythians moved fromBactria toLake Helmond (or Hāmūn) and settled in or nearDrangiana (Sigal). The region came to be known as "Sakistana of the Skythian Sakai [sic]"[37] towards the end of the first century BCE.[38]
The presence of the Saka in Sakastan in the first century BCE is mentioned byIsidore of Charax in "The Parthian Stations". According to Isidore, they were bordered by Greek cities on the east (Alexandria of the Caucasus andAlexandria of the Arachosians) and the Parthian-controlled territory ofArachosia on the south:
Beyond is Sacastana of the Scythian Sacae, which is also Paraetacena, 63schoeni. There are the city of Barda and the city of Min and the city ofPalacenti and the city ofSigal; in that place is the royal residence of the Sacae; and nearby is the city of Alexandria (Alexandria Arachosia), and six villages.[39]
Frompetroglyphs left by Saka soldiers at river crossings inChilas and on theSacred Rock of Hunza in Pakistan,Ahmad Hassan Dani andKarl Jettmar [de] have established the route across theKarakoram mountains used byMaues (the first Indo-Scythian king) to captureTaxila fromIndo-Greek KingApollodotus II.[40]
The first-century CEPeriplus of the Erythraean Sea describes the Scythian territories:
Beyond this region (Gedrosia), the continent making a wide curve from the east across the depths of the bays, there follows the coast district of Scythia, which lies above toward the north; the whole marshy; from which flows down the riverSinthus, the greatest of all the rivers that flow into the Erythraean Sea, bringing down an enormous volume of water (...) This river has seven mouths, very shallow and marshy, so that they are not navigable, except the one in the middle; at which by the shore, is the market-town,Barbaricum. Before it there lies a small island, and inland behind it is the metropolis of Scythia,Minnagara; it is subject toParthian princes who are constantly driving each other out ...[41]
The Indo-Scythians established a kingdom in the northwest nearTaxila, with twosatraps: one atMathura in the east, and the other atSurastrene (Gujarat) in the southwest.[42]
The presence of the Scythians in modern Pakistan and north-western India during the first century BCE was contemporaneous with theIndo-Greek kingdoms there, and they apparently initially recognized the power of the local Greek rulers.Maues first conqueredGandhara andTaxila in present-day Afghanistan and Pakistanc. 80 BCE, but his kingdom disintegrated after his death. In the east, the Indian kingVikrama retook Ujjain from the Indo-Scythians and celebrated his victory by establishing theVikrama era in 58 BCE. Indo-Greek kings again ruled and prospered after Maues, as indicated by the profusion of coins from KingsApollodotus II andHippostratos. In 55 BCE, underAzes I, the Indo-Scythians took control of northwestern India with their victory over Hippostratos.
Excavations organized byJohn Marshall found several stone sculptures in the early Saka layer (layer number four, corresponding to the period ofAzes I, in which a number of his coins were found). Several of them aretoilet trays roughly imitative of finer Hellenistic examples found in earlier layers.
Azes is connected to theBimaran casket, one of the earliest representations of the Buddha. Thereliquary was used for the dedication of astupa in Bamiran, nearJalalabad inAfghanistan, and placed inside the stupa with several coins of Azes. This may have happened during the reign of Azes (60–20 BCE), or slightly later. The Indo-Scythians were connected with Buddhism.
In northern India, the Indo-Scythians conquered the Mathura regionc. 60 BCE. Some of theirsatraps wereHagamasha and Hagana, who were followed byRajuvula.
TheMathura lion capital, an Indo-Scythian sandstonecapital which dates to the first century CE, describes inKharoshthi script the gift of astupa with a relic of the Buddha byNadasi Kasa (Rajuvula's queen). The capital also mentions the genealogy of several Indo-Scythian Mathura satraps. Rajuvula apparently eliminatedStrato II (the last Indo-Greek king)c. 10 CE and tookSagala, his capital city.
Coinage of the period, such as that of Rajuvula, tends to be crude. It is also debased; the silver content becomes lower and bronze content higher, analloying technique suggesting a lack of wealth.
The Mathura lion capital inscriptions attest that Mathura came under Saka control. The inscriptions refer toKharahostes and QueenAyasia, the "chief queen of the Indo-Scythian ruler of Mathura, satrap Rajuvula." Kharahostes was the son ofArta, as attested by his own coins.[44] Arta was the brother of KingMaues.[45]
The Indo-Scythian satraps of Mathura are sometimes called the Northern Satraps to distinguish them from theWestern Satraps ruling inGujarat andMalwa. After Rajuvula, several successors are known to have ruled as vassals of theKushans. They include the "Great Satrap"Kharapallana and the satrapVanaspara, who are known from an inscription discovered inSarnath and dated to the third year ofKanishka (c. 130 CE), when they pledged allegiance to the Kushans.[46]
TheYuga Purana describes an invasion ofPataliputra by the Scythians during the first century BCE, after seven kings ruled in succession inSaketa following the retreat of the Yavanas. According to theYuga Purana, the Saka king killed one-fourth of the population before he was slain by theKalinga king Shata and a group of Sabalas.[47]
After Azes' death, Indo-Scythian rule in northwestern India ended with the rise of theIndo-Parthian rulerGondophares late in the first century BCE. For the following decades, A number of minor Scythian leaders maintained themselves in local strongholds on the fringes of the loose Indo-Parthian empire over the next few decades, some paying allegiance to Gondophares I and his successors.
Indo-Parthian rule was gradually replaced with that of theKushans, one of the five Yuezhi tribes who lived in Bactria for over a century and expanded into India during the late first century CE. The Kushans regained northwestern Indiac. 75 CE and the Mathura regionc. 100, where they prospered for several centuries.[33]
Indo-Scythians continued to hold the Sistan region until the reign ofBahram II (276–293 CE), and held several areas of India well into the first millennium;Kathiawar andGujarat were under Western Satrap rule until the fifth century.Rudradaman I's exploits are inscribed in theJunagadh rock inscription. During his campaigns, Rudradaman conqured theYaudheyas and defeated theSatavahana Empire. The Western Satraps were conquered by theGupta emperorChandragupta II (also known as Vikramaditya).
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Indo-Scythian coinage is generally of high quality, although the coins ofRajuvula deteriorate near the disintegration of Indo-Scythian rulec. 20 CE. A fairly high-quality, stereotypical coinage was continued by the Western Satraps until the fourth century.
Indo-Scythian coinage is generally realistic, artistically between Indo-Greek and Kushan coinage. It has been suggested that its coinage benefited from the help of Greek coin-makers.Indo-Scythian coins continue Indo-Greek tradition by using the Greek alphabet on the obverse and Kharoshthi script on the reverse. A portrait of the king is absent, with depictions of the king on a horse (sometimes on a camel) or sitting cross-legged on a cushion instead. The reverse of their coins typically show Greek gods.
Buddhist symbolism is present in Indo-Scythian coinage. The Indo-Scythians adopted the Indo-Greek practice (sinceMenander I) of depicting gods forming thevitarka mudra with their right hand (likeZeus on the coins ofMaues orAzes II), the Buddhist lion on the coins of those two kings, or thetriratana symbol on the coins ofZeionises.
Other than coins, few works of art are known to indisputably represent Indo-Scythians. SeveralGandharan sculptures show foreigners in soft tunics, sometimes wearing thepointed hat typical of theScythians. Kushan men seem to wear thick, rigid tunics, and are generally represented more simplistically.[48]
Indo-Scythian soldiers in military attire are sometimes represented in Buddhist friezes in Gandharan art, particularly in theBuner reliefs. They are depicted in loose tunics with trousers, with heavy, straight swords. They wear pointed hoods or the Scythian cap; this distinguishes them from the Indo-Parthians, who wore a simplefillet over their bushy hair,[49] and which is worn by Indo-Scythian rulers on their coins. With their right hand, some form thekarana mudra to ward off evil spirits. In Gandhara, such friezes were used to decorate the pedestals of Buddhiststupas. They are contemporary with other friezes representing people in Greek attire, hinting at an intermixing of Indo-Scythians and Indo-Greeks. In another relief, the same type of soldiers are playing musical instruments and dancing; in Gandharan art, Indo-Scythians are typically depicted as reveling devotees.
A number ofstone palettes in Gandhara are considered representative of Indo-Scythian art. The palettes, which combine Greek and Iranian influences, often have a simple, archaic style. Stone palettes have only been found in archaeological layers corresponding to Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian and Indo-Parthian rule, and are unknown in the precedingMauryan layers or the succeedingKushan layers.[51]
The palettes often depict people in Greek dress in mythological scenes; a few have Parthian dress (headbands over bushy hair, crossed-over jacket on a bare chest, jewelry, belt, baggy trousers), and fewer have Indo-Scythian dress (Phrygian hat, tunic and straight trousers). A palette found inSirkap, now in theNew Delhi Museum, shows a winged Indo-Scythian horseman riding a wingeddeer and being attacked by a lion.
The Indo-Scythians seem to have supported Buddhism, with many of their practices continuing those of the Indo-Greeks.[2][3][4]They had an active role in the dissemination of Buddhism beyond India.[3]
Several Indo-Scythian kings after Azes made Buddhist dedications in their name on plaques or reliquaries:
Excavations at theButkara Stupa inSwat by an Italian archaeological team have yielded Buddhist sculptures thought to belong to the Indo-Scythian period. AnIndo-Corinthian capital of a Buddhist devotee in foliage has been found which had a reliquary and coins of Azes buried at its base, dating the sculpture toc. 20 BCE.[59] A contemporarypilaster of a Buddhist devotee in Greek dress has been found at the same spot, again suggesting a mingling of the populations. Reliefs at the same location showIndo-Scythians, with characteristic tunics and pointed hoods, with reliefs of standing Buddhas.[60]
![Statue inscribed "year 318", probably 143 AD.[62][63]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aLoriya_Tangai_Buddha.jpg)
The Indo-Scythians were named "Shaka" in India, a variation of the name "Saka" used by the Persians for Scythians. Shakas are mentioned in thePurāṇas, theManusmṛti, theRāmāyaṇa, theMahābhārata, theMahābhāṣya, theBṛhat Saṃhitā byVarāhamihira, the Kāvyamīmāṃsā, the Bṛhatkathāmañjarīi, and theKathāsaritsāgara. They are described as part of a group of other warlike tribes from the northwest.
There are references to the warringmleccha hordes of Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas andPahlavas in theBalakanda of theRamayana.H. C. Raychadhury saw in these verses the struggles between the Hindus and the invading hordes ofmlecchabarbarians from the northwest beginning in the second century BCE, and fixed the date of theRamayana around (or after) the 2nd century CE.[64]
TheMahabharata also alludes to the invasion of mixed hordes from the northwest, with prophetic verses that "...the Mlechha (barbaric) kings of the Shakas, Yavanas,Kambojas,Bahlikas ... shall rule the earth un-righteously inKali Yuga ..."[65]
A portion ofCentral Asian Scythians under Sai-Wang reportedly moved south, crossed thePamir Mountains and entered Chipin (or Kipin) after crossing the Xuandu (懸度, Hanging Pass) above the valley of Kanda inSwat.[66] Chipin has been identified by Pelliot, Bagchi, Raychaudhury and others asKashmir,[67] but other scholars identify it asKafiristan.[68][69] Sai-Wang established his kingdom in Kipin. Konow interprets the Sai-Wang as theŚaka Murunda of Indian literature;murunda is synonymous withwang (king, master or lord).[70] Bagchi interpretsWang as the king of the Scythians, but distinguishes the Sai Sakas from the Murunda Sakas.[71] The Sai Scythians may have been Kamboja Scythians; the Sai-Wang were part of theParama Kamboja kingdom ofTransoxiana, and returned after being evicted from their ancestral land.Maues might have belonged to this group of Scythians who migrated from the Sai country (Central Asia) to Chipin.[72]
The Scythian groups who invaded India and established kingdoms included, in addition to the Saka, allied tribes such as theMedii,Xanthii, andMassagetae. These peoples were absorbed into mainstream Indian society.[75]
The Shakas were from the trans-Hemodos region—theShakadvipa of thePuranas or theScythia of classical writings. At the beginning of the first century CE,Isidore of Charax notes their presence in Sistan. ThePeriplus of the Erythraean Sea (c. 70–80 CE) documents a Scythian district in the lower Indus Valley, with Minnagra its capital. Ptolemy (c. 140 CE) also documents an Indo-Scythia in south-western India which consisted of the Patalene and Surastrene (Saurashtra) territories. The second-century BCE Scythian invasion of India was probably carried out jointly by the Saka, Pahlavas, Kambojas,Paradas,Rishikas and other allied tribes from the northwest.[76]
Tadeusz Sulimirski notes that the Saka also invaded parts of northern India.[77] Indian linguistWeer Rajendra Rishi[78] has identified linguistic affinities between Indian and Central Asian languages, which also suggests a Saka influence in northern India.[77][79]
Viparite tada loke purvarupa.n kshayasya tat
bahavo mechchha rajanah prithivyam manujadhipa
mithyanushasinah papa mrishavadaparayanah
Andhrah Shakah Pulindashcha Yavanashcha naradhipah
Kamboja Bahlikah ShudrastathAbhira narottama.— MBH 3.186.28–30
The evidence of both the ancient authors and the archaeological remains point to a massive migration of Sacian (Sakas)/Massagetan tribes from the Syr Daria Delta (Central Asia) by the middle of the second century B.C. Some of the Syr Darian tribes; they also invaded North India.
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