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 the
The ancestors of the Indo-Scythians are thought to have been
Scythian
) tribes.
One group of Indo-European speakers that makes an early appearance on the Xinjiang 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 whom Herodotus describes in book four of his History (Saka is an Iranian word equivalent to the Greek Scythes, 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 called kurgans.[19]
The Saka of western India spoke the Saka language (also known as Khotanese), first documented in the Tarim Basin.[20]
Achaemenid period (6th-4th century BCE)
During the Achaemenid 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 the Achaemenid Empire. The army included Bactrians, Saka, Parthians, and Sogdians.[21] Herodotus listed the ethnicities of the Achaemenid army, which included Ionians (Greeks) and Ethiopians.[22][21] These groups were probably included in the Achaemenid army which invaded India.[21]
Some scholars (including
Gautama Buddha – were originally Scythians from Central Asia, and the Indian ethnonym Śākya has the same origin as "Scythian".[21] This would explain the strong Saka support of Buddhism in India.[24]
During the second century BCE, a nomadic movement began among the Central Asian tribes. Recorded in the annals of the Han dynasty and other Chinese records, the movement began after the Yuezhi tribe was defeated by the Xiongnu and fled west; this created a domino effect, displacing other central Asian tribes in their path.[29]
Detail of one of the Orlat plaques, apparently representing Scythian soldiers
According to these ancient sources,
Sogdiana. 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 the
Sacaraucae (probably from the Old Persian Sakaravaka, "nomadic Saka") and an allied people, the Massagetae, came into conflict with the Parthian Empire in Parthia between 138 and 124 BCE. The Sacaraucae-Massagetae alliance won several battles and killed the Parthian kings Phraates II and Artabanus I. The Yuezhi tribes migrated east into Bactria after their defeat, from which they conquered northern India to establish the Kushan Empire.[33]
Settlement in Sakastan
Map of Sakastan around 100 BCE
The Saka settled in Drangiana, a region of southern Afghanistan, western Pakistan and southern Iran which was then named Sakastan or Sistan.[34] The mixed Scythian hordes who migrated to Drangiana and the surrounding regions later spread into north and south-west India via the lower Indus valley. They spread into Sovira, Gujarat, Rajasthan and north India, including kingdoms on the Indian mainland.
The
Arsacid emperor Mithridates II (c. 123–88/87 BCE) pursued an aggressive military policy in Central Asia and added a number of provinces to the Parthian 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 from
Lake Helmond (or Hāmūn) and settled in or near Drangiana (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 by
Alexandria of the Arachosians) and the Parthian-controlled territory of Arachosia
on the south:
Beyond is Sacastana of the Scythian Sacae, which is also Paraetacena, 63
schoeni. There are the city of Barda and the city of Min and the city of Palacenti and the city of Sigal; in that place is the royal residence of the Sacae; and nearby is the city of Alexandria (Alexandria Arachosia), and six villages.[39]
Kingdoms
Pamirs to Taxila
Asia in 100 BCE, showing the Saka and their neighbors
Sinthus, 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 to Parthian princes who are constantly driving each other out ...[41]
The Indo-Scythians established a kingdom in the northwest near
, the Indo-Scythians took control of northwestern India with their victory over Hippostratos.
Sculpture
Toilet tray of the type found in the early Saka layer at SirkapBronze coin of King Azes. Obverse: BASILEWS BASILEWN MEGALOU AZOU, Humped Brahman bull (zebu) walking right, Whitehead symbol 15 (Z in square) above; reverse: Kharosthi "jha" to right / Kharosthi legend, Lion or leopard standing right, Whitehead symbol 26 above [43]The Bimaran casket, representing the Buddha surrounded by Brahma(left) and Śakra, was found in a stupa with coins of Azes I inside. (British Museum)
Excavations organized by John Marshall found several stone sculptures in the early Saka layer (layer number four, corresponding to the period of Azes I, in which a number of his coins were found). Several of them are toilet trays roughly imitative of finer Hellenistic examples found in earlier layers.
, 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.
is an Indo-Scythian Buddhist monument. (British Museum)]]
In northern India, the Indo-Scythians conquered the Mathura region c. 60 BCE. Some of their satraps were Hagamasha and Hagana, who were followed by Rajuvula.
The
Kharoshthi script the gift of a stupa with a relic of the Buddha by Nadasi Kasa (Rajuvula's queen). The capital also mentions the genealogy of several Indo-Scythian Mathura satraps. Rajuvula apparently eliminated Strato II (the last Indo-Greek king) c. 10 CE and took Sagala
, 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, an alloying technique suggesting a lack of wealth.
The Mathura lion capital inscriptions attest that Mathura came under Saka control. The inscriptions refer to
Ayasia, the "chief queen of the Indo-Scythian ruler of Mathura, satrap Rajuvula." Kharahostes was the son of Arta, as attested by his own coins.[44] Arta was the brother of King Maues.[45]
The Indo-Scythian satraps of Mathura are sometimes called the Northern Satraps to distinguish them from the Western Satraps ruling in Gujarat and Malwa. After Rajuvula, several successors are known to have ruled as vassals of the Kushans. They include the "Great Satrap" Kharapallana and the satrap Vanaspara, who are known from an inscription discovered in Sarnath and dated to the third year of Kanishka (c. 130 CE), when they pledged allegiance to the Kushans.[46]
Pataliputra
Silver coin of Vijayamitra in the name of Azes I. A Buddhist triratna symbol is on the left of the reverse.Profile of Azes on one of his coins
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 the
Kushans, 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 India c. 75 CE and the Mathura region c. 100, where they prospered for several centuries.[33]
Coin of the western satrap Rudrasimha I (c. 175–197 CE), a descendant of the Indo-Scythians
Indo-Scythians continued to hold the Sistan region until the reign of Bahram II (276–293 CE), and held several areas of India well into the first millennium; Kathiawar and Gujarat were under Western Satrap rule until the fifth century. Rudradaman I's exploits are inscribed in the Junagadh rock inscription. During his campaigns, Rudradaman conqured the Yaudheyas and defeated the Satavahana Empire. The Western Satraps were conquered by the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II (also known as Vikramaditya).
Indo-Scythian coinage is generally of high quality, although the coins of Rajuvula deteriorate near the disintegration of Indo-Scythian rule c. 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 (since
Other than coins, few works of art are known to indisputably represent Indo-Scythians. Several Gandharan sculptures show foreigners in soft tunics, sometimes wearing the pointed hat typical of the Scythians. Kushan men seem to wear thick, rigid tunics, and are generally represented more simplistically.[48]
Buner reliefs
Indo-Scythian soldiers in military attire are sometimes represented in Buddhist friezes in Gandharan art, particularly in the
stupas
. 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.
Mauryan layers or the succeeding Kushan 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 in
New Delhi Museum, shows a winged Indo-Scythian horseman riding a winged deer
and being attacked by a lion.
Buddhism
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]
Kharahostes (10 BCE – 10 CE) is mentioned on the Buddhist Mathura lion capital and on a reliquary.[53][54] His coins were also found in the Bimaran casket, a gold reliquary with an early image of the Buddha now in the British Museum. Some of his coins have the Buddhist triratna symbol.
Vijayamitra (ruled 12 BCE - 15 CE) dedicated a Buddhist reliquary.[55][56] Some of his coins bear the Buddhist triratna symbol.
Rajuvula erected the Mathura lion capital, which incorporates Buddhist symbols and relates the donations by his wife of relics to a stupa.
Butkara Stupa
friezes. Butkara stupa, Swat, 1st century BCE.[57]
Possible Scythian devotee couple[58] around the Buddha, Brahma and Indra
Excavations at the
Swat by an Italian archaeological team have yielded Buddhist sculptures thought to belong to the Indo-Scythian period. An Indo-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 to c. 20 BCE.[59] A contemporary pilaster 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 show Indo-Scythians, with characteristic tunics and pointed hoods, with reliefs of standing Buddhas.[60]
The Indo-Scythians were named "Shaka" in India, a variation of the name "Saka" used by the Persians for Scythians. Shakas are mentioned in the Purāṇas, the Manusmṛti, the Rāmāyaṇa, the Mahābhārata, the Mahābhāṣya, the Bṛhat Saṃhitā by Varāhamihira, the Kāvyamīmāṃsā, the Bṛhatkathāmañjarīi, and the Kathāsaritsāgara. They are described as part of an group of other warlike tribes from the northwest.
There are references to the warring
Pahlavas in the Balakanda of the Ramayana. H. C. Raychadhury saw in these verses the struggles between the Hindus and the invading hordes of mlecchabarbarians from the northwest beginning in the second century BCE, and fixed the date of the Ramayana around (or after) the 2nd century CE.[64]
The Mahabharata 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 in Kali Yuga ..."[65]
Sai-Wang hordes
Coin of Azes seated, holding a drawn sword and a whip
A portion of Central Asian Scythians under Sai-Wang reportedly moved south, crossed the Pamir Mountains and entered Chipin (or Kipin) after crossing the Xuandu (懸度, Hanging Pass) above the valley of Kanda in Swat.[66] Chipin has been identified by Pelliot, Bagchi, Raychaudhury and others as Kashmir,[67] but other scholars identify it as Kafiristan.[68][69] Sai-Wang established his kingdom in Kipin. Konow interprets the Sai-Wang as the Śaka Murunda of Indian literature; murunda is synonymous with wang (king, master or lord).[70] Bagchi interprets Wang 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 the Parama Kamboja Kingdom of Transoxiana, 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]
Tadeusz Sulimirski notes that the Saka also invaded parts of northern India.[77] Indian linguist Weer Rajendra Rishi[78] has identified linguistic affinities between Indian and Central Asian languages, which also suggests a Saka influence in northern India.[77][79]
^Kharapallana and Vanaspara are known from an inscription discovered in Sarnath and dated to the third year of Kanishka, in which they pledged allegiance to the Kushanas.[7]
^"The titles "Kshatrap" and "Mahakshatrapa" certainly show that the Western Kshatrapas were originally feudatories"[8]
. In K. A. Nilakanta Sastri (ed.). A Comprehensive History of India, Volume 2: Mauryas and Satavahanas. Orient Longmans. p. 4.: "The Mudrarakshasa further informs us that his Himalayan alliance gave Chandragupta a composite army ... Among these are mentioned the following : Sakas, Yavanas (probably Greeks), Kiratas, Kambojas, Parasikas and Bahlikas."
.: "Among those who helped Chandragupta in his struggle against the Nandas, were the Sakas (Scythians), Yavanas (Greeks), and Parasikas (Persians)"
S2CID 162867863.: "After Alexander's death, when Chandragupta marched on Magada, it was with largely the Persian army that he won the throne of India. The testimony of the Mudrarakshasa
is explicit on this point, and we have no reason to doubt its accuracy in matter[s] of this kind."
^Kshatrapasa pra Kharaostasa Artasa putrasa. See: Political History of Ancient India, 1996, p 398, H. C. Raychaudhury, B. N. Mukerjee; Ancient India, 1956, pp 220–221, R. K. Mukerjee
^Ancient India, pp 220–221, R. k. Mukerjee; Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol II, Part 1, p 36, D S Konow
^Source: "A Catalogue of the Indian Coins in the British Museum. Andhras etc ..." Rapson, p ciii
have yielded such objects. Only four palettes have been found in Kushan-period archaeological sites. They come from secondary sites, such as Garav Kala and Ajvadz in Soviet Tajikistan and Jhukar, in the Indus Valley, and Dalverzin Tepe. They are rather roughly made." In "Les Palettes du Gandhara", Henri-Paul Francfort, p 91. (in French in the original)
^Ahmad Hasan Dani et al., History of Civilizations of Central Asia, 1999, p 201, Unesco
^Richard Salomon, "An Inscribed Silver Buddhist Reliquary of the Time of King Kharaosta and Prince Indravarman", Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 116, No. 3 (July - September 1996), pp. 418-452
^"Afghanistan, carrefour en l'Est et l'Ouest" p.373. Also Senior 2003
Viparite tada loke purvarupa.n kshayasya tat
bahavo mechchha rajanah prithivyam manujadhipa
mithyanushasinah papa mrishavadaparayanah
Andhrah Shakah Pulindashcha Yavanashcha naradhipah
Kamboja Bahlikah Shudrastath Abhira narottama.
— MBH 3.188.34–36
^Serindia, Vol. I, 1980 edition, p. 8, M. A. Stein
P. C. Bagchi
^Epigraphia Indiaca XIV, p 291 S Konow; Greeks in Bactria and India, p 473, fn, W. W. Tarn; Yuan Chwang I, pp 259–60, Watters; Comprehensive History of India, Vol I, p 189, N. K. Sastri; History and Culture of Indian People, The Age of Imperial Unity, 122; History and Culture of Indian People, Classical Age, p 617, R. C. Majumdar, A. D. Pusalkar.
^Scholars like E. J. Rapson, L. Petech etc. also connect Kipin with Kapisha. Levi writes that before 600 CE, Kipin was Kashmir; after that, it was Kapisha. See discussion in The Classical Age, p 671.
^Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, II. 1. XX f; cf: Early History of North India, pp 54, S Chattopadhyaya.
^India and Central Asia, 1955, p 124, P. C. Bagchi; Geographical Data in Early Puranas, 1972, p 47, M. R. Singh.
^Political History of Ancient India, 1996, fn 13, B. N. Mukerjee; Chilas, Islamabad, 1983, no 72, 78, 85, pp 98, 102, A. H. Dani
^"In Nagarjunakonda Scythian influence is noticed and the cap and coat of a soldier on a pillar may be cited as an example" in Sivaramamurti, C. (1961). Indian Sculpture. Allied Publishers. p. 51.
^"A Scythian dvarapala standing wearing his typical draperies, boots and head dress. Distinct ethnic and sartorial characteristics are noteworthy" in Ray, Amita (1982). Life and Art of Early Andhradesa. Agam. p. 249.
^History and Culture of Indian People, The Vedic Age, pp 286–87, 313–14.
. 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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![Statue inscribed "year 318", probably 143 AD.[62][63]](/File:Loriya_Tangai_Buddha.jpg)
