Saka
The Sakas[1] were a population of Iranic[2][3][4] nomadic tribesmen lived in the plains of Eurasia from Eastern Europe to China, from the Old Persian Period to the Middle Persian Period. Then Turkic language speakers took their place.
 Issyk's Gold Cataphract Warrior (from Kazakhstan), a parade gold scale armour from Issyk's thoimb of Sakas King | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Unknown | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Eastern Europe Central Asia Northeast Asia | |
| Languages | |
| Scythian languages | |
| Religion | |
| Animism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
The ancient Greeks called the Sakas the Scythians.
Sakas came across the river Indus and overan Sind and Saurashtra (near Gujrat) .They finally settled down in Kathiawar and malwa. They were often in war with the Satavahanas. Rudradaman, one of their best known king was the one who stopped the expansion of Sata ahana power to the north of river Narmada. The Sakas themselves could not expand to the north as they would have liked to, because Kushanas held them back.
Saka Media
gupta letter ś
gupta letter k
For the Achaemenids, there were three types of Sakas: the Sakā tayai paradraya ("beyond the sea", presumably between the Greeks and the Thracians on the Western side of the Black Sea), the Sakā tigraxaudā ("with pointed caps"), the <span title="Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Language/data/ISO 639 override' not found. transliteration" class="Unicode" style="white-space:normal; text-decoration: none">Sakā haumavargā ("Hauma drinkers", furthest East). Soldiers of the Achaemenid army, Xerxes I tomb detail, circa 480 BC.
Eurasia in 400 BC, showing location of the Saka and their neighbors
Coin of Gurgamoya, king of Khotan. Khotan, first century.*Obv: Kharosthi legend, "Of the great king of kings, king of Khotan, Gurgamoya.*Rev: Chinese legend: "Twenty-four grain copper coin". British Museum
A document from Khotan written in Khotanese Saka, part of the Eastern Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, listing the animals of the Chinese zodiac in the cycle of predictions for people born in that year; ink on paper, early 9th century
Model of a Saka/Kangju cataphract armour with neck-guard, from Khalchayan. 1st century BCE. Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan, nb 40.
The Heavenly Horse, commonly known as the Ferghana Horse, is an ancient ceremonial bronze finial. It originates from Bactria, dating back to the 4th-1st century BCE, and was skillfully crafted by Saka tribes.
Map of Sakastan ("Land of the Sakas"), where the Sakas resettled c. 100 BCE
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References
- ↑ English form of Old Iranian Sakā, nominative plural masculine case; ancient Greek Σάκαι, Sakai; Sanskrit Śaka
- ↑ Andrew Dalby, Dictionary of Languages: the definitive reference to more than 400 languages, Columbia University Press, 2004, pg 278
- ↑ Sarah Iles Johnston, Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide, Harvard University Press, 2004. pg 197
- ↑ Edward A Allworth,Central Asia: A Historical Overview,Duke University Press, 1994. pp 86.
Books and Articles
- ""Prothetic h-" in Khotanese and the reconstruction of Proto-Iranic" (PDF). Martin Kummel. Script and Reconstruction in Linguistic History―Univerzita Karlova v Praze, March 2020.
- Davis-Kimball, Jeannine. 2002. Warrior Women: An Archaeologist's Search for History's Hidden Heroines. Warner Books, New York. 1st Trade printing, 2003. ISBN 0-446-67983-6 (pbk).
- Lebedynsky, Iaroslav. (2006). Les Saces: Les <<Scythes>> d'Asie, VIIIe av. J.-C.-IVe siècle apr. J.-C. Editions Errance, Paris. ISBN 2-87772-337-2 (in French).
Other websites
- Genetic journeys and ancestors Archived 2007-12-20 at the Wayback Machine
- Hill, John E. 2004. The Western Regions according to the Hou Hanshu. Draft annotated English translation.
- Hill, John E. 2004. The Peoples of the West from the Weilue 魏略 by Yu Huan 魚豢: A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE. Draft annotated English translation.
