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{{Infobox ethnic group
{{Infobox ethnic group
|group=Saka
|group=Saka
|image=[[Image:Scythia-Parthia 100 BC.png|300px]]<br />Approximate extent of [[East Iranian languages]] in the 1st century BC is shown in orange.
|image=[[Image;Scythia-Parthia 100 BC.png|300px]]<br />Approximate extent of [[East Iranian languages]] in the 1st century BC is shown in orange.
|poptime=Unknown
|poptime=Unknown
|popplace=Central Asia<br />Pakistan<br />Northern India
|popplace=Central Asia<br />Pakistan<br />Northern India
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}}
}}


The '''Saka''' ([[Old Persian]] ''Sakā''; {{lang-fa|'''ساكا'''}}; [[Sanskrit]] {{lang|sa|शाक}} ''Śāka''; [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] {{lang|grc|Σάκαι}}; [[Latin]] ''Sacae''; {{zh|c=塞|p=Sāi}}; [[Old Chinese]] ''*Sək'') were a [[Scythians|Scythian]] tribe or group of tribes of [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] origin.<ref>P. Lurje, “[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/yarkand Yārkand]”, Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition</ref>
The '''Saka''' ([[Old Persian]] ''Sakā''; {{lang-fa|'''ساكا'''}}; [[Sanskrit]] {{lang|sa|शाक}} ''Śāka''; [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] {{lang|grc|Σάκαι}}; [[Latin]] ''Sacae''; {{zh|c=塞|p=Sāi}}; [[Old Chinese]] ''*Sək'') were a [[Scythians|Scythian]] tribe or group of tribes of [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]]<ref>P. Lurje, “[http;//www.iranicaonline.org/articles/yarkand Yārkand]”, Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition</ref> or Turkic<ref>[http;//www.yeniturkiye.com/display.asp?c=6011#x The Turks. Volume 1; Early Ages. Part 3; Old nomads of the steppes; Scythian age in Eurasia. Prof. Dr. A. Chay - Prof. Dr. I. Durmus, Scythians, Yeni Türkiye, Ankara 2002, S.147-166], ISBN 975-6782-56-0</ref><ref>Zürichi Magyar Történelmi Egyesület, [http;//books.google.de/books?id=UPdBHQAACAAJ Die Frühgeschichte der Ungarn; Zusammenfassung], Ungarisch-Historischer Verein, 1994, S.11 f., ISBN 963-8527-447</ref><ref>Osman Karatay, [http;//books.google.de/books?id=Epos6XaLW4MC İran ile Turan; hayali milletler çaǧında Avrasya ve Ortadoǧu], Ayse Demiral, 2003, s.151</ref><ref>H. Celâl Güzel, Ali Birinci, [http;//books.google.de/books?id=aShtAAAAMAAJ Genel Türk tarihi, 1. cilt], Yeni Türkiye, 2002, s.485</ref><ref>Yılmaz Öztuna, [http;//books.google.de/books?id=RElpAAAAMAAJ Başlangıcından zamanımıza kadar büyük türkiye tarihi; Türkiye'nin siyasî, medenî, kültür, teşkilât ve san'at tarihi], Ötüken Yayınevi, 1983</ref><ref>[http;//books.google.de/books?id=ZmVpAAAAMAAJ Belgelerle Türk tarihi dergisi, cilt 84-86], Menteş Kitabevi, 2004, s.89</ref> origin.
They were nomadic warriors roaming the steppes of modern-day [[Kazakhstan]].
They were nomadic warriors roaming the steppes of modern-day [[Kazakhstan]].


[[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Latin]] texts suggest that the term ''Scythians'' referred to a much more widespread grouping of [[Central Asia]]n peoples.<ref name="Books.google.com">{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=J_gAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA322&lpg=PA322&dq=HAIHAIYA+AHIR#v=onepage&q=AHIR&f=false |title=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society ...&nbsp;– Google Books |publisher=|date=2007-04-06 |accessdate=2010-12-30}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland By Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland-page-323</ref>
[[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Latin]] texts suggest that the term ''Scythians'' referred to a much more widespread grouping of [[Central Asia]]n peoples.<ref name="Books.google.com">{{cite book|url=http;//books.google.com/books?id=J_gAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA322&lpg=PA322&dq=HAIHAIYA+AHIR#v=onepage&q=AHIR&f=false |title=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society ...&nbsp;– Google Books |publisher=|date=2007-04-06 |accessdate=2010-12-30}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland By Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland-page-323</ref>


==Usage of the name ''Saka''==
==Usage of the name ''Saka''==
[[Image:MenWithDragons.jpg|thumb|left|Gold artifacts of the Saka in Bactria, at the site of [[Tillia tepe]].]]
[[Image;MenWithDragons.jpg|thumb|left|Gold artifacts of the Saka in Bactria, at the site of [[Tillia tepe]].]]
Modern debate about the identity of the "Saka" is due partly to ambiguous usage of the word by ancient, non-Saka authorities. According to [[Herodotus]], the Persians gave the name "Saka" to all Scythians.<ref>Herodotus Book VII, 64</ref> However, [[Pliny the Elder]] (''Gaius Plinius Secundus'', AD 23–79) claims that the Persians gave the name Sakai only to the Scythian tribes "nearest to them".<ref>Naturalis Historia, VI, 19, 50</ref> The Scythians to the far north of Assyria were also called the ''Saka suni'' "Saka or Scythian sons" by the Persians.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} The [[ancient Assyrians|Assyrians]] of the time of [[Esarhaddon]] record campaigning against a people they called in the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] the ''Ashkuza'' or ''Ishhuza''.<ref name=west506>{{cite book|first=Claus|last=Westermann|coauthors=John J. Scullion, Translator|title=: A Continental Commentary|year=1984|location=Minneapolis|page=506|unused_data=|isbn=0800695003}}</ref>
Modern debate about the identity of the "Saka" is due partly to ambiguous usage of the word by ancient, non-Saka authorities. According to [[Herodotus]], the Persians gave the name "Saka" to all Scythians.<ref>Herodotus Book VII, 64</ref> However, [[Pliny the Elder]] (''Gaius Plinius Secundus'', AD 23–79) claims that the Persians gave the name Sakai only to the Scythian tribes "nearest to them".<ref>Naturalis Historia, VI, 19, 50</ref> The Scythians to the far north of Assyria were also called the ''Saka suni'' "Saka or Scythian sons" by the Persians.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} The [[ancient Assyrians|Assyrians]] of the time of [[Esarhaddon]] record campaigning against a people they called in the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] the ''Ashkuza'' or ''Ishhuza''.<ref name=west506>{{cite book|first=Claus|last=Westermann|coauthors=John J. Scullion, Translator|title=; A Continental Commentary|year=1984|location=Minneapolis|page=506|unused_data=|isbn=0800695003}}</ref>


Another people, the ''[[Gimirrai]]'',<ref name=west506/> who were known to the [[ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] as the [[Cimmerians]], were closely associated with the Sakas. In ancient [[Hebrew]] texts, the ''Ashkuz'' (''[[Ashkenaz]]'') are considered to be a direct offshoot from the Gimirri (Gomer).<ref>"The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath,[a] and Togarmah." See also the entry for Ashkenaz in {{cite book|first=Robert|last=Young|title=Analytical Concordance to the Bible|publisher=Mac Donald Publishing Company|location=McLean, Virginia|isbn=0-917006-29-1}}</ref>
Another people, the ''[[Gimirrai]]'',<ref name=west506/> who were known to the [[ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] as the [[Cimmerians]], were closely associated with the Sakas. In ancient [[Hebrew]] texts, the ''Ashkuz'' (''[[Ashkenaz]]'') are considered to be a direct offshoot from the Gimirri (Gomer).<ref>"The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath,[a] and Togarmah." See also the entry for Ashkenaz in {{cite book|first=Robert|last=Young|title=Analytical Concordance to the Bible|publisher=Mac Donald Publishing Company|location=McLean, Virginia|isbn=0-917006-29-1}}</ref>
[[Image:Issyk Golden Cataphract Warrior.jpg|thumb|200px|A [[cataphract]]-style parade armour of a Saka royal from the [[Issyk kurgan]], [[Kazakhstan]].]] The Saka regarded by the Babylonians as synonymous with the ''Gimirrai''; both names are used synonymously on the trilingual [[Behistun inscription]], carved in 515 BC on the order of Darius the Great.<ref>[[George Rawlinson]], noted in his translation of ''History of Herodotus'', Book VII, p. 378</ref> (These people were reported to be mainly interested in settling in the kingdom of [[Urartu]], later part of [[Armenia]] and Shacusen, in Uti Province derives its name from them.<ref>{{cite book|first=Vahan M.|last=Kurkjian|title=A History of Armenia|publisher=Armenian General Benevolent Union of America|year=1964|location=New York|page=23}}</ref>) The Behistun inscription mentions four divisions of Scythians,
[[Image;Issyk Golden Cataphract Warrior.jpg|thumb|200px|A [[cataphract]]-style parade armour of a Saka royal from the [[Issyk kurgan]], [[Kazakhstan]].]] The Saka regarded by the Babylonians as synonymous with the ''Gimirrai''; both names are used synonymously on the trilingual [[Behistun inscription]], carved in 515 BC on the order of Darius the Great.<ref>[[George Rawlinson]], noted in his translation of ''History of Herodotus'', Book VII, p. 378</ref> (These people were reported to be mainly interested in settling in the kingdom of [[Urartu]], later part of [[Armenia]] and Shacusen, in Uti Province derives its name from them.<ref>{{cite book|first=Vahan M.|last=Kurkjian|title=A History of Armenia|publisher=Armenian General Benevolent Union of America|year=1964|location=New York|page=23}}</ref>) The Behistun inscription mentions four divisions of Scythians,
*the ''Sakā paradraya'' "Saka beyond the sea" of [[Sarmatia]],
*the ''Sakā paradraya'' "Saka beyond the sea" of [[Sarmatia]],
*the ''Sakā tigraxaudā'' "Saka with pointy hats/caps",
*the ''Sakā tigraxaudā'' "Saka with pointy hats/caps",
*the ''Sakā haumavargā'' "[[haoma]]-drinking Saka"<ref>http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/haumavarga</ref> ([[Amyrgians]], the Saka tribe in closest proximity to [[Bactria]] and [[Sogdiana]]),
*the ''Sakā haumavargā'' "[[haoma]]-drinking Saka"<ref>http;//www.iranicaonline.org/articles/haumavarga</ref> ([[Amyrgians]], the Saka tribe in closest proximity to [[Bactria]] and [[Sogdiana]]),
*the ''Sakā para Sugdam'' "Saka beyond Sugda ([[Sogdia]]na)" at the [[Jaxartes]].
*the ''Sakā para Sugdam'' "Saka beyond Sugda ([[Sogdia]]na)" at the [[Jaxartes]].
Of these, the ''Sakā tigraxaudā'' were the Saka proper.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}} The ''Sakā paradraya'' were the western Scythians or Sarmatians, the ''Sakā haumavargā'' and ''Sakā para Sugdam'' were likely Scythian tribes associated with or split-of from the original Saka.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
Of these, the ''Sakā tigraxaudā'' were the Saka proper.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}} The ''Sakā paradraya'' were the western Scythians or Sarmatians, the ''Sakā haumavargā'' and ''Sakā para Sugdam'' were likely Scythian tribes associated with or split-of from the original Saka.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}


In the modern era, the archaeologist [[Hugo Winckler]] (1863&ndash;1913) was the first to associate the Sakas with the Scyths. I. Gershevitch, in ''The Cambridge History of Iran'' states: "The Persians gave the single name Sakā both to the nomads whom they encountered between the Hunger steppe and the Caspian, and equally to those north of the Danube and Black Sea against whom Darius later campaigned; and the Greeks and Assyrians called all those who were known to them by the name Skuthai (Iškuzai). Sakā and Skuthai evidently constituted a generic name for the nomads on the northern frontiers."<ref>I. Gershevitch,''The Cambridge History of Iran'' (Volume 2), Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 253 .</ref> Conversely, the political historian [[B. N. Mukerjee]] has claimed that ancient Greek and Roman scholars believed that while "all Sakai were Scythians", "not all Scythians were Sakai".{{why|date=January 2013}} <ref>B. N. Mukerjee, ''Political History of Ancient India'', 1996, p 690-91.</ref>
In the modern era, the archaeologist [[Hugo Winckler]] (1863&ndash;1913) was the first to associate the Sakas with the Scyths. I. Gershevitch, in ''The Cambridge History of Iran'' states; "The Persians gave the single name Sakā both to the nomads whom they encountered between the Hunger steppe and the Caspian, and equally to those north of the Danube and Black Sea against whom Darius later campaigned; and the Greeks and Assyrians called all those who were known to them by the name Skuthai (Iškuzai). Sakā and Skuthai evidently constituted a generic name for the nomads on the northern frontiers."<ref>I. Gershevitch,''The Cambridge History of Iran'' (Volume 2), Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 253 .</ref> Conversely, the political historian [[B. N. Mukerjee]] has claimed that ancient Greek and Roman scholars believed that while "all Sakai were Scythians", "not all Scythians were Sakai".{{why|date=January 2013}} <ref>B. N. Mukerjee, ''Political History of Ancient India'', 1996, p 690-91.</ref>


<!-- Commented out the following section due to a lack of any relevance to lay readers, i.e. Who are the Aseni/Asoi, the Sacarauls /Sarauceans etc and what is their connection to the Saka? ===Ancient accounts of Central Asians in South Asia===
<!-- Commented out the following section due to a lack of any relevance to lay readers, i.e. Who are the Aseni/Asoi, the Sacarauls /Sarauceans etc and what is their connection to the Saka? ===Ancient accounts of Central Asians in South Asia===
{{see also|Central Asians in Ancient Indian literature}}
{{see also|Central Asians in Ancient Indian literature}}
[[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] also mentions ''Aseni'' and ''Asoi'' clans south of the [[Hindukush]].<ref>Pliny: ''Hist Nat''., VI.21.8–23.11, ''List of Indian races''</ref> [[Alexandria Bucephalus|Bucephala]] was the capital of the ''Aseni'' which stood on the Hydaspes (the [[Jhelum River]]).<ref>''Alexander the Great, Sources and Studies'', p 236, W. W. Tarn; ''Political History of Indian People'', 1996, p 232, H. C. Raychaudhury, B. N. Mukerjee</ref> The Sarauceans and Aseni are the Sacarauls and [[Asioi]] of Strabo.<ref>''History and Culture of Indian People, Age of Imperial Unity'', p 111; ''Political History of Ancient India'', 1996, p 692.</ref>{{clarify|reason=this relies on primary sources, is original research and the relevance to Saka is unclear|date=October 2011}} ''Asio'', ''Asi'', ''Asii'', ''Asva'', ''Aswa'', ''Ari-aspi'', ''Aspasios'', ''Aspasii'' and ''Hippasii'' are variant names the classical writers have given to the horse-clans of the [[Kambojas]].<ref>For nomenclature Aspasii, Hipasii, see: [[Olaf Caroe]], ''The Pathans'', 1958, pp 37, 55–56. [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] also refers to horse clans like ''Aseni, Asoi'' living in north-west of India (which were none-else than the [[Ashvayana]] and [[Ashvakas|Ashvakayana]] Kambojas of Indian texts). See: ''Hist. Nat''. VI 21.8–23.11; See ''Ancient India as Described by Megasthenes and Arrian'', Trans. and edited by J. W. McCrindle, Calcutta and Bombay,: Thacker, Spink, 1877, 30–174.</ref> The Old-Persian words for horse, "asa" and "aspa, have most likely been derived from this.<ref>[http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/unicode/v2f7/v2f7a048.html Encyclopedia Iranica Article on Asb]</ref> If one accepts this connection,{{Or|date=October 2011}} then the Tukharas (= Rishikas = Yuezhi) controlled the eastern parts of Bactria (Chinese ''Ta-hia'') while the combined forces of the ''Sakarauloi'', ''Asio'' (''horse people = Parama Kambojas'') and ''Pasinoi'' of Strabo occupied its western parts after being displaced from their original home in the [[Fergana]] valley by the Yuezhi. Ta-hia ([[Daxia]]) is then taken to mean the [[Tushara Kingdom]] which also included [[Badakshan]], [[Chitral]], [[Kafirstan]] and [[Wakhan]]<ref>''Political History of Ancient India'', 1996, Commentary, p 719, B. N. Mukerjee. Cf: "It appears likely that like the Yue-chis, the Scythians had also occupied a part of Transoxiana before conquering Bactria. If the Tokhario, who were the same as or affiliated with Yue-chihs, and who were mistaken as Scythian people, participated in the same series of invasions of Bactria of the Greeks, then it may be inferred that eastern Bactria was conquered by Yue-chis and the western by other nomadic people in about the same period. In other words, the Greek rule in Bactria was put to end in c 130/29 BC due to invasion by the Great Yue-chis and the Scythians Sakas nomads (Commentary: ''Political History of Ancient India'', 1996, p 692-93, B.N. Mukerjee). It is notable that before its occupation by Tukhara Yue-chis, Badakashan formed a part of ancient Kamboja i.e. Parama Kamboja country. But after its occupation by the Tukharas in the 2nd century BC, it became a part of Tukharistan. Around the 4th or 5th century, when the fortunes of the Tukharas finally died down, the original population of Kambojas re-asserted itself and the region again started to be called by its ancient name Kamboja (See: Bhartya Itihaas ki Ruprekha, p 534, J.C. Vidyalankar; ''Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country'', 1981, pp 129, 300 J.L. Kamboj; ''Kambojas Through the Ages'', 2005, p 159, S Kirpal Singh). There are several later-time references to this Kamboja of Pamirs/Badakshan. Raghuvamsha, a 5th c Sanskrit play by Kalidasa, attests their presence on river Vamkshu (Oxus) as neighbors to the Hunas (4.68–70). They have also been attested as ''Kiumito'' by 7th-century Chinese pilgrim Hiun Tsang. King Lalitadiya of Kashmir in the 8th century, had invaded the Oxian Kambojas as is attested by Rajatarangini of Kalhana (See: Rajatarangini 4.163-65). Here they are mentioned as living in the eastern parts of the Oxus valley as neighbors to the Tukharas who were living in western parts of Oxus valley (See: ''The Land of the Kambojas'', Purana, Vol V, No, July 1962, p 250, D. C. Sircar). These Kambojas apparently were descendants of that section of the Kambojas who, instead of leaving their ancestral land during second c BC under assault from Ta Yue-chi, had compromised with the invaders and had decided to stay put in their ancestral land instead of moving to Helmond valley or to the Kabol valley. There are other references which equate Kamboja= Tokhara. A Buddhist Sanskrit Vinaya text (N. Dutt, Gilgit Manuscripts, III, 3, 136, quoted in B.S.O.A.S XIII, 404) has the expression ''satam Kambojikanam kanayanam'' i.e a hundred maidens from Kamboja. This has been rendered in Tibetan as ''Tho-gar yul-gyi bu-mo brgya'' and in Mongolian as ''Togar ulus-un yagun ükin''. Thus ''Kamboja'' has been rendered as ''Tho-gar'' or Togar. And Tho-gar/Togar is Tibetan/Mongolian names for Tokhar/Tukhar. See refs: Irano-Indica III, [[H. W. Bailey]], Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 13, No. 2, 1950, pp. 389–409; see also: Ancient Kamboja, Iran and Islam, 1971, p 66, H. W. Bailey.</ref> According to other scholars, it were the Saka hordes alone who had put an end to the Greek kingdom of Bactria.<ref>Cambridge History of India, Vol I, p 510; Taxila, Vol I, p 24, Marshal, Early History of North India, p 50, S. Chattopadhyava.</ref> -->
[[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] also mentions ''Aseni'' and ''Asoi'' clans south of the [[Hindukush]].<ref>Pliny; ''Hist Nat''., VI.21.8–23.11, ''List of Indian races''</ref> [[Alexandria Bucephalus|Bucephala]] was the capital of the ''Aseni'' which stood on the Hydaspes (the [[Jhelum River]]).<ref>''Alexander the Great, Sources and Studies'', p 236, W. W. Tarn; ''Political History of Indian People'', 1996, p 232, H. C. Raychaudhury, B. N. Mukerjee</ref> The Sarauceans and Aseni are the Sacarauls and [[Asioi]] of Strabo.<ref>''History and Culture of Indian People, Age of Imperial Unity'', p 111; ''Political History of Ancient India'', 1996, p 692.</ref>{{clarify|reason=this relies on primary sources, is original research and the relevance to Saka is unclear|date=October 2011}} ''Asio'', ''Asi'', ''Asii'', ''Asva'', ''Aswa'', ''Ari-aspi'', ''Aspasios'', ''Aspasii'' and ''Hippasii'' are variant names the classical writers have given to the horse-clans of the [[Kambojas]].<ref>For nomenclature Aspasii, Hipasii, see; [[Olaf Caroe]], ''The Pathans'', 1958, pp 37, 55–56. [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] also refers to horse clans like ''Aseni, Asoi'' living in north-west of India (which were none-else than the [[Ashvayana]] and [[Ashvakas|Ashvakayana]] Kambojas of Indian texts). See; ''Hist. Nat''. VI 21.8–23.11; See ''Ancient India as Described by Megasthenes and Arrian'', Trans. and edited by J. W. McCrindle, Calcutta and Bombay,; Thacker, Spink, 1877, 30–174.</ref> The Old-Persian words for horse, "asa" and "aspa, have most likely been derived from this.<ref>[http;//www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/unicode/v2f7/v2f7a048.html Encyclopedia Iranica Article on Asb]</ref> If one accepts this connection,{{Or|date=October 2011}} then the Tukharas (= Rishikas = Yuezhi) controlled the eastern parts of Bactria (Chinese ''Ta-hia'') while the combined forces of the ''Sakarauloi'', ''Asio'' (''horse people = Parama Kambojas'') and ''Pasinoi'' of Strabo occupied its western parts after being displaced from their original home in the [[Fergana]] valley by the Yuezhi. Ta-hia ([[Daxia]]) is then taken to mean the [[Tushara Kingdom]] which also included [[Badakshan]], [[Chitral]], [[Kafirstan]] and [[Wakhan]]<ref>''Political History of Ancient India'', 1996, Commentary, p 719, B. N. Mukerjee. Cf; "It appears likely that like the Yue-chis, the Scythians had also occupied a part of Transoxiana before conquering Bactria. If the Tokhario, who were the same as or affiliated with Yue-chihs, and who were mistaken as Scythian people, participated in the same series of invasions of Bactria of the Greeks, then it may be inferred that eastern Bactria was conquered by Yue-chis and the western by other nomadic people in about the same period. In other words, the Greek rule in Bactria was put to end in c 130/29 BC due to invasion by the Great Yue-chis and the Scythians Sakas nomads (Commentary; ''Political History of Ancient India'', 1996, p 692-93, B.N. Mukerjee). It is notable that before its occupation by Tukhara Yue-chis, Badakashan formed a part of ancient Kamboja i.e. Parama Kamboja country. But after its occupation by the Tukharas in the 2nd century BC, it became a part of Tukharistan. Around the 4th or 5th century, when the fortunes of the Tukharas finally died down, the original population of Kambojas re-asserted itself and the region again started to be called by its ancient name Kamboja (See; Bhartya Itihaas ki Ruprekha, p 534, J.C. Vidyalankar; ''Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country'', 1981, pp 129, 300 J.L. Kamboj; ''Kambojas Through the Ages'', 2005, p 159, S Kirpal Singh). There are several later-time references to this Kamboja of Pamirs/Badakshan. Raghuvamsha, a 5th c Sanskrit play by Kalidasa, attests their presence on river Vamkshu (Oxus) as neighbors to the Hunas (4.68–70). They have also been attested as ''Kiumito'' by 7th-century Chinese pilgrim Hiun Tsang. King Lalitadiya of Kashmir in the 8th century, had invaded the Oxian Kambojas as is attested by Rajatarangini of Kalhana (See; Rajatarangini 4.163-65). Here they are mentioned as living in the eastern parts of the Oxus valley as neighbors to the Tukharas who were living in western parts of Oxus valley (See; ''The Land of the Kambojas'', Purana, Vol V, No, July 1962, p 250, D. C. Sircar). These Kambojas apparently were descendants of that section of the Kambojas who, instead of leaving their ancestral land during second c BC under assault from Ta Yue-chi, had compromised with the invaders and had decided to stay put in their ancestral land instead of moving to Helmond valley or to the Kabol valley. There are other references which equate Kamboja= Tokhara. A Buddhist Sanskrit Vinaya text (N. Dutt, Gilgit Manuscripts, III, 3, 136, quoted in B.S.O.A.S XIII, 404) has the expression ''satam Kambojikanam kanayanam'' i.e a hundred maidens from Kamboja. This has been rendered in Tibetan as ''Tho-gar yul-gyi bu-mo brgya'' and in Mongolian as ''Togar ulus-un yagun ükin''. Thus ''Kamboja'' has been rendered as ''Tho-gar'' or Togar. And Tho-gar/Togar is Tibetan/Mongolian names for Tokhar/Tukhar. See refs; Irano-Indica III, [[H. W. Bailey]], Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 13, No. 2, 1950, pp. 389–409; see also; Ancient Kamboja, Iran and Islam, 1971, p 66, H. W. Bailey.</ref> According to other scholars, it were the Saka hordes alone who had put an end to the Greek kingdom of Bactria.<ref>Cambridge History of India, Vol I, p 510; Taxila, Vol I, p 24, Marshal, Early History of North India, p 50, S. Chattopadhyava.</ref> -->


==History==
==History==
[[Image:TilliaTepeReconstitution.jpg|thumb | right | Artifacts found the tombs 2 and 4 of Tillia Tepe and reconstitution of their use on the man and woman found in these tombs]]
[[Image;TilliaTepeReconstitution.jpg|thumb | right | Artifacts found the tombs 2 and 4 of Tillia Tepe and reconstitution of their use on the man and woman found in these tombs]]
Migrations of the 2nd and 1st century BC have left traces in [[Sogdiana]] and [[Bactria]], but they cannot firmly be attributed to the Saka, similarly with the sites of [[Sirkap]] and [[Taxila]] in [[Ancient India]]. The rich graves at [[Tillya Tepe]] in [[Afghanistan]] are seen as part of a population affected by the Saka.<ref>Yaroslav Lebedynsky, P. 84</ref>
Migrations of the 2nd and 1st century BC have left traces in [[Sogdiana]] and [[Bactria]], but they cannot firmly be attributed to the Saka, similarly with the sites of [[Sirkap]] and [[Taxila]] in [[Ancient India]]. The rich graves at [[Tillya Tepe]] in [[Afghanistan]] are seen as part of a population affected by the Saka.<ref>Yaroslav Lebedynsky, P. 84</ref>


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{{Main|Indo-Scythians}}
{{Main|Indo-Scythians}}


[[Tadeusz Sulimirski]] notes that the [[Sacae]] also migrated to parts of Northern India.<ref name="Sulimirski 1970 113–114">{{cite book |title=The Sarmatians |volume=Volume 73 of Ancient peoples and places |pages=113–114 |last=Sulimirski |first=Tadeusz |author-link=Tadeusz Sulimirski |publisher=Praeger |location=New York |year=1970 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=gdjhuAAACAAJ |quote=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.}}</ref> [[Weer Rajendra Rishi]], an Indian linguist<ref>[http://rishi.anantdutta.in/obituary.html Indian Institute of Romani Studies]</ref> has identified linguistic affinities between Indian and Central Asian languages, which further lends credence to the possibility of historical [[Sacae]] influence in Northern India.<ref name="Sulimirski 1970 113–114"/><ref>{{cite book |title= India & Russia: linguistic & cultural affinity |page=95 | last=Rishi |first=Weer Rajendra |author-link=Weer Rajendra Rishi |publisher=Roma |year=1982 |url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Vns_AAAAMAAJ&q=Getae#search_anchor}}</ref> According to historian Michael Mitchiner <ref>http://books.google.co.in/books?id=zuQLAQAAMAAJ&q=abhira&dq=abhira&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ySZzU5TfM4eXuATi3oGgCw&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAzgU</ref> the [[Abhira]]s or modern days [[Ahir]]s were a Saka people cited in the Gunda inscription of the [[Western Satrap]] [[Rudrasimha I]] dated year 103 (S. 103 = AD 181).<ref>The ancient & classical world, 600 B.C.-A.D. 650 - Page 634</ref>
[[Tadeusz Sulimirski]] notes that the [[Sacae]] also migrated to parts of Northern India.<ref name="Sulimirski 1970 113–114">{{cite book |title=The Sarmatians |volume=Volume 73 of Ancient peoples and places |pages=113–114 |last=Sulimirski |first=Tadeusz |author-link=Tadeusz Sulimirski |publisher=Praeger |location=New York |year=1970 |url=http;//books.google.co.in/books?id=gdjhuAAACAAJ |quote=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.}}</ref> [[Weer Rajendra Rishi]], an Indian linguist<ref>[http;//rishi.anantdutta.in/obituary.html Indian Institute of Romani Studies]</ref> has identified linguistic affinities between Indian and Central Asian languages, which further lends credence to the possibility of historical [[Sacae]] influence in Northern India.<ref name="Sulimirski 1970 113–114"/><ref>{{cite book |title= India & Russia; linguistic & cultural affinity |page=95 | last=Rishi |first=Weer Rajendra |author-link=Weer Rajendra Rishi |publisher=Roma |year=1982 |url=http;//books.google.co.in/books?id=Vns_AAAAMAAJ&q=Getae#search_anchor}}</ref> According to historian Michael Mitchiner <ref>http;//books.google.co.in/books?id=zuQLAQAAMAAJ&q=abhira&dq=abhira&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ySZzU5TfM4eXuATi3oGgCw&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAzgU</ref> the [[Abhira]]s or modern days [[Ahir]]s were a Saka people cited in the Gunda inscription of the [[Western Satrap]] [[Rudrasimha I]] dated year 103 (S. 103 = AD 181).<ref>The ancient & classical world, 600 B.C.-A.D. 650 - Page 634</ref>


===Kingdom of Khotan===
===Kingdom of Khotan===
Line 48: Line 48:
==Language==
==Language==
{{main|Saka language}}
{{main|Saka language}}
[[Image:Issyk inscription.png|thumb|200px|Drawing of the Issyk inscription]]
[[Image;Issyk inscription.png|thumb|200px|Drawing of the Issyk inscription]]
The language of the original Saka tribes is unknown. The only record from their early history is the [[Issyk kurgan|Issyk inscription]], a short fragment on a silver cup found in the Issyk kurgan, Kazakhstan.{{Citation needed|date=October 2011}}
The language of the original Saka tribes is unknown. The only record from their early history is the [[Issyk kurgan|Issyk inscription]], a short fragment on a silver cup found in the Issyk kurgan, Kazakhstan.{{Citation needed|date=October 2011}}


The inscription is in a variant of the [[Kharoṣṭhī]] script, and is probably in a Saka dialect, constituting one of very few autochthonous epigraphic traces of that language. Harmatta (1999){{full|date=November 2012}} identifies the language as [[Saka language|Khotanese Saka]], tentatively translating "The vessel should hold wine of grapes, added cooked food, so much, to the mortal, then added cooked fresh butter on".
The inscription is in a variant of the [[Kharoṣṭhī]] script, and is probably in a Saka dialect, constituting one of very few autochthonous epigraphic traces of that language. Harmatta (1999){{full|date=November 2012}} identifies the language as [[Saka language|Khotanese Saka]], tentatively translating "The vessel should hold wine of grapes, added cooked food, so much, to the mortal, then added cooked fresh butter on".


What is nowadays called the [[Saka language]] is the language of the [[kingdom of Khotan]] which was ruled by the Saka. This was gradually conquered and acculturated by the [[Turkic expansion]] to Central Asia beginning in the 4th century. The only known remnants of the Khotanese Saka language come from [[Xinjiang]], China. The language there is widely divergent from the rest of Iranian belongs to the [[Eastern Iranian languages|Eastern Iranian]] group. It also is divided into two divergent dialects.<!--<ref>Sarah Iles Johnston, Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide, Harvard University Press, 2004. pg 197</ref><ref>Edward A Allworth,''Central Asia: A Historical Overview'',Duke University Press, 1994. pp 86.</ref>--> Both dialects share features with modern [[Wakhi language|Wakhi]] and [[Pashto language|Pashto]], but both of the Saka dialects contain many borrowings from the Middle Indo-Aryan [[Prakrit]].<ref>{{cite conference|booktitle=History of civilizations of Central Asia|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=8120815408|title=Religions and religious movements|last=Litvinsky|first=Boris Abramovich|author2=Vorobyova-Desyatovskaya, M.I |pages=421–448|year=1999}}</ref>
What is nowadays called the [[Saka language]] is the language of the [[kingdom of Khotan]] which was ruled by the Saka. This was gradually conquered and acculturated by the [[Turkic expansion]] to Central Asia beginning in the 4th century. The only known remnants of the Khotanese Saka language come from [[Xinjiang]], China. The language there is widely divergent from the rest of Iranian belongs to the [[Eastern Iranian languages|Eastern Iranian]] group. It also is divided into two divergent dialects.<!--<ref>Sarah Iles Johnston, Religions of the Ancient World; A Guide, Harvard University Press, 2004. pg 197</ref><ref>Edward A Allworth,''Central Asia; A Historical Overview'',Duke University Press, 1994. pp 86.</ref>--> Both dialects share features with modern [[Wakhi language|Wakhi]] and [[Pashto language|Pashto]], but both of the Saka dialects contain many borrowings from the Middle Indo-Aryan [[Prakrit]].<ref>{{cite conference|booktitle=History of civilizations of Central Asia|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=8120815408|title=Religions and religious movements|last=Litvinsky|first=Boris Abramovich|author2=Vorobyova-Desyatovskaya, M.I |pages=421–448|year=1999}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
Line 67: Line 67:
* [[Bailey, H. W.]] 1958. "Languages of the Saka." ''Handbuch der Orientalistik'', I. Abt., 4. Bd., I. Absch., Leiden-Köln. 1958.
* [[Bailey, H. W.]] 1958. "Languages of the Saka." ''Handbuch der Orientalistik'', I. Abt., 4. Bd., I. Absch., Leiden-Köln. 1958.
* Bailey, H. W. (1979). ''Dictionary of Khotan Saka''. Cambridge University Press. 1979. 1st Paperback edition 2010. ISBN 978-0-521-14250-2.
* Bailey, H. W. (1979). ''Dictionary of Khotan Saka''. Cambridge University Press. 1979. 1st Paperback edition 2010. ISBN 978-0-521-14250-2.
* 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).
* 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).
* ''Bulletin of the Asia Institute: The Archaeology and Art of Central Asia''. Studies From the Former Soviet Union. New Series. Edited by B. A. Litvinskii and Carol Altman Bromberg. Translation directed by Mary Fleming Zirin. Vol. 8, (1994), pp.&nbsp;37–46.
* ''Bulletin of the Asia Institute; The Archaeology and Art of Central Asia''. Studies From the Former Soviet Union. New Series. Edited by B. A. Litvinskii and Carol Altman Bromberg. Translation directed by Mary Fleming Zirin. Vol. 8, (1994), pp.&nbsp;37–46.
* Hill, John E. (2009) ''Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE''. John E. Hill. BookSurge, Charleston, South Carolina. ISBN 978-1-4392-2134-1.
* Hill, John E. (2009) ''Through the Jade Gate to Rome; A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE''. John E. Hill. BookSurge, Charleston, South Carolina. ISBN 978-1-4392-2134-1.
* Hill, John E. 2004. ''[http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html 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.
* Hill, John E. 2004. ''[http;//depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html 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.
* Lebedynsky, Iaroslav. (2006). ''Les Saces: Les <<Scythes>> d'Asie, VIII<sup>e</sup> av. J.-C.-IV<sup>e</sup> siècle apr. J.-C.'' Editions Errance, Paris. ISBN 2-87772-337-2 (in French).
* Lebedynsky, Iaroslav. (2006). ''Les Saces; Les <<Scythes>> d'Asie, VIII<sup>e</sup> av. J.-C.-IV<sup>e</sup> siècle apr. J.-C.'' Editions Errance, Paris. ISBN 2-87772-337-2 (in French).
* [[Pulleyblank, Edwin G.]] 1970. "The Wu-sun and Sakas and the Yüeh-chih Migration." ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 33'' (1970), pp.&nbsp;154–160.
* [[Pulleyblank, Edwin G.]] 1970. "The Wu-sun and Sakas and the Yüeh-chih Migration." ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 33'' (1970), pp.&nbsp;154–160.
* Puri, B. N. 1994. "The Sakas and Indo-Parthians." In: ''History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250''. Harmatta, János, ed., 1994. Paris: UNESCO Publishing, pp.&nbsp;191–207.
* Puri, B. N. 1994. "The Sakas and Indo-Parthians." In; ''History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations; 700 B.C. to A.D. 250''. Harmatta, János, ed., 1994. Paris; UNESCO Publishing, pp.&nbsp;191–207.
* Thomas, F. W. 1906. "Sakastana." ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' (1906), pp.&nbsp;181–216.
* Thomas, F. W. 1906. "Sakastana." ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' (1906), pp.&nbsp;181–216.
* Yu, Taishan. 1998. ''A Study of Saka History''. Sino-Platonic Papers No. 80. July, 1998. Dept. of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Pennsylvania.
* Yu, Taishan. 1998. ''A Study of Saka History''. Sino-Platonic Papers No. 80. July, 1998. Dept. of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Pennsylvania.
Line 79: Line 79:


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.livius.org/sao-sd/scythians/scythians.html Scythians/Sacae] by [[Jona Lendering]]
* [http;//www.livius.org/sao-sd/scythians/scythians.html Scythians/Sacae] by [[Jona Lendering]]
* [http://evolutsioon.ut.ee/publications/Kivisild2003b.pdf Article by Kivisild et al. on genetic heritage of early Indian settlers]
* [http;//evolutsioon.ut.ee/publications/Kivisild2003b.pdf Article by Kivisild et al. on genetic heritage of early Indian settlers]
* [http://boole.cs.iastate.edu/book/3-%CA%B7(%C0%FA%CA%B7)/3-%CA%C0%BD%E7%C0%FA%CA%B7/www.friesian.com/sangoku.htm#saka, Indian, Japanese and Chinese Emperors]
* [http;//boole.cs.iastate.edu/book/3-%CA%B7(%C0%FA%CA%B7)/3-%CA%C0%BD%E7%C0%FA%CA%B7/www.friesian.com/sangoku.htm#saka, Indian, Japanese and Chinese Emperors]


{{Achaemenid Provinces}}
{{Achaemenid Provinces}}


[[Category:Iranian people]]
[[Category;Iranian people]]
[[Category:Parthian Empire]]
[[Category;Parthian Empire]]
[[Category:Scythians]]
[[Category;Scythians]]
[[Category:Nomadic groups in Eurasia]]
[[Category;Nomadic groups in Eurasia]]
[[Category:Iranian nomads]]
[[Category;Iranian nomads]]
[[Category:Ancient India]]
[[Category;Ancient India]]
[[Category:History of Uzbekistan]]
[[Category;History of Uzbekistan]]
[[Category:History of Pakistan]]
[[Category;History of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Ancient history of Afghanistan]]
[[Category;Ancient history of Afghanistan]]
[[Category:History of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category;History of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:History of Kyrgyzstan]]
[[Category;History of Kyrgyzstan]]


[[ml:ശകര്‍]]
[[ml;ശകര്‍]]
[[ur:سکاها]]
[[ur;سکاها]]

Revision as of 11:51, 30 November 2014

For other uses, see Saka (disambiguation).
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Approximate extent of East Iranian languages in the 1st century BC is shown in orange.
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The Saka (Old Persian Sakā; Template:Lang-fa; Sanskrit शाक Śāka; Greek Σάκαι; Latin Sacae; Chinese: 塞; pinyin: Sāi; Old Chinese *Sək) were a Scythian tribe or group of tribes of Iranian[1] or Turkic[2][3][4][5][6][7] origin. They were nomadic warriors roaming the steppes of modern-day Kazakhstan.

Greek and Latin texts suggest that the term Scythians referred to a much more widespread grouping of Central Asian peoples.[8][9]

Usage of the name Saka

[[Image;MenWithDragons.jpg|thumb|left|Gold artifacts of the Saka in Bactria, at the site of Tillia tepe.]] Modern debate about the identity of the "Saka" is due partly to ambiguous usage of the word by ancient, non-Saka authorities. According to Herodotus, the Persians gave the name "Saka" to all Scythians.[10] However, Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus, AD 23–79) claims that the Persians gave the name Sakai only to the Scythian tribes "nearest to them".[11] The Scythians to the far north of Assyria were also called the Saka suni "Saka or Scythian sons" by the Persians.[citation needed] The Assyrians of the time of Esarhaddon record campaigning against a people they called in the Akkadian the Ashkuza or Ishhuza.[12]

Another people, the Gimirrai,[12] who were known to the ancient Greeks as the Cimmerians, were closely associated with the Sakas. In ancient Hebrew texts, the Ashkuz (Ashkenaz) are considered to be a direct offshoot from the Gimirri (Gomer).[13] [[Image;Issyk Golden Cataphract Warrior.jpg|thumb|200px|A cataphract-style parade armour of a Saka royal from the Issyk kurgan, Kazakhstan.]] The Saka regarded by the Babylonians as synonymous with the Gimirrai; both names are used synonymously on the trilingual Behistun inscription, carved in 515 BC on the order of Darius the Great.[14] (These people were reported to be mainly interested in settling in the kingdom of Urartu, later part of Armenia and Shacusen, in Uti Province derives its name from them.[15]) The Behistun inscription mentions four divisions of Scythians,

  • the Sakā paradraya "Saka beyond the sea" of Sarmatia,
  • the Sakā tigraxaudā "Saka with pointy hats/caps",
  • the Sakā haumavargā "haoma-drinking Saka"[16] (Amyrgians, the Saka tribe in closest proximity to Bactria and Sogdiana),
  • the Sakā para Sugdam "Saka beyond Sugda (Sogdiana)" at the Jaxartes.

Of these, the Sakā tigraxaudā were the Saka proper.[citation needed] The Sakā paradraya were the western Scythians or Sarmatians, the Sakā haumavargā and Sakā para Sugdam were likely Scythian tribes associated with or split-of from the original Saka.[citation needed]

In the modern era, the archaeologist Hugo Winckler (1863–1913) was the first to associate the Sakas with the Scyths. I. Gershevitch, in The Cambridge History of Iran states; "The Persians gave the single name Sakā both to the nomads whom they encountered between the Hunger steppe and the Caspian, and equally to those north of the Danube and Black Sea against whom Darius later campaigned; and the Greeks and Assyrians called all those who were known to them by the name Skuthai (Iškuzai). Sakā and Skuthai evidently constituted a generic name for the nomads on the northern frontiers."[17] Conversely, the political historian B. N. Mukerjee has claimed that ancient Greek and Roman scholars believed that while "all Sakai were Scythians", "not all Scythians were Sakai".[why?] [18]


History

thumb | right | Artifacts found the tombs 2 and 4 of Tillia Tepe and reconstitution of their use on the man and woman found in these tombs Migrations of the 2nd and 1st century BC have left traces in Sogdiana and Bactria, but they cannot firmly be attributed to the Saka, similarly with the sites of Sirkap and Taxila in Ancient India. The rich graves at Tillya Tepe in Afghanistan are seen as part of a population affected by the Saka.[19]

Indo-Scythians

Main article: Indo-Scythians

Tadeusz Sulimirski notes that the Sacae also migrated to parts of Northern India.[20] Weer Rajendra Rishi, an Indian linguist[21] has identified linguistic affinities between Indian and Central Asian languages, which further lends credence to the possibility of historical Sacae influence in Northern India.[20][22] According to historian Michael Mitchiner [23] the Abhiras or modern days Ahirs were a Saka people cited in the Gunda inscription of the Western Satrap Rudrasimha I dated year 103 (S. 103 = AD 181).[24]

Kingdom of Khotan

Main article: Kingdom of Khotan

Language

Main article: Saka language

thumb|200px|Drawing of the Issyk inscription The language of the original Saka tribes is unknown. The only record from their early history is the Issyk inscription, a short fragment on a silver cup found in the Issyk kurgan, Kazakhstan.[citation needed]

The inscription is in a variant of the Kharoṣṭhī script, and is probably in a Saka dialect, constituting one of very few autochthonous epigraphic traces of that language. Harmatta (1999)[full citation needed] identifies the language as Khotanese Saka, tentatively translating "The vessel should hold wine of grapes, added cooked food, so much, to the mortal, then added cooked fresh butter on".

What is nowadays called the Saka language is the language of the kingdom of Khotan which was ruled by the Saka. This was gradually conquered and acculturated by the Turkic expansion to Central Asia beginning in the 4th century. The only known remnants of the Khotanese Saka language come from Xinjiang, China. The language there is widely divergent from the rest of Iranian belongs to the Eastern Iranian group. It also is divided into two divergent dialects. Both dialects share features with modern Wakhi and Pashto, but both of the Saka dialects contain many borrowings from the Middle Indo-Aryan Prakrit.[25]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ P. Lurje, “[http;//www.iranicaonline.org/articles/yarkand Yārkand]”, Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition
  2. ^ [http;//www.yeniturkiye.com/display.asp?c=6011#x The Turks. Volume 1; Early Ages. Part 3; Old nomads of the steppes; Scythian age in Eurasia. Prof. Dr. A. Chay - Prof. Dr. I. Durmus, Scythians, Yeni Türkiye, Ankara 2002, S.147-166], ISBN 975-6782-56-0
  3. ^ Zürichi Magyar Történelmi Egyesület, [http;//books.google.de/books?id=UPdBHQAACAAJ Die Frühgeschichte der Ungarn; Zusammenfassung], Ungarisch-Historischer Verein, 1994, S.11 f., ISBN 963-8527-447
  4. ^ Osman Karatay, [http;//books.google.de/books?id=Epos6XaLW4MC İran ile Turan; hayali milletler çaǧında Avrasya ve Ortadoǧu], Ayse Demiral, 2003, s.151
  5. ^ H. Celâl Güzel, Ali Birinci, [http;//books.google.de/books?id=aShtAAAAMAAJ Genel Türk tarihi, 1. cilt], Yeni Türkiye, 2002, s.485
  6. ^ Yılmaz Öztuna, [http;//books.google.de/books?id=RElpAAAAMAAJ Başlangıcından zamanımıza kadar büyük türkiye tarihi; Türkiye'nin siyasî, medenî, kültür, teşkilât ve san'at tarihi], Ötüken Yayınevi, 1983
  7. ^ [http;//books.google.de/books?id=ZmVpAAAAMAAJ Belgelerle Türk tarihi dergisi, cilt 84-86], Menteş Kitabevi, 2004, s.89
  8. ^ [http;//books.google.com/books?id=J_gAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA322&lpg=PA322&dq=HAIHAIYA+AHIR#v=onepage&q=AHIR&f=false Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society ... – Google Books]. 2007-04-06. Retrieved 2010-12-30. {{cite book}}: Check |url= value (help)
  9. ^ Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland By Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland-page-323
  10. ^ Herodotus Book VII, 64
  11. ^ Naturalis Historia, VI, 19, 50
  12. ^ a b Westermann, Claus (1984). ; A Continental Commentary. Minneapolis. p. 506. ISBN 0800695003. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |unused_data= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. ^ "The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath,[a] and Togarmah." See also the entry for Ashkenaz in Young, Robert. Analytical Concordance to the Bible. McLean, Virginia: Mac Donald Publishing Company. ISBN 0-917006-29-1.
  14. ^ George Rawlinson, noted in his translation of History of Herodotus, Book VII, p. 378
  15. ^ Kurkjian, Vahan M. (1964). A History of Armenia. New York: Armenian General Benevolent Union of America. p. 23.
  16. ^ http;//www.iranicaonline.org/articles/haumavarga
  17. ^ I. Gershevitch,The Cambridge History of Iran (Volume 2), Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 253 .
  18. ^ B. N. Mukerjee, Political History of Ancient India, 1996, p 690-91.
  19. ^ Yaroslav Lebedynsky, P. 84
  20. ^ a b Sulimirski, Tadeusz (1970). [http;//books.google.co.in/books?id=gdjhuAAACAAJ The Sarmatians]. Vol. Volume 73 of Ancient peoples and places. New York: Praeger. pp. 113–114. 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. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help); Check |url= value (help)
  21. ^ [http;//rishi.anantdutta.in/obituary.html Indian Institute of Romani Studies]
  22. ^ Rishi, Weer Rajendra (1982). [http;//books.google.co.in/books?id=Vns_AAAAMAAJ&q=Getae#search_anchor India & Russia; linguistic & cultural affinity]. Roma. p. 95. {{cite book}}: Check |url= value (help)
  23. ^ http;//books.google.co.in/books?id=zuQLAQAAMAAJ&q=abhira&dq=abhira&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ySZzU5TfM4eXuATi3oGgCw&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAzgU
  24. ^ The ancient & classical world, 600 B.C.-A.D. 650 - Page 634
  25. ^ Litvinsky, Boris Abramovich; Vorobyova-Desyatovskaya, M.I (1999). "Religions and religious movements". History of civilizations of Central Asia. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 421–448. ISBN 8120815408. {{cite conference}}: Unknown parameter |booktitle= ignored (|book-title= suggested) (help)

References

  • Bailey, H. W. 1958. "Languages of the Saka." Handbuch der Orientalistik, I. Abt., 4. Bd., I. Absch., Leiden-Köln. 1958.
  • Bailey, H. W. (1979). Dictionary of Khotan Saka. Cambridge University Press. 1979. 1st Paperback edition 2010. ISBN 978-0-521-14250-2.
  • 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).
  • Bulletin of the Asia Institute; The Archaeology and Art of Central Asia. Studies From the Former Soviet Union. New Series. Edited by B. A. Litvinskii and Carol Altman Bromberg. Translation directed by Mary Fleming Zirin. Vol. 8, (1994), pp. 37–46.
  • Hill, John E. (2009) Through the Jade Gate to Rome; A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. John E. Hill. BookSurge, Charleston, South Carolina. ISBN 978-1-4392-2134-1.
  • Hill, John E. 2004. [http;//depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html 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.
  • 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).
  • Pulleyblank, Edwin G. 1970. "The Wu-sun and Sakas and the Yüeh-chih Migration." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 33 (1970), pp. 154–160.
  • Puri, B. N. 1994. "The Sakas and Indo-Parthians." In; History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations; 700 B.C. to A.D. 250. Harmatta, János, ed., 1994. Paris; UNESCO Publishing, pp. 191–207.
  • Thomas, F. W. 1906. "Sakastana." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1906), pp. 181–216.
  • Yu, Taishan. 1998. A Study of Saka History. Sino-Platonic Papers No. 80. July, 1998. Dept. of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Pennsylvania.
  • Yu, Taishan. 2000. A Hypothesis about the Source of the Sai Tribes. Sino-Platonic Papers No. 106. September, 2000. Dept. of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Pennsylvania.
  • [http;//www.livius.org/sao-sd/scythians/scythians.html Scythians/Sacae] by Jona Lendering
  • [http;//evolutsioon.ut.ee/publications/Kivisild2003b.pdf Article by Kivisild et al. on genetic heritage of early Indian settlers]
  • [http;//boole.cs.iastate.edu/book/3-%CA%B7(%C0%FA%CA%B7)/3-%CA%C0%BD%E7%C0%FA%CA%B7/www.friesian.com/sangoku.htm#saka, Indian, Japanese and Chinese Emperors]

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