Saka
Historical group of nomadic Iranian peoples / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Saka (Old Persian:𐎿𐎣𐎠 Sakā; Kharoṣṭhī: 𐨯𐨐 Saka; Ancient Egyptian: 𓋴𓎝𓎡 𓈉 sk, 𓐠𓎼 𓈉 sꜣg; Chinese: 塞, old *Sək, mod. Sè, Sāi), Shaka (Sanskrit (Brāhmī): 𑀰𑀓, , Śaka; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): शक Śaka, शाक Śāka), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: Σάκαι Sákai; Latin: Sacae) were a group of nomadic Eastern Iranian peoples who historically inhabited the northern and eastern Eurasian Steppe and the Tarim Basin.[7][8]
This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. (February 2024) |
Geographical range | Central Asia, South Siberia, South Asia |
---|---|
Dates | 9th century BC to 5th century AD |
Preceded by | Andronovo culture, Seima-Turbino phenomenon, Karakol culture, Karasuk culture, Deer stones culture |
Followed by | Xiongnu, Kushan Empire, Gupta Empire |
The Sakas were closely related to the Scythians, and both groups formed part of the wider Scythian cultures,[9] through which they ultimately derived from the earlier Andronovo, Sintashta and Srubnaya cultures, with secondary influence from the BMAC, and since the Iron Age, also East Asian genetic influx,[10][11] with the Saka language forming part of the Scythian phylum, one of the Eastern Iranian languages. However, the Sakas of the Asian steppes are to be distinguished from the Scythians of the Pontic Steppe;[8][12] and although the ancient Persians, ancient Greeks, and ancient Babylonians respectively used the names "Saka," "Scythian," and "Cimmerian" for all the steppe nomads, the name "Saka" is used specifically for the ancient nomads of the eastern steppe, while "Scythian" is used for the related group of nomads living in the western steppe.[8][13][14] While the Cimmerians were often described by contemporaries as culturally Scythian, they may have differed ethnically from the Scythians proper, to whom the Cimmerians were related, and who also displaced and replaced the Cimmerians.[15]
Prominent archaeological remains of the Sakas include Arzhan,[16] Tunnug,[17] the Pazyryk burials,[18] the Issyk kurgan, Saka Kurgan tombs,[19] the Barrows of Tasmola[20] and possibly Tillya Tepe. In the 2nd century BC, many Sakas were driven by the Yuezhi from the steppe into Sogdia and Bactria and then to the northwest of the Indian subcontinent, where they were known as the Indo-Scythians.[21][22][23] Other Sakas invaded the Parthian Empire, eventually settling in Sistan, while others may have migrated to the Dian Kingdom in Yunnan, China. In the Tarim Basin and Taklamakan Desert of today's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, they settled in Khotan, Yarkand, Kashgar and other places.[24]
Etymology
Linguist Oswald Szemerényi studied synonyms of various origins for Scythian and differentiated the following terms: Sakā 𐎿𐎣𐎠, Skuthēs Σκύθης, Skudra 𐎿𐎤𐎢𐎭𐎼, and Sugᵘda 𐎿𐎢𐎦𐎢𐎭.[25]
Derived from an Iranian verbal root sak-, "go, roam" (related to "seek") and thus meaning "nomad" was the term Sakā, from which came the names:
- Old Persian: 𐎿𐎣𐎠 Sakā, used by the ancient Persians to designate all nomads of the Eurasian steppe, including the Pontic Scythians[26]
- Ancient Greek: Σάκαι Sákai
- Latin: Sacae
- Sanskrit: शक Śaka
- Old Chinese: 塞 Sək[27][28][29]
From the Indo-European root (s)kewd-, meaning "propel, shoot" (and from which was also derived the English word shoot), of which *skud- is the zero-grade form, was descended the Scythians' self-name reconstructed by Szemerényi as *Skuδa (roughly "archer"). From this were descended the following exonyms:
- Akkadian: Iškuzaya and Askuzaya, used by the Assyrians
- Old Persian: 𐎿𐎤𐎢𐎭𐎼 Skudra
- Ancient Greek: Σκύθης Skúthēs (plural Σκύθαι Skúthai), used by the Ancient Greeks[30]
- The Old Armenian: սկիւթ Skiwtʰ is based on itacistic Greek
A late Scythian sound change from /δ/ to /l/ resulted in the evolution of *Skuδa into *Skula. From this was derived the Greek word Skṓlotoi Σκώλοτοι, which, according to Herodotus, was the self-designation of the Royal Scythians.[31][32] Other sound changes have produced Sugᵘda 𐎿𐎢𐎦𐎢𐎭.[25]
Although the Scythians, Saka and Cimmerians were closely related nomadic Iranic peoples, and the ancient Babylonians, ancient Persians and ancient Greeks respectively used the names "Cimmerian," "Saka," and "Scythian" for all the steppe nomads, and early modern historians such as Edward Gibbon used the term Scythian to refer to a variety of nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples across the Eurasian Steppe,
- the name "Scythian" in contemporary modern scholarship generally refers to the nomadic Iranic people who from the 7th century BC to the 3rd century BC dominated the steppe and forest-steppe zones to the north of the Black Sea, Crimea, the Kuban valley, as well as the Taman and Kerch peninsulas,[33][34]
- while the name "Saka" is used specifically for their eastern members who inhabited the northern and eastern Eurasian Steppe and the Tarim Basin;[34][35]
Identification
The name Sakā was used by the ancient Persian to refer to all the Iranian nomadic tribes living to the north of their empire, including both those who lived between the Caspian Sea and the Hungry steppe, and those who lived to the north of the Danube and the Black Sea. The Assyrians meanwhile called these nomads the Ishkuzai (Akkadian: Iškuzaya[36][37]) or Askuzai (Akkadian: Asguzaya, mat Askuzaya, mat Ášguzaya[36][38]), and the Ancient Greeks called them Skuthai (Ancient Greek: Σκύθης Skúthēs, Σκύθοι Skúthoi, Σκύθαι Skúthai).[39]
The Achaemenid inscriptions initially listed a single group of Sakā. However, following Darius I's campaign of 520 to 518 BC against the Asian nomads, they were differentiated into two groups, both living in Central Asia to the east of the Caspian Sea:[39][41]
- the Sakā tigraxaudā (𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐎫𐎡𐎥𐎼𐎧𐎢𐎭𐎠) – "Sakā who wear pointed caps," who were also known as the Massagetae.[42][43]
- the Sakā haumavargā (𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐏃𐎢𐎶𐎺𐎼𐎥𐎠) – interpreted as "Sakā who lay hauma (around the fire)",[44] which can be interpreted as "Saka who revere hauma."[45]
A third name was added after the Darius's campaign north of the Danube:[39]
- the Sakā tayaiy paradraya (𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐎫𐎹𐎡𐎹 𐏐 𐎱𐎼𐎭𐎼𐎹) – "the Sakā who live beyond the (Black) Sea," who were the Pontic Scythians of the East European steppes
An additional term is found in two inscriptions elsewhere:[46][39]
- the Sakaibiš tayaiy para Sugdam (𐎿𐎣𐎡𐎲𐎡𐏁 𐏐 𐎫𐎹𐎡𐎹 𐏐 𐎱𐎼 𐏐 𐎿𐎢𐎥𐎭𐎶) – "Saka who are beyond Sogdia", a term was used by Darius for the people who formed the north-eastern limits of his empire at the opposite end to the satrapy of Kush (the Ethiopians).[47][48] These Sakaibiš tayaiy para Sugdam have been suggested to have been the same people as the Sakā haumavargā[49]
Moreover, Darius the Great's Suez Inscriptions mention two groups of Saka:[50][51]
- the Sꜣg pḥ (𓐠𓎼𓄖𓈉) – "Sakā of the Marshes"
- the Sk tꜣ (𓋴𓎝𓎡𓇿𓈉) – "Sakā of the Land"
The scholar David Bivar had tentatively identified the Sk tꜣ with the Sakā haumavargā,[52] and John Manuel Cook had tentatively identified the Sꜣg pḥ with the Sakā tigraxaudā.[49] More recently, the scholar Rüdiger Schmitt has suggested that the Sꜣg pḥ and the Sk tꜣ might have collectively designated the Sakā tigraxaudā/Massagetae.[53]
The Achaemenid king Xerxes I listed the Saka coupled with the Dahā (𐎭𐏃𐎠) people of Central Asia,[47][49][46] who might possibly have been identical with the Sakā tigraxaudā.[54][55][56]
Modern terminology
Although the ancient Persians, ancient Greeks, and ancient Babylonians respectively used the names "Saka," "Scythian," and "Cimmerian" for all the steppe nomads, modern scholars now use the term Saka to refer specifically to Iranian peoples who inhabited the northern and eastern Eurasian Steppe and the Tarim Basin;[7][57][8][14] and while the Cimmerians were often described by contemporaries as culturally Scythian, they may have differed ethnically from the Scythians proper, to whom the Cimmerians were related, and who also displaced and replaced the Cimmerians.[15]
The Sakā tigraxaudā and Sakā haumavargā both lived in the steppe and highland areas located in northern Central Asia and to the east of the Caspian Sea.[39][41][60]
The Sakā tigraxaudā/Massagetae more specifically lived around Chorasmia[61] and in the lowlands of Central Asia located to the east of the Caspian Sea and the south-east of the Aral Sea, in the Kyzylkum Desert and the Ustyurt Plateau, most especially between the Araxes and Iaxartes rivers.[54][53] The Sakā tigraxaudā/Massagetae could also be found in the Caspian Steppe.[42] The imprecise description of where the Massagetae lived by ancient authors has however led modern scholars to ascribe to them various locations, such as the Oxus delta, the Iaxartes delta, between the Caspian and Aral seas or further to the north or northeast, but without basing these suggestions on any conclusive arguments.[53] Other locations assigned to the Massagetae include the area corresponding to modern-day Turkmenistan.[62]
The Sakā haumavargā lived around the Pamir Mountains and the Ferghana Valley.[61]
The Sakaibiš tayaiy para Sugdam, who may have been identical with the Sakā haumavargā, lived on the north-east border of the Achaemenid Empire on the Iaxartes river.[39]
Some other Saka groups lived to the east of the Pamir Mountains and to the north of the Iaxartes river,[60] as well as in the regions corresponding to modern-day Qirghizia, Tian Shan, Altai, Tuva, Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Kazakhstan.[61]
The Sək, that is the Saka who were in contact with the Chinese, inhabited the Ili and Chu valleys of modern Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, which was called the "land of the Sək", i.e. "land of the Saka", in the Book of Han.[63]