Indo-Scythians
[[Image:EarlyIndoScythianCoin.jpg|thumb|300px|Early anepigraphic coinage of the Indo-Scythians (c. 110 - 100 BCE).
Obv: Horse walking right with her head turned back.
Rev: Goddess {{Nike (mythology)|Nike}} walking right. Control mark, possibly for {{Khandahar}}, {{Afghanistan}}.]]The
Indo-Scythians are a branch of the Indo-European
Sakas (
Scythians), who migrated from southern
Siberia into
Bactria,
Sogdiana,
Arachosia,
Gandhara,
Kashmir,
Punjab, and finally into remaining parts of Western and Central
India from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century BCE.
The ancestors of the Indo-Scythians are thought to be
Sakas (
Scythian) tribes, originally settled in southern
Siberia, in the
Ili river area.
Around
175 BCE, the
Yuezhi tribes (probable related to the
Tocharians) who lived in modern day
Gansu, were defeated by the
Xiongnu (
Huns) tribes, and had to migrate towards the West into the
Ili river area. There, they displaced the Sakas, who had to migrate south into
Ferghana and
Sogdiana. According to the Chinese historical chronicles (who call the Sakas, "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" (
Han Shu 61 4B).
Sometime after
155 BCE, the Yuezhi were again defeated by an alliance of the
Wusun and the
Xiongnu, and were forced to move south, again displacing the Scythians, who migrated south towards
Bactria, and south-west towards
Parthia and
Afghanistan.
The Sakas seem to have entered the territory of the
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom around
145 BCE, where they burnt to the ground the Greek city of
Alexandria on the Oxus. The Yuezhi remained in Sogdiana on the northern bank of the
Oxus, but they became
suzerains of the Sakas in Bactrian territory, as described by the Chinese ambassador
Zhang Qian who visited the region around
126 BCE.
In Parthia, between
138-
124 BCE, the Sakas tribes of the
Massagetae and
Sacaraucae came into conflict with the
Parthian Empire, winning several battles, and killing successively king
Phraates II and king
Artabanus I.
The Parthian king
Mithridates II finally retook control of Central Asia, first by defeating the Yuezhi in Sogdiana in
115 BCE, and then defeating the Scythians in Parthia and
Seistan around 100 BCE.
After their defeat, the
Yuezhi tribes migrated into Bactria, which they were to control for several centuries, and from which they later conquered northern India to found the
Kushan Empire. The area of Bactria they settled came to be known as
Tokharistan, since the
Yuezhi were called
Tocharians by the Greeks.
The Sakas settled in areas of southern
Afghanistan, still called after them
Sakastan. From there, they progressively expanded into the Indian subcontinent, where they established various kingdoms, and where they are known as "Indo-Scythians".
[[Image:Maues.jpg|thumb|300px|Silver tetradrachm of the {{Indo-Scythian}} King {{Maues}} ({{85 BCE|85}}-{{60 BCE}}).
Obv: {{Zeus}} standing with a sceptre. Greek legend: BASILEOS BASILEON MEGALOU MAUOU "of the Great King of Kings Maues".
Rev: {{Nike (mythology)|Nike}} standing, holding a wreath. {{Kharoshthi}} legend. {{Taxila}} mint.]]
Abiria to Surastrene
The first Indo-Scythian kingdom in the Indian subcontinent occupied the southern part of
Pakistan (which they accessed from southern Afghanistan), in the areas from Abiria (
Sindh) to Surastrene (
Gujarat), from around
110 to
80 BCE. They progressively further moved north into Indo-Greek territory until the conquests of
Maues, circa
80 BCE.
The Indo-Scythians ultimately established a kingdom in the northwest, based in
Taxila, with two Great
Satraps, one in
Mathura in the east, and one in
Surastrene (
Gujarat) in the southwest.
Gandhara and Punjab
The presence of the Scythians in north-western India during the 1st century BCE was contemporary with that of the
Indo-Greek Kingdoms there, and it seems they initially recognized the power of the local Greek rulers.
Maues first conquered
Gandhara and
Taxila around 80 BCE, but his kingdom disintegrated after his death. In the east, the Indian king
Vikrama retook
Ujjain from the Indo-Scythians, celebrating his victory by the creation of the Vikrama Era (starting
58 BCE). Indo-Greek kings again ruled after Maues, and prospered, as indicated by the profusion of coins from kings
Apollodotus II and
Hippostratos. Not until
Azes I, in 55 BCE, did the Indo-Scythians take final control of northwestern India, with his victory over Hippostratos.
The coins of the Indo-Scythians in northwestern India, probably designed by Indo-Greek celators (their coins bear Greek monograms, and still kept their Greek names and denominations), displayed Greek legends and Greek divinities such as
Zeus or
Nike in a fine style.
Azes II is connected to the
Bimaran casket, one of the earliest representations of the
Buddha. The casket, probably Greek work, was used for the dedication of a
stupa in Bamiran, near
Jalalabad in
Afghanistan, and placed inside the stupa with several coins of Azes II. This event may have happened during the reign of Azes II (30-10 BCE), or slightly later. The Indo-Scythians are otherwise connected with Buddhism (see
Mathura lion capital), and it is indeed possible they would have commendited the work.
Mathura
[[Image:Rujavula.jpg|thumb|300px|Coin of {{Rajuvula}} (circa {{10|10 CE}}), AE, {{Mathura}}.
Obv: Bust of king Rajuvula, with Greek legend.
Rev: {{Pallas}} standing right (crude). {{Kharoshthi}} legend.]]
In central India, the Indo-Scythians conquered the area of
Mathura over Indian kings around 60 BCE. Some of their
satraps were Hagamasha and Hagana, who were in turn followed by the Saca Great Satrap
Rajuvula.
The
Mathura lion capital, an
Indo-Scythian sandstone capital in crude style, from
Mathura in Central India, and dated to the
1st century CE, describes in
kharoshthi the gift of a
stupa with a relic of the
Buddha, by Queen
Nadasi Kasa, the wife of the
Indo-Scythian ruler of Mathura,
Rajuvula. The capital also mentions the genealogy of several Indo-Scythian satraps of Mathura.
Rajuvula apparently eliminated the last of the Indo-Greek kings
Strato II around 10 CE, and took his capital city,
Sagala.
The coinage of the period, such as that of Rajuvula, tends to become very crude and barbarized in style. It is also very much debased, the silver content becoming lower and lower, in exchange for a higher proportion of bronze, an alloying technique (
billon) suggesting less than wealthy finances.
Pataliputra
The text of the
Yuga Purana describes an invasion of
Pataliputra by the Scythians sometimes during the
1st century BCE, after seven greats kings had ruled in succession in
Saketa following the retreat of the
Indo-Greeks from Eastern India (circa
170 BCE). The Yuga Purana explains that the king of the
Sakas killed one fourth of the population, before he was himself slain by the
Kalinga king
Shata and a group of
Sabalas (Savaras)
[A gap in Puranic history].
Kushan and Indo-Parthian conquests
After the death of
Azes II, the rule of the Indo-Scythians in northwestern India finally crumbled with the conquest of the
Kushans, one of the five tribes of the
Yuezhi who had lived in Bactria for more than a century, and were now expanding into India to create a Kushan Empire. Soon after, the
Parthians invaded from the west. Their leader
Gondophares temporarily displaced the
Kushans and founded the
Indo-Parthian Kingdom that was to last towards the middle of the 1st century CE.
 |
Coin of the Indo-Scythian "King of Kings" Azes II (c. 35-12 BCE), riding on horseback and holding a whip, in Indo-Greek style (Greek legend on the obverse, Kharoshthi legend on the reverse). |
The
Kushans ultimately regained northwestern India from around 75 CE, and the area of Mathura from around 100 CE, where they were to prosper for several centuries.
Western Kshatrapas legacy
The Indo-Scythians continued to hold the area of
Seistan until the reign of
Bahram II (276-293 CE), and held several areas of India well into the 1st millennium:
Kathiawar and
Gujarat were under their rule until the
5th century under the designation of
Western Kshatrapas, until they were eventually conquered by the
Gupta emperor
Chandragupta II (also called Vikramaditya).
The Indo-Scythians seem to have been followers of Buddhism, and many of their practices apparently continued those of the Indo-Greeks.
Mathura lion capital
The
Mathura lion capital, which associates many the Indo-Scythian rulers from
Maues to
Rajuvula, mentions a dedication of a relic of the
Buddha in a
stupa. It also bears centrally the Buddhist symbol of the
triratana, and is also filled with mentions of the
bhagavat Buddha Sakyamuni, and characteristically Buddhist phrases such as:
"sarvabudhana puya dhamasa puya saghasa puya" :"Revere all the Buddhas, revere the
dharma, revere the
sangha":(
Mathura lion capital, inscription O1/O2)
Coinage
Buddhist symbolism is present throughout Indo-Scythian coinage. In particular, they adopted the Indo-Greek practice since
Menander I of showing divinities forming the
vitarka mudra with their right hand (as for the mudra-forming
Zeus on the coins of
Maues or
Azes II), or the presence of the Buddhist lion on the coins of the same two kings, or the
triratana symbol on the coins of
Zeionises.
Main article: Sakas
The Indo-Scythians were named "Shaka" in India, an extension on the name
Saka used by the Persians to designate Scythians. From the time of the
Mahabharata wars (1500-500 BCE) Shakas receive numerous mentions in texts like the Puranas, the Manusmriti, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Mahabhasiya of Patanjali, the Brhat Samhita of Vraha Mihira, the Kavyamimamsa, the Brihat-Katha-Manjari, the Katha-Saritsagara and several other old texts. They are described as part of an amalgam of other war-like tribes from the northwest.
"Degraded Kshatriyas" from the northwest
The
Manusmriti, written about
200 CE, groups the Shakas with the
Yavanas,
Kambojas, Paradas,
Pahlavas, Kiratas and the Daradas etc..., and addresses them all as degraded warriors, or
Kshatriyas (X/43-44). Anushasanaparava of the
Mahabharata also views the Shakas, Kambojas, Yavanas etc. in the same light.
Patanjali in his Mahabhasya regards the Shakas and Yavanas as pure
Shudras (II.4.10).
The Vartika of the
Katyayana informs us that the kings of the Shakas and the Yavanas, like those of the Kambojas, may also be addressed by their respective
tribal names.
The
Mahabharata also associates the Shakas with the
Yavanas,
Gandharas, Kambojas, Pahlavas,
Tusharas, Sabaras, Barbaras etc and addresses them all as the
Barbaric tribes of
Uttarapatha. In another verse, the
epic groups the Shakas Kambojas and Khashas and addresses them as the tribes from Udichya i.e north division (5/169/20). Also, the Kishkindha Kanda of the
Ramayana locates the Shakas, Kambojas, Yavanas and Paradas in the extreme north-west beyond the
Himavat (i.e.
Hindukush) (43/12).
The Udyogaparava of the Mahabharata (5/19/21-23) tells us that the composite army of the
Kambojas,
Yavanas and
Shakas had participated in the Mahabharata war under the supreme command of
Sudakshina Kamboja. The
epic repeatedly applauds this composite army as being very fierce and wrathful.
Invasion of India (180 BCE onward)
The Vanaparava of the Mahabharata contains verses in the form of prophecy that the kings of the Shakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Bahlikas and Abhiras, etc. shall rule unrighteously in Kaliyuga (MBH 3/188/34-36).
This reference apparently alludes to the precarious political scenario following the collapse of
Mauryan and
Sunga dynasties in northern India and its occupation by foreign hordes of the Shakas, Yavanas, Kambojas and Pahlavas.
Extinction in the 5th century CE
The Brihat-Katha-Manjari of the Kshmendra (10/1/285-86) informs us that around
400 CE the
Gupta king Vikramaditya (
Chandragupta II) had unburdened the sacred earth of the
Barbarians like the Shakas, Mlecchas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Tusharas, Parasikas, Hunas, etc. by annihilating these sinners completely.
The 10th century CE
Kavyamimamsa of Chander Shekhar (Ch 17) still lists the Shakas, Tusharas, Vokanas,
Hunas, Kambojas, Bahlikas, Pahlavas, Tangana, Turukshas, etc. together and states them as the tribes located in the Uttarapatha division.
Northwestern India:
*
Maues, c. 90-60 BCE
Coin*
Vonones, c. 75-65 BCE
Coin*
Spalahores, c. 75-65 BCE
Coin,
satrap and brother of king Vonones, and probably the later king Spalirises.
*
Spalirises, c. 60-57 BCE
Coin, king and brother of king Vonones.
*
Spalagadames c.50 BCE, satrap, and son of Spalahores.
*
Azes I, c. 57-35 BCE
Coin*
Azilises, c. 57-35 BCE
Coin*
Azes II, c. 35-12 BCE
Coin*
Zeionises, c.10 BCE-10 CE
*
Kharahostes, c.10 BCE- 10 CE
*
Hajatria*
Liaka Kusuluka, satrap of
Chuksa*
Kusulaka Patika, satrap of
Chuksa and son of Liaka Kusulaka
Bajaur area (Apracharaja rulers):
*
Vijayamitra (12 BCE - 15 CE)
*
Itravasu (c.20 CE)
*
Aspavarma (15 - 45 CE)
Mathura area:*
Hagamasha (satrap)
*
Hagana (satrap)
*
Rajuvula, c.10 CE (Great Satrap)
*
Sodasa, son of Rajuvula
Minor local rulers:*
Bhadayasa*
Mamvadi*
Arsakes*
Yuezhi*
Greco-Bactrian Kingdom*
Indo-Greek Kingdom*
Indo-Parthian Kingdom*
Kushan Empire*
Kambojas*
Coins of the Indo-Scythians*
Burner relief
