(From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia)
|
Indo-Scythians (also called Indo-Sakas) were a group
of nomadic Iranian peoples of Scythian origin who
migrated from Central Asia southward into northern and western
regions of ancient India from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to
the 4th century CE. The first Saka king
of India was Maues/Moga (1st century BC) who established
Saka power in Gandhara, and Indus Valley. The Indo-Scythians
extended their supremacy over north-western India, conquering
the Indo-Greeks and other local kingdoms. The Indo-Scythians were
apparently subjugated by the Kushan Empire, by either Kujula
Kadphises or Kanishka. Yet the Saka continued to govern
as satrapies, forming the Northern
Satraps and Western Satraps. The power of the Saka rulers started
to decline in the 2nd century CE after the Indo-Scythians were defeated by
the Satavahana emperor Gautamiputra
Satakarni. Indo-Scythian rule in the northwestern Indian subcontinent
ceased when the last Western Satrap Rudrasimha III was
defeated by the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II in 395 CE. The invasion of northern regions of
the Indian subcontinent by Scythian tribes from Central Asia, often
referred to as the Indo-Scythian invasion, played a significant part in
the history of the Indian subcontinent as well as nearby countries.
In fact, the Indo-Scythian war is just one chapter in the events triggered by
the nomadic flight of Central Asians from conflict with tribes such as
the Xiongnu in the 2nd century AD, which had lasting effects
on Bactria, Kabul, and the Indian subcontinent as well as far-off Rome
in the west, and more nearby to the west in Parthia. |
|
