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Concept
Indo-Scythians
Summary
Indo-Scythians (also called Indo-Sakas) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples of Scythian origin who migrated from Central Asia southward into the northwestern Indian subcontinent, precisely into the modern-day South Asian regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India. The migrations persisted from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 4th century CE.
The first Saka king of India was Maues/Moga (1st century BCE) who established Saka power in Gandhara, Indus Valley, and other regions in today's Afghanistan, Pakistan and North India. The Indo-Scythians extended their supremacy over north-western subcontinent, 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 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 subcontinent as well as of nearby regions. 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 CE, 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.
Ancient Roman historians, including Arrian and Claudius Ptolemy, have mentioned that the ancient Sakas ("Sakai") were nomadic people.
The first rulers of the Indo-Scythian Kingdom were Maues, c. 85–60 BCE, and Vonones, c. 75–65 BCE.
Official source
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