Indo-Scythian Kingdom: A Visual History

The Indo-Scythians (Sakas) were Iranian nomads pushed south by the Yuezhi migrations who took Bactria and then, from about 150 BC, invaded the Indus valley and Punjab, ending the Indo-Greek kingdoms. Maues, Azes I and their successors ruled from Taxila and Mathura; the Western Satraps in Gujarat and Malwa continued Saka rule until the Guptas conquered them around 400 AD. They adopted Buddhism and Greek-influenced coinage, and the era of Azes may underlie the Vikrama era still used in India.

When it existed: the era ribbon

The bold bar is Indo-Scythian Kingdom. The lighter bars are empires and wars from the same era and the same part of the world. Click any bar to jump to its page.

Indo-Scythian territory

Timeline of the Indo-Scythian Kingdom

1. 150 BC
   Sakas enter Bactria and Sakastan
2. 85 BC
   Maues at Taxila
3. 57 BC
   Azes IPossible origin of the Vikrama era.
4. 20
   Indo-Parthians take the north-west
5. 35
   Western Satraps established
6. 150
   Rudradaman's Junagadh inscription
7. 400
   Guptas conquer the Western Satraps

Migration

Around 175 BC the Xiongnu drove the Yuezhi west; the Yuezhi in turn pushed the Sakas out of the Ili valley into Bactria and then south into Sakastan (Sistan) and India. Maues (about 85-60 BC) established the first Indo-Scythian kingdom at Taxila, striking coins in Greek and Kharoshthi that copied Indo-Greek types.

Azes and the satraps

Azes I extended Saka power across the Punjab and to Mathura, ruling through governors called satraps in the Persian manner. The Indo-Parthians under Gondophares took the north-west around 20 AD and the Kushans swept away the rest in the first century, but Saka satraps at Mathura and especially the Western Satraps in Gujarat and Malwa outlasted both.

The Western Satraps

Rudradaman I (about 130-150) defeated the Satavahanas and repaired the Sudarshana lake dam at Junagadh, recording it in the first long Sanskrit inscription. The Western Satraps traded with Rome through Barygaza and struck silver coins for three centuries until Chandragupta II of the Gupta Empire conquered them around 400 AD.

Related empires and wars

Chosen automatically by overlap in time and geography, plus a few hand picked connections.

Empires of the same era and region

• Indo-Greek Kingdom (180 BC to 10)
• Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (256 BC to 125 BC)
• Kushan Empire (30 to 375)
• Western Satraps (35 to 415)
• Satavahana dynasty (100 BC to 225)
• Gupta Empire (320 to 550)
• Parthian Empire (247 BC to 224)
• Scythia (800 BC to 300 BC)
• Xiongnu Empire (209 BC to 93)

8 surprising things about the Indo-Scythian Kingdom

1. The Vikrama Samvat era beginning in 57 BC, still used in India and Nepal, may originate as the era of the Saka king Azes.
2. The Saka era of 78 AD, India's official civil calendar, is named after them, though it was probably begun by the Kushans.
3. Indo-Scythian coins are the earliest to show a horseman with a spear that became a standard Indian coin type.
4. Saka kings adopted Buddhism, and the Mathura lion capital records donations by a Saka satrap's queen.
5. The Kalakacharya legend in Jain texts says a monk brought Saka warriors to Ujjain to avenge his sister's abduction.
6. The Junagadh rock has inscriptions of Ashoka, Rudradaman and a Gupta emperor side by side.
7. The Sakas' Bactrian cousins gave their name to Sistan (Sakastan) in Iran and Afghanistan.
8. The Western Satraps ruled for about 370 years, longer than most Indian dynasties.

Sources

• Indo-Scythians Wikipedia
• Saka Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Western Satraps Wikipedia
• Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India (2008) Pearson

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