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81-761: Sistan derives its name from Sakastan ("the land of the Saka "). The Sakas were a Scythian tribe which migrated to the Iranian Plateau and Indus valley between the 2nd century BC and the 1st century, where they carved a kingdom known as the Indo-Scythian Kingdom . In the Bundahishn , a Zoroastrian scripture written in Pahlavi , the province is called "Seyansih". After the Arab conquest of Iran ,

162-577: A group of nomadic Eastern Iranian peoples who historically inhabited the northern and eastern Eurasian Steppe and the Tarim Basin . The Sakas were closely related to the Scythians , and both groups formed part of the wider Scythian cultures , through which they ultimately derived from the earlier Andronovo , Sintashta and Srubnaya cultures , with secondary influence from the BMAC , and since

243-866: A ruler who was loyal to Achaemenid rule. The territories of the Saka were absorbed into the Achaemenid Empire as part of Chorasmia that included much of the territory between the Oxus and the Iaxartes rivers, and the Saka then supplied the Achaemenid army with a large number of mounted bowmen. According to Polyaenus , Darius fought against three armies led by three kings, respectively named Sacesphares , Amorges or Homarges , and Thamyris , with Polyaenus's account being based on accurate Persian historical records. After Darius's administrative reforms of

324-552: Is connected semantically with the name Saka. The region once again came under Chinese suzerainty with the campaigns of conquest by Emperor Taizong of Tang (r. 626–649). From the late eighth to ninth centuries, the region changed hands between the rival Tang and Tibetan Empires . However, by the early 11th century the region fell to the Muslim Turkic peoples of the Kara-Khanid Khanate , which led to both

405-673: Is in turn described to be the homeland of the mythological hero Rostam . In prehistoric times, the Jiroft Civilization covered parts of Sistan and Kerman Province (possibly as early as the 3rd millennium BC). It is best known from excavations of the archaeological site of Shahr-i Sokhta , a massive third millennium BC city. Other smaller sites have been identified in the region in surveys by American archaeologists Walter Fairservis and George Dales. The site of Nad-i Ali in Afghan Sistan has also been claimed to date from

486-518: 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: 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

567-620: The Sakā haumavargā of his ally Amorges, later carried out a campaign against the Massagetae / Sakā tigraxaudā in 530 BC. According to Herodotus, Cyrus captured a Massagetaean camp by ruse, after which the Massagetae queen Tomyris led the tribe's main force against the Persians, defeated them, and placed the severed head of Cyrus in a sack full of blood. Some versions of the records of

648-549: The Sakā haumavargā , lived on the north-east border of the Achaemenid Empire on the Iaxartes river. Some other Saka groups lived to the east of the Pamir Mountains and to the north of the Iaxartes river , as well as in the regions corresponding to modern-day Qirghizia , Tian Shan , Altai , Tuva , Mongolia , Xinjiang , and Kazakhstan . The Sək , that is the Saka who were in contact with

729-545: The Sakā tigraxaudā . 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 ; and while the Cimmerians were often described by contemporaries as culturally Scythian , they may have differed ethnically from

810-614: The Sk tꜣ with the Sakā haumavargā , and John Manuel Cook had tentatively identified the Sꜣg pḥ with the Sakā tigraxaudā . More recently, the scholar Rüdiger Schmitt has suggested that the Sꜣg pḥ and the Sk tꜣ might have collectively designated the Sakā tigraxaudā /Massagetae. The Achaemenid king Xerxes I listed the Saka coupled with the Dahā ( 𐎭𐏃𐎠 ) people of Central Asia, who might possibly have been identical with

891-770: The Asioi , Pasianoi , Tokharoi and Sakaraulai – came from land north of the Syr Darya where the Ili and Chu valleys are located. Identification of these four tribes varies, but Sakaraulai may indicate an ancient Saka tribe, the Tokharoi is possibly the Yuezhi, and while the Asioi had been proposed to be groups such as the Wusun or Alans . René Grousset wrote of the migration of

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972-462: The Dasht-i Lut desert, Mujashi ibn Mas'ud arrived to Sakastan. However, he suffered a heavy defeat and was forced to retreat. One year later, Abd-Allah ibn Amir sent an army under Rabi ibn Ziyad Harithi to Sakastan. After some time, he reached Zaliq, a border town between Kirman and Sakastan, where he forced the dehqan of the town to acknowledge Rashidun authority. He then did the same at

1053-581: The Eurasian Steppe , following which the Scythians displaced the Cimmerians and the Agathyrsi , who were also nomadic Iranian peoples closely related to the Massagetae and the Scythians, conquered their territories, and invaded Western Asia , where their presence had an important role in the history of the ancient civilisations of Mesopotamia , Anatolia , Egypt , and Iran . During

1134-828: The Hexi Corridor of Gansu by the forces of the Xiongnu ruler Modu Chanyu , who conquered the area in 177–176 BC. In turn the Yuehzhi were responsible for attacking and pushing the Sai ( i.e. Saka) west into Sogdiana, where, between 140 and 130 BC, the latter crossed the Syr Darya into Bactria. The Saka also moved southwards toward the Pamirs and northern India, where they settled in Kashmir, and eastward, to settle in some of

1215-734: The Indo-Parthians . As the Kushan Empire expanded in the mid 1st century AD, the Indo-Parthian lost their Indian dominions and recentered on Turan and Sakastan . The Kushans were defeated by the Sasanian Empire in the mid-3rd century, first becoming part of a vassal Kushanshah state before being overrun by the Hephthalites in the mid 5th century. Sassanid armies reconquered Sakastan in by 565, but lost

1296-675: The Indo-Scythians or Saka , from which Sistan (from Sakastan) eventually derived its name. Around 100 BC, the Indo-Scythians were defeated by Mithridates II of Parthia (r. c. 124–91 BCE) and the region of Sakastan was incorporated into the Parthian Empire . Parthian governors such as Tanlismaidates ruled the land. The Parthian Empire then briefly lost the region to its Suren vassals around 20 CE. The regions of Sistan, and Punjab were ruled together by

1377-653: The Indo-Scythians . 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. Linguist Oswald Szemerényi studied synonyms of various origins for Scythian and differentiated

1458-600: The Ishkuzai ( Akkadian : 𒅖𒆪𒍝𒀀𒀀 Iškuzaya ) or Askuzai ( Akkadian : 𒊍𒄖𒍝𒀀𒀀 Asguzaya , 𒆳𒊍𒆪𒍝𒀀𒀀 mat Askuzaya , 𒆳𒀾𒄖𒍝𒀀𒀀 mat Ášguzaya ), and the Ancient Greeks called them Skuthai ( Ancient Greek : Σκύθης Skúthēs , Σκύθοι Skúthoi , Σκύθαι Skúthai ). The Achaemenid inscriptions initially listed a single group of Sakā . However, following Darius I 's campaign of 520 to 518 BC against

1539-608: The Mathura lion capital belonging to the Saka kingdom of the Indo-Scythians (200 BC – 400 AD) in North India , roughly the same time the Chinese record that the Saka had invaded and settled the country of Jibin 罽賓 (i.e. Kashmir , of modern-day India and Pakistan). Iaroslav Lebedynsky and Victor H. Mair speculate that some Sakas may also have migrated to the area of Yunnan in southern China following their expulsion by

1620-630: The Pazyryk culture in the Ukok Plateau in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC are thought to be of Saka chieftains. These burials show striking similarities with the earlier Tarim mummies at Gumugou . The Issyk kurgan of south-eastern Kazakhstan , and the Ordos culture of the Ordos Plateau has also been connected with the Saka. It has been suggested that the ruling elite of the Xiongnu

1701-728: The Turkification of the region as well as its conversion from Buddhism to Islam . Later Khotanese-Saka-language documents, ranging from medical texts to Buddhist literature , have been found in Khotan and Tumshuq (northeast of Kashgar). Similar documents in the Khotanese-Saka language dating mostly to the 10th century have been found in the Dunhuang manuscripts . Although the ancient Chinese had called Khotan Yutian (于闐), another more native Iranian name occasionally used

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1782-579: The Western Satrap Rudrasimha I dated to AD 181. Persians referred to all northern nomads as Sakas. Herodotus (IV.64) describes them as Scythians, although they figure under a different name: Kushanshah Kushanshah ( Bactrian : KΟÞANΟ ÞAΟ, Koshano Shao , Pahlavi : Kwšan MLK Kushan Malik ) was the title of the rulers of the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom , the parts of the former Kushan Empire in

1863-644: The 520s BC, the Saka expanded into the valleys of the Ili and Chu in eastern Central Asia. Around 30 Saka tombs in the form of kurgans (burial mounds) have also been found in the Tian Shan area dated to between 550 and 250 BC. Darius I waged wars against the eastern Sakas during a campaign of 520 to 518 BC where, according to his inscription at Behistun , he conquered the Massagetae/ Sakā tigraxaudā , captured their king Skunxa , and replaced him with

1944-687: The 7th century BC itself, Saka presence started appearing in the Tarim Basin region. According to the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus , the Parthians rebelled against the Medes during the reign of Cyaxares , after which the Parthians put their country and capital city under the protection of the Sakas. This was followed by a long war opposing the Medes to the Saka, the latter of whom were led by

2025-482: The Achaemenid Empire, the Sakā tigraxaudā were included within the same tax district as the Medes . During the period of Achaemenid rule, Central Asia was in contact with Saka populations who were themselves in contact with China . After Alexander the Great conquered the Achaemenid Empire, the Saka resisted his incursions into Central Asia. At least by the late 2nd century BC, the Sakas had founded states in

2106-681: The Altai kurgan Arzhan 1 in Tuva ), and elements of the Animal style are first attested in areas of the Yenisei river and modern-day China in the 10th century BC. Genetic evidence corroborates archaeological findings, suggesting an initial eastwards expansion of Western Steppe Herders towards the Altai region and Western Mongolia, spreading Iranian languages , and subsequent contact episodes with local Siberian and Eastern Asian populations, giving rise to

2187-676: The Asian nomads, they were differentiated into two groups, both living in Central Asia to the east of the Caspian Sea: A third name was added after the Darius's campaign north of the Danube : An additional term is found in two inscriptions elsewhere: Moreover, Darius the Great's Suez Inscriptions mention two groups of Saka: The scholar David Bivar had tentatively identified

2268-482: The Bronze Age (Benseval and Francfort 1994). Earlier the area was occupied by Iranian peoples Eventually a kingdom known as Arachosia was formed, parts of which were ruled by the Medes by 600 BC. The Medes were overthrown by the Achaemenid Empire in 550 BC, and the rest Arachosia was soon annexed. The archaeological site of Dahan-e Gholaman was a major Achaemenid centre. n the 4th century BCE , Alexander

2349-564: 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 . The Scythian/Saka cultures emerged on the Eurasian Steppe at the dawn of the Iron Age in the early 1st millennium BC. Their origins has long been a source of debate among archaeologists. The Pontic–Caspian steppe

2430-608: The Cimmerians. Prominent archaeological remains of the Sakas include Arzhan , Tunnug, the Pazyryk burials , the Issyk kurgan , Saka Kurgan tombs , the Barrows of Tasmola 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

2511-411: The Great annexed the region during his conquest of the Empire and founded the colony of Alexandria in Arachosia . The city of Bost, now part of Lashkargah , was also developed as a Hellenistic centre. Alexander's empire fragmented after his death, and Arachosia came under the control of the Seleucid Empire , which traded it to the Mauryan dynasty of India in 305 BC. After the fall of the Mauryans,

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2592-617: The Iaxartes river as well as seven fortresses to protect the northern frontier of his empire against the Saka. Cyrus then attacked the Sakā haumavargā , initially defeated them and captured their king, Amorges . After this, Amorges's queen, Sparethra , defeated Cyrus with a large army of both men and women warriors and captured Parmises , the brother-in-law of Cyrus and the brother of his wife Amytis , as well as Parmises's three sons, whom Sparethra exchanged in return for her husband, after which Cyrus and Amorges became allies, and Amorges helped Cyrus conquer Lydia . Cyrus, accompanied by

2673-413: The Iron Age, also East Asian genetic influx, 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 ; and although the ancient Persians, ancient Greeks, and ancient Babylonians respectively used the names "Saka," "Scythian," and " Cimmerian " for all

2754-419: The Khotanese kṣuṇa , "implies an established connection between the Iranian inhabitants and the royal power," according to the Professor of Iranian Studies Ronald E. Emmerick. He contended that Khotanese-Saka-language royal rescripts of Khotan dated to the 10th century "makes it likely that the ruler of Khotan was a speaker of Iranian." Furthermore, he argued that the early form of the name of Khotan, hvatana ,

2835-438: 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. Other locations assigned to the Massagetae include the area corresponding to modern-day Turkmenistan . The Sakā haumavargā lived around the Pamir Mountains and the Ferghana Valley. The Sakaibiš tayaiy para Sugdam , who may have been identical with

2916-410: The Royal Scythians. Other sound changes have produced Sugᵘda 𐎿𐎢𐎦𐎢𐎭 . 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

2997-499: The Saka, similarly with the sites of Sirkap and Taxila in ancient India . The rich graves at Tillya Tepe in Afghanistan are seen as part of a population affected by the Saka. The Shakya clan of India, to which Gautama Buddha , called Śākyamuni "Sage of the Shakyas", belonged, were also likely Sakas, as Michael Witzel and Christopher I. Beckwith have alleged. The scholar Bryan Levman however criticised this hypothesis for resting on slim to no evidence, and maintains that

3078-546: The Saka: "the Saka, under pressure from the Yueh-chih [Yuezhi], overran Sogdiana and then Bactria, there taking the place of the Greeks." Then, "Thrust back in the south by the Yueh-chih," the Saka occupied "the Saka country, Sakastana, whence the modern Persian Seistan." Some of the Saka fleeing the Yuezhi attacked the Parthian Empire , where they defeated and killed the kings Phraates II and Artabanus . These Sakas were eventually settled by Mithridates II in what become known as Sakastan . According to Harold Walter Bailey ,

3159-408: The Scythians proper, to whom the Cimmerians were related, and who also displaced and replaced the Cimmerians. 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. The Sakā tigraxaudā /Massagetae more specifically lived around Chorasmia and in the lowlands of Central Asia located to

3240-422: The Shakyas were a population native to the north-east Gangetic plain who were unrelated to Iranic Sakas. The region in modern Afghanistan and Iran where the Saka moved to became known as "land of the Saka" or Sakastan . This is attested in a contemporary Kharosthi inscription found on the Mathura lion capital belonging to the Saka kingdom of the Indo-Scythians (200 BC – 400 AD) in northern India , roughly

3321-405: The Tarim Basin provided information on the language spoken by the Saka. The official language of Khotan was initially Gandhari Prakrit written in Kharosthi, and coins from Khotan dated to the 1st century bear dual inscriptions in Chinese and Gandhari Prakrit, indicating links of Khotan to both India and China. Surviving documents however suggest that an Iranian language was used by the people of

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3402-437: The Tarim Basin. The Kingdom of Khotan was a Saka city state on the southern edge of the Tarim Basin. As a consequence of the Han–Xiongnu War spanning from 133 BC to 89 AD, the Tarim Basin (now Xinjiang, Northwest China ), including Khotan and Kashgar , fell under Han Chinese influence, beginning with the reign of Emperor Wu of Han (r. 141–87 BC). Archaeological evidence and documents from Khotan and other sites in

3483-493: The Yuezhi. Excavations of the prehistoric art of the Dian Kingdom of Yunnan have revealed hunting scenes of Caucasoid horsemen in Central Asian clothing. The scenes depicted on these drums sometimes represent these horsemen practising hunting. Animal scenes of felines attacking oxen are also at times reminiscent of Scythian art both in theme and in composition. Migrations of the 2nd and 1st century BC have left traces in Sogdia and Bactria, but they cannot firmly be attributed to

3564-404: The administrative reorganization of 1964 to form the province of Nimruz, with capital Zaranj. Sistan has a very strong connection with Zoroastrianism and during Sassanid times Lake Hamun was one of two pilgrimage sites for followers of that religion. In Zoroastrian tradition, the lake is the keeper of Zoroaster 's seed and just before the final renovation of the world, three maidens will enter

3645-425: The area to the Rashidun Caliphate after the mid 640s. The province was formed in ca. 240, during the reign of Shapur I , in his effort to centralise the empire; before that, the province was under the rule of the Parthian Suren Kingdom , whose ruler Ardashir Sakanshah became a Sasanian vassal during the reign of Shapur's father Ardashir I (r. 224–242), who also had the ancient city Zrang rebuilt, which became

3726-497: The areas of Sogdiana , Bactria and Gandhara , named Kushanshahr and held by the Sasanian Empire , during the 3rd and 4th centuries CE. They are collectively known as Kushano-Sasanians , or Indo-Sasanians . The Kushanshahs minted their own coinage, and took the title of Kushanshas, ie "Kings of the Kushans". This administration continued until 360 CE. The Kushanshas are mainly known through their coins. A rebellion of Hormizd I Kushanshah (277-286 CE), who issued coins with

3807-434: The capital of the province. Shapur's son Narseh was the first to appointed as the governor of province, which he would govern until 271, when the Sasanian prince Hormizd was appointed as the new governor. Later in ca. 281, Hormizd revolted against his cousin Bahram II . During the revolt, the people of Sakastan supported him. Nevertheless, Bahram II managed to suppress the revolt in 283, and appointed his son Bahram III as

3888-513: The death of Cyrus named the Derbices, rather than the Massagetae, as the tribe against whom Cyrus died in battle, because the Derbices were a member tribe of the Massagetae confederation or identical with the whole of the Massagetae. After Cyrus had been mortally wounded by the Derbices/Massagetae, Amorges and his Sakā haumavargā army helped the Persian soldiers defeat them. Cyrus told his sons to respect their own mother as well as Amorges above everyone else before dying. Possibly shortly before

3969-407: The east into Central Asia, from where they expelled the Scythians , another nomadic Iranian tribe to whom they were closely related, after which they came to occupy large areas of the region beginning in the 6th century BC. The Massagetae forcing the Early Scythians to the west across the Araxes river and into the Caucasian and Pontic steppes started a significant movement of the nomadic peoples of

4050-414: 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. The Sakā tigraxaudā /Massagetae could also be found in the Caspian Steppe. The imprecise description of where the Massagetae lived by ancient authors has however led modern scholars to ascribe to them various locations, such as

4131-445: The following terms: Sakā 𐎿𐎣𐎠 , Skuthēs Σκύθης , Skudra 𐎿𐎤𐎢𐎭𐎼 , and Sugᵘda 𐎿𐎢𐎦𐎢𐎭 . 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: From the Indo-European root (s)kewd- , meaning "propel, shoot" (and from which was also derived the English word shoot ), of which *skud-

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4212-451: The fortress of Karkuya, which had a famous fire temple , which is mentioned in the Tarikh-i Sistan . He then continued to seize more land in the province. He thereafter besieged Zrang , and after a heavy battle outside the city, Aparviz and his men surrendered. When Aparviz went to Rabi to discuss about the conditions of a treaty, he saw that he was using the bodies of two dead soldiers as a chair. This horrified Aparviz, who in order to spare

4293-422: The governor Abu Yazid Khalid made himself independent. He was followed by a series of emirs with brief reigns until 923, when Ahmad ibn Muhammad restored Saffarid rule in Sistan. After his death in 963, Sistan was ruled by his son Khalaf ibn Ahmad until 1002, when Mahmud of Ghazni invaded Sistan, ending the Saffarid dynasty. A year later in 1003, Sistan revolted. In response, Mahmud brought an army to suppress

4374-415: The governor of the province. During his early reign, Shapur II (r. 309–379) appointed his brother Shapur Sakanshah as the governor of Sakastan. Peroz I (r. 459–484), during his early reign, put an end to dynastic rule in province by appointing a Karenid as its governor. The reason behind the appointment was to avoid further family conflict in the province, and in order to gain more direct control of

4455-471: The inhabitants of Sakastan from the Arabs, made peace with them in return for heavy tribute, which included a tribute of 1,000 slave boys bearing 1,000 golden vessels. Sakastan was thus under the control of the Rashidun Caliphate. However, only two years later, the people of Zarang rebelled and defeated Rabi ibn Ziyad Harithi's lieutenant and Muslim garrison of the city. Abd-Allah ibn Amir then sent 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura to Sistan, where he managed to suppress

4536-430: The initial (Eastern) Scythian material cultures (Saka). It was however also found that the various later Scythian sub-groups of the Eurasian Steppe had local origins; different Scythian groups arose locally through cultural adaption, rather than via migration patterns from East-to-West or West-to-East. The Sakas spoke a language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages . The Pazyryk burials of

4617-425: The kingdom for a long time. Third-century AD documents in Prakrit from nearby Shanshan record the title for the king of Khotan as hinajha (i.e. " generalissimo "), a distinctively Iranian-based word equivalent to the Sanskrit title senapati , yet nearly identical to the Khotanese Saka hīnāysa attested in later Khotanese documents. This, along with the fact that the king's recorded regnal periods were given as

4698-435: The lake, each then giving birth to the saoshyans who will be the saviours of mankind at the final renovation of the world. The most famous archaeological sites in Sistan are Shahr-e Sukhteh and the site on Mount Khajeh , a hill rising up as an island in the middle of Lake Hamun. 31°00′00″N 62°00′00″E  /  31.0000°N 62.0000°E  / 31.0000; 62.0000 Saka The Saka were

4779-500: The northwest of Kashgar, Tumshuq to its northeast, and Tushkurgan south in the Pamirs. Kashgar also conquered other states such as Yarkand and Kucha during the Han dynasty, but in its later history, Kashgar was controlled by various empires, including Tang China, before it became part of the Turkic Kara-Khanid Khanate in the 10th century. In the 11th century, according to Mahmud al-Kashgari , some non-Turkic languages like Kanchaki and Sogdian were still used in some areas in

4860-423: The oasis-states of Tarim Basin sites, like Yanqi (焉耆, Karasahr ) and Qiuci (龜茲, Kucha ). The Yuehzhi, themselves under attacks from another nomadic tribe, the Wusun , in 133–132 BC, moved, again, from the Ili and Chu valleys, and occupied the country of Daxia , (大夏, "Bactria"). The ancient Greco-Roman geographer Strabo noted that the four tribes that took down the Bactrians in the Greek and Roman account –

4941-405: The province became known as Sijistan/Sistan. The previous Old Persian name of the region, prior to Saka dominance, was zaranka ("waterland"). The older form is also the root of the name Zaranj , capital of the Afghan Nimruz Province . In the Shahnameh , Sistan is also referred to as Zabulistan , after the region in the eastern part of present-day Afghanistan . In Ferdowsi's epic, Zabulistan

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5022-460: The province. During the Muslim conquest of Persia , the last Sasanian king Yazdegerd III fled to Sakastan in the mid-640s, where its governor Aparviz (who was more or less independent), helped him. However, Yazdegerd III quickly ended this support when he demanded tax money that he had failed to pay. In 650, Abd-Allah ibn Amir , after having secured his position in Kerman , sent an army under Mujashi ibn Mas'ud to Sakastan. After having crossed

5103-412: The queen Zarinaea . At the end of this war, the Parthians accepted Median rule, and the Saka and the Medes made peace. According to the Greek historian Ctesias , once the Persian Achaemenid Empire 's founder, Cyrus , had overthrown his grandfather the Median king Astyages , the Bactrians accepted him as the heir of Astyages and submitted to him, after which he founded the city of Cyropolis on

5184-404: The rebellion. Furthermore, he also defeated the Zunbils of Zabulistan , seizing Bust and a few cities in Zabulistan. During the First Fitna (656–661), the people of Zarang rebelled and defeated the Muslim garrison of the city. In 658, Yazdegerd III's son Peroz III reclaimed Sistan and established a kingdom there, known in Chinese sources as the "Persian Area Command". However, in 663, he

5265-407: The region fell to their Greco-Bactrian allies in 180 BC, before breaking away and becoming part of the Indo-Greek Kingdom. The Indo-Parthian king Gondophares was the leader of Sakastan around c. 20–10 BCE as it was part of the Indo-Parthian Kingdom which was also called Gedrosia , its Hellenistic name. After the mid 2nd century BC, much of the Indo-Greek Kingdom was overrun by tribes known as

5346-432: The revolt. Mahmud's Hindu troops sacked the mosques and churches of Zarang massacring the Muslims and Christians inside. In 1029, Tadj al-Din I Abu l-Fadl Nasr founded the Nasrid dynasty , who were a branch of the Saffarids . They became vassals of the Ghaznavids . The dynasty then became vassals of the Seljuks in 1048, Ghurids in 1162, and the Khwarezmians in 1212. Mongols sacked Sistan in 1222 and Nasrid dynasty

5427-407: The rule of Durrani Empire in 1747. Between 1747 and 1872 Sistan was contested by Persia and Afghanistan . The border dispute between Persia and Afghanistan was solved by Sistan Boundary Mission, led by British General Frederick Goldsmid , who agreed to most of Sistan to be in Persia but the Persians won the withdrawal of the right bank of the Helmand. The countries were not satisfied. The border

5508-521: The same time the Chinese record that the Saka had invaded and settled the country of Jibin 罽賓 (i.e. Kashmir , of modern-day India and Pakistan). In the Persian language of contemporary Iran the territory of Drangiana was called Sakastāna, in Armenian as Sakastan, with similar equivalents in Pahlavi, Greek, Sogdian, Syriac, Arabic, and the Middle Persian tongue used in Turfan , Xinjiang, China. The Sakas also captured Gandhara and Taxila , and migrated to North India . The most famous Indo-Scythian king

5589-411: 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. 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

5670-438: The term Scythian to refer to a variety of nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples across the Eurasian Steppe, 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

5751-400: The territory of Drangiana (now in Afghanistan and Pakistan) became known as "Land of the Sakas", and was called Sakastāna in the Persian language of contemporary Iran, in Armenian as Sakastan, with similar equivalents in Pahlavi, Greek, Sogdian, Syriac, Arabic, and the Middle Persian tongue used in Turfan , Xinjiang, China. This is attested in a contemporary Kharosthi inscription found on

5832-694: The title Kushanshahanshah (KΟÞANΟ ÞAΟNΟNΟ ÞAΟ "King of kings of the Kushans"), seems to have occurred against contemporary emperor Bahram II (276-293 CE) of the Sasanian Empire, but failed. The title is first attested in the Paikuli inscription of the Sasanian shah Narseh in ca. 293, where it functioned as a title for the Sasanian governors of the eastern portion of the empire . The title

5913-693: The vicinity of Kashgar, and Kanchaki is thought to belong to the Saka language group. It is believed that the Tarim Basin was linguistically Turkified before the 11th century ended. The Saka were pushed out of the Ili and Chu River valleys by the Yuezhi . An account of the movement of these people is given in Sima Qian 's Records of the Grand Historian . The Yuehzhi, who originally lived between Tängri Tagh ( Tian Shan ) and Dunhuang of Gansu , China, were assaulted and forced to flee from

5994-548: Was Jusadanna (瞿薩旦那), derived from Indo-Iranian Gostan and Gostana , the names of the town and region around it, respectively. Much like the neighboring people of the Kingdom of Khotan, the people of Kashgar , the capital of Shule, spoke Saka, one of the Eastern Iranian languages . According to the Book of Han , the Saka split and formed several states in the region. These Saka states may include two states to

6075-582: Was Maues . An Indo-Scythian kingdom was established in Mathura (200 BC – 400 AD). Weer Rajendra Rishi , an Indian linguist, identified linguistic affinities between Indian and Central Asian languages, which further lends credence to the possibility of historical Sakan influence in North India. According to historian Michael Mitchiner, the Abhira tribe were a Saka people cited in the Gunda inscription of

6156-557: Was defined more precisely with the Second Sistan Boundary Commission (1903-1905) headed by Arthur Mac Mahon, who had a difficult task due to lack of natural boundaries. The part assigned Persia was included in the province of Balochistan (which took the name of Sistan and Baluchistan in 1986) being the capital Zahedan. In Afghanistan it was part of the Sistan province of Farah-Chakansur that was abolished in

6237-500: Was ended by Khwarezmians in 1225. During Ghaznavid times, elaborate Saffarid palaces were built at Lashkari Bazar and Shahr-i Gholghola . In 1236, Shams al-Din 'Ali ibn Mas'ud founded Mihrabanid dynasty , another branch of Saffarids, as melik of Sistan for Ilkhanate . Mihrabanid contested with Kartids during Mongol rule. Sistan declared independence in 1335 after demise of Ilkhanate. 1383 Tamerlane conquered Sistan and forced Mihrabanids to become vassals. Overlordship of Timurids

6318-467: Was ended in 1507 due to Uzbek invasion in 1507. Uzbeks were driven in 1510 and Mihrabanids became vassals of Safavids until 1537 Safavids deposed the dynasty and gained full control of Sistan. Safavid rule lasted until 1717 except during Uzbek rule between 1524-1528 and 1578-1598 when the Hotaki dynasty conquered it. Nadir Shah reconquered it in 1727. After assassination of Nadir Shah, Sistan went under

6399-855: Was forced to leave the region after suffering a defeat to newly established Umayyad Caliphate , who had succeeded the Rashiduns. Sistan became a province of the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates . In the 860s, the Saffarid dynasty emerged in Sistan and proceeded to conquer most of the Islamic East, until it was checked by the Samanids in 900. After the Samanids took the province from the Saffarids, it briefly returned to Abbasid control, but in 917

6480-531: Was initially thought to have been their place of origin, until the Soviet archaeologist Aleksey Terenozhkin suggested a Central Asian origin. Archaeological evidence now tends to suggest that the origins of Scythian culture , characterized by its kurgans (a type of burial mound) and its Animal style of the 1st millennium BC, are to be found among Eastern Scythians rather than their Western counterparts: eastern kurgans are older than western ones (such as

6561-500: Was of Saka origin, or at least significantly influenced by their Eastern Iranian neighbours. Some scholars contend that in the 8th century BC, a Saka raid from the Altai may be "connected" with a raid on Zhou China . The Saka are attested in historical and archaeological records dating to around the 8th century BC. The Saka tribe of the Massagetae / Tigraxaudā rose to power in the 8th to 7th centuries BC, when they migrated from

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