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80-830: Pahlavas are referenced in various Puranic texts such as Vayu Purana , the Brahmanda Purana , the Markandeya Purana , the Matsya Purana , and the Vamana Purana . Kirfel 's list of Uttarapatha countries of the Bhuvanakosha locates the Pahlavas along with the Tocharians (or Tusharas ), Chinas , Angalaukikas, Barbaras, Kambojas , Daradas , Bahlikas and other countries of

160-866: 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

240-416: A single date of composition. (...) It is as if they were libraries to which new volumes have been continuously added, not necessarily at the end of the shelf, but randomly. The Asiatic Society , Calcutta published this text in two volumes in 1880 and 1888, as a part of their Bibliotheca Indica series. It was edited by Rajendralal Mitra . The Venkateshvara Press, Bombay edition was published in 1895. It

320-823: A single group of Sakā . However, following Darius I 's campaign of 520 to 518 BC against 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

400-552: 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

480-654: Is notable for the numerous references to it, in medieval era Indian literature, likely links to inscriptions such as those found on the Mathura pillar and dated to 380 CE, as well as being a source for carvings and reliefs such as those at the Elephanta Caves – a UNESCO world heritage site. The Vayu Purana is mentioned in chapter 3.191 of the Mahabharata, and section 1.7 of the Harivamsa , suggesting that

560-620: 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

640-549: 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

720-604: 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

800-614: 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

880-770: 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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960-489: The Brahmanda Purana . The Vayu Purana , according to the tradition and verses in other Puranas, contains 24,000 verses ( shlokas ). However, the surviving manuscripts have about 12,000 verses. The text was continuously revised over the centuries, and its extant manuscripts are very different. Some manuscripts have four padas (parts) with 112 chapters, and some two khandas with 111 chapters. Comparisons of

1040-524: The Brahman , Delighting in the Atman Alert and pure. Such are the ones who master Yoga. — Vayu Purana 16.22-16.23 The Vayu Purana exists in many versions, structured in different ways, For example: The Vayu Purana discusses its theories of cosmology , genealogy of gods and kings of solar and lunar dynasties, mythology, geography, manvantaras , the solar system and the movements of

1120-831: 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 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

1200-707: 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 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"

1280-638: 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

1360-828: 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

1440-577: The Mahabharata and other Hindu texts, which has led scholars to propose that the text is among the oldest in the Puranic genre. Vayu and Vayaviya Puranas do share a very large overlap in their structure and contents, possibly because they once were the same, but with continuous revisions over the centuries, the original text became two different texts, and the Vayaviya text came also to be known as

1520-671: 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

1600-820: 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 the Indo-Scythians . Other Sakas invaded the Parthian Empire , eventually settling in Sistan , while others may have migrated to

1680-576: 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

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1760-693: 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 the steppe nomads, the name "Saka" is used specifically for the ancient nomads of

1840-738: The Skanda Purana , says Juergen Neuss, but he adds that the manuscripts attest the Revakhanda containing 232 chapters belongs to the Vayu Purana and was wrongly included in the Skanda Purana by Veṅkateśvara Steam Press in 1910 and all publications of the Skanda after it. The one belonging to the Skanda Purana has 116 chapters. Sakas The Saka were a group of nomadic Eastern Iranian peoples who historically inhabited

1920-728: 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

2000-548: The Uttarapatha (Udichyas) including the Pahlavas, Paradas, Gandharas, Sakas, Yavanas, Tusharas, Kambojas, Khasas, Lampakas, Madhyadesis, Vindhyas, Aprantas, Dakshinatyas, Dravidas, Pulindas, Simhalas, would be proceeded against and annihilated by Kalki in Kali Yuga . And they are stated to have been annihilated by king Pramiti at the end of Kali age as per Puranic evidence. According to Vayu Purana and Matsya Purana ,

2080-583: The Vayu Purana , sometime before the 15th century. Vayu Purana, like all Puranas, has a complicated chronology. Dimmitt and van Buitenen state that each of the Puranas is encyclopedic in style, and it is difficult to ascertain when, where, why and by whom these were written: As they exist today, the Puranas are stratified literature. Each titled work consists of material that has grown by numerous accretions in successive historical eras. Thus, no Purana has

2160-482: The "Udichya" (Sanskrit: "northern") division of ancient India: ete desha udichyastu Kambojashchaiva Dardashchaiva Barbarashcha Angaukikah Chinashchaiva Tusharashcha Pahlava dhayata narah The Vayu Purana , Brahmanda Purana and several other Puranas mention the Pahlavas with the tribes of Uttarapatha or north-west. The 6th-century CE text Markandeya Purana lists the Pahlavas, Kambojas, Daradas, Bahlikas, Barbaras, Tusharas, Paradas, Chinas, Lampakas, as

2240-644: 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

2320-419: 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

2400-430: 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

2480-474: 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

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2560-417: 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

2640-405: The Gupta king Vikramaditya ( Chandragupta II ) had "unburdened the sacred earth of the barbarians" like the Shakas, Mlecchas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Tusharas, Parasikas, Hunas, by annihilating these "unrighteous people" completely. The 10th century Kavyamimamsa of Pt Raj Shekhar still lists the Sakas, Tusharas, Vokanas, Hunas, Kambojas, Bahlikas, Pahlavas, Tangana, Turukshas, together and states them as

2720-617: 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

2800-419: 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 ,

2880-430: The Kshatriyas'). The Balakanda of the Ramayana groups the Pahlavas with the Sakas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Mlechhas and the Kiratas and refers to them as military allies of sage Vasishtha against Vedic sage king Vishwamitra . The Kiṣkindhā Kāṇda of the Ramayana associates the Pahlavas with the Yavanas , Shakas , Kambojas , Paradas (Varadas), Rishikas and the Uttarakurus , and locates them all in

2960-438: 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

3040-609: The Pahlavas, Sakas, Paradas, Kambojas were also located in western India near Saurashtra - Maharashtra . The Pahlavas along with the Sakas, Kiratas, Yavanas, amongst others, joined Saradwat's son Kripacharya, the high-souled and mighty bowman, and took up their positions at the northern point of the army. The Manusmriti states that the Pahlavas and several other tribes like the Sakas , Yavanas , Kambojas , Paradas , Daradas , Khasas . were originally noble Kshatriyas, but later, due to their non-observance of valorous Kshatriya codes and neglect of chivalry, they had gradually sunken to

3120-499: 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

3200-546: 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 ,

3280-408: 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

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3360-422: 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

3440-405: 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

3520-437: 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

3600-493: 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

3680-431: The barbaric tribes of Uttarapatha . But the Udyoga-Parva of Mahabharata groups the Pahlavas with the Sakas , Paradas and the Kambojas - Rishikas and locates them all in or around Anupa region in western India. Mahabharata reads: These kings of the Shakas, Pahlavas and Daradas (i.e. the Paradas) and the Kamboja Rshikas, these are in the western riverine (Anupa) area. This epic reference implies that sections of

3760-443: The celestial bodies. In addition to these, the text has chapters which were inserted in the later centuries into the older version of the Vayu Purana, such as chapters 16-17 which discuss duties of the Varna (caste or class) and duties of a person during various ashrama , chapter 18 which discusses penances for sannyasi (monks, yati ), chapters 57–59 on dharma , chapters 73 to 83 on sanskaras (rites of passage), and chapter 101 on

3840-506: The countries of Udichya division (Uttarapatha). However, the 58th chapter of the Markandeya Purana also refers to yet other settlements of the Pahlavas and the Kambojas and locates them both specifically in the south-west of India as neighbors to the Sindhu , Sauvira and Anarta (north Saurashtra ) countries. The 6th-century Bṛhat Saṃhitā of Varāhamihira also locates the Pahlavas and Kamboja kingdoms in south-west India, around Gujarat -Saurashtra. Puranas like Vayu also state that

3920-513: 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

4000-409: The diverse manuscripts suggest that the following sections were slipped, in later centuries, into the more ancient Vayu Purana : chapters on geography and temples-related travel guides known as Mahatmya , two chapters on castes and individual ashramas , three chapters on Dharma and penances, eleven chapters on purity and Sanskara (rite of passage) and a chapter on hell in after-life. The text

4080-438: The earliest version of the text is likely from the 300 to 500 CE period, and broadly agreed that it is among the oldest Puranas. The text, like all Puranas, has likely gone through revisions, additions and interpolations over its history. Rajendra Hazra, as well as other scholars, for example, consider Gaya-mahatmya , which is an embedded travel guide to Gaya , as a later addition. The Gaya-mahatmya replaced older sections of

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4160-407: 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

4240-414: 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

4320-421: 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 the Cimmerians. Prominent archaeological remains of the Sakas include Arzhan , Tunnug,

4400-449: The evolution of *Skuδa into *Skula . From this was derived the Greek word Skṓlotoi Σκώλοτοι , which, according to Herodotus, was the self-designation of 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

4480-430: 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

4560-425: 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

4640-413: The names " Cimmerian ," "Saka," and " Scythian " for all the steppe nomads, and early modern historians such as Edward Gibbon used 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

4720-431: 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 the Iron Age, also East Asian genetic influx, with the Saka language forming part of

4800-500: 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

4880-423: 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 –

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4960-412: 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

5040-469: The river Chakshu ( Oxus or Amu Darya ) flowed through the countries of Pahlavas, Tusharas , Lampakas, Paradas and the Sakas . Puranas associate the Pahlavas with the Kambojas, Sakas, Yavanas and Paradas and brands them together as Panca-ganah (five hordes). These five hordes were military allies of the Haihaya or Taljunga Kshatriyas of Yadava line and were chiefly responsible for dethroning king Bahu of Kosala. Later, king Sagara, son of king Bahu,

5120-521: 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

5200-499: The status of Mlechchas. The Buddhist drama Mudrarakshasa by Visakhadutta and the Jaina works Parishishtaparvan refer to Chandragupta 's alliance with Himalayan king Parvatka. This Himalayan alliance gave Chandragupta a powerful composite army made up of the frontier martial tribes of the Shakas , Kambojas , Yavanas , Pahlavas, Bahlikas, which he utilized to expanded his Mauryan Empire in northern India. The Brihat-Katha-Manjari of Kshmendra relates that around 400,

5280-400: 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

5360-450: The text existed in the first half of the 1st-millennium CE. The 7th-century Sanskrit prose writer Banabhatta refers to this work in his Kadambari and Harshacharita . In chapter 3 of the Harshacharita Banabhatta remarks that the Vayu Purana was read out to him in his native village. Alberuni (973 -1048), the Persian scholar who visited and lived in northwest Indian subcontinent for many years in early 11th century, quoted from

5440-503: The theory of hell in after-life. The text shares a large number of verses with the Brahmanda Purana , and the two texts originated most likely from the same core text. The comparison of the two texts and specifics within the texts suggests, states Hazra, that the split into two texts could not have happened before 400 CE. The chapters which were slipped into the Vayu Purana are missing in many versions of Vayu and in Brahmananda manuscripts. Chapter 18 on penances for those in monastic life,

5520-431: The trans- Himalayan territories, that is, in the Sakadvipa. Mahabharata attests that Pandava-putra Nakula had defeated the Pahlavas in the course of his western expedition. The kings of Pahlava were also present at the Rajasuya sacrifice of king Yudhishtra . The Mahabharata also associates the Pahlavas with the Sakas , Yavanas , Gandharas , Kambojas , Tusharas , Sabaras, Barbaras, and addresses them all as

5600-401: The tribes located in the Uttarapatha division. Vayu Purana Divisions Sama vedic Yajur vedic Atharva vedic Vaishnava puranas Shaiva puranas Shakta puranas The Vayu Purana ( Sanskrit : वायुपुराण , Vāyu-purāṇa ) is a Sanskrit text and one of the eighteen major Puranas of Hinduism . Vayu Purana is mentioned in the manuscripts of

5680-425: The version of Vayu Purana that existed during his visit. The various mentions of the Vayu Purana in other texts have led scholars to recognize it as one of the oldest. The early 20th-century scholar Dikshitar, known for his dating proposals that push many texts as very ancient and well into 1st millennium BCE, stated that the Vayu Purana started to take shape around 350 BCE. Later scholarship has proposed that

5760-693: 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

5840-533: 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

5920-582: 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

6000-578: Was able to defeat the Haihayas or Taljungas together with these five-hordes. According to Puranic accounts, king Sagara had divested the Paradas and other members (the Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas and Pahlavas) of the well-known Pānca-gana of their Kshatriyahood and turned them into the Mlechchas. Before their defeat at the hands of king Sagara, these five-hordes were called Kshatriya-pungava ('foremost among

6080-819: Was followed by the publication of another edition by the Anandashrama (Anandashrama Sanskrit Series 49), Poona . In 1910, the Vangavasi Press, Calcutta published an edition along with a Bengali translation by Panchanan Tarkaratna, the editor of the text. In 1960 Motilal Banarsidass published an English translation as part of its Ancient Indian Traditions and Mythology series. The Yogin The Yogin possesses these attributes, Self-restraint , Quiescence, Truthfulness, Sinlessness, Silence, Straightforwardness towards all, Knowledge beyond simple perception, Uprightness, Composed in mind, Absorbed in

6160-531: 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

6240-825: Was likely inserted before the 14th century. The travel guide to Gaya, Bihar was likely inserted before the 15th-century, because the Gaya-mahatmya was referenced many times by the 15th-century Vacaspatimisra (not to be confused with 9th-century Advaita scholar of the same name). The text also contains chapters on music, various shakhas of the Vedas , Pashupata - Yoga , and geographic Mahatmya (travel guides) particularly about Gaya in Bihar . The Vayu Purana also features other topics such as those dealing with construction of mountain top Hindu temples . The Revakhanda of Vayu Purana since 1910 has been wrongly attributed to

6320-500: 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

6400-561: 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- 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

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