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71-448: A 1339 VS ( c.  1282 CE ) Yajvapala inscription, issued during the reign of Gopala, names the dynasty's progenitor as Jayapala (called Jajapella in vernacular language). It names the dynasty's place of origin as Ratnagiri (unidentified), and attributes the rise of Jayapala to the blessings of the goddess Maharunda (probably a family deity ). The next known member of the family is Ya[pa]ramadi-raja, whose son Chahadadeva conquered

142-625: A domino effect , displacing other central Asian tribes in their path. According to these ancient sources, Modu Shanyu of the Xiongnu tribe of Mongolia attacked the Yuezhi (possibly related to the Tocharians , who lived in the eastern Tarim Basin ) and evicted them from their homeland between the Qilian Shan and Dunhuang c.  175 BCE. Leaving a few people behind, most of

213-543: A 19-year cycle) to ensure that festivals and crop-related rituals fall in the appropriate season. Early Buddhist communities in India adopted the ancient Hindu calendar , followed by the Vikram Samvat and local Buddhist calendars . Buddhist festivals are still scheduled according to a lunar system. The Vikram Samvat has two systems. It began in 56 BCE in the southern Hindu calendar system ( amaanta ) and 57–56 BCE in

284-690: A battle was fought on the banks of the Valuva river (near modern Baruwa near Narwar) on 28 March 1281 CE (assuming Karttikadi year). The Narwar inscription states that Gopala defeated Viravarman and king Lakshmana of Chandragiri on the banks of the Sikata river. However, the Dahi copper-plate inscription of the Chandelas claims that the Chandela general Mallaya defeated the lord of Nalapura (that is, Gopala). It

355-500: A group of Sabalas. After Azes' death, Indo-Scythian rule in northwestern India ended with the rise of the Indo-Parthian ruler Gondophares late in the first century BCE. For the following decades, A number of minor Scythian leaders maintained themselves in local strongholds on the fringes of the loose Indo-Parthian empire over the next few decades, some paying allegiance to Gondophares I and his successors. Indo-Parthian rule

426-424: A sidereal year, correctional months ( adhika māsa ) are added or (occasionally) subtracted ( kshaya masa ). A lunar year consists of 12 months, and each month has two fortnights , with a variable duration ranging from 29 to 32 days. The lunar days are called tithis . Each month has 30 tithis , which vary in length from 20 to 27 hours. The waxing phase , beginning with the day after the new moon ( amavasya ) ,

497-464: A winged Indo-Scythian horseman riding a winged deer and being attacked by a lion. The Indo-Scythians seem to have supported Buddhism, with many of their practices continuing those of the Indo-Greeks. They had an active role in the dissemination of Buddhism beyond India. Several Indo-Scythian kings after Azes made Buddhist dedications in their name on plaques or reliquaries: Excavations at

568-553: Is a restricted (optional) holiday in India. The calendar remains in use by people in Nepal serving as its national calendar where the first month is Baisakh and the last month is Chaitra. It is also symbolically used by Hindus of north, west and central India. Alongside Nepal Sambat , Bikram Sambat is one of two official calendars used in Nepal. In south India and portions of east and west India (such as Assam, West Bengal and Gujarat),

639-482: Is also debased; the silver content becomes lower and bronze content higher, an alloying technique suggesting a lack of wealth. The Mathura lion capital inscriptions attest that Mathura came under Saka control. The inscriptions refer to Kharahostes and Queen Ayasia , the "chief queen of the Indo-Scythian ruler of Mathura, satrap Rajuvula." Kharahostes was the son of Arta , as attested by his own coins. Arta

710-439: Is called gaura or shukla paksha (the bright or auspicious fortnight). The waning phase is called krishna or vadhya paksha (the dark fortnight, considered inauspicious). The classical Vikram Samvat is generally 57 years ahead of Gregorian Calendar, except during January to April, when it is ahead by 56 years. The month that the new year starts varies by region or sub-culture. Upto 13 April 2025, it will be 2081 BS in

781-553: Is dated in two eras. The theory was discredited by Falk and Bennett, who place the inception of the Azes era in 47–46 BCE. The Vikram Samvat has been used by Hindus , Sikhs , and Pashtuns . One of several regional Hindu calendars in use on the Indian subcontinent , it is based on twelve synodic lunar months and 365 solar days . The lunar year begins with the new moon of the month of Chaitra . This day, known as Chaitra Sukhladi,

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852-469: Is generally of high quality, although the coins of Rajuvula deteriorate near the disintegration of Indo-Scythian rule c.  20 CE. A fairly high-quality, stereotypical coinage was continued by the Western Satraps until the fourth century. Indo-Scythian coinage is generally realistic, artistically between Indo-Greek and Kushan coinage. It has been suggested that its coinage benefited from

923-655: Is mentioned by Isidore of Charax in "The Parthian Stations". According to Isidore, they were bordered by Greek cities on the east ( Alexandria of the Caucasus and Alexandria of the Arachosians ) and the Parthian-controlled territory of Arachosia on the south: Beyond is Sacastana of the Scythian Sacae, which is also Paraetacena, 63 schoeni . There are the city of Barda and the city of Min and

994-709: Is possible that the Chandelas achieved some initial successes, but ultimately, they were forced to retreat. The last known ruler of the dynasty is Ganapatideva. It is known that the Yajvapalas ruled Narwar until 1298 CE, but the end of the dynasty is not certain. Historians generally assume that the Yajvapalas fell to an invasion by the Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khalji . Following rulers of the dynasty are attested by inscriptions and coins: Vikrama Samvat Traditional Vikram Samvat ( ISO : Vikrama Saṁvata ; abbreviated VS), also known as

1065-802: The Mahābhāṣya , the Bṛhat Saṃhitā by Varāhamihira , the Kāvyamīmāṃsā, the Bṛhatkathāmañjarīi, and the Kathāsaritsāgara . They are described as part of a group of other warlike tribes from the northwest. There are references to the warring mleccha hordes of Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas and Pahlavas in the Balakanda of the Ramayana . H. C. Raychadhury saw in these verses the struggles between

1136-573: The Butkara Stupa in Swat by an Italian archaeological team have yielded Buddhist sculptures thought to belong to the Indo-Scythian period. An Indo-Corinthian capital of a Buddhist devotee in foliage has been found which had a reliquary and coins of Azes buried at its base, dating the sculpture to c.  20 BCE. A contemporary pilaster of a Buddhist devotee in Greek dress has been found at

1207-728: The Indian national calendar is widely used. With the arrival of Islamic rule, the Hijri calendar became the official calendar of sultanates and the Mughal Empire . During British colonial rule of the Indian subcontinent, the Gregorian calendar was adopted and is commonly used in urban areas of India. The predominantly-Muslim countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh have used the Islamic calendar since 1947, but older texts included

1278-538: The Malava tribe " (424), or simply "Samvat". The earliest known inscription which calls the era "Vikrama" is from 842. This inscription, from the Chauhana ruler Chandamahasena, was found at Dholpur and is dated "Vikrama Samvat 898, Vaishakha Shukla 2, Chanda" (20 April 842). The earliest known inscription which associates the era with a king called Vikramaditya is dated 971, and the earliest literary work connecting

1349-459: The Nepal Sambat , a much more recent innovation. A number of ancient and medieval inscriptions used the Vikram Samvat. Although it was reportedly named after the legendary king Vikramaditya , the term "Vikrama Samvat" does not appear in the historical record before the 9th century; the same calendar system is found with other names, such as Krita and Malava. In colonial scholarship, the era

1420-693: The Northern Satraps and Western Satraps . The power of the Saka rulers began to decline during the 2nd century CE after the Indo-Scythians were defeated by the Satavahana emperor Gautamiputra Satakarni . Indo-Scythian rule in the northwestern subcontinent ended when the last Western Satrap, Rudrasimha III , was defeated by the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II in 395 CE. The invasion of

1491-810: The Saka language (also known as Khotanese), first documented in the Tarim Basin . During the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley c.  515 BCE, the Achaemenid army was not Persian and the Saka probably participated in the invasion of northwest India. The Achaemenid army was composed of a number of ethnic groups who were part of the Achaemenid Empire . The army included Bactrians, Saka, Parthians , and Sogdians . Herodotus listed

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1562-620: The Vikrami calendar is a national Hindu calendar historically used in the Indian subcontinent and still also used in several Indian states and Nepal . It is a solar calendar , using twelve to thirteen lunar months each solar sidereal years . The year count of the Vikram Samvat calendar is usually 57 years ahead of the Gregorian calendar , except during January to April, when it is ahead by 56 years. The Vikram Samvat calendar (also called Bikram Sambat in Nepali) should not be confused with

1633-922: The Wusun and the Xiongnu . They were forced to move south, again displacing the Scythians (who migrated south towards Bactria and present-day Afghanistan and south-west towards Parthia . A tribe known to ancient Greek scholars as the Sacaraucae (probably from the Old Persian Sakaravaka , "nomadic Saka") and an allied people, the Massagetae , came into conflict with the Parthian Empire in Parthia between 138 and 124 BCE. The Sacaraucae-Massagetae alliance won several battles and killed

1704-901: The Xinjiang stage is the Saka (Ch. Sai). Saka is more a generic term than a name for a specific state or ethnic group; Saka tribes were part of a cultural continuum of early nomads across Siberia and the Central Eurasian steppe lands from Xinjiang to the Black Sea. Like the Scythians whom Herodotus describes in book four of his History ( Saka is an Iranian word equivalent to the Greek Scythes , and many scholars refer to them together as Saka-Scythian), Sakas were Iranian-speaking horse nomads who deployed chariots in battle, sacrificed horses, and buried their dead in barrows or mound tombs called kurgans . The Saka of western India spoke

1775-715: The pointed hat typical of the Scythians . Kushan men seem to wear thick, rigid tunics, and are generally represented more simplistically. Indo-Scythian soldiers in military attire are sometimes represented in Buddhist friezes in Gandharan art, particularly in the Buner reliefs . They are depicted in loose tunics with trousers, with heavy, straight swords. They wear pointed hoods or the Scythian cap; this distinguishes them from

1846-617: The BS calendar. The names of months in the Vikram Samvat in Sanskrit and Nepali, with their roughly corresponding Gregorian months, respectively are: Indo-Scythians The Indo-Scythians (also called Indo-Sakas ) were a group of nomadic people of Iranic Scythian origin who migrated from Central Asia southward into the northwestern Indian subcontinent : the present-day South Asian regions of Afghanistan , Pakistan , Eastern Iran and northern India . The migrations persisted from

1917-649: The Buddha or the Mahavira. According to popular tradition, King Vikramaditya of Ujjain established the Vikrama Samvat era after defeating the Śakas . Kalakacharya Kathanaka ( An account of the monk Kalakacharya ), by the Jain sage Mahesarasuri, gives the following account: Gandharvasena, the then-powerful king of Ujjain, abducted a nun called Sarasvati, who was the sister of the monk. The enraged monk sought

1988-581: The Erythraean Sea describes the Scythian territories: Beyond this region ( Gedrosia ), the continent making a wide curve from the east across the depths of the bays, there follows the coast district of Scythia, which lies above toward the north; the whole marshy; from which flows down the river Sinthus , the greatest of all the rivers that flow into the Erythraean Sea, bringing down an enormous volume of water (...) This river has seven mouths, very shallow and marshy, so that they are not navigable, except

2059-565: The Hindus and the invading hordes of mleccha barbarians from the northwest beginning in the second century BCE, and fixed the date of the Ramayana around (or after) the 2nd century CE. The Mahabharata also alludes to the invasion of mixed hordes from the northwest, with prophetic verses that "...the Mlechha (barbaric) kings of the Shakas, Yavanas, Kambojas , Bahlikas  ... shall rule

2130-470: The Indian subcontinent and Rome and Parthia in the west. 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). The ancestors of the Indo-Scythians are thought to have been Saka ( Scythian ) tribes. One group of Indo-European speakers that makes an early appearance on

2201-499: The Indo-Greek practice (since Menander I ) of depicting gods forming the vitarka mudra with their right hand (like Zeus on the coins of Maues or Azes II ), the Buddhist lion on the coins of those two kings, or the triratana symbol on the coins of Zeionises . Other than coins, few works of art are known to indisputably represent Indo-Scythians. Several Gandharan sculptures show foreigners in soft tunics, sometimes wearing

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2272-514: The Indo-Parthians, who wore a simple fillet over their bushy hair, and which is worn by Indo-Scythian rulers on their coins. With their right hand, some form the karana mudra to ward off evil spirits. In Gandhara, such friezes were used to decorate the pedestals of Buddhist stupas . They are contemporary with other friezes representing people in Greek attire, hinting at an intermixing of Indo-Scythians and Indo-Greeks. In another relief,

2343-646: The Indo-Scythians. Following military pressure from the Yuezhi (predecessors of the Kushana), some Indo-Scythians moved from Bactria to Lake Helmond (or Hāmūn) and settled in or near Drangiana ( Sigal ). The region came to be known as "Sakistana of the Skythian ;Sakai  [ sic ]" towards the end of the first century BCE. The presence of the Saka in Sakastan in the first century BCE

2414-673: The Narwar area. Chahadadeva is mentioned as Chahar-i-Ajari in the writings of the Delhi Sultanate writer Minhaj al-Siraj Juzjani . The Delhi Sultan Iltutmish had appointed Nusrat al-Din Taisi (Tayasi) as the governor of Gwalior region. In 1235 CE, Nusrat al-Din led an expedition against the neighbouring Chandela kingdom. While he was returning to Gwalior, Chahadadeva ambushed his army. According to Minhaj-i-Siraj, Taisi's army managed to defend itself with considerable difficulty. In 1251,

2485-577: The Parthian kings Phraates II and Artabanus I . The Yuezhi tribes migrated east into Bactria after their defeat, from which they conquered northern India to establish the Kushan Empire . The Saka settled in Drangiana , a region of southern Afghanistan, western Pakistan and southern Iran which was then named Sakastan or Sistan . The mixed Scythian hordes who migrated to Drangiana and

2556-675: The Sai country (Central Asia) to Chipin. The Scythian groups who invaded India and established kingdoms included, in addition to the Saka, allied tribes such as the Medii , Xanthii , and Massagetae . These peoples were absorbed into mainstream Indian society. The Shakas were from the trans-Hemodos region—the Shakadvipa of the Puranas or the Scythia of classical writings. At the beginning of

2627-725: The Sai-Wang as the Śaka Murunda of Indian literature; murunda is synonymous with wang (king, master or lord). Bagchi interprets Wang as the king of the Scythians, but distinguishes the Sai Sakas from the Murunda Sakas. The Sai Scythians may have been Kamboja Scythians; the Sai-Wang were part of the Parama Kamboja kingdom of Transoxiana , and returned after being evicted from their ancestral land. Maues might have belonged to this group of Scythians who migrated from

2698-409: The Sultanate general Balban defeated Chahadadeva during the reign of Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud , but he could not capture Narwar. Chahadadeva was succeeded by Asalladeva. The next ruler Gopaladeva faced an invasion from the Chandela king Viravarman in 1281–82 CE (1338 VS). The Bangla and Narwar inscriptions of the Yajvapalas claim that Gopala defeated Viravarman. According to the Bangla inscription,

2769-414: The Vikram Samvat and Gregorian calendars. In 2003, the India-based Sikh Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee controversially adopted the Nanakshahi calendar . Like the Hebrew and Chinese calendars, the Vikram Samvat is lunisolar . In common years, the year is 354 days long, while a leap month ( adhik maas ) is added in accordance to the Metonic cycle roughly once every three years (or 7 times in

2840-567: The city of Palacenti and the city of Sigal ; in that place is the royal residence of the Sacae; and nearby is the city of Alexandria ( Alexandria Arachosia ), and six villages. From petroglyphs left by Saka soldiers at river crossings in Chilas and on the Sacred Rock of Hunza in Pakistan, Ahmad Hassan Dani and Karl Jettmar  [ de ] have established the route across the Karakoram mountains used by Maues (the first Indo-Scythian king) to capture Taxila from Indo-Greek King Apollodotus II . The first-century CE Periplus of

2911-453: The early Saka layer (layer number four, corresponding to the period of Azes I , in which a number of his coins were found). Several of them are toilet trays roughly imitative of finer Hellenistic examples found in earlier layers. Azes is connected to the Bimaran casket , one of the earliest representations of the Buddha. The reliquary was used for the dedication of a stupa in Bamiran, near Jalalabad in Afghanistan , and placed inside

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2982-471: The earth un-righteously in Kali Yuga  ..." A portion of Central Asian Scythians under Sai-Wang reportedly moved south, crossed the Pamir Mountains and entered Chipin (or Kipin) after crossing the Xuandu (懸度, Hanging Pass) above the valley of Kanda in Swat . Chipin has been identified by Pelliot, Bagchi, Raychaudhury and others as Kashmir , but other scholars identify it as Kafiristan . Sai-Wang established his kingdom in Kipin. Konow interprets

3053-484: The east, the Indian king Vikrama retook Ujjain from the Indo-Scythians and celebrated his victory by establishing the Vikrama era in 58 BCE. Indo-Greek kings again ruled and prospered after Maues, as indicated by the profusion of coins from Kings Apollodotus II and Hippostratos . In 55 BCE, under Azes I , the Indo-Scythians took control of northwestern India with their victory over Hippostratos. Excavations organized by John Marshall found several stone sculptures in

3124-463: The era to Vikramaditya is Subhashita-Ratna-Sandoha (993-994) by the Jain author Amitagati. A number of authors believe that the Vikram Samvat was not started by Vikramaditya, who might be a legendary king or a title adopted by a later king who renamed the era after himself. V. A. Smith and D. R. Bhandarkar believed that Chandragupta II adopted the title of Vikramaditya, and changed the era's name to "Vikrama Samvat". According to Rudolf Hoernlé ,

3195-423: The ethnicities of the Achaemenid army, which included Ionians (Greeks) and Ethiopians . These groups were probably included in the Achaemenid army which invaded India. Some scholars (including Michael Witzel ) and Christopher I. Beckwith suggested that the Shakya  – the clan of Gautama Buddha  – were originally Scythians from Central Asia, and the Indian ethnonym Śākya has

3266-407: The first century CE, Isidore of Charax notes their presence in Sistan. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (c. 70–80 CE) documents a Scythian district in the lower Indus Valley, with Minnagra its capital. Ptolemy (c. 140 CE) also documents an Indo-Scythia in south-western India which consisted of the Patalene and Surastrene (Saurashtra) territories. The second-century BCE Scythian invasion of India

3337-423: The first century CE, describes in Kharoshthi script the gift of a stupa with a relic of the Buddha by Nadasi Kasa (Rajuvula's queen). The capital also mentions the genealogy of several Indo-Scythian Mathura satraps. Rajuvula apparently eliminated Strato II (the last Indo-Greek king) c.  10 CE and took Sagala , his capital city. Coinage of the period, such as that of Rajuvula, tends to be crude. It

3408-407: The first day of the month of Baisakh , which usually falls around 13–15 April in the Gregorian calendar and ends with the last day of the month Chaitra . The first day of the new year is a public holiday in Nepal. Bisket Jatra , an annual carnival in Bhaktapur , is also celebrated on Baishakh 1. In 2007, Nepal Sambat was also recognised as a national calendar alongside Bikram Sambat. In India,

3479-405: The first millennium; Kathiawar and Gujarat were under Western Satrap rule until the fifth century. Rudradaman I 's exploits are inscribed in the Junagadh rock inscription . During his campaigns, Rudradaman conqured the Yaudheyas and defeated the Satavahana Empire . The Western Satraps were conquered by the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II (also known as Vikramaditya). Indo-Scythian coinage

3550-442: The help of Greek coin-makers. Indo-Scythian coins continue Indo-Greek tradition by using the Greek alphabet on the obverse and Kharoshthi script on the reverse. A portrait of the king is absent, with depictions of the king on a horse (sometimes on a camel) or sitting cross-legged on a cushion instead. The reverse of their coins typically show Greek gods. Buddhist symbolism is present in Indo-Scythian coinage. The Indo-Scythians adopted

3621-477: The help of the Śaka ruler King Sahi in Sistan . Despite heavy odds but aided by miracles, the Śaka king defeated Gandharvasena and made him a captive. Sarasvati was repatriated, although Gandharvasena himself was forgiven. The defeated king retired to the forest, where he was killed by a tiger. His son, Vikramaditya, being brought up in the forest, had to rule from Pratishthana (modern Paithan in Maharashtra ). Later on, Vikramaditya invaded Ujjain and drove away from

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3692-407: The king responsible for this change was Yashodharman . Hoernlé believed that he conquered Kashmir and is the "Harsha Vikramaditya" mentioned in Kalhana 's Rajatarangini . Some earlier scholars believed that the Vikram Samvat corresponded to the Azes era of the Indo-Scythian (Śaka) king King Azes . This was disputed by Robert Bracey after the discovery of an inscription of Vijayamitra , which

3763-496: The middle of the second century BCE to the fourth century CE. The first Saka king in India was Maues/Moga (first century BCE) who established Saka power in Gandhara , the Indus Valley , and other regions. The Indo-Scythians extended their supremacy over the north-western subcontinent, conquering the Indo-Greeks and other local peoples. They were apparently subjugated by the Kushan Empire 's Kujula Kadphises or Kanishka . The Saka continued to govern as satrapies , forming

3834-404: The northern Indian subcontinent by Scythian tribes from Central Asia, often referred to as the Indo-Scythian invasion, played a significant role in the history of the subcontinent and nearby regions. The Indo-Scythian war was triggered by the nomadic flight of Central Asians from conflict with tribes such as the Xiongnu in the second century CE, which had lasting effects on Bactria , Kabul and

3905-428: The northern system ( purnimaanta ). The Shukla Paksha, when most festivals occur, coincides in both systems. The lunisolar Vikram Samvat calendar is 56.7 years ahead of the solar Gregorian calendar ; the year 2081 BS begins mid-April 2024 CE, and ends mid-April 2025 CE. The Rana dynasty of Nepal made the Bikram Sambat the official Hindu calendar in 1901 CE, which began as 1958 BS . The new year in Nepal begins with

3976-437: The one in the middle; at which by the shore, is the market-town, Barbaricum . Before it there lies a small island, and inland behind it is the metropolis of Scythia, Minnagara ; it is subject to Parthian princes who are constantly driving each other out ... The Indo-Scythians established a kingdom in the northwest near Taxila , with two satraps : one at Mathura in the east, and the other at Surastrene ( Gujarat ) in

4047-413: The population moved west to the Ili River region. They displaced the Saka, who migrated south into Ferghana and Sogdiana . According to the Chinese historical chronicles (who call the Saka "Sai" 塞): "[The Yuezhi] attacked the king of the Sai, who moved a considerable distance to the south and the Yuezhi then occupied his lands." Sometime after 155 BCE, the Yuezhi were again defeated by an alliance of

4118-409: The preceding Mauryan layers or the succeeding Kushan layers. The palettes often depict people in Greek dress in mythological scenes; a few have Parthian dress (headbands over bushy hair, crossed-over jacket on a bare chest, jewelry, belt, baggy trousers), and fewer have Indo-Scythian dress (Phrygian hat, tunic and straight trousers). A palette found in Sirkap , now in the New Delhi Museum , shows

4189-496: The reformulated Saka calendar is officially used (except for computing dates of the traditional festivals). In the Hindi version of the preamble of the constitution of India , the date of its adoption (26 November 1949) is presented in Vikram Samvat as Margsheersh Shukla Saptami Samvat 2006. A call has been made for the Vikram Samvat to replace the Saka calendar as India's official calendar. The Vikram Samvat uses lunar months and solar sidereal years . Because 12 months do not match

4260-442: The same origin as "Scythian". This would explain the strong Saka support of Buddhism in India. The Persians, the Saka and the Greeks may have participated in the later campaigns of Chandragupta Maurya to gain the throne of Magadha c.  320 BCE. The Mudrarakshasa says that after Alexander the Great 's death, Chandragupta Maurya used a Shaka - Yavana - Kamboja - Parasika - Bahlika alliance in his campaign to take

4331-409: The same spot, again suggesting a mingling of the populations. Reliefs at the same location show Indo-Scythians , with characteristic tunics and pointed hoods, with reliefs of standing Buddhas. The Indo-Scythians were named "Shaka" in India, a variation of the name "Saka" used by the Persians for Scythians. Shakas are mentioned in the Purāṇas , the Manusmṛti , the Rāmāyaṇa , the Mahābhārata ,

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4402-484: The same type of soldiers are playing musical instruments and dancing; in Gandharan art, Indo-Scythians are typically depicted as reveling devotees. A number of stone palettes in Gandhara are considered representative of Indo-Scythian art. The palettes, which combine Greek and Iranian influences, often have a simple, archaic style. Stone palettes have only been found in archaeological layers corresponding to Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian and Indo-Parthian rule, and are unknown in

4473-416: The southwest. The presence of the Scythians in modern Pakistan and north-western India during the first century BCE was contemporaneous with the Indo-Greek kingdoms there, and they apparently initially recognized the power of the local Greek rulers. Maues first conquered Gandhara and Taxila in present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan c.  80 BCE, but his kingdom disintegrated after his death. In

4544-426: The stupa with several coins of Azes. This may have happened during the reign of Azes (60–20 BCE), or slightly later. The Indo-Scythians were connected with Buddhism. In northern India, the Indo-Scythians conquered the Mathura region c.  60 BCE. Some of their satraps were Hagamasha and Hagana, who were followed by Rajuvula . The Mathura lion capital , an Indo-Scythian sandstone capital which dates to

4615-427: The surrounding regions later spread into north and south-west India via the lower Indus valley. They spread into Sovira , Gujarat, Rajasthan and north India, including kingdoms on the Indian mainland. The Arsacid emperor Mithridates II (c. 123–88/87 BCE) pursued an aggressive military policy in Central Asia and added a number of provinces to the Parthian Empire . This included western Bactria, which he seized from

4686-417: The third year of Kanishka (c. 130 CE), when they pledged allegiance to the Kushans. The Yuga Purana describes an invasion of Pataliputra by the Scythians during the first century BCE, after seven kings ruled in succession in Saketa following the retreat of the Yavanas. According to the Yuga Purana , the Saka king killed one-fourth of the population before he was slain by the Kalinga king Shata and

4757-423: The throne in Magadha and found the Maurya Empire . The Saka were the Scythians; the Yavanas were the Greeks , and the Parasikas were the Persians . During the second century BCE, a nomadic movement began among the Central Asian tribes. Recorded in the annals of the Han dynasty and other Chinese records, the movement began after the Yuezhi tribe was defeated by the Xiongnu and fled west; this created

4828-410: The Śakas. To commemorate this event, he started a new era called the "Vikrama era". The Ujjain calendar started around 58–56 BCE, and the subsequent Shaka-era calendar was started in 78 CE at Pratishthana. The association of the era beginning in 57 BCE with Vikramaditya is not found in any source before the 9th century CE; earlier sources call the era "Kṛṭa" (343 and 371 CE), "Kritaa" (404), "the era of

4899-419: Was believed to be based on the commemoration of King Vikramaditya expelling the Sakas from Ujjain . However, later epigraphical evidence and scholarship suggest that this theory has no historical basis. During the 9th century, epigraphical artwork began using Vikram Samvat (suggesting that the Hindu calendar era in use became popular as Vikram Samvat); Buddhist and Jain epigraphy continued to use an era based on

4970-467: Was gradually replaced with that of the Kushans , one of the five Yuezhi tribes who lived in Bactria for over a century and expanded into India during the late first century CE. The Kushans regained northwestern India c.  75 CE and the Mathura region c.  100 , where they prospered for several centuries. Indo-Scythians continued to hold the Sistan region until the reign of Bahram II (276–293 CE), and held several areas of India well into

5041-428: Was the brother of King Maues . The Indo-Scythian satraps of Mathura are sometimes called the Northern Satraps to distinguish them from the Western Satraps ruling in Gujarat and Malwa . After Rajuvula, several successors are known to have ruled as vassals of the Kushans . They include the "Great Satrap" Kharapallana and the satrap Vanaspara , who are known from an inscription discovered in Sarnath and dated to

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