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Indo-Scythian Kingdom | HearLore
Indo-Scythian Kingdom
The first Indo-Scythian king to establish a lasting foothold in the Indian subcontinent was Maues, also known as Moga, who seized power in Gandhara and the Indus Valley during the first century BCE. His arrival was not a solitary event but the culmination of a massive, centuries-long displacement of Central Asian tribes triggered by the rise of the Xiongnu confederation. In the second century BCE, the Xiongnu defeated the Yuezhi tribe, forcing them to flee westward and creating a domino effect that pushed the Saka people south from the steppes of Siberia and Xinjiang. These nomadic horsemen, who spoke an Iranian language and buried their dead in kurgan mounds, had previously been part of the Achaemenid army that invaded India, yet their return as conquerors marked a violent shift in the region's history. The Saka were not merely invaders; they were a cultural continuum of horse nomads who had deployed chariots in battle and sacrificed horses to their gods, eventually clashing with the Parthian Empire and killing kings Phraates II and Artabanus I between 138 and 124 BCE before turning their attention to the wealthy cities of the Indus Valley.
The Domino Of Displacement
The migration of the Saka was set in motion by a brutal conflict between the Yuezhi and the Xiongnu, which began around 155 BCE when Modu Shanyu of the Xiongnu tribe attacked the Yuezhi and evicted them from their homeland between the Qilian Shan and Dunhuang. The Yuezhi, possibly related to the Tocharians, moved west to the Ili River region, displacing the Saka who migrated south into Ferghana and Sogdiana. This chain reaction continued as the Yuezhi were later defeated by an alliance of the Wusun and the Xiongnu, forcing them to move south again and displacing the Scythians who migrated towards Bactria and present-day Afghanistan. The Sacaraucae, an allied people known to ancient Greek scholars, and the Massagetae came into conflict with the Parthian Empire, winning several battles and killing two Parthian kings. The Yuezhi eventually migrated east into Bactria, from which they conquered northern India to establish the Kushan Empire, while the displaced Saka settled in regions corresponding to Drangiana, later called Sakastan or Sistan, a region of south-western Afghanistan, south-eastern Iran, and western Pakistan.
The First Conquerors
Maues, the first Indo-Scythian king, conquered Gandhara and Taxila in present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan, establishing a kingdom that would eventually disintegrate after his death. His route across the Karakoram mountains was traced by petroglyphs left by Saka soldiers at river crossings in Chilas and on the Sacred Rock of Hunza. Following Maues, the Indo-Scythians took control of northwestern India in 55 BCE under Azes I, defeating the Indo-Greek king Hippostratos. The kingdom was divided into two satrapies, one at Mathura in the east and the other at Surastrene in Gujarat in the southwest. In the east, the Indian king Vikrama retook Ujjain from the Indo-Scythians and celebrated his victory by establishing the Vikrama era in 58 BCE. The Indo-Scythians initially recognized the power of local Greek rulers, but their dominance grew as they conquered the Mathura region, where satraps like Hagamasha, Hagana, and Rajuvula ruled. Rajuvula apparently eliminated Strato II, the last Indo-Greek king, and took Sagala, his capital city, marking the end of Indo-Greek rule in the region.
Who was the first Indo-Scythian king to establish a lasting foothold in the Indian subcontinent?
Maues, also known as Moga, was the first Indo-Scythian king to establish a lasting foothold in the Indian subcontinent. He seized power in Gandhara and the Indus Valley during the first century BCE.
When did the Indo-Scythian kingdom in the northwestern subcontinent end?
The Indo-Scythian kingdom in the northwestern subcontinent ended when the last Western Satrap, Rudrasimha III, was defeated by the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II in 395 CE. This marked the conclusion of their rule after persisting from the middle of the second century BCE to the fourth century CE.
What caused the migration of the Saka people into the Indian subcontinent?
The migration of the Saka people was triggered by the rise of the Xiongnu confederation which defeated the Yuezhi tribe in the second century BCE. This conflict forced the Yuezhi to flee westward and created a domino effect that pushed the Saka people south from the steppes of Siberia and Xinjiang.
How did the Indo-Scythians influence the development of Buddhism in ancient India?
The Indo-Scythians supported Buddhism and played an active role in the dissemination of Buddhism beyond India. They adopted Indo-Greek practices of depicting gods forming the vitarka mudra and dedicated Buddhist reliquaries, such as the Bimaran casket and the Mathura lion capital.
Where did the displaced Saka people settle after being pushed out of Central Asia?
The displaced Saka settled in regions corresponding to Drangiana, later called Sakastan or Sistan, which is a region of south-western Afghanistan, south-eastern Iran, and western Pakistan. They also established kingdoms in Gandhara and the Indus Valley.
Indo-Scythian coinage is generally of high quality, blending Greek and Iranian influences, with portraits of the king on a horse or sitting cross-legged on a cushion instead of a standard portrait. The reverse of their coins typically show Greek gods, and Buddhist symbolism is present, with the Indo-Scythians adopting the Indo-Greek practice of depicting gods forming the vitarka mudra with their right hand. The Bimaran casket, one of the earliest representations of the Buddha, was found in a stupa with coins of Azes I inside, suggesting a connection between the Indo-Scythians and Buddhism. The Mathura lion capital, an Indo-Scythian sandstone capital from the first century CE, describes in Kharoshthi script the gift of a stupa with a relic of the Buddha by Nadasi Kasa, the queen of Rajuvula. The capital also mentions the genealogy of several Indo-Scythian Mathura satraps, including Kharahostes, the son of Arta, and Queen Ayasia, the chief queen of the Indo-Scythian ruler of Mathura. The coins of Rajuvula, however, deteriorate near the disintegration of Indo-Scythian rule, with silver content becoming lower and bronze content higher, an alloying technique suggesting a lack of wealth.
The Art Of The Steppe
Few works of art indisputably represent Indo-Scythians, but Gandharan sculptures show foreigners in soft tunics, sometimes wearing the pointed hat typical of the Scythians. Indo-Scythian soldiers in military attire are represented in Buddhist friezes in Gandharan art, particularly in the Buner reliefs, where they are depicted in loose tunics with trousers, with heavy, straight swords. They wear pointed hoods or the Scythian cap, which distinguishes them from the Indo-Parthians, who wore a simple fillet over their bushy hair. In Gandhara, such friezes were used to decorate the pedestals of Buddhist stupas, and they are contemporary with other friezes representing people in Greek attire, hinting at an intermixing of Indo-Scythians and Indo-Greeks. Stone palettes in Gandhara are considered representative of Indo-Scythian art, combining Greek and Iranian influences with a simple, archaic style. These palettes have only been found in archaeological layers corresponding to Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian, and Indo-Parthian rule, and are unknown in the preceding Mauryan layers or the succeeding Kushan layers. A palette found in Sirkap, now in the New Delhi Museum, shows a winged Indo-Scythian horseman riding a winged deer and being attacked by a lion.
The Buddhist Patron
The Indo-Scythians seem to have supported Buddhism, with many of their practices continuing those of the Indo-Greeks, and 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, including Patika Kusulaka, who related his donation of a relic of the Buddha Shakyamuni to a Buddhist monastery in the Taxila copper plate. Kharahostes is mentioned on the Buddhist Mathura lion capital and on a reliquary, and his coins were also found in the Bimaran casket, a gold reliquary with an early image of the Buddha now in the British Museum. Vijayamitra, who ruled from 12 BCE to 15 CE, dedicated a Buddhist reliquary, and some of his coins bear the Buddhist triratna symbol. Indravarman, while a prince in 5-6 CE, dedicated the Bajaur casket now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Zeionises and Aspavarma used the triratna on their coins, and Rajuvula erected the Mathura lion capital, which incorporates Buddhist symbols and relates the donations by his wife of relics to a stupa. Excavations at the Butkara Stupa in Swat have yielded Buddhist sculptures thought to belong to the Indo-Scythian period, including an Indo-Corinthian capital of a Buddhist devotee in foliage which had a reliquary and coins of Azes buried at its base.
The Final Satraps
Indo-Scythian rule in northwestern India ended with the rise of the Indo-Parthian ruler Gondophares late in the first century BCE, but the Western Satraps continued to hold the Sistan region until the reign of Bahram II, and held several areas of India well into the first millennium. Kathiawar and Gujarat were under Western Satrap rule until the fifth century, with Rudradaman I's exploits inscribed in the Junagadh rock inscription. During his campaigns, Rudradaman conquered the Yaudheyas and defeated the Satavahana Empire, but 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. The Indo-Scythian kingdom in the northwestern subcontinent ended when the last Western Satrap, Rudrasimha III, was defeated by the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II in 395 CE. 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, and the Saka king killed one-fourth of the population before he was slain by the Kalinga king Shata and a group of Sabalas.
The Legacy Of The Steppe
The Indo-Scythians were named Shaka in India, a variation of the name Saka used by the Persians for Scythians, and they are mentioned in the Puranas, the Manusmri, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and other ancient texts as part of a group of other warlike tribes from the northwest. The Mahabharata alludes to the invasion of mixed hordes from the northwest, with prophetic verses that the Mlechha kings of the Shakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Bahlikas shall rule the earth unrighteously in Kali Yuga. The Scythian groups who invaded India and established kingdoms included, in addition to the Saka, allied tribes such as the Medii, Xanthii, and Massagetae, who were absorbed into mainstream Indian society. Indian linguist Weer Rajendra Rishi has identified linguistic affinities between Indian and Central Asian languages, which also suggests a Saka influence in northern India. The Indo-Scythians played a significant role in the history of the subcontinent and nearby regions, with their migrations persisting from the middle of the second century BCE to the fourth century CE, leaving a lasting impact on the culture, religion, and politics of ancient India.