Editing Saka (section)

== History ==
=== Origins ===
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| header            = [[Arzhan kurgan]]s (9–7th century BC)
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| image3            = 6. Pectorale burial mound Arzhan (VIII. - VII. B. C.) Tuva.JPG
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| image4            = 8. Akinak (dagger) bural mound Arzhan (VIII.-VII. B.C.) Tuva.JPG
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| footer            = [[Arzhan culture|Arzhan]] kurgan and early Saka artifacts, dated to 8–7th century BC
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The Scythian/Saka cultures emerged on the [[Eurasian Steppe]] at the dawn of the [[Iron Age]] in the early 1st&nbsp;millennium&nbsp;BC. Their origins has long been a source of debate among archaeologists.{{sfn|Järve|2019}} The [[Pontic–Caspian steppe]] was initially thought to have been their place of origin, until the [[Soviet]] archaeologist [[:ru:Тереножкин, Алексей Иванович|Aleksey Terenozhkin]] suggested a [[Central Asia]]n origin.{{sfn|Unterländer|Palstra|Lazaridis|Pilipenko|2017}}<ref name="Krzewińska 2018">{{harvnb|Krzewińska|2018}}</ref>

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 the Altai kurgan [[Arzhan culture|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.<ref name="ADD2">{{harvnb |Unterländer |Palstra |Lazaridis |Pilipenko |2017}} "The origin of the widespread Scythian culture has long been debated in Eurasian archaeology. The northern Black Sea steppe was originally considered the homeland and centre of the Scythians until Terenozhkin formulated the hypothesis of a Central Asian origin. On the other hand, evidence supporting an east Eurasian origin includes the kurgan Arzhan 1 in Tuva, which is considered the earliest Scythian kurgan. Dating of additional burial sites situated in east and west Eurasia confirmed eastern kurgans as older than their western counterparts. Additionally, elements of the characteristic 'Animal Style' dated to the tenth century BCE were found in the region of the Yenisei river and modern-day China, supporting the early presence of Scythian culture in the East."</ref> 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 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Järve |first1=Mari |last2=Saag |first2=Lehti |last3=Scheib |first3=Christiana Lyn |last4=Pathak |first4=Ajai K. |last5=Montinaro |first5=Francesco |last6=Pagani |first6=Luca |last7=Flores |first7=Rodrigo |last8=Guellil |first8=Meriam |last9=Saag |first9=Lauri |last10=Tambets |first10=Kristiina |last11=Kushniarevich |first11=Alena |last12=Solnik |first12=Anu |last13=Varul |first13=Liivi |last14=Zadnikov |first14=Stanislav |last15=Petrauskas |first15=Oleg |date=22 July 2019 |title=Shifts in the Genetic Landscape of the Western Eurasian Steppe Associated with the Beginning and End of the Scythian Dominance |journal=Current Biology |language=en |volume=29 |issue=14 |pages=2430–2441.e10 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.019 |pmid=31303491 |s2cid=195887262 |issn=0960-9822 |quote=Recently, studies of ancient Scythian genomes have affirmed the confederate nature of the Scythian tribes, showing them to be genetically distinct from one another but finding little or no support for large-scale east-to-west movements, instead generally suggesting separate local origins of various Scythian groups [1, 2, 3].|doi-access=free |bibcode=2019CBio...29E2430J }}</ref><ref name="Järve">{{harvnb|Järve|2019}}. "The Early Iron Age nomadic Scythians have been described as a confederation of tribes of different origins, based on ancient DNA evidence [1, 2, 3]. All samples of this study also possessed at least one additional eastern component, one of which was nearly at 100% in modern Nganasans (orange) and the other in modern Han Chinese (yellow; Figure S2). The eastern components were present in variable proportions in the samples of this study."</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Savelyev |first1=Alexander |last2=Jeong |first2=Choongwon |date=7 May 2020 |title=Early nomads of the Eastern Steppe and their tentative connections in the West |journal=Evolutionary Human Sciences |volume=2 |pages=e20 |doi=10.1017/ehs.2020.18 |issn=2513-843X |pmc=7612788 |pmid=35663512 |quote=It is still likely that the Xiongnu included an Eastern Iranian (Saka) component or were at least strongly influenced by the Iranians. It is also arguable that the Xiongnu learned the steppe nomadic model of economy from their Eastern Iranian neighbours (Beckwith, 2009: 72–73, 404).}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

The Sakas spoke a language belonging to the [[Iranian languages|Iranian branch]] of the [[Indo-European languages]]. The [[Pazyryk burials]] of the [[Pazyryk culture]] in the [[Ukok Plateau]] in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC are thought to be of Saka chieftains.<ref name="LH_443">{{harvnb|de Laet|Herrmann|1996|p=443}} "The rich kurgan burials in Pazyryk, Siberia probably were those of Saka chieftains"</ref><ref name="K_94">{{harvnb|Kuzmina|2008|p=94}} "Analysis of the clothing, which has analogies in the complex of Saka clothes, particularly in Pazyryk, led Wang Binghua (1987, 42) to the conclusion that they are related to the Saka Culture."</ref><ref name="K_103">{{harvnb|Kuzmina|2007|p=103}} "The dress of Iranian-speaking Saka and Scythians is easily reconstructed on the basis of... numerous archaeological discoveries from the Ukraine to the Altai, particularly at Issyk in Kazakhstan... at Pazyryk... and Ak-Alakha"</ref> These burials show striking similarities with the earlier [[Tarim mummies]] at [[Lop Nur#Qäwrighul|Gumugou]].<ref name="K_94" /> The [[Issyk kurgan]] of south-eastern [[Kazakhstan]],<ref name="K_103" /> and the [[Ordos culture]] of the [[Ordos Plateau]] has also been connected with the Saka.{{sfn|Lebedynsky|2007|p=125}} It has been suggested that the ruling elite of the [[Xiongnu]] was of Saka origin, or at least significantly influenced by their Eastern Iranian neighbours.<ref>{{harvnb|Harmatta|1996|p=488}}: "Their royal tribes and kings (shan-yii) bore Iranian names and all the Hsiung-nu words noted by the Chinese can be explained from an Iranian language of Saka type. It is therefore clear that the majority of Hsiung-nu tribes spoke an Eastern Iranian language."</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Savelyev |first1=Alexander |last2=Jeong |first2=Choongwon |date=7 May 2020|title=Early nomads of the Eastern Steppe and their tentative connections in the West |journal=Evolutionary Human Sciences |language=en |volume=2 |pages=e20 |doi=10.1017/ehs.2020.18 |issn=2513-843X |pmc=7612788 |pmid=35663512 |quote=It is still likely that the Xiongnu included an Eastern Iranian (Saka) component or were at least strongly influenced by the Iranians. It is also arguable that the Xiongnu learned the steppe nomadic model of economy from their Eastern Iranian neighbours (Beckwith, 2009: 72–73, 404).}}</ref> Some scholars contend that in the 8th century BC, a Saka raid from the [[Altai Mountains|Altai]] may be "connected" with a raid on [[Zhou China]].<ref name="EBThe_Steppe">{{cite encyclopedia|first=William H.|last=McNeill|title=The Steppe – Scythian successes |url=http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/565551/the-Steppe/10302/Scythian-successes |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]]|access-date=31 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130715064441/http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/565551/the-Steppe/10302/Scythian-successes|archive-date=15 July 2013}}<br />{{cite encyclopedia|title=The Steppe – Military and political developments among the steppe peoples to 100 bc|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]]|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/the-Steppe/Military-and-political-developments-among-the-steppe-peoples-to-100-bc#ref10302|access-date=23 September 2019}}</ref>

=== Early history ===
[[File:Saka tribute-bearers, Apadana staircase 12.jpg|thumb|upright=1.75|[[Sakā Tigraxaudā]] tribute bearers to the [[Achaemenid Empire]], [[Apadana of Persepolis|Apadana]], Staircase 12.<ref>According to Donald N. Wilber's book ''Persepolis, The Archaeology of Parsa, Seat of the Persian Kings'', the group depicted in this panel is "the Saka tigrakhauda (Pointed-hat Scythians). All are armed and wear the appropriate headgear. They are accompanied by a horse, and offer a bracelet and folded coats and trousers, apparently copies of their own costumes."</ref>]]
The Saka are attested in historical and archaeological records dating to around the 8th century BC.<ref name="mallory">{{cite web |url=http://www.penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/PDFs/52-3/mallory.pdf |title=Bronze Age Languages of the Tarim Basin |author=J. P. mallory |work=Penn Museum |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909231531/http://www.penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/PDFs/52-3/mallory.pdf |archive-date=9 September 2016 }}</ref>

The Saka tribe of the [[Massagetae]]/{{transliteration|peo|Tigraxaudā}} rose to power in the 8th to 7th centuries BC, when they migrated from the east into Central Asia,{{sfn|Schmitt|2018}} 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.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000}} The Massagetae forcing the Early Scythians to the west across the [[Volga|Araxes]] river and into the Caucasian and Pontic steppes started a significant movement of the nomadic peoples of the [[Eurasian Steppe]],{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=553}} 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,{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=553}}{{sfn|Harmatta|1996}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000}}{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=560-590}}{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=202-203}}{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985}} and invaded [[Western Asia]], where their presence had an important role in the history of the ancient civilisations of [[Mesopotamia]], [[Anatolia]], [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]], and [[History of Iran|Iran]].{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=560-590}}

During the 7th century BC itself, Saka presence started appearing in the [[Tarim Basin]] region.<ref name="mallory" />

According to the ancient Greek historian [[Diodorus Siculus]], the [[Parthia]]ns 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 the queen [[Zarinaea]]. At the end of this war, the Parthians accepted Median rule, and the Saka and the Medes made peace.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2021|p=17-18}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/zarinaia |title=ZARINAIA |last=Schmitt |first=Rüdiger |date=2000 |website=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |publisher= |access-date=8 July 2022 |quote= }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mayor |first=Adrienne |author-link=Adrienne Mayor |date=2014 |title=The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World |url= |location=[[Princeton, New Jersey|Princeton]], [[United States]] |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |pages=379–381 |isbn=978-0-691-14720-8 }}</ref>

{{multiple image
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| image1            = Behistun.Inscript.Skunkha.jpg
| caption1          = Captured Saka king [[Skunkha]], from [[Mount Behistun]], Iran, [[Achaemenid]] stone relief from the reign of [[Darius I]] (r. 522–486 BC)
| image2            = Darius I Statue Sakas.jpg|thumb
| caption2          = The Sakas as subjects of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] on the statue of [[Darius I]], circa 500 BC.
}}

According to the Greek historian [[Ctesias]], once the [[Persians|Persian]] [[Achaemenid Empire]]'s founder, [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]], had overthrown his grandfather the Median king [[Astyages]], the [[Bactria]]ns accepted him as the heir of Astyages and submitted to him, after which he founded the city of [[Cyropolis]] on the Iaxartes river as well as seven fortresses to protect the northern frontier of his empire against the Saka. Cyrus then attacked the {{transliteration|peo|Sakā haumavargā}}, initially defeated them and captured their king, [[Amorges (Saka 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 [[Cassandane|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]].{{sfn|Francfort|1988|p=171}}{{sfn|Dandamayev|1994|pages=35–64}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Gera |first=Deborah Levine |author-link= |date=2018 |title=Warrior Women: The Anonymous Tractatus De Mulieribus |url= |location=[[Leiden]], [[Netherlands]]; [[New York City]], [[United States]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |pages=199–200 |isbn=978-9-004-32988-1 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mayor |first=Adrienne |author-link=Adrienne Mayor |date=2014 |title=The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World |url= |location=[[Princeton, New Jersey|Princeton]], [[United States]] |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |pages=382–383 |isbn=978-0-691-17027-5 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kuhrt |first=Amélie |author-link=Amélie Kuhrt |date=2013 |title=The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period |url= |location=[[London]], [[United Kingdom]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |page=58 |isbn=978-1-136-01694-3 }}</ref><ref name="SchmittAmorges">{{cite web |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/amorges |title=AMORGES |last=Schmitt |first=Rüdiger |date=1989 |website=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |publisher= |access-date=8 July 2022 |quote= }}</ref>

Cyrus, accompanied by the {{transliteration|peo|Sakā haumavargā}} of his ally Amorges, later carried out a campaign against the [[Massagetae]]/{{transliteration|peo|Sakā tigraxaudā}} in 530 BC.{{sfn|Schmitt|2018}} 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 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.{{sfn|Dandamayev|1994}}{{sfn|Schmitt|2018}} After Cyrus had been mortally wounded by the Derbices/Massagetae, Amorges and his {{transliteration|peo|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.<ref name="SchmittAmorges"/>

Possibly shortly before the 520s BC, the Saka expanded into the valleys of the [[Ili (river)|Ili]] and [[Chu (river)|Chu]] in eastern Central Asia.<ref name="yu 2010 p13" /> Around 30 Saka tombs in the form of [[kurgan]]s (burial mounds) have also been found in the [[Tian Shan]] area dated to between 550 and 250 BC.<ref name="mallory" />

[[Darius I]] waged wars against the eastern Sakas during a campaign of 520 to 518 BC where, according to his [[Behistun Inscription|inscription at Behistun]], he conquered the Massagetae/{{transliteration|peo|Sakā tigraxaudā}}, captured their king [[Skunkha|Skunxa]], and replaced him with a ruler who was loyal to Achaemenid rule.{{sfn|Schmitt|2018}}<ref name="SchmittAmorges"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/darius-iii |title=DARIUS iii. Darius I the Great |last=Shahbazi|first=A. Shapur |author-link=Alireza Shapour Shahbazi |date=1989 |website=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |publisher= |access-date=12 July 2022 |quote= }}</ref> The territories of the Saka were absorbed into the Achaemenid Empire as part of [[Chorasmia (satrapy)|Chorasmia]] that included much of the territory between the [[Oxus]] and the [[Iaxartes]] rivers,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=osQ9CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA235 |title=By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean: The Birth of Eurasia |first= Barry |last=Cunliffe |page=235 |publisher= Oxford University Press |date=24 September 2015|isbn= 978-0-19-968917-0 }}</ref> and the Saka then supplied the Achaemenid army with a large number of mounted bowmen.<ref name="D_44">{{harvnb|Dandamayev|1994|pp=44–46}}</ref> According to [[Polyaenus]], Darius fought against three armies led by three kings, respectively named [[Sacesphares]], [[Homarges|Amorges]] or [[Homarges]], and [[Thamyris (Saka king)|Thamyris]], with Polyaenus's account being based on accurate Persian historical records.<ref name="SchmittAmorges"/>{{sfn|Vogelsang|1992|page=131}}<ref>{{cite book |last=De Jong |first=Albert |author-link=Albert de Jong |date=1997 |title=Traditions of the Magi: Zoroastrianism in Greek and Latin Literature |url=https://archive.org/details/TraditionsOfTheMagiZoroastrianismInGreekAndLatinLiterature |location=[[Leiden]], [[Netherlands]]; [[New York City]], [[United States]] |publisher=[[BRILL]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/TraditionsOfTheMagiZoroastrianismInGreekAndLatinLiterature/page/n307/mode/2up 297] |isbn=978-9-004-10844-8 }}</ref> After Darius's administrative reforms of the Achaemenid Empire, the {{transliteration|peo|Sakā tigraxaudā}} were included within the same tax district as the [[Medes]].{{sfn|Vogelsang|1992|page=160}}

During the period of Achaemenid rule, Central Asia was in contact with Saka populations who were themselves in contact with [[History of China#Ancient China|China]].<ref>{{harvnb|Francfort|1988|page=185}}: Besides trade and exchange within the borders of the Achaemenid empire, it seems that the part of Central Asua under Achaemenid rule was in contact with the Saka tribes who were in touch with China (see the finds of {{transliteration|en|kurgans}} II and V of Pazyryk and of Xinyuan and Alagou in Xinjiang).</ref>

After [[Alexander the Great]] conquered the Achaemenid Empire, the Saka resisted his incursions into Central Asia.<ref name="eolss" />

At least by the late 2nd century BC, the Sakas had founded states in the Tarim Basin.<ref name="Sinor_173">{{harvnb|Sinor|1990|pp=173–174}}</ref>

=== Kingdoms in the Tarim Basin ===
==== Kingdom of Khotan ====
{{Main|Kingdom of Khotan}}
[[File:Saka horserider with bow, 2nd-1st century BCE, Almaty, Kazakhstan.jpg|thumb|Saka hunter with bow, 2nd-1st century BC, [[Almaty]], [[Kazakhstan]]]]
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).<ref>Loewe, Michael. (1986). "The Former Han Dynasty," in The Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220, 103–222. Edited by Denis Twitchett and Michael Loewe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp 197–198. {{ISBN|978-0-521-24327-8}}.</ref><ref>Yü, Ying-shih. (1986). "Han Foreign Relations," in ''The Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220'', 377–462. Edited by Denis Twitchett and Michael Loewe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp 410–411. {{ISBN|978-0-521-24327-8}}.</ref>

[[File:KingGurgamoyaKhotan1stCenturyCE.jpg|thumb|left|Coin of [[Gurgamoya]], king of Khotan. Khotan, first century.<br />
''Obv:'' [[Kharosthi]] legend, "Of the great king of kings, king of Khotan, Gurgamoya.<br />
''Rev:'' Chinese legend: "Twenty-four grain copper coin". [[British Museum]]]]
Archaeological evidence and documents from Khotan and other sites in the Tarim Basin provided information on the language spoken by the Saka.{{sfn|Bailey|1983}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Windfuhr |first=Gernot |title=Iranian Languages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QtpQZ1DD6tEC&pg=PA377|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-79704-1|page=377}}</ref>
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.<ref name="emmerick 2003 p265">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ko_RafMSGLkC&pg=PA265 |author=Emmerick, R. E. |publisher=Cambridge University Press; Reissue edition |date=14 April 1983|isbn=978-0-521-20092-9|chapter =Chapter 7: Iranian Settlement East of the Pamirs|editor-first=Ehsan |editor-last=Yarshater |title=The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol III: The Seleucid, Parthian, and Sasanian Periods, Part 1 |pages= 265–266 }}</ref> Surviving documents however suggest that an Iranian language was used by the people of 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.<ref name="emmerick 2003 p265" /> This, along with the fact that the king's recorded regnal periods were given as 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.<ref name="emmerick 2003 p265" /> 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."<ref name="emmerick 2003 p265" /> Furthermore, he argued that the early form of the name of Khotan, ''hvatana'', is connected semantically with the name Saka.<ref name="emmerick 2003 p265" />

The region once again came under Chinese [[suzerainty]] with the campaigns of conquest by [[Emperor Taizong of Tang]] (r. 626–649).<ref>Xue, Zongzheng (薛宗正). (1992). History of the Turks (突厥史). Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, p. 596-598. {{ISBN|978-7-5004-0432-3}}; OCLC 28622013</ref> From the late eighth to ninth centuries, the region changed hands between the rival Tang and [[Tibetan Empire]]s.<ref>Beckwith, Christopher. (1987). The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pp 36, 146. {{ISBN|0-691-05494-0}}.</ref><ref>Wechsler, Howard J.; Twitchett, Dennis C. (1979). Denis C. Twitchett; John K. Fairbank, eds. ''The Cambridge History of China, Volume 3: Sui and T'ang China, 589–906, Part I''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 225–227. {{ISBN|978-0-521-21446-9}}.</ref> However, by the early 11th century the region fell to the Muslim Turkic peoples of the [[Kara-Khanid Khanate]], which led to both the [[Turkification]] of the region as well as its conversion from [[Buddhism]] to [[Islam]].
[[File:Khotanese animal zodiac BLI6 OR11252 1R2 1.jpg|thumb|A document from [[Khotan]] written in [[Khotanese Saka]], part of the [[Eastern Iranian languages|Eastern Iranian branch]] of the [[Indo-European languages]], listing the animals of the [[Chinese zodiac]] in the cycle of predictions for people born in that year; ink on paper, early 9th century]]

Later Khotanese-Saka-language documents, ranging from medical texts to [[Buddhist literature]], have been found in Khotan and [[Tumshuq]] (northeast of Kashgar).{{sfn|Bailey|1983}} Similar documents in the Khotanese-Saka language dating mostly to the 10th century have been found in the [[Dunhuang manuscripts]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://history.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/VH%20BAI%20paper%2009.pdf |title=The Tribute Trade with Khotan in Light of Materials Found at the Dunhuang Library Cave|first=Valerie |last=Hansen |journal=Bulletin of the Asia Institute|volume= 19|date=2005|pages= 37–46}}</ref>

Although the ancient Chinese had called Khotan ''Yutian'' (于闐), another more native Iranian name occasionally used was ''Jusadanna'' (瞿薩旦那), derived from Indo-Iranian ''Gostan'' and ''Gostana'', the names of the town and region around it, respectively.<ref name="theobald 2011 yutian">Ulrich Theobald. (16 October 2011). "[http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/citystates.html#yutian City-states Along the Silk Road]." ''ChinaKnowledge.de''. Accessed 2 September 2016.</ref>

==== Shule Kingdom ====
{{Main|Shule Kingdom}}
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]].<ref>Xavier Tremblay, "The Spread of Buddhism in Serindia: Buddhism Among Iranians, Tocharians and Turks before the 13th Century", in ''The Spread of Buddhism'', eds Ann Heirman and Stephan Peter Bumbacker, Leiden: Koninklijke Brill, 2007, p. 77.</ref> According to the ''[[Book of Han]]'', the Saka split and formed several states in the region. These Saka states may include two states to the northwest of Kashgar, [[Tumshuq]] to its northeast, and [[Tashkurgan Town|Tushkurgan]] south in the Pamirs.<ref name="DaniLitvinsky1996" /> 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 dynasty|Tang]] China,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/yarkand |title=YARKAND |last=Lurje |first=Pavel |author-link= |date=2009 |website=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |quote=The territory of Yārkand is for the first time mentioned in the Hanshu (1st century BCE), under the name Shache (Old Chinese, approximately, {{transliteration|och|*s³a(j)-ka)}}, which is probably related to the name of the Iranian Saka tribes. }}</ref><ref>Whitfield 2004, p. 47.</ref><ref name="wechsler">Wechsler, Howard J.; Twitchett, Dennis C. (1979). Denis C. Twitchett; John K. Fairbank, eds. The Cambridge History of China, Volume 3: Sui and T'ang China, 589–906, Part I. Cambridge University Press. pp. 225–228. {{ISBN|978-0-521-21446-9}}.</ref> 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 language|Sogdian]] were still used in some areas in the vicinity of Kashgar,<ref name="LeviSela2010 2">{{cite book |author1=Scott Cameron Levi|first2=Ron|last2=Sela|title=Islamic Central Asia: An Anthology of Historical Sources|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SAX5ohFkcVgC&pg=PA72 |year=2010|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-35385-6|pages=72–}}</ref> and Kanchaki is thought to belong to the Saka language group.<ref name="DaniLitvinsky1996">{{cite book|author1=Ahmad Hasan Dani|author2=B. A. Litvinsky|author3=Unesco|title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=883OZBe2sMYC&pg=PA283|year=1996 |publisher=UNESCO|isbn=978-92-3-103211-0|pages=283–}}</ref> It is believed that the Tarim Basin was linguistically Turkified before the 11th century ended.<ref name="Akiner2013">{{cite book|author=Akiner|title=Cultural Change & Continuity In|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udjWAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA71|date=28 October 2013 |publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-15034-0|pages=71–}}</ref>

=== Southern migrations ===
[[File:Kalchayan Prince (armour).jpg|thumb|Model of a Saka/[[Kangju]] [[cataphract]] armour with neck-guard, from [[Khalchayan]]. 1st century BC. [[Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan]], nb 40.<ref name="SPL56">{{cite book |last1=Frantz |first1=Grenet |title=Splendeurs des oasis d'Ouzbékistan |date=2022 |publisher=Louvre Editions |location=Paris |isbn=978-8412527858 |page=56}}</ref>]]
The Saka were pushed out of the Ili and Chu River valleys by the [[Yuezhi]].<ref name="B_290">{{harvnb|Baumer|2012|p=290}}</ref><ref name="Benjamin" /><ref name="ChineseHistory" /> 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,<ref>{{cite book |author1=Mallory, J. P. |author2=Mair, Victor H. |name-list-style=amp |page=[https://archive.org/details/tarimmummiesanci00mall/page/58 58] |year=2000 |title=''The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West'' |publisher=Thames & Hudson. London |isbn=0-500-05101-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/tarimmummiesanci00mall/page/58 }}</ref> were assaulted and forced to flee from the [[Hexi Corridor]] of Gansu by the forces of the [[Xiongnu]] ruler [[Modu Chanyu]], who conquered the area in 177–176 BC.<ref>Torday, Laszlo. (1997). ''Mounted Archers: The Beginnings of Central Asian History''. Durham: The Durham Academic Press, pp. 80–81, {{ISBN|978-1-900838-03-0}}.</ref><ref>Yü, Ying-shih. (1986). "Han Foreign Relations," in ''The Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 BC – A.D. 220'', 377–462. Edited by Denis Twitchett and Michael Loewe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 377–388, 391, {{ISBN|978-0-521-24327-8}}.</ref><ref>Chang, Chun-shu. (2007). The Rise of the Chinese Empire: Volume II; Frontier, Immigration, & Empire in Han China, 130 BC – AD 157. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, pp. 5–8 {{ISBN|978-0-472-11534-1}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Di Cosmo|2002|pp=174–189}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Di Cosmo|2004|pp=196–198}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Di Cosmo|2002|pp=241–242}}</ref> 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 the oasis-states of Tarim Basin sites, like Yanqi (焉耆, [[Karasahr]]) and Qiuci (龜茲, [[Kucha]]).<ref>Yu Taishan (June 2010), "The Earliest Tocharians in China" in Victor H. Mair (ed), ''Sino-Platonic Papers'', Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, University of Pennsylvania Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, pp. 13–14, 21–22.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html |title= The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia |first=Craig |last=Benjamin }}</ref> 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").<ref name="yu 2010 p13">{{harvnb|Yu|2010}}: "The Daxia 大夏 people in the valley of the Amu Darya came from the valleys of the rivers Ili and Chu. From the {{transliteration|en|Geography}} of Strabo one can infer that the four tribes of the Asii and others came from these valleys (the so-called "land of the Sai 塞" in the {{transliteration|zh|Hanshu}} 漢書, ch. 96A). "</ref><ref>Bernard, P. (1994). "The Greek Kingdoms of Central Asia". In Harmatta, János. ''History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume II. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 B.C. to A.D. 250''. Paris: UNESCO. pp. 96–126. {{ISBN|92-3-102846-4}}.</ref>
[[File:Cult of Heavenly horse bronze horse ancient finial Bucephalus Ancient Akhal Teke.jpg|thumb|The Heavenly Horse, commonly known as the Ferghana Horse, is an ancient ceremonial bronze finial. It originates from Bactria, dating back to the 4th-1st century BC, and was skillfully crafted by Saka tribes.]]
The ancient Greco-Roman geographer [[Strabo]] noted that the four tribes that took down the Bactrians in the Greek and Roman account – the ''[[Asioi]]'', ''Pasianoi'', ''Tokharoi'' and ''Sakaraulai'' – came from land north of the Syr Darya where the Ili and Chu valleys are located.<ref name=Rene>{{Cite book |last=Grousset |first=Rene |title=The Empire of the Steppes |publisher=Rutgers University Press |year=1970 |isbn=0-8135-1304-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppesh00prof/page/29 29–31] |url=https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppesh00prof/page/29 }}</ref><ref name="yu 2010 p13" /> 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]].<ref name=Rene /><ref>{{harvnb|Baumer|2012|p=296}}</ref>

[[File:SakastanMap.jpg|thumb|Map of [[Sakastan]] ("Land of the Sakas"), where the Sakas resettled c. 100 BC]]
[[René Grousset]] wrote of the migration of 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."<ref name=Rene /> Some of the Saka fleeing the Yuezhi attacked the [[Parthian Empire]], where they defeated and killed the kings [[Phraates II]] and [[Artabanus I of Parthia|Artabanus]].<ref name="B_290" /> These Sakas were eventually settled by [[Mithridates II of Parthia|Mithridates II]] in what become known as [[Sakastan]].<ref name="B_290" /> According to [[Harold Walter Bailey]], 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.{{sfn|Bailey|1983}} 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 [[North India]],{{sfn|Bailey|1983}} 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).<ref name="theobald 2011 saka">Ulrich Theobald. (26 November 2011). "[http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Altera/sakas.html Chinese History – Sai 塞 The Saka People or Soghdians]." ''ChinaKnowledge.de''. Accessed 2 September 2016.</ref>

[[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 the Yuezhi. Excavations of the prehistoric art of the [[Dian Kingdom]] of Yunnan have revealed hunting scenes of Caucasoid horsemen in Central Asian clothing.{{sfn|Lebedynsky|2006|p=73}} 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.{{sfn|Mallory|Mair|2008|pp=329–330}}
[[Pre-modern human migration|Migrations]] of the 2nd and 1st century BC have left traces in Sogdia and Bactria, but they cannot firmly be attributed to the Saka, similarly with the sites of [[Sirkap]] and [[Taxila]] in [[outline of ancient India|ancient India]]. The rich graves at [[Tillya Tepe]] in [[Afghanistan]] are seen as part of a population affected by the Saka.{{sfn|Lebedynsky|2006|p=84}}

The [[Shakya]] clan of India, to which [[Gautama Buddha]], called ''Śākyamuni'' "Sage of the Shakyas", belonged, were also likely Sakas, as [[Michael Witzel]]<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Attwood|first1=Jayarava|title=Possible Iranian Origins for the Śākyas and Aspects of Buddhism|journal=Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies|date=2012|volume=3}}</ref> and [[Christopher I. Beckwith]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Beckwith|first=Christopher I.|author-link=Christopher I. Beckwith|title=Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RlCUBgAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-6632-8|pages=1–21}}</ref> have alleged. The scholar Bryan Levman however criticised this hypothesis for resting on slim to no evidence, and maintains that the Shakyas were a population native to the north-east Gangetic plain who were unrelated to Iranic Sakas.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Levman |first1=Bryan Geoffrey |title=Cultural Remnants of the Indigenous Peoples in the Buddhist Scriptures |journal=Buddhist Studies Review |date=2014 |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=145–180 |doi=10.1558/bsrv.v30i2.145 |url=https://www.academia.edu/27981814 |issn=1747-9681|doi-access=free }} "The evidence for this final wave is however, very slim and there is no evidence for it in the Vedic texts; for their western origin, Witzel relies on a reference in Pāṇini (4.2.131, madravṛjyoḥ) to the Vṛjjis in dual relation with the Madras who are from the northwest, and to the Mallas in the Jaiminīya Brāhamaṇa (§198) as arising from the dust of Rajasthan. Neither the Sakyas nor any of the other eastern tribes are mentioned, and of course there is no proof that any of these are Indo-Aryan groups. I view the Sakyas and the later Śakas as two separate groups, the former being aboriginal."</ref>

=== Indo-Scythians ===
{{Main|Indo-Scythians}}
[[File:Saka warrior Termez Achaeological Museum.jpg|thumb|upright|Head of a Saka warrior, as a defeated enemy of the [[Yuezhi]], from [[Khalchayan]], northern [[Bactria]], 1st century BC.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Abdullaev |first1=Kazim |title=Nomad Migration in Central Asia (in After Alexander: Central Asia before Islam) |journal=Proceedings of the British Academy |date=2007 |volume=133 |pages=87–98 |url=https://www.academia.edu/6864202}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://iranicaonline.org/|title=Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica|first=Encyclopaedia Iranica|last=Foundation|website=iranicaonline.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/bf/c2/42/bfc242271c38d714044837d179faab53.jpg|title=Also a Saka according to this source}}</ref>]]
The region in modern Afghanistan and Iran where the Saka moved to became known as "land of the Saka" or [[Sakastan]].{{sfn|Bailey|1983}} 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]],{{sfn|Bailey|1983}} 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).<ref name="theobald 2011 saka" /> 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.{{sfn|Bailey|1983}} The Sakas also captured [[Gandhara]] and [[Taxila]], and migrated to [[North India]].<ref name="Sulimirski 1970 113–114">{{cite book |title=The Sarmatians |volume=73 |series=Ancient peoples and places |pages=113–114 |last=Sulimirski |first=Tadeusz |author-link=Tadeusz Sulimirski |publisher=Praeger |location=New York |year=1970 |isbn=9789080057272 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gdjhuAAACAAJ |quote=The evidence of both the ancient authors and the archaeological remains point to a massive migration of Sacian (Sakas) / Massagetan tribes from the Syr Daria Delta (Central Asia) by the middle of the second century B.C. Some of the Syr Darian tribes; they also invaded North India.}}</ref> The most famous Indo-Scythian king was [[Maues]].<ref name="I_Kushan">{{cite web |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kushan-dynasty-i-history |title=KUSHAN DYNASTY i. Dynastic History |last=Bivar |first=A. D. H. |website=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |access-date=31 August 2018 }}</ref> An Indo-Scythian kingdom was established in [[Mathura]] (200 BC – 400 AD).{{sfn|Bailey|1983}}<ref name="Beckwith85" /> [[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.<ref name="Sulimirski 1970 113–114" /><ref>{{cite book |title= India & Russia: linguistic & cultural affinity |page=95 | last=Rishi |first=Weer Rajendra |author-link=Weer Rajendra Rishi |publisher=Roma |year=1982 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vns_AAAAMAAJ&q=Getae}}</ref> According to historian Michael Mitchiner, the [[Abhira tribe]] were a Saka people cited in the Gunda inscription of the [[Western Satrap]] [[Rudrasimha I]] dated to AD 181.<ref name="Mitchiner1978">{{cite book|last=Mitchiner|first=Michael|title=The ancient & classical world, 600 B.C.-A.D. 650|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zuQLAQAAMAAJ|year=1978|publisher=Hawkins Publications; distributed by B. A. Seaby|isbn=978-0-904173-16-1|page=634}}</ref>

<gallery class="center" widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="3" caption="Later Saka polities">
File:Map_of_the_Indo-Scythians.png|The [[Indo-Scythians]] ruled in northwestern South Asia from circa 100 BC
File:Map_of_the_Northern_Satraps_(Northern_Sakas).jpg|The [[Northern Satraps]] ruled in northern India until their replacement by the Kushans circa 150 AD
File:Map_of_the_Western_Satraps.png|The [[Western Satraps]] was a Saka dynasty which ruled in western India until circa 400 AD 
</gallery>