Editing Saka (section)

=== 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
| direction         = horizontal
| total_width       = 275
| 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>