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#REDIRECT [[Sistan]] |
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[[File:IndoScythianKingdom.svg|thumb|right|thumb|300px|Saka Empire in South Asia]] |
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'''Sakastan''' or '''Sakaistan''' or '''Sakasthan''' ({{lang-ur|{{Nastaliq|سکاستان}}}}) is a term indicating where the [[Scythians]] or [[Sakas]] settled around 100 BC. Sakastan region includes southern [[Afghanistan]], [[Sistan and Baluchistan]] region of [[Iran]] and [[Pakistan]].<ref>[http://zoroastrianheritage.blogspot.ca/2013/02/pahlavans-sakastan-1-introduction.html Pahlavans and Sakastan]</ref> The use of the term Sakastan is a restrictive term, most likely of relatively recent origin, and does not find mention in any of the creditable historical accounts concerning the South Sakas. |
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== Settlement in Sakastan == |
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[[File:SakastanMap.jpg|thumb|Map of Sakastan around 100 BC.]] |
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The Sakas settled in areas of eastern [[Iran]], still called after them [[Sistan]]. From there, they progressively expanded into the [[South Asia]], where they established various kingdoms, and where they are known as "Indo-Scythians". |
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The [[Arsacid Empire|Arsacid]] emperor [[Mithridates II of Parthia|Mithridates II]] (c. 123–88/87 BC) had scored many successes against the [[Scythian]]s and added many provinces to the [[Parthia]]n [[empire]],<ref>Justin XL.II.2</ref> and apparently the Scythian hordes that came from [[Bactria]] were also conquered by him. A section of these people moved from [[Bactria]] to [[Helmand River|Lake Helmond]] in the wake of [[Yuezhi|Yue-chi]] pressure and settled about [[Drangiana]] ([[Sigal]]), a region which later came to be called "Sakistana of the Skythian (Scythian) Sakai",<ref>''Isodor of Charax, Sathmoi Parthikoi, 18''.</ref> towards the end of 1st century BC.<ref>Political History of Ancient India, 1996, p 693.</ref> The region is still known as [[Seistan]]. |
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[[File:Maues.jpg|thumb|Silver tetradrachm of the Scythian king [[Maues]] (85–60 BC).]] |
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Sakistan or Seistan of Drangiana may not only have been the habitat of the Saka alone but may also have contained population of the [[Pahlava]]s and the [[Kambojas]].<ref>''The Sakas in India'', p. 14, S. Chattopadhyaya; The Development of Khroshthi Script, p 77, C. C. Dasgupta; Hellenism in Ancient India, p 120, G. N. Banerjee; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, p 308</ref> The [[Edicts|Rock Edicts]] of King [[Ashoka]] only refer to the [[Yavana]]s, [[Kambojas]] and the [[Gandhara]]s in the northwest, but no mention is made of the [[Sakas]], who immigrated in the region more than a century later. It is thus likely that the immigrant Saka populations who settled in Afghanistan did so among or near the Kambojas and nearby Greek cities.<ref>Hindu Polity, 1943, p 144, K. P. Jayswal</ref> Numerous scholars believe that during centuries immediately preceding [[Christian]] [[era]], there had occurred extensive social and cultural admixture among the Kambojas and [[Yavanas]]; the [[Sakas]] and [[Pahlavas]]; and ''the Kambojas, Sakas, and Pahlavas '' etc.... such that their cultures and social customs had become almost identical. |
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The presence of the Sakas in Sakastan in the 1st century BC is mentioned by [[Isidore of Charax]] in his "Parthian stations". He explained that they were bordered at that time by Greek cities to the east ([[Alexandria of the Caucasus]] and [[Alexandria of the Arachosians]]), and the Parthian-controlled territory of [[Arachosia]] to the south: |
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:"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 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." Parthian stations, 18.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parthia.com/parthian_stations.htm |title=Parthian stations |publisher=Parthia.com |date= |accessdate=2012-03-14}}</ref> |
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Sakastan, meaning the land of the Saka, features prominently in [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] texts. Sakastan is otherwise known as Sagastan or Sigistan - even Sejestan - in Middle Persian texts. The land and its people are part of the very early history of the Aryans, Aryana* (ancient Iran) and Zoroastrianism. They also feature prominently in [[Zoroastrian eschatology]] - the end times of [[Frashokereti]] - when the world will be renovated and evil vanquished forever. Indeed, its stalwarts will be central to the defeat of evil and its famed lake will be the place where the final saviour - of a world beset by greed, violence and evil - will be conceived.(*Aryana is the modern version of [[Airyanem Vaejah]] in the [[Avesta]].)<ref>[http://zoroastrianheritage.blogspot.ca/2013/02/pahlavans-sakastan-1-introduction.html Pahlavans and Sakastan]</ref> |
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== See also == |
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*[[Scythians]] |
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*[[Indo-Scythians]] |
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*[[Tillia tepe]] |
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*[[Turushka]] |
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== References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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[[Category:History of Pakistan]] |
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[[Category:History of Afghanistan]] |
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{{Pakistan-geo-stub}} |
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Revision as of 13:53, 2 November 2014
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