In their own language, these nomadic tribes in Ukraine and Kazakhstan
called themselves Skudat ("archers"?), which the ancient Persians
rendered as Sakâ and the Greeks as Skythai. There were
several tribes, such as
-
the Sakâ haumavargâ ("haoma-drinking Saka") who were
conquered by Cyrus and who are called Amyrgian
Scythians by the Greek historian Herodotus;
-
the Sakâ tigrakhaudâ ("Saka with pointed hats") who
were defeated by Darius in 520/519 BC; their
leader Skunkha is visible on the relief at Behistun;
-
the Apâ Sakâ ("Water Saka"; or Pausikoi as Herodotus
prefers to call them); later, they are known as the Abian Scythians (in
books like Arrian's Anabasis and Ammianus' Res Gestae);
-
the Ma-Sakâ, who are called "Massagetes"
by Herodotus and were responsible for the death of Cyrus;
-
the Sakâ paradryâ ("Saka across the sea"), living in
Rumania and Ukraine, against whom Darius launched a disastous campaign
(in 514/513 BC); this satrapy revolted in 496 (a Persian inscription from
Gherla in Northwest Rumania reminds us of the Persian period in Rumanian
history);
-
the Cimmerians used to live on the Crimea; their Akkadian name Gimirru
means "nomads".
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