Desperately Seeking Saka

[dwkay57]

I've just finished reading Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones' book "Persians: the Age of Great Kings" which provided great detail on the intrigue that went on in the Persian royal court (makes Rome look like an early episode of the Archers or Neighbours - this was full on Dallas or Dynasty), anyway...

At the start of the book is a map setting out where some of the nations mentioned in the book lived. What struck me as odd was that the Saka Haumavarga were located in the south-east between the Indus and Helmand rivers with Ganadara to their north and Gedrosia to their south. As far as I can recall, most other reference books place the Haumavarga in the north-east near to their close relatives the Tigrakhuada and Massagetai.

Have I missed something or is it thought the Haumavarga ventured further south than the other tribes?

[Duncan Head]

Like you, I don't know of any reason to put the Saka Haumavarga that far south in the Achaemenid period.

From your description, it sounds as if the map puts them in modern Sistan, which is of course Saka-stan, named from the Saka who settled there in the 2nd century BC. I wonder if this is some sort of map-maker's error based on these later Saka?

[DBS]

Must be confusion with the later Saka.  After all, even as late as Alexander, the inhabitants of the Helmand area are referred to by Arrian as Ariaspians, supposedly given the epithet of Euergetae by Cyrus for helping him against the Scythians.  Furthermore, supposedly quite different in government from other barbarians in the area and thus won Alexander's approbation.

Of course, one can take all this with a pinch of salt, but I would think the Greeks would have leapt at the chance to stick a Scythian label on them if there was even half a basis for so doing.  Not to mention that by the time Arrian was writing, there were Scythians in that region, so the very fact that he does not fall into the trap of an anachronistic reference seems quite compelling to me.

[dwkay57]

Thanks for the feedback chaps. I have contacted the publishers in case they can provide any background....

In the meantime, I'll have to think of some different subject allies for my south-eastern Persian satrap to rule over.