Achaemenid Satrapies > Saka
Saka
Background
The Saka or Saca (Persian: old Sakā, mod. ساکا; Sanskrit: Śaka; Greek: Σάκαι, Sákai; Latin: Sacae; Chinese: 塞, old *Sək, mod. Sāi)[a] was the term used in Persian and Sanskrit sources for the Scythians, a large group of Eastern Iranian nomadic tribes on the Eurasian Steppe.[2][3][4] Modern scholars usually use the term Saka to refer to Iranians of the Eastern Steppe and the Tarim Basin.[5] René Grousset wrote that they formed a particular branch of the "Scytho-Sarmatian family" originating from nomadic Iranian peoples of the northwestern steppe in Eurasia.[6] In the Tarim Basin and Taklamakan desert region of Northwest China, they founded the settlements of Khotan and Kashgar, as well as the Kingdom of Khotan that was at various times a vassal to greater powers, such as the Han and Tang dynasties of Imperial China.
