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{{Short description|People group}}
{{unreliable sources|date=October 2016}}
{{unreliable sources|date=October 2016}}
[[File:Assimilation of Baltic and Aryan Peoples by Uralic Speakers in the Middle and Upper Volga Basin (Shaded Relief BG).png|thumb|Distribution of Central Asian Iranic populations during the Iron Age.]]
[[Image:Scythia-Parthia 100 BC.png|thumb|300px|Scythia and Parthia in about 170 BC (before the [[Yuezhi]] invaded Amorges and Bactria).]]
{{Indo-European}}
{{Indo-European}}
The '''Amyrgians''' ([[Ancient Greek]]: {{lang|grc|{{script|Grek|Αμύργιοι}}}} {{transl|grc|Amúrgioi}}; [[Latin]]: {{lang|la|{{script|Latn|Amyrgii}}}}; [[Old Persian]]: {{lang|peo|{{script|Xpeo|{{small|[[wikt:𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐏃𐎢𐎶𐎺𐎼𐎥𐎠|𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐏃𐎢𐎶𐎺𐎼𐎥𐎠]]}}}}}} {{transl|peo|Sakā haumavargā}} "Sakas who lay [[Haoma|hauma]] (around the fire)"){{sfn|Schmitt|2003}}<ref>{{harvnb|Lendering|1996}}: The '''{{transl|peo|Sakâ haumavargâ}}''' ("haoma-drinking Sacae") were subjected by Cyrus the Great. Herodotus calls them {{transl|en|Amyrgian Scythians}}.</ref> were a [[Saka]] tribe.
[[File:Chariot spread.png|thumb|300px|Approximate historical map of the spread of the spoke-wheeled chariot, 2000–500 BCE.]]
The '''Amyrgians''' were the [[Scythians]] ([[Saka|Śaka]]) tribe in closest proximity to [[Bactria]] and [[Sogdiana]]. They were named for their king '''Amorges''' (not to be confused with [[Amorges]], son of Pissunthnes, leader of a [[Caria]]n rebellion in 413 BC).


==Name==
==Name==
The Greek name for this tribe, {{transl|grc|Amúrgioi}} ({{lang|grc|{{script|Grek|Αμύργιοι}}}}), is the Hellenised form of the [[Old Persian]] term {{transl|peo|Haumavargā}} ({{lang|peo|{{script|Xpeo|{{small|[[wikt:𐏃𐎢𐎶𐎺𐎼𐎥|𐏃𐎢𐎶𐎺𐎼𐎥]]}}}}}}), meaning "who lay [[Haoma|hauma]] (around the fire),"{{sfn|Schmitt|2003}} and can be interpreted as "revering [[haoma|hauma]]."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dandamaev |first1=Muhammad A. |author-link1=Muhammad Dandamayev |last2=Lukonin |first2=Vladimir G. |date=1989 |title=The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran |url= |location= |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=g7N74BFaC90C&pg=PA334 334] |isbn=978-0-521-61191-6 }}</ref> The full name of this tribe in [[Persians]] [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]] inscriptions is {{transl|peo|Sakā haumavargā}} ({{lang|peo|{{script|Xpeo|{{small|𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐏃𐎢𐎶𐎺𐎼𐎥𐎠}}}}}}), that is the [[Sakas]] who lay hauma (around the fire).{{sfn|Schmitt|2003}}{{sfn|Lendering|1996}}
The Amyrgians were called ''Śaka haumavarga'' ("[[Haoma]]-drinking Scythians") in [[Old Persian]], which is a reinterpretation of the personal names ''Amorges'' and ''(H)omarges''. The Greek form of their name was ''Amyrgioi''.<ref name="iranchamber">I. P’iankov. Iranian Chamber Society. [http://www.iranchamber.com/history/articles/ethnic_of_sakas.php The Ethnic of Sakas (Scythians): The Amyrgians]</ref>


==History==
==Identification==
The country of the {{transl|peo|Sakā haumavargā}} may have been the same place named as [[Mujavant]] in [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]] literature, where it appears in close connection with [[Gandhāra (kingdom)|Gandhāra]] and [[Bactria|Bahlika]].<ref>{{harvnb|Vogelsang|1992|page=66}}: "Sanskrit {{transl|sa|Mujavant}} may be the name for the land of the {{transl|peo|Sakâ Haumavargâ}}. In the Vedic texts, the land of {{transl|sa|Mujavant}} is linked to Gandhâra (the Peshâwar valley) and {{transl|sa|Bahlika}} (the Bactria of the classical source)."</ref>
According to [[Ctesias|Ktēsíās (Ctesias)]],<ref>The Geography of Herodotus (Paperback)
by James Talboys Wheeler</ref> the Amyrgians were conquered by [[Cyrus the Great|Kūruš Kūruš (Cyrus the Great)]], who took Amorges prisoner. The wife of Amorges, Sparethra, collected an army of 300,000 men and 200,000 women, made war upon [[Cyrus|Kūruš (Cyrus)]], taking as prisoners Parmises, the brother of Amytis, and his three sons, who were subsequently released in exchange for Amorges.
Kūruš's (Cyrus's) good treatment of Amorges prompted the Śaka to submit to the Persians. Amorges or Thambradas went with Kūruš (Cyrus) to [[Lydia (satrapy)|Sparda]] ([[Lydia]]), where also Sparetra's [[Aryan]] family [[Arzawa|(Tarhun, Tarkhun, Tarhuna, Tarhunta, Tarkon, Tarchon, Sperun, Spera, Spyra, Kasper…)]] lived for centuries, as aristocracy and [[Magi]] of [[Mitanni]], [[Hittites|Nāsatyau/Neśili (Hittites)]] and [[Luwians|Lud (Luwians)]]. The Amyrgians fought under Kūruš (Cyrus) in the [[Battle of Thymbra]] of 547 BC.


==Geography==
Sparethra’s forces later helped Kūruš (Cyrus) conquer yet another opponent: [[Croesus|Kroîsos (Croesus)]], whom Kūruš (Cyrus) ordered to be set on fire. He eventually changed his mind, and Kroîsos (Croesus) fell in line behind Kūruš (Cyrus), going on to give him terrible advice that would bring about his demise.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rejectedprincesses.com/princesses/tomyris|title=Tomyris|website=www.rejectedprincesses.com}}</ref>
The {{transl|peo|Sakā haumavargā}} were always mentioned alongside the [[Massagetae|{{transl|peo|Sakā tigraxaudā}}]] in ancient Persian inscriptions, implying that the {{transl|peo|Haumavargā}} and {{transl|peo|Tigraxaudā}} were neighbours, although it is less certain whether the {{transl|peo|Haumavargā}} lived to the east or to the west of the {{transl|peo|Tigraxaudā}}. The {{transl|peo|Haumavargā}} most likely lived somewhere between the [[Caspian Sea]] and the [[Pamir Mountains]], and to the north of the [[Amu Darya|Oxus]], near the [[Bactria]]ns and [[Sogdia]]ns, possibly in the region corresponding to modern-day [[Tashkent]] or [[Dushanbe]] around [[Fergana Valley|Fergana]], or across a large region stretching from [[Margiana]] to the upper Oxus river, or between the [[Altai Mountains|Altai]] and Pamir mountains, or in the territory corresponding to the modern-day [[Afghanistan|Afghan]] [[Kuran wa Munjan District|district of Monjan]] in the upper [[Kokcha River|Kokcha]] valley.{{sfn|Schmitt|2003}}


Based on Herodotus's list of the units of the Achaemenid army, within which the Amyrgii and the [[Bactria]]ns together were under the command of [[Hystaspes (son of Darius I)|Hystaspes]], the scholar [[Willem Vogelsang]] locates the {{transl|peo|Sakā haumavargā}} to the immediate north and east of Bactria.<ref>{{harvnb|Vogelsang|1992|page=108}}: "The {{transl|peo|Sakâ Haumavargâ}} are normally located east or north of ancient Bactria"</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Vogelsang|1992|page=174}}: "the {{transl|peo|Sakâ Haumavargâ}} north and east of {{transl|peo|Bâxtrish}}"</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Vogelsang|1992|page=192}}: "The fact that the Amyrgaean Sakas and the Bactrians were united under one command, namely under a son of Darius and Cyrus's daughter Atossa bearing the name of Vishtaspa, again indicates the close relationship between the Bactrians and the Amyrgaean Sakas."</ref>
It is possible, that the term ''Sparians'' present in early Roman sources is cognate with Amyrgians of Sparethra and, that the neighbouring [[Kambojas]] entered Europe after the battles with Kroîsos (Croesus) and eventually became known as [[Boii]], the founders of [[Cambodunum|Kamboduna]] related to the [[La Tène culture]].


Other possible locations of the {{transl|peo|Sakā haumavargā}} include the Fergana valley itself,<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Dani |editor-first1=Ahmad Hasan |editor-link1=Ahmad Hasan Dani |editor-last2=Harmatta |editor-first2=János |editor-link2=János Harmatta | editor-last3=Puri |editor-first3=Baij Nath |editor-link3=Baij Nath Puri |editor-last4=Etemadi |editor-first4=G. F. |editor-last5=Bosworth |editor-first5=Clifford Edmund |editor-link5=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |last1=Abetekov |first1=A. |last2=Yusupov |first2=H. |date=1994 |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |chapter=Ancient Iranian Nomads in Western Central Asia |url= |location=[[Paris]], [[France]] |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |pages=24–34 |isbn=978-9-231-02846-5 }}</ref> or both the [[Fergana Valley|Fergana]] and [[Alay Valley|Alay]] valleys,<ref>{{cite book |last=Srinivasan |first=Doris |author-link= |date=2007 |title=On the Cusp of an Era: Art in the Pre-Kuṣāṇa World |url= |location= |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |page=58 |isbn=978-9-004-15451-3 }}</ref> or the region to the north of the Iaxartes.<ref>{{cite book |last=Olbrycht |first=Marek Jan |author-link= |date=2021 |title=Early Arsakid Parthia (ca. 250-165 B.C.): At the Crossroads of Iranian, Hellenistic, and Central Asian History |url= |location=[[Leiden]], [[Netherlands]]; [[Boston]], [[United States]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |isbn=978-9-004-46076-8 |quote=Apparently the Dahai represented an entity not identical with the other better known groups of the Sakai, i.e. the Sakai (Sakā) tigrakhaudā (Massagetai, roaming in Turkmenistan), and Sakai (Sakā) Haumavargā (in Transoxania and beyond the Syr Daryā). }}</ref>
Sparethra was possibly the distant aunt of the [[Aryan]] [[Suryavansha|Sūryavaṃśa]] [[Ikshvaku dynasty|Iakšaku (Ikšvaku)]] Siddhārta Gautama Śakyamuni, better known as [[Gautama Buddha]] and is related to the [[Seven Parthian clans|Parthian]] [[House of Suren]] and European [[Pernus coat of arms|Spyra (Pernuš) dynasty]], ancestors of the [[History of Poland|Polish]] [[Piast dynasty]].


==Gallery==
==History==
According to the Greek historian [[Ctesias]], once the [[Persians|Persian]] [[Achaemenid Empire]]'s founder, [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]], had overthrown 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 {{transl|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]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Boardman |editor-first1=John |editor-link1=John Boardman (art historian) |editor-last2=Hammond |editor-first2=N. G. L. |editor-link2=N. G. L. Hammond |editor-last3=Lewis |editor-first3=D. M. |editor-link3=David Malcolm Lewis |editor-last4=Ostwald |editor-first4=M. |editor-link4=Martin Ostwald |last=Francfort |first=Henri-Paul |author-link=Henri-Paul Francfort |date=1988 |title=The Cambridge Ancient History |volume=4 |chapter=Central Asia and Eastern Iran |location=[[Cambridge]], [[United Kingdom]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=171 |isbn=978-0-521-22804-6 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Dani |editor-first1=Ahmad Hasan |editor-link1=Ahmad Hasan Dani |editor-last2=Harmatta |editor-first2=János |editor-link2=János Harmatta | editor-last3=Puri |editor-first3=Baij Nath |editor-link3=Baij Nath Puri |editor-last4=Etemadi |editor-first4=G. F. |editor-last5=Bosworth |editor-first5=Clifford Edmund |editor-link5=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |last=Dandamayev |first=M. A. |author-link=Muhammad Dandamayev |date=1994 |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |chapter=Media and Achaemenid Iran |url= |location=[[Paris]], [[France]] |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |pages=35–64 |isbn=978-9-231-02846-5 }}</ref><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= |quote=2022-07-08 }}</ref>
{{-}}
<gallery mode=packed>
Median Empire.jpg|Map of the [[Medes|Median Empire]], 600 BCE. Amyrgians populated the northern fringes of the Empire reaching from [[Loulan Kingdom|Krążania (Krořän)]] and India to Europe, e.g. [[Skudra|Škudra]].
Sogdian Tribute Bearers on the Apadana Staircase 16 (Best Viewed Size "Large") (4689076272).jpg|Sogdians on an [[Achaemenid]] Persian relief from the [[Apadana]] of [[Persepolis]], offering tributary gifts to the Persian king [[Darius I]], 5th century BCE.
Cup with a frieze of gazelles MET an62.84.R.jpg|[[Iron Age]] gold cup from [[Marlik]], kept at the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], [[New York City]].
Swastika iran.jpg|Golden necklace of three [[Swastika|Swarga (Swastikas)]] from [[Marlik]], kept at the [[National Museum of Iran|National Museum]], [[Tehran]].
Greek chariot.jpg|[[Etruscan civilization|Raśennian (Etruscan)]] [[Monteleone chariot|Monteleone thunder chariot]] of [[Tarchon]] ([[Tarkhun]], [[Perun]]) from [[Perusia]], 2nd quarter of the 6th century BCE.
Keltischer Wagen aus Hochdorf 35.jpg|[[Saka|Śaka (Scythian)]]-[[Veneti|Venedic]]-[[Celtic]]-[[Aryan]] wagon from [[Hochdorf Chieftain's Grave|Spyrgowa (SW Germany)]], 2nd quarter of the 6th century BCE.
Oxus chariot model.jpg|A golden [[Saka|Śaka (Scythian)]]-Amyrgians|Amyrgian-[[Sogdia|Sogdian]]-[[Aryan]] chariot made during [[Achaemenid Empire]] (550–330 BCE).
DiodotusGoldCoin.jpg|A gold coin of [[Diodotus of Bactria]], ca. 250 BCE.


Cyrus, accompanied by the {{transl|peo|Sakā haumavargā}} of his ally Amorges, later carried out a campaign against the [[Massagetae]]/{{transl|peo|Sakā tigraxaudā}} in 530 BCE.{{sfn|Francfort|1988|p=171}}{{sfn|Schmitt|2018}} After Cyrus had been mortally wounded by the [[Derbices]] and their [[South Asian ethnic groups|Indian]] allies, Amorges and his Saka army helped the Persian soldiers defeat them. Cyrus told his sons to respect their own mother as well as Amorges above everyone before dying.<ref name="SchmittAmorges"/>
</gallery>


==Legacy==
Fifteen centuries later neighbours (and possibly descendants) of the Amyrgians, the [[Amardi]], persecuted by [[Early Muslim conquests|Muslim conquests]] and the atrocities of [[Islamicisation of Xinjiang|Turkic invasions]], e.g. [[Kidarites]], [[Turkic Khaganate]], [[Ghaznavids]]… folowed the Amyrgian route to [[Central Europe]], settled along [[Danube]] next to [[Iazyges]], [[Serboi]] and other [[Sarmatians]] and became known as Mardowie (Mardi), subjects of [[Bolesław I the Brave]] a distant relative of Sparethra.<ref>''Hunnos seu Hungaros, Cravacios et Mardos gentem validam suo mancipavit imperio'' Joachim Lelewel, [http://www.archive.org/details/polskawiekowsre03goog ''Polska wieków średnich, t. II'', Poznań 1856] p. 130.</ref><ref>Mistrz Wincenty Kadłubek, ''Kronika polska'', Wrocław 2003, {{ISBN|83-04-04613-X}}, p. 55 (reissue of a XII century chronicle)</ref> Due to the uniting efforts of [[Bolesław I the Brave]] after 1003 CE many of their clans became the [[List of Polish titled nobility|Polish aristocracy]] later called [[Szlachta]], eventually the clan of [[Gryf coat of arms|Gryf]] (also being of more ancient [[Aryan]] descent) and the earliest members of [[Topór coat of arms|Topór]] and the [[Great Moravia|Moravian]] [[Oksza coat of arms]] are of Amardi descent. They continued to repulse neverending [[Turkic migration|Turkic]] ([[Pecheneg|Pechenegs]], [[Cumania|Cumans]], [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]]…), [[Mongol invasion of Europe|Turko-Mongol]] and [[Drang nach Osten|Germanic invasions]].
The name of the [[Afghanistan|Afghan]] [[Kuran wa Munjan District|district of Monjan]] in its [[Persian language|Farsi]] ({{transl|fa|Monjān}}), [[Yidgha language|Yidgha]] ({{transl|ydg|Braγ-ayo}}) and [[Kata-vari dialect|Kati]] ({{transl|bsh|Mŕùgul}}) forms might have been derived from that of the {{transl|peo|Haumavargā}}.<ref name="SchmittAmorges"/>


==Language==
Amyrgian language was from the [[Eastern Iranian languages|Eastern Iranian]] group, and it was closely related to modern [[Pashto language|Pashto]] and [[Munji language|Munji]], with both of which it shares the distinctive feature of d > l consonant shift.<ref name="iranchamber"/>


==See also==
==See also==
* [[Massagetae|Orthocorybantians]]
{{Columns-list|2|
*[[Sintashta culture]]
* [[Indo-Scythians]]
**[[Chariot]]
* [[Kambojas]]
**[[Tarim mummies]]
* [[Komedes]]
**[[Aryan]]
* [[Sogdia]]
**[[Sogdia]]
* [[Skudra]]
**[[Amardi]]
**[[Komedes]]
**[[Kambojas]]
**[[Cambodunum|Kamboduna (Cambodunum)]]
**[[Boii]]
**[[Serboi]]

*[[Speri (historical region)]]
**[[Spero]]
**[[Tarchon]]
**[[Tarkhun]]
**[[Etruscan civilization]]
**[[Skudra|Škudra]]

*[[Golden hat]]
**[[House of Suren]]
**[[Pernus coat of arms|Spyra (Pernuš)]]
**[[Illyrian coinage]]
**[[Vindelici]]
**[[Parisii]]
**[[Peruzzi]]
**[[Pirna|Pěrno (Pirna)]]
**[[History of Speyer|Spira]]

*[[Haoma]]
**[[Soma (drink)|Soma]]
**[[Madhu]]
**[[Ambrosia]]
**[[Siemieniotka]]
**[[Bhang]]

*[[Surya]]
**[[Svarog|Swarog]]
**[[Parjanya]]
**[[Perun]]
**[[Tarḫunz]]
**[[Taranis]]
**[[Vajrapani]]

*[[Kassapa Buddha|Kāśyapa Buddha]]
**[[Suryavansha|Sūryavaṃśa]]
**[[Kashyapa|Kāśyapa]]
**[[Zoroaster|Spitama Zarathuštra]]
**[[Gautama Buddha|Gautama Śakyamuni]]
**[[Mahākāśyapa]]
**[[Greco-Buddhism]]
**[[Kāśyapīya]]
**[[Mahīśāsaka]]
**[[Biblical Magi|Kasper of Saveh]]
**[[Gregory the Illuminator|Grigor Suren Lusavorič]]
**[[Saint Spyridon]]
**[[Persecution of Buddhists]]
**[[Islamicisation of Xinjiang]]
}}

==External Links==
[[File:Avesta, translated by Ignacy Pietraszewski.jpg|thumb|200px|''Zend-Avesta'', 1858 edition.]]
*[https://www.dropbox.com/s/x9ijarfv1fq4m5o/Zend_Avesta_ou_plut%C3%B4t_Zen_Daschta_expli.pdf?dl=0 Zend-Avesta, compiled and translated by Ignacy Pietraszewski, 1858 (Avestan, Polish, German, French, Persian)]


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/articles/people/scythians-sacae |title=Scythians / Sacae |last=Lendering |first=Jona |author-link=Jona Lendering |date=1996 |website=Livius.org |publisher= |access-date=2022-07-08 }}
* {{cite web |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/haumavarga |title=HAUMAVARGĀ |last=Schmitt |first=Rüdiger |author-link=Rüdiger Schmitt |date=2003 |website=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |publisher= |access-date= |quote=}}
* {{cite web |last=Schmitt |first=Rüdiger |author-link=Rüdiger Schmitt |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/massagetae |title=Massagetae |date=2018 |website=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]}}
* {{cite book |last=Vogelsang |first=W. J. |author-link=Willem Vogelsang |date=1992 |title=The Rise and Organisation of the Achaemenid Empire: The Eastern Iranian Evidence |url= |location=[[Leiden]], [[Netherlands]]; [[New York City]], [[United States]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |isbn=978-9-004-09682-0 }}
{{refend}}

{{Scythia}}


[[Category:Scythians]]
[[Category:Scythian tribes]]
[[Category:Tribes described primarily by Herodotus]]
[[Category:Tribes described primarily by Herodotus]]

Latest revision as of 21:06, 9 April 2024

Distribution of Central Asian Iranic populations during the Iron Age.
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The Amyrgians (Ancient Greek: Αμύργιοι Amúrgioi; Latin: Amyrgii; Old Persian: 𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐏃𐎢𐎶𐎺𐎼𐎥𐎠 Sakā haumavargā "Sakas who lay hauma (around the fire)")[1][2] were a Saka tribe.

Name

[edit]

The Greek name for this tribe, Amúrgioi (Αμύργιοι), is the Hellenised form of the Old Persian term Haumavargā (𐏃𐎢𐎶𐎺𐎼𐎥), meaning "who lay hauma (around the fire),"[1] and can be interpreted as "revering hauma."[3] The full name of this tribe in Persians Achaemenid inscriptions is Sakā haumavargā (𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐏃𐎢𐎶𐎺𐎼𐎥𐎠), that is the Sakas who lay hauma (around the fire).[1][4]

Identification

[edit]

The country of the Sakā haumavargā may have been the same place named as Mujavant in Indo-Aryan literature, where it appears in close connection with Gandhāra and Bahlika.[5]

Geography

[edit]

The Sakā haumavargā were always mentioned alongside the Sakā tigraxaudā in ancient Persian inscriptions, implying that the Haumavargā and Tigraxaudā were neighbours, although it is less certain whether the Haumavargā lived to the east or to the west of the Tigraxaudā. The Haumavargā most likely lived somewhere between the Caspian Sea and the Pamir Mountains, and to the north of the Oxus, near the Bactrians and Sogdians, possibly in the region corresponding to modern-day Tashkent or Dushanbe around Fergana, or across a large region stretching from Margiana to the upper Oxus river, or between the Altai and Pamir mountains, or in the territory corresponding to the modern-day Afghan district of Monjan in the upper Kokcha valley.[1]

Based on Herodotus's list of the units of the Achaemenid army, within which the Amyrgii and the Bactrians together were under the command of Hystaspes, the scholar Willem Vogelsang locates the Sakā haumavargā to the immediate north and east of Bactria.[6][7][8]

Other possible locations of the Sakā haumavargā include the Fergana valley itself,[9] or both the Fergana and Alay valleys,[10] or the region to the north of the Iaxartes.[11]

History

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According to the Greek historian Ctesias, once the Persian Achaemenid Empire's founder, Cyrus, had overthrown the Median king Astyages, the Bactrians 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 Sakā haumavargā, initially defeated them and captured their 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 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.[12][13][14][15][16][17]

Cyrus, accompanied by the Sakā haumavargā of his ally Amorges, later carried out a campaign against the Massagetae/Sakā tigraxaudā in 530 BCE.[18][19] After Cyrus had been mortally wounded by the Derbices and their Indian allies, Amorges and his Saka army helped the Persian soldiers defeat them. Cyrus told his sons to respect their own mother as well as Amorges above everyone before dying.[17]

Legacy

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The name of the Afghan district of Monjan in its Farsi (Monjān), Yidgha (Braγ-ayo) and Kati (Mŕùgul) forms might have been derived from that of the Haumavargā.[17]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Schmitt 2003.
  2. ^ Lendering 1996: The Sakâ haumavargâ ("haoma-drinking Sacae") were subjected by Cyrus the Great. Herodotus calls them Amyrgian Scythians.
  3. ^ Dandamaev, Muhammad A.; Lukonin, Vladimir G. (1989). The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran. Cambridge University Press. p. 334. ISBN 978-0-521-61191-6.
  4. ^ Lendering 1996.
  5. ^ Vogelsang 1992, p. 66: "Sanskrit Mujavant may be the name for the land of the Sakâ Haumavargâ. In the Vedic texts, the land of Mujavant is linked to Gandhâra (the Peshâwar valley) and Bahlika (the Bactria of the classical source)."
  6. ^ Vogelsang 1992, p. 108: "The Sakâ Haumavargâ are normally located east or north of ancient Bactria"
  7. ^ Vogelsang 1992, p. 174: "the Sakâ Haumavargâ north and east of Bâxtrish"
  8. ^ Vogelsang 1992, p. 192: "The fact that the Amyrgaean Sakas and the Bactrians were united under one command, namely under a son of Darius and Cyrus's daughter Atossa bearing the name of Vishtaspa, again indicates the close relationship between the Bactrians and the Amyrgaean Sakas."
  9. ^ Abetekov, A.; Yusupov, H. (1994). "Ancient Iranian Nomads in Western Central Asia". In Dani, Ahmad Hasan; Harmatta, János; Puri, Baij Nath; Etemadi, G. F.; Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (eds.). History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Paris, France: UNESCO. pp. 24–34. ISBN 978-9-231-02846-5.
  10. ^ Srinivasan, Doris (2007). On the Cusp of an Era: Art in the Pre-Kuṣāṇa World. Brill. p. 58. ISBN 978-9-004-15451-3.
  11. ^ Olbrycht, Marek Jan (2021). Early Arsakid Parthia (ca. 250-165 B.C.): At the Crossroads of Iranian, Hellenistic, and Central Asian History. Leiden, Netherlands; Boston, United States: Brill. ISBN 978-9-004-46076-8. Apparently the Dahai represented an entity not identical with the other better known groups of the Sakai, i.e. the Sakai (Sakā) tigrakhaudā (Massagetai, roaming in Turkmenistan), and Sakai (Sakā) Haumavargā (in Transoxania and beyond the Syr Daryā).
  12. ^ Francfort, Henri-Paul (1988). "Central Asia and Eastern Iran". In Boardman, John; Hammond, N. G. L.; Lewis, D. M.; Ostwald, M. (eds.). The Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. 4. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-521-22804-6.
  13. ^ Dandamayev, M. A. (1994). "Media and Achaemenid Iran". In Dani, Ahmad Hasan; Harmatta, János; Puri, Baij Nath; Etemadi, G. F.; Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (eds.). History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Paris, France: UNESCO. pp. 35–64. ISBN 978-9-231-02846-5.
  14. ^ Gera, Deborah Levine (2018). Warrior Women: The Anonymous Tractatus De Mulieribus. Leiden, Netherlands; New York City, United States: Brill. pp. 199–200. ISBN 978-9-004-32988-1.
  15. ^ Mayor, Adrienne (2014). The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World. Princeton, United States: Princeton University Press. pp. 382–383. ISBN 978-0-691-17027-5.
  16. ^ Kuhrt, Amélie (2013). The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-136-01694-3.
  17. ^ a b c Schmitt, Rüdiger (1989). "AMORGES". Encyclopædia Iranica. 2022-07-08
  18. ^ Francfort 1988, p. 171.
  19. ^ Schmitt 2018.

Sources

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