The Dahae (Persian Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Bahrain and has official-language status in the first three countries under different names. Persian is a pluricentric language. The Persian language has been a medium for literary and: داها, Latin; Greek Δάοι, Daoi, and Δάαι, Daai), or Dahaeans were a confederacy of three Ancient Iranian The Iranian peoples are an ethnic and linguistic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly on the Iranian plateau and beyond in central, southern, and southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe. As a group of people, they are predominantly defined along linguistic lines as speaking the Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European tribes who lived in the region to the immediate east of the Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometers and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometers (18,761 cu mi). It is an endorheic basin (it has no outflows), and is bound by northern Iran, southern Russia,. They spoke an Eastern Iranian language.

The first dateable mention of this nomad confederacy appears in the list of nations of Xerxes the great Xerxes the Great, also known as Xerxes I of Persia, (reigned 485–465 BC) was a Zoroastrian Persian Shahanshah (Emperor) of Achaemenid Empire Daeva inscription. In this list of the peoples and provinces of the Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 BC) was amongst the first Persian Empires that ruled over significant portions of Greater Iran, and followed the Iranian Median Empire. At the height of its power, the Iranian Achaemenid Empire encompassed approximately 7.5 million square kilometers, holds the greatest percentage of, the Dahae are identified in Old Persian The Old Persian language is one of the two attested Old Iranian languages . Old Persian appears primarily in the inscriptions, clay tablets, seals of the Achaemenid era (c. 600 BCE to 300 BCE). Examples of Old Persian have been found in present-day Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt the most important attestation by far being the contents of the as Dāha and are immediately followed by a "Saka The Sakas resided in and migrated over the plains of Eurasia from Eastern Europe to Xinjiang Province, China. The Sakas were Iranian speaking from the Old Persian Period to the Middle Persian Period but later (only after 1000 AD) they were displaced or integrated with Turkic language speakers during the Turkic migration.[citation needed]" group, who are listed as being neighbors of the Dāha. Unclear is however whether the Dahae are also the *Dāha people (or *Dåŋha, only attested in the feminine Dahi) of the Avestan Avestan is a Eastern Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred hymns and canon of the Zoroastrian Avesta. Iranian languages are part of the Indo-Iranian Language group. The Indo-Iranian language group is a branch of the Indo-European language family Yasht The Yashts are a collection of twenty-one hymns in Younger Avestan. Each of these hymns invokes a specific Zoroastrian divinity or concept. Yasht chapter and verse pointers are traditionally abbreviated as Yt 13.144. An etymological relationship "is not proof that the two names refer to the same ethnic group."[1]

In the 1st century BCE Strabo Strabo was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher (Geographika 11.8.1) refers to the Dahae explicitly as the "Scythian Dahae" ("Scythian The Scythians or Scyths were an Ancient Iranian people of horse-riding nomadic pastoralists who dominated the Pontic-Caspian steppe throughout Classical Antiquity, at the time known as Scythia. By Late Antiquity the closely-related Sarmatians came to dominate the Scyths in this area. Much of the surviving information about the Scyths comes from" is in Strabo not necessarily an equation with the "Sacae The Sakas resided in and migrated over the plains of Eurasia from Eastern Europe to Xinjiang Province, China. The Sakas were Iranian speaking from the Old Persian Period to the Middle Persian Period but later (only after 1000 AD) they were displaced or integrated with Turkic language speakers during the Turkic migration.[citation needed]"). The historiographer further places the Dahae in the approximate vicinity of present-day Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a Turkic country in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkmen SSR). It is bordered by Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the southwest, Uzbekistan to the northeast, Kazakhstan to the northwest, and the Caspian Sea to the west. The name Turkmenistan.

The Dahae, together with the Saka The Sakas resided in and migrated over the plains of Eurasia from Eastern Europe to Xinjiang Province, China. The Sakas were Iranian speaking from the Old Persian Period to the Middle Persian Period but later (only after 1000 AD) they were displaced or integrated with Turkic language speakers during the Turkic migration.[citation needed] tribes, are known to have fought in the Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 BC) was amongst the first Persian Empires that ruled over significant portions of Greater Iran, and followed the Iranian Median Empire. At the height of its power, the Iranian Achaemenid Empire encompassed approximately 7.5 million square kilometers, holds the greatest percentage of armies at the Battle of Gaugamela The Battle of Gaugamela (Γαυγάμηλα) took place in 331 BC between Alexander the Great of Macedonia and Darius III of Achaemenid Persia. The battle, which is also inaccurately called the Battle of Arbela, resulted in a massive victory for the Macedonians and led to the fall of the Persian Empire. Following the fall of the Achaemenid Empire, they joined Alexander of Macedon in his quest to India India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the east, India has a coastline of 7,517. Saka coins from the Seleucid The Seleucid Empire /sə'lusɪd/ was a Hellenistic empire, i.e. a successor state of Alexander the Great's empire. The Seleucid Empire was centered in the near East and at the height of its power included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir and parts of Pakistan. It was a major centre of Hellenistic era are sometimes specifically attributed to the Dahae.

In the third century, a branch of Dahae called the Parni would rise to prominence under their chief Arsaces. They invaded Parthia Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasts, after which the Arsacid Empire is then also known as the 'Parthian Empire', which had just previously declared independence from the Seleucids The Seleucid Empire /sə'lusɪd/ was a Hellenistic empire, i.e. a successor state of Alexander the Great's empire. The Seleucid Empire was centered in the near East and at the height of its power included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir and parts of Pakistan. It was a major centre of Hellenistic, deposed the reigning monarch, and Arsaces crowned himself king. His successors, who all named themselves Arsaces and are thus referred to as the Arsacids, would eventually assert military control over the entire the Iranian plateau. By then, they would be indistinguishable from the Parthians, and would also be called by that name.

While 'Dahae' was preserved in the toponym 'Dahestan'/'Dihistan' - a district "on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea" - "an urban center of the ancient Dahae (if indeed they possessed one) is quite unknown."[2]

The Dahae should not by default be equated with Vedic Sanskrit Vedic Sanskrit is an Old Indic language. It is the language of the Vedas, the oldest shruti texts of Hinduism, compiled over the period of the mid 2nd to mid 1st millennium BC. It is an archaic form of Sanskrit, an early descendant of Proto-Indo-Iranian. It is closely related to Avestan, the oldest preserved Iranian language. Vedic Sanskrit is the's dasa. While the two are etymologically related, there is no directly transferable functional equivalence. In the Vedas, dasa is an ambiguous term that could mean any number of things, including - but not limited to - being a reference to a tribe. Even in this latter case, it only may refer to the same tribe as the Dahae; "man", which is probably the literal meaning of the root of the name, appears in the name of many tribes and individuals. If the Iranic and Indic terms were all - in addition to being etymologically related - also functionally equivalent, it would be enormously difficult to explain how the Avestan tribe that is exalted alongside the Aryans Ārya is an Old Indic and Old Iranian language term that first appeared in the ancient religious literature of the North Indians and of the Iranians. The term is significant to Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Zoroastrians. The term has a variety of positive meanings, usually in spiritual contexts could simultaneously be vilified as the Daxiiu, the Anti-Aryans.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b de Blois 1993, p. 581.
  2. ^ Bivar 1993, p. 27.

Bibliography

Provinces of the Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 BC) was amongst the first Persian Empires that ruled over significant portions of Greater Iran, and followed the Iranian Median Empire. At the height of its power, the Iranian Achaemenid Empire encompassed approximately 7.5 million square kilometers, holds the greatest percentage of (Behistun The Behistun Inscription is a multi-lingual inscription located on Mount Behistun in the Kermanshah Province of Iran, near the town of Jeyhounabad in western Iran, Persepolis Persepolis ( listen Old Persian: Pārsa, Modern Persian: تخت جمشید/پارسه, Takht-e Jamshid or Chehel Minar, UniPers: Taxte Jamšid) was the ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire during the Achaemenid dynasty. Persepolis is situated 70 km northeast of the modern city of Shiraz in the Fars Province of modern Iran. In contemporary, Naqsh-e Rustam, Susa Susa ; also (Biblical Hebrew: שושן‎ (Shushan); also (Greek: Σοῦσα /sousa/) was an ancient city of the Elamite, Persian and Parthian empires of Iran, located about 250 km (150 miles) east of the Tigris River, Susa foundation charter, and Daiva In the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrian canon, the daevas are 'wrong gods' or 'false gods' or 'gods that are rejected'. This meaning is – subject to interpretation – perhaps also evident in the Old Persian 'daiva inscription' of the 5th century BCE. In the Younger Avesta, the daevas are noxious creatures that promote chaos and inscriptions)
Persia Fars (pronounced /fɑːs/ (Persian: فارس, Fârs) (Originally Pars) is one of the 30 provinces of Iran. It is in the south of the country and its center is Shiraz. It has an area of 122,400 km². In 2006, this province had a population of 4.34 million people, of which 61.2% were registered as urban dwellers, 38.1% villagers, and 0.7% nomad · Elam Elam was centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretching from the lowlands of Khuzestan and Ilam Province , as far as Jiroft in Kerman province and Burned City in Zabol[citation needed], as well as a small part of southern Iraq · Babylonia Babylonia was a state in Lower Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged when Hammurabi (fl. ca. 1696 – 1654 BC, short chronology) created an empire out of the territories of the former kingdoms of Sumer and Akkad. The Amorites being a Semitic people, Babylonia adopted the written Semitic Akkadian language for official use, · Media The Medes were an ancient Iranian people who lived in the northwestern portions of present-day Iran. This area is known as Media (also Medea; Greek Μηδία, Old Persian Māda; the English adjective is Median, antiquated also Medean). They entered this region with the first wave of Iranian tribes, in the late second millennium BC (the Bronze Age · Sacae The Sakas resided in and migrated over the plains of Eurasia from Eastern Europe to Xinjiang Province, China. The Sakas were Iranian speaking from the Old Persian Period to the Middle Persian Period but later (only after 1000 AD) they were displaced or integrated with Turkic language speakers during the Turkic migration.[citation needed] · Yauna Yauna or Ionia, was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire. The first mention of the Yauna is at the Behistun inscription. The Ionians were conquered by Cyrus the Great and according to Herodotus, they were placed in the same tax district (the first) as the Pamphylians, Lycians, Magnesians, Aeolians, Milyans, and Carians. The Yauna benefitted from · Skudra · Pamphylia In ancient geography, Pamphylia was the region in the south of Asia Minor, between Lycia and Cilicia, extending from the Mediterranean to Mount Taurus . It was bounded on the north by Pisidia and was therefore a country of small extent, having a coast-line of only about 75 miles with a breadth of about 30 miles. Under the Roman administration the · Paphlagonia Paphlagonia was an ancient area on the Black Sea coast of north central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus to the east, and separated from Phrygia by a prolongation to the east of the Bithynian Olympus. According to Strabo, the river Parthenius formed the western limit of the region, and it was bounded on the east by the · Cappadocia Cappadocia was a satrapy (province) of the Achaemenid Empire used by the Achaemenids to administer the regions beyond the Taurus Mountains and the Euphrates river. The Satrapy belonged to the third tax district and paid an estimated 360 talents a year in tribute. The first satrap (governor) known by name is Ariaramnes, who ruled sometime at the · Caria Caria was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there. The eponymous inhabitants of Caria were known as Carians, and they had arrived in Caria before · Lydia Lydia was a satrapy (province) of the Achaemenid Empire, with Sardis as its capitol. Tabalus, appointed by Cyrus the Great was the first satrap (governor), however, his rule did not last long as the Lydians revolted. The insurrection was suppressed by general Mazares and his successor Harpagus. After Cyrus' death, a man named Oroetus became satrap · Thrace Skudra or Scudra was a satrapy in Europe between 510s BC and 479 BC. It is attested in Persian and Egyptian inscriptions. According to N. G. L. Hammond: · Cyprus This article treats the history of Cyprus in Classical Antiquity, from the 8th century BC to the Middle Ages. The earliest written records relating to Cyprus date to the Middle Bronze Age , see Alasiya · Armenia After the fall of the Median empire In 550 B.C. Cyrus the Great, King of the Persians, took control of the Median empire and conquered Asia Minor and Mesopotamia. Cyrus' son continued his father's campaign in Egypt. Eventually, Armenia became a dependency of Persia · Assyria Athura was a geographical area within the Persian Achaemenid Empire during the period of 539 BC to 330 BC. Although sometimes regarded as a satrapy, Achaemenid royal inscriptions list it as a dahyu, a concept generally interpreted as meaning either a group of people or both a country and its people, without any administrative implication · Cilicia Cilicia was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, with its capitol at Tarsus. It was conquered sometime in the 540's by Cyrus the Great. Cilicia was a vassal, and although it had a vassal king had to pay a tribute of 360 horses and 500 talents of silver, according to Herodotus. The fertile Çukurova(Cilicia) plains were the most important part of · Taxila · Egypt · Gandara Gandhāra is the name of an ancient kingdom (Mahajanapada), located in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau (see Taxila) and on the Kabul River. Its main cities were Purushapura (modern Peshawar), literally meaning City of Man and Takshashila (modern Taxila) · Sattagydia Sattagydia was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, situated east of the Kirthar Mountains on the Indus River, corresponding approximately to southern Indoscythia and to the current Sindh region of Pakistan. It was bounded on the west by Gedrosia, on the north by Arachosia and on the south and east by the Kingdoms of Ancient India · Gedrosia Gedrosia was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, corresponding to modern Pakistani Balochistan. The capitol of the satrapy was Pura which is probably identical to modern Bampûr, forty kilometers west of Irânshahr. Several scholars have argued that the Persian satrapy Maka is identical to Gedrosia (which is a Greek name), due to its similarity to · Carmania Carmania was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire as well as, later on, the Sassanid Empire. The region is equivalent to modern day Kermān Province in Iran. Nothing specific is known about the boundaries of Carmania, which may have fluctuated. It is never mentioned as a separate province in royal Achaemenid inscriptions (it may have been part of · Maka Maka was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire and later a satrapy of the Parthian and Sassanian empires (known as Mazun), corresponding to modern day Bahrain, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates, plus the northern half of Oman. Maka was already a part of the Achaemenid empire before Darius the Great came to power in 522 BC, because it's mentioned in the · Drangiana Drangiana was a historical region of the Achaemenid Empire, now part of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Eastern Iran. The land was inhabited by a Iranian tribe which the Greeks referred to as Sarangians or Drangians. The Drangians were first subdued by another Iranian people, the Medes, and later, by Cyrus the Great. According to Herodotus, during the · Arachosia Arachosia's boundaries varied with successive rulers, but it may have once corresponded to much of present-day southeastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan, perhaps even extending all the way eastwards to the Indus River . Its center lay in what is today the Arghandab District of Afghanistan · Bactria · Parthia · Aria · Chorasmia · Sogdia · Kush · Arabia · Hyrcania · Margu · Dahae · Libya · Sealand · Across the sea · Akaufaka · Quadia
By district (Herodotus) District I · II · III · IV · V · VI · VII · VIII · IX · X · XI · XII · XIII · XIV · XV · XVI · XVII · XVIII · XIX · XX

Categories: History of Turkmenistan | Ancient Iranian peoples | Scythians

 

The above information uses material from Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Some facts may not have been fully verified for accuracy. [Disclaimers]
This page was last archived by our server on Tue Jul 14 19:45:51 2009. [ refresh local cache ]
Displaying this page or its contents does not use any Wikimedia Foundation's resources.
The owners of this site proudly support the Wikimedia Foundation.

[Hide]▼
[Hide]▲