Sythia & Sakastan
Saka the Persian term, while Scythian the Greek term -Indo-Europeans who spoke a language in the Northern branch of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian. In Akkadian, the Saka were called the Ashkuza and were closely associated with the Gimirri, who were the Cimmerians known to the ancient Greeks. And other ethnic group formerly speaking the Northern Iranian language groups today was found in Kazakhstan. The Sakas were also one of several tribes that conquered India from the northwest, where they established the rule of the Indo-Scythians.
Sistan and Baluchestan is one of the 30 provinces of Iran and the southern coasts of the province along the Sea of Oman. In the south and west of Sistan and Baluchestan, the people are mostly Balochi and speak the Baluchi language. The name Baluchestan means "Land of the Balochi" in Farsi. Similarly, the Farsi name Sistan comes from the Old Persian Sakastana, meaning "Land of the Saka". In the epigraphs of Bistoon and Persepolis, Sistan is mentioned as one of the eastern territories of Darius I of Persia. The name Sistan is derived from Saka (Saga, or Sakastan), one of the Aryan tribes that had taken control over this area in the yeare 128 BCE. From the Sassanid period till the early Islamic period, Sistan flourished considerably. During the reign of the second caliph of Islam, this territory was conquered by the Arabs and an Arab commander was assigned as governor. In 916 CE, Baluchestan was conquered by the Daylamids and thereafter the Seljuqids, when it became a part of Kerman.
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The Buwayhids or Buyyids or Al-i Buyeh, were a Shi'ite tribal confederation from Daylaman, a region on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea which gradually converted to a heretical sect of Shi'a Islam in the first millenium CE. In classical antiquity among Greeks and Persians, the Caspian Sea was called the Hyrcanian Ocean and is divided into two sectors (Persian and Russian). In Persian antiquity, as well as in modern Iran, it is known as the Mazandaran Sea. In Turkic speaking countries it is known as the Khazar Sea since it may be possible that the Khazaran people were their ancestors. The word Caspian is derived from the name of the Caspi, an ancient people that lived to the west of the sea in Transcaucasia. |
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In pre-Islamic times they had served as mercenaries for the Sasanian kings of Iran, but were independent from their rule. They were considered a formidable military force, especially because of their ability as foot soldiers. Succession of power was hereditary, with fathers dividing their land among their sons. During the time of Harun al-Rashid, the Alid people sought refuge among them.