kingdom · South Asia
Indo-Scythians
Origins
The Sakas, Scythian nomads of Central Asia, were driven south by the Yuezhi in the 2nd century BCE. They passed through Sistan and Arachosia into the Indus valley. Around 85 BCE their king Maues established himself in Gandhara and took Taxila from the Indo-Greek Kingdom, founding a Saka kingdom in north-western India.
Rule and society
Indo-Scythian kings called themselves king of kings and copied Indo-Greek coinage, with Greek and Kharoshthi legends. They ruled through satraps, provincial governors who often became hereditary rulers. Under Azes I, whose era beginning in 57 BCE was used in inscriptions, the kingdom spread over Gandhara and the Punjab. They patronised Buddhism, as the Bimaran reliquary and the Mathura Lion Capital show, and Taxila's city at Sirkap flourished.
Decline and legacy
In the early 1st century the Indo-Parthian Kingdom under Gondophares took over Taxila and Gandhara. Saka satraps survived elsewhere, among them the Northern Satraps of Mathura and the Western Satraps, who ruled western India until about 415.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (3)
- Indo-Greek Kingdom was conquered by Indo-Scythians80 BCE – 10 CE
- Apracharajas was a vassal of Indo-Scythians60 BCE – 20 CE
- Northern Satraps was a vassal of Indo-Scythians20 BCE – 30 CE
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Indo-Scythians. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/indo-scythians
- MLA
- “Indo-Scythians.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/indo-scythians. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Indo-Scythians.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/indo-scythians.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Indo-Scythians’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/indo-scythians (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻