Sakas, Kushans, and Hephthalites: the sources in Greek, Latin, Persian, and Chinese
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Sino-Platonic Papers is pleased to announce the publication of its three-hundred-and-sixty-sixth issue:
“Relations between Persia and Central Asia in Antiquity: An Examination of the Written Sources,” by Yu Taishan. (pdf)
PREFACE
In this paper, “Persia” refers to the Achaemenid Empire, the Parthian Empire, and the Sassanian Empire, and “Central Asia” refers to roughly the area in which the “five states of Central Asian” (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan) and Afghanistan are today.
During this period, the interconnections between the Sakas, Kushans, and Hephthalites were undoubtedly the focus of the relationship between Persia and Central Asia, and this work will investigate these groups from the perspective of Persia. The problems involving explorations of the history of the Sakas, Kushans, and Hephthalites addressed earlier are briefly discussed, and the issues touched upon in previous works are dealt with in more detail here. Other questions concerning ties between Persia and Central Asia are also scrutinized.
The rise of the Turks marked a new era in the history of Central Asia, which is alluded to only briefly at the end of this work.
There is a complex relationship between Persia and ancient Central Asia. These reading notes are intended mainly to fill the gaps in the author’s own knowledge in this regard and also incidentally to correct some errors in previous relevant treatises.
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Selected readings
- "Zoroastrianism and Mazdaism: Evidence from Sogdian and Pahlavi" (1/15/21)
- "Zoroastrianism between Iranic and Sinitic" (11/18/22)
- "The geographical, archeological, genetic, and linguistic origins of Tocharian" (7/14/20)
Key words: Eastern Central Asia (ECA); Tarim Basin; Dzungarian Basin; Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) Anatolian; Proto-Indo-European; “standard average Indo-European” (“SAIE”); Hittite; Iranian; Sogdian; Khotanese; Bactrian; Avestan; Saka; Indo-Aryan; Mitanni; Assyrian; Indo-Hittite; Fertile Crescent: Yamnaya; Sintashta; Andronovo; Afanasievo; Minusinsk Basin; Qäwrighul; genetics; Yanqi Basin; Ili Valley; Yuezhi; Xiongnu; Turfan Basin; stockbreeding; barley cultivation; millet; irrigation technology; donkey; camel; brick; arrow; irrigation technology; Russian; Kazakhstan; Indo-Iranian; Sanskrit; Massagetae