The Shakas (called Scythians by the Greeks), who ruled parts of north-western and western India, originally belonged to:

The Shakas, known to the Greeks as Scythians, were nomadic tribes who originally belonged to Central Asia.

About the Shakas:

• They were Iranian-speaking nomadic peoples of the steppes of Central Asia.
• In the 2nd century BCE, they were pushed out of their homeland by the Yuezhi (who later formed the Kushana empire).
• They moved into Bactria and Parthia, and then into the north-western parts of the Indian subcontinent, around the 1st century BCE.
• They replaced the Indo-Greeks in many areas.

Branches of the Shakas in India:

• NCERT notes that the Shakas, who came from Central Asia, set up kingdoms in the north-western and western parts of the subcontinent; some of these kingdoms lasted for several hundred years.
• There were five main branches of the Shakas, with centres at Taxila, Mathura, Kapisa (Afghanistan), Nashik (Maharashtra) and Ujjain (Malwa).
• The Shakas of western India were called "Western Kshatrapas" (Satraps).

Important Shaka rulers:

• Maues (Moga): one of the earliest Shaka rulers in the north-west.
• Nahapana: a ruler of western India (Kshaharata dynasty), who was defeated by the Satavahana king Gautamiputra Satakarni.

Rudradaman I (about 130-150 CE): the most famous Shaka ruler of western India (Kardamaka dynasty), known for his Junagadh inscription in Sanskrit, and for repairing an ancient reservoir; he defeated the Satavahanas twice.

The end of the Shakas:

The Western Kshatrapas were finally defeated by the Gupta ruler Chandragupta II in the late 4th or early 5th century CE; he took the title "Shakari" (destroyer of the Shakas).

Legacy:

• The Shakas adopted Indian culture, names and religions.
• Their use of Sanskrit in inscriptions (such as Rudradaman's) helped make Sanskrit the language of royal inscriptions.
• An era beginning in 78 CE is associated with them.
• The word "Shaka" also appears in "Shakadvipa" (land of the Shakas), mentioned in the Puranas.

Why not the other options?

• ✗The Parthians (Pahlavas) came from Persia (Iran).
• ✗The Kushanas (Yuezhi) came from the borders of China.
• ✗Good to know
• ✗The Indo-Greeks came from Bactria and were of Greek origin.