Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

scythians in central asia
There is, then, no small degree of indecision and uncertainty over nomenclature.
The simplest solution would be to regard all the nomads of Central Asia as belonging
to a Scythian continuum divided into a number of individually named allegiance
groups. The names of some are recorded in the Greek and Persian texts but others, like
the groups recognized from the archaeological evidence in eastern Kazakhstan and
the Altai Mountains, are anonymous. In what follows we will use Sakā for the people
who confronted the Persians, reverting to Asian Scythians when other names fail.
Mountains, Deserts, and Steppe
The Kazakh steppe runs continuously across the centre of Eurasia from the southern
extremity of the Urals to the confusion of mountains, fertile valleys, and upland plateaus
created by the Altai and Sayan ranges. The steppe grades southwards through a
zone of semi-desert steppe to a vast triangle of desert—the Muyunkum, Kyzylkum,
and Karakum—within which lie the Caspian and Aral Sea (or what is left of it) and
a number of lakes, of which Lake Balkhash is the largest. The desert is crossed by
two great rivers flowing from the Pamir Mountains, the Amu Darya (Oxus) and the
Syr Darya (Jaxartes). Bordering the desert on the south and south-east sides are discontinuous
mountain ranges—the Kopet Dag, Zeravshan Talas Alata, Tian Shan,
Dzhungar, and Turbayatai—forming an impressive but by no means impenetrable
barrier before the Altai are reached.
The southern part of the desert zone, well provided with oases and including the
valley of the Amu Darya, had been conquered by the Persians in the middle of the
sixth century and brought within the Achaemenid empire to become the provinces
of Bactria, Margiana, Sogdiana, and Chorasmia. Beyond, to the north and west, lay
the territory of the Sakā—an uncompromising expanse of semi-desert eventually
giving way to the more congenial steppe further north.
The Persians and the Sakā: A Symbiosis
The northern frontier of Achaemenid territory was not precisely delineated by a frontier
fortification but along the line were a number of garrison towns of which the best
known (from texts) is Cyropolis, said to have been founded by Cyrus the Great (559–
530 bc). Although the site has not been positively identified, the most convincing possibility
is modern Kurkath near the Syr Darya. Garrison towns such as this performed
many functions. Above all, they were a reminder of the authority of the Persians, but
they also served to articulate interactions between the nomads and the empire by providing
frontier markets and places where natives could be recruited to serve in the
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