Shakas

Also called: Scythians, Sakas, Indo-Scythians · Topic: Post-Mauryan India: Shungas to Kushanas · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 6 "The Age of Reorganisation"; Class 12, Ch 2 "Kings, Farmers and Towns"; Class 12, Ch 3 "Kinship, Caste and Class - Early Societies"

Meaning

The Shakas (also called Scythians or Indo-Scythians) were a people from Central Asia who came into India from the northwest and ruled from the late 2nd century BCE, mainly in western India and Malwa. Their best-known ruler was Mahakshatrapa Rudradaman.

They matter because they show how "outsiders" became Indian rulers. The Brahmanas called them mlechchhas (barbarians or outsiders). Yet Rudradaman left one of the earliest long royal inscriptions in Sanskrit, and in it he spoke like an ideal Indian king [3].

Explanation

Who they were and where they came from

• The Shakas came from Central Asia and entered India through the northwest.
• They ruled there from the late 2nd century BCE.
• Two NCERT chapters give different end-dates for their rule:
• Class 12 Part 1, Ch 2 "Kings, Farmers and Towns" gives c. 100 BCE – 200 CE.

• Class 7 Part 1, Ch 6 "The Age of Reorganisation" takes Shaka rule up to the 5th century CE.

• Brahmanas saw them as mlechchhas (people outside the varna order). NCERT Class 12, Ch 3 "Kinship, Caste and Class" uses them to show that "foreigners" could still rule and win respect.

The Western Kshatrapas: titles and territory

• In Indian literature, the Western Kshatrapas (the satraps who ruled western India) are called the Shakas [4].
• Satrap (Sanskrit kshatrapa) was a Persian title for a provincial governor. The Shakas kept this title even after they became independent kings. The senior ruler called himself Mahakshatrapa (great satrap) [3][4].
• They settled in western India and Malava (Malwa) [4].
• Nahapana of the Kshaharata family ruled a large area around the Gulf of Khambhat (Cambay). Coins and a few inscriptions fix 124 CE as a year in his reign [4].
• Rudradaman held Saurashtra, Kachchh and nearby Malwa [2][3].

Wars with neighbours

• In the first two centuries CE, the Shakas fought the kingdoms of the northern Deccan and the Ganges valley. Their main leaders in these wars were Nahapana, Chashtana and Rudradaman [4].
• Nahapana's rule did not last long:
• The Satavahana king Gautamiputra broke Shaka power.

• This happened late in Shaka year 46, which is 124–125 CE [4].

• The fight was over the land and also over the trade routes of Gujarat and Malwa, which led to the western ports.

Rudradaman and the Sudarshana lake

• Sudarshana was an artificial lake (a reservoir held back by a dam) near Girnar. A local governor built it under the Mauryas.

• The inscription says it was made in the reign of Chandragupta Maurya, and that its water channels (conduits) were added under Ashoka [2].

• What went wrong: a violent storm burst the dam. The inscription names the flood waters of the rivers Suvarna Sikta and Palasini [2].

• What Rudradaman did: he repaired the lake with his own money and put no new tax on his people.
• Why it matters: the king shows his power through a public work. He presents himself as:
• a giver, not a taker, because he raised no fresh tax
• a protector of farmers, because the lake watered their fields
• a user of Sanskrit, not Prakrit. His record is an early example of ornate Sanskrit prose [3]
• a ruler of foreign origin who uses Indian ideas of royal duty.

Coins and the Shaka Samvat

• Western Kshatrapa coins survive in Indian museums. Silver coins are the standard type [5][6].
• NCERT's timeline places trade with Rome and gold coinage in the same window as Shaka rule (c. 100 BCE – 200 CE).
• Shaka Samvat (Shaka era): a calendar that took shape in this period.
• To turn a Shaka year into a CE year, add 78. During January–March, add 79, because the two calendars begin their years on different days.
• India adopted it as the Indian National Calendar in 1957.
• The era carries the Shaka name, but scholars still debate who started it.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: from the late 2nd century BCE. NCERT gives c. 100 BCE – 200 CE (Class 12) and up to the 5th century CE (Class 7). Nahapana is fixed at 124 CE. Gautamiputra's victory came in 124–125 CE [4]. Rudradaman's inscription is dated 150 CE [3].
• Region: the northwest at first, then Gujarat (Saurashtra, Kachchh, around the Gulf of Khambhat) and Malwa [2][4].
• Key people: Nahapana (Kshaharata family), Chashtana, Rudradaman (Mahakshatrapa). Their rival was Gautamiputra Satavahana [4].
• Main evidence: the Junagadh (Girnar) rock inscription of Rudradaman
• It is a long Sanskrit rock inscription from about the 2nd century CE, dated 150 CE [3].
• It is cut on a granite boulder on the slope of the hill called Girinagara / Urjayata, in the Girnar Hills, near Junagadh, Gujarat [2].
• The same rock carries Ashoka's rock edicts. It also carries a c. 5th-century CE inscription of the Gupta ruler Skandagupta, who repaired the lake again [2].

• The site is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India as the Ashokan Rock Edicts, Junagadh [2].

• Other evidence: coins and a few inscriptions of Nahapana [4]; Western Kshatrapa silver coins in museums [5][6].

Don't confuse with

• Kushanas: also Central Asian rulers of the post-Mauryan age, but they held the northwest and north India. The Shakas of the exam (the Western Kshatrapas) held Gujarat and Malwa [4].
• Satavahanas: the Deccan dynasty that fought the Shakas. Gautamiputra Satavahana defeated Nahapana's line in 124–125 CE [4]. The Satavahanas were the Shakas' rivals, not their allies.
• Builders of the Sudarshana lake vs its repairers: the lake was built under the Mauryas, in Chandragupta's reign, with conduits under Ashoka. Rudradaman only repaired it, and Skandagupta repaired it again [2].
• Language of the Girnar inscriptions: Ashoka's edicts on the rock are in Prakrit. Rudradaman's record is in Sanskrit [3].

Prelims Hooks

• Rudradaman, a Shaka ruler with the title Mahakshatrapa, issued the Junagadh (Girnar) inscription in Sanskrit, dated 150 CE [3].
• Sudarshana lake, at Girnar / Junagadh in Gujarat, appears under three dynasties in this order: built under Chandragupta Maurya (conduits under Ashoka) → repaired by Rudradaman → repaired again by Skandagupta (Gupta) [2].
• Rivers named in the inscription: Suvarna Sikta and Palasini [2]. Rudradaman paid for the repair from his own treasury, with no new tax.
• Nahapana belonged to the Kshaharata family. Gautamiputra Satavahana defeated the Shakas in Shaka year 46 = 124–125 CE [4].
• Shaka Samvat = Gregorian year minus 78 (minus 79 in January–March). It was adopted as the Indian National Calendar in 1957.
• Trap: "Western Kshatrapas" and "Shakas" refer to the same group in Indian literature. "Kshatrapa" is a Persian title meaning provincial governor [4].

Mains Points

• Outsiders who became Indian kings: Brahmanas called the Shakas mlechchhas. Even so, Rudradaman used Sanskrit, Indian royal titles and the Indian idea of the caring king [3][4].
• This weakens the view that "foreign" post-Mauryan dynasties stayed apart from Indian society.

• The Indo-Greeks and Kushanas show the same pattern.

• A new idea of kingship, written in stone: Rudradaman claims to rule well because he repaired an irrigation work without taxing anyone.

• Compare this with Ashoka's dhamma (moral rules for all people) on the same rock. Ashoka speaks of moral duty. Rudradaman speaks of money spent and water restored.

• Skandagupta's later repair shows that looking after irrigation was a duty that passed from Maurya → Shaka → Gupta across about 700 years [2].

• Epigraphy and changing dates: one boulder records three dynasties, which shows how epigraphy (the study of inscriptions) fills gaps that texts leave [2].

• The two NCERT end-dates for Shaka rule (200 CE and the 5th century CE) show that early Indian dates rest on coins and inscriptions. They change as scholars read that evidence again.
• The Shaka hold on Gujarat–Malwa trade routes and their silver coinage show a money-using economy linked to western ports [5][6].

Related concepts

• Western Kshatrapas
• Nahapana
• Rudradaman
• Junagadh rock inscription
• Sudarshana lake

Read more

• Shakas and the Western Satraps