Massagetae

Many Greek historians recorded that the Massagetae queen Tomyris "defeated and killed" Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II of Persia), founder of the Achaemenid Empire, during his invasion and attempted conquest of her country. Herodotus, who lived from approximately 484 to 425 BC, is the earliest of the classical writers to give an account of this conflict, writing almost one hundred years later, and Tomyris's history was well known and became legendary. Strabo, Polyaenus, Cassiodorus, and Jordanes also wrote of Tomyris, in De origine actibusque Getarum ("The origin and deeds of the Goths/Getae").[14]

Cyrus and Croesus offered the Massagetae a treaty of peace via the marriage of Cyrus to the Massagetae queen Tomyris. Tomyris turned down the offer, and sent a strongly-worded letter to Cyrus warning him against any advancement. However, in an attempt to bring peace and order to the northern territories of the growing Persian empire, Cyrus made an advance towards Jaxartes with the Persian army in circa 530 B.C.E. Following the advice of Croesus, Cyrus left behind a small group of Persians and set up a banquet, intending for the Massagetians to attack and slaughter this small pocket of Persian resistance and gorge themselves on the food and wine. Among the Massagetians was Tomyris' son and the general of her army, Spargapises, who ate and drank himself to inebriation and satiation.[15][16]

According to the accounts of Greek historians, Cyrus was victorious in his initial assault on the Massagetae. His advisers suggested laying a trap for the pursuing Scythians: the Persians left behind them an apparently abandoned camp, containing a rich supply of wine. The pastoral Scythians were not used to drinking wine—"their favored intoxicants were Hasheesh with fermented mare's milk"[17]—and they drank themselves into a stupor (with the alcohol deliberately left behind by Cyrus). The Persians returned while their opponents were incapacitated and attacked the Massagetian force, defeating the Massagetae forces, and capturing Spargapises. Of the one third of the Massagetae forces that fought, there were more captured than killed.

When Spargapises realized his army's blunder and his own mistake, he begged Cyrus for freedom. Cyrus responded by ordering that he should be set free. Once free, Spargapises committed suicide by falling on his own sword in despair at his humiliation and defeat.[18][19][15] Spargapises's behavior, including his intoxication, suicide, and lack of maturity when compared to that of Cyrus the Great, has led some scholars to term him adulescentulum filium.[19]

Tomyris sent a message to Cyrus denouncing his treachery, and with all her forces, challenged him to a second battle. In the fight that ensued, the Massagetae got the upper hand, and the Persians were defeated with high casualties. According to Herodotus, Cyrus was killed and Tomyris had his corpse beheaded and then crucified,[20] and shoved his head into a wineskin filled with human blood. She was reportedly quoted as saying, "I warned you that I would quench your thirst for blood, and so I shall"[21][22] (Hdt 1.214)[18] Xenophon, on the other hand, says that Cyrus died peacefully in his bed,[23] and a number of other sources report different causes of death.

Queen Tomyris of the Massagetae receiving the head of Cyrus the Great. 1670-1672 painting.

Herodotus stated the Massagetae were a great and warlike nation, dwelling beyond the river Araxes and that they are regarded as a Scythian race.[25]

Ammianus Marcellinus considered the Alans to be the former Massagetae.[26] At the close of the 4th century CE, Claudian (the court poet of Emperor Honorius and Stilicho) wrote of Alans and Massagetae in the same breath: "the Massagetes who cruelly wound their horses that they may drink their blood, the Alans who break the ice and drink the waters of Maeotis' lake" (In Rufinem).

Procopius writes in History of the Wars Book III: The Vandalic War:[27] "the Massagetae whom they now call Huns" (XI. 37.), "there was a certain man among the Massagetae, well gifted with courage and strength of body, the leader of a few men; this man had the privilege handed down from his fathers and ancestors to be the first in all the Hunnic armies to attack the enemy" (XVIII. 54.).

Queen Tomyris of the Massagetae, receiving the head of Cyrus the Great, circa 530 BCE (18th century painting).

Evagrius Scholasticus (Ecclesiastical History. Book 3. Ch. II.): "and in Thrace, by the inroads of the Huns, formerly known by the name of Massagetae, who crossed the Ister without opposition".[28]

A 9th century work by Rabanus Maurus, De Universo, states: "The Massagetae are in origin from the tribe of the Scythians, and are called Massagetae, as if heavy, that is, strong Getae."[29][30] In Central Asian languages such as Middle Persian and Avestan, the prefix massa means "great", "heavy", or "strong".[31]

Some authors, such as Alexander Cunningham, James P. Mallory, Victor H. Mair, and Edgar Knobloch have proposed relating the Massagetae to the Gutians of 2000 BC Mesopotamia, and/or a people known in ancient China as the "Da Yuezhi" or "Great Yuezhi" (who founded the Kushan Empire in South Asia). Mallory and Mair suggest that Da Yuezhi may at one time have been pronounced d'ad-ngiwat-tieg, connecting them to the Massagetae.[32][33][34] These theories are not widely accepted, however.

Many scholars have suggested that the Massagetae were related to the Getae of ancient Eastern Europe.[35]

Tadeusz Sulimirski notes that the Sacae also invaded parts of Northern India.[36] Weer Rajendra Rishi, an Indian linguist[37] has identified linguistic affinities between Indian and Central Asian languages, which further lends credence to the possibility of historical Sacae influence in Northern India.[31][36]

According to Guive Mirfendereski at the Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies (CAIS), the Massagetae are synonymous with the Sakā haumavargā of South Asian historiography.

Rüdiger Schmitt notes Ptolemy's conflicting reports concerning the Massagetae.[3] First, localizing them near Margiana, then later Ptolemy calls them a tribe of the Saka in the vicinity of the Hindu Kush and Karakorum.[3] Schmitt also notes that Byzantine authors used the word "Massagetae" as an antiquated term for Huns, Turks, Tatars and other related peoples, "what has no relevance, however, for ancient times".[3]