View source for Dahae

{{Short description|Ancient Iranian people of Central Asia}}
{{Infobox tribe
| name       = Dahae
| local name = Daae
| type       = People
| image      = Confederaţia.Dahae.jpg
| image_size = 
| alt        =
| caption    = 
| ethnicity  = 
| location   = present-day west and northwest Turkmenistan, far southwest Kazakhstan and far west Uzbekistan (most of the [[Ustyurt Plateau]])

| varna      =
| descended  = 
| population = 
| demonym    = 
| branches   = [[Parni]], [[Xanthii]] and [[Pissuri]]
| language   = 
| religion   = 
| surnames   =
}}
{{History of Iran}}
The '''Dahae''', also known as the '''Daae''', '''Dahas''' or '''Dahaeans''' ({{langx|peo|𐎭𐏃𐎠|translit=Dahā}}; {{langx|grc|Δαοι|translit=Daoi}}; {{lang|grc|Δααι}}, {{Transliteration|grc|Daai}}; {{lang|grc|Δαι}}, {{Transliteration|grc|Dai}}; {{lang|grc|Δασαι}}, {{Transliteration|grc|Dasai}}; {{langx|la|Dahae}}; {{lang-zh|t=大益|p=Dàyì}};{{sfn|Yu|2004|p=19}} [[Persian language|Persian]]: {{lang|fa|{{script|fa-Arab|داه‍ان}}}} {{Transliteration|fa|Dāhān}}) were an [[Ancient Iranian peoples|ancient Eastern Iranian]] [[nomad]]ic [[tribal]]  [[confederation]], who inhabited the [[steppe]]s of [[Central Asia]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Daryaee |first=Touraj |author-link=Touraj Daryaee |year=2011 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Iranian History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K-poAgAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-199-73215-9 |quote=Our knowledge of the making of the Parthian state and of its chronology is full of gaps. We know that it was started by the nomadic tribe of Parni (or Aparni), belonging to the Dahae group of Iranian peoples.}}</ref>

==Identification==
The Dahae may have been the {{Transliteration|ae|Dāha-}} ({{lang|ae|{{script|Avst|𐬛𐬁𐬵𐬀}}}}) or {{Transliteration|ae|Dåŋha-}} ({{lang|ae|{{script|Avst|𐬛𐬂𐬢𐬵𐬀}}}}) people mentioned in the [[Yasht|Yašt]]s as one of the five peoples following the [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] religion, along with the {{Transliteration|ae|Aⁱriia-}} ({{lang|ae|{{script|Avst|𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀}}}}), {{Transliteration|ae|Tūⁱriia-}} ({{lang|ae|{{script|Avst|𐬙𐬏𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀}}}}), [[Sauromatian culture|{{Transliteration|ae|Saⁱrima-}}]] ({{lang|ae|{{script|Avst|𐬯𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬨𐬀}}}}), and {{Transliteration|ae|Sāinu-}} ({{lang|ae|{{script|Avst|𐬯𐬁𐬌𐬥𐬎}}}}), although this identification is uncertain.{{sfn|de Blois|Vogelsang|1993}}

The Iranologist [[János Harmatta]] has identified the Dahā with the [[Massagetae]]/[[Massagetae|Sakā tigraxaudā]] based on ancient Graeco-Roman authors' mention of the {{Transliteration|peo|Sakā tigraxaudā}} as living between the [[Amu Darya]] and [[Syr Darya]] rivers, where [[Arrian]] also located the Massagetae and the Dahae.<ref name="Harmatta">{{cite journal |last=Harmatta |first=János |date=1999 |title=Alexander the Great in Central Asia |url=https://akjournals.com/view/journals/068/39/1-4/article-p129.xml |journal=Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae |volume=39 |issue= 1–4|pages=129–136 |doi=10.1556/aant.39.1999.1-4.11 |s2cid=162246561 |access-date=July 4, 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref>  The scholars A. Abetekov and H. Yusupov have also suggested that the {{Transliteration|xsc|Dahā}} were a constituent tribe of the Massagetae.{{sfn|Abetekov|Yusupov|1994}}

The scholar Y. A. Zadneprovskiy has instead suggested that the Dahae were descendants of the Massagetae.<ref name="Zadneprovskiy">{{cite book |editor-last1=Dani |editor-first1=Ahmad Hasan |editor-link1=Ahmad Hasan Dani |editor-last2=Harmatta |editor-first2=János |editor-link2=János Harmatta | editor-last3=Puri |editor-first3=Baij Nath |editor-link3=Baij Nath Puri |editor-last4=Etemadi |editor-first4=G. F. |editor-last5=Bosworth |editor-first5=Clifford Edmund |editor-link5=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |last=Zadneprovskiy |first=Y. A. |author-link= |date=1994 |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |chapter=The Nomads of Northern Central Asia After the Invansion of Alexander |url= |location=[[Paris]], [[France]] |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |pages=448–463 |isbn=978-9-231-02846-5 |quote=The middle of the third century b.c. saw the rise to power of a group of tribes consisting of the Parni (Aparni) and the Dahae, descendants of the Massagetae of the Aral Sea region. }}</ref>

The scholar Marek Jan Olbrycht, who has also identified the Massagetae with the {{Transliteration|peo|Sakā tigraxaudā}},<ref>{{cite book |last=Olbrycht |first=Marek Jan |date=2000 |title=Collectanea Celto-Asiatica Cracoviensia |chapter=Remarks on the Presence of Iranian Peoples in Europe and Their Asiatic Relations |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/11934986 |location=[[Kraków]] |publisher=[[:pl:Księgarnia Akademicka|Księgarnia Akademicka]] |pages=101–104 |isbn=978-8-371-88337-8 }}</ref> however considers the {{Transliteration|peo|Dahā}} as being a separate group from the Saka to which the Massagetae/{{Transliteration|peo|Sakā tigraxaudā}} belonged.<ref>{{cite book |last=Olbrycht |first=Marek Jan |author-link= |date=2021 |title=Early Arsakid Parthia (ca. 250-165 B.C.): At the Crossroads of Iranian, Hellenistic, and Central Asian History |url= |location=[[Leiden]], [[Netherlands]] ; [[Boston]], [[United States]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |page=22 |isbn=978-9-004-46076-8 |quote=Apparently the Dahai represented an entity not identical with the other better known groups of the Sakai, i.e. the Sakai (Sakā) Tigrakhaudā (Massagetai, roaming in Turkmenistan), and Sakai (Sakā) Haumavargā (in Transoxania and beyond the Syr Daryā).}}</ref>

==Location==
The Dahae initially lived in the north-eastern part of the [[Persians|Persian]] [[Achaemenid Empire]], in the arid steppes of the [[Karakum Desert]] near [[Margiana]], alongside the [[Saka]] groups and the [[Sogdia]]ns and [[Khwarazm|Chorasmians]],{{sfn|de Blois|Vogelsang|1993}} and immediately to the north of [[Hyrcania]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Boardman |editor-first1=John |editor-link1=John Boardman (art historian) |editor-last2=Hammond |editor-first2=N. G. L. |editor-link2=N. G. L. Hammond |editor-last3=Lewis |editor-first3=D. M. |editor-link3=David Malcolm Lewis |editor-last4=Ostwald |editor-first4=M. |editor-link4=Martin Ostwald |last=Francfort |first=Henri-Paul |author-link=Henri-Paul Francfort |date=1988 |title=The Cambridge Ancient History |volume=4 |chapter=Central Asia and Eastern Iran |location=[[Cambridge]], [[United Kingdom]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=173 |isbn=978-0-521-22804-6 |quote=The Dahas of Xerxes' 'Daiva' inscription (XPh) are perhaps to be situated to the north of Hyrcania where the Dahas mentioned by more recent writers are later to be found }}</ref>

During late 4th and early 3rd centuries BCE, the Dahae, and especially their constituent tribe of the [[Parni]], had settled along the southern and southwestern fringes of the Karakum desert, and by the mid-3rd century BCE they had moved west and had settled along the southeastern shores of the [[Caspian Sea]], in the lands to the north of [[Hyrcania]]. Two other Dahae tribes, the Xanthioi and the Pissouroi, lived further east till the regions to the north of Areia.{{sfn|de Blois|Vogelsang|1993}}

==Name==
The name of the Dahae, attested in the [[Old Persian]] form {{Transliteration|peo|Dahā}}, is derived from a [[Saka language]] name meaning "man", based on the common practice among various peoples of calling themselves "man" in their own languages. This term is attested in the Khotanese form {{Transliteration|kho|daha}}.{{sfn|de Blois|Vogelsang|1993}} The Dahae were a nomadic people, and no known sedentary settlement can be attributed to them.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bivar |first=A. D. H. |author-link=David Bivar |date=1983 |title=The Cambridge History of Iran |volume=3.1. |chapter=The Political History of Iran under the Arsacids |url= |location=[[Cambridge]], [[United Kingdom]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=27 |isbn=978-0-521-20092-9 }}</ref>

The scholar [[David Gordon White]] has instead suggested that the name of the Dahae meant "stranglers," and was derived from the [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] [[Proto-Indo-European root|root]] {{lang|ine-x-proto|dʰau}}, from which he also derived the name of the [[Dacians]].<ref>{{cite book |last=White |first=David Gordon |author-link=David Gordon White |date=1991 |title=Myths of the Dog-Man |url= |location= |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |page=239 |isbn=}}</ref>

==History==
A splinter {{Transliteration|peo|Dahā}} might possibly have migrated at an early date across the [[Iranian plateau]] and joined the [[Persians|Persian people]] who lived in its southwestern part, with the Greek historian [[Herodotus]] later referring to the {{Transliteration|grc|Daoi}} as one of the nomadic Persian tribes, along with the [[Amardi|Mardians]], Dropicans, and [[Sagartians]], although this identification is uncertain.{{sfn|de Blois|Vogelsang|1993}}

The {{Transliteration|peo|Dahā}} were in control of the traffic between [[Khwarezm|Chorasmia]] in the north and [[Parthia]] and [[Hyrcania]] in the south.{{sfn|de Blois|Vogelsang|1993}}

According to the Babylonian historian [[Berossus]], the founder of the Persian [[Achaemenid Empire]], [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]], died fighting against the Dahae.<ref name="Dandamayev">{{cite book |last=Dandamaev |first=M. A. |author-link=Muhammad Dandamayev |date=1989 |title=A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire |url= |location=[[Leiden]], [[Netherlands]] ; [[New York City]], [[United States]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |page=67 |isbn=978-9-004-09172-6 }}</ref> According to the Iranologist [[Muhammad Dandamayev]], Berossus identified the Dahae rather than the Massagetae as Cyrus's killers because they had replaced the Massagetae as the most famous nomadic tribe of Central Asia long before Berossus's time,{{sfn|Dandamayev|1994}}<ref name="Dandamayev"/> although some scholars identified the Dahae as being identical with the Massagetae or as one of their sub-groups.<ref name="Harmatta"/>{{sfn|Abetekov|Yusupov|1994}}<ref name="Zadneprovskiy"/>

The oldest certain recorded mention of the {{Transliteration|peo|Dahā}} is in the [[Daiva Inscription]] of the Achaemenid king [[Xerxes I]] along with the {{Transliteration|peo|Sakā Haumavargā}} and the {{Transliteration|sa|Sakā tigraxaudā}}.{{sfn|de Blois|Vogelsang|1993}}

The {{Transliteration|peo|Dahā}} fought within the left wing of the Achaemenid army along with the Bactrians and the Saka against [[Alexander the Great]] at [[Battle of Gaugamela|Gaugamela]] in 331 BCE.{{sfn|de Blois|Vogelsang|1993}}

The Dahae may have invaded Margiana and [[Aria (region)|Areia]] around 300 BCE, and during this invasion they destroyed the towns of Alexandreia and Heracleia located in these respective two countries.{{sfn|de Blois|Vogelsang|1993}}

During late 4th and early 3rd centuries BCE, the Dahae, and especially their constituent tribe of the [[Parni]], had settled along the southern and southwestern fringes of the Karakum desert, and by the mid-3rd century BCE they had moved west and had settled along the southeastern shores of the [[Caspian Sea]], in the lands to the north of Hyrcania. Two other Dahae tribes, the Xanthioi and the Pissouroi, lived further east till the regions to the north of Areia.{{sfn|de Blois|Vogelsang|1993}}

During the middle of the 3rd century itself, the Parni had moved into [[Hyrcania]], where they lived along the Ochus river. Their leader, [[Arsaces I of Parthia|Arsaces]], would found the [[Parthian Empire]].{{sfn|de Blois|Vogelsang|1993}}

During the 2nd century BCE, both the Dahae ({{lang|zh|大益}} {{Transliteration|zh|Dayi}}) who still lived in the steppes and the Parthian Empire ({{lang|zh|安息}} {{Transliteration|zh|Anxi}}), as well as the Chorasmians ({{lang|zh|驩潛}} {{Transliteration|zh|Huanqian}}), and Sogdians ({{lang|zh|蘇薤}} {{Transliteration|zh|Suxie}}) sent embassies to the [[Emperor Wu of Han|Emperor Wu]] of the [[Han dynasty]] which was ruling [[China]].{{sfn|Yu|2004|p=19}}

Interesting fact that currently lands of ancient Dahae are known as [[Mangystau Region]] of [[Kazakhstan]] and are inhabited by Adai- one of [[Kazakhs|Kazakh]] tribes ([[Jüz]]).

===Legacy===
The lands to the north of Hyrcania where the Dahae had settled in the 3rd century BCE became known as [[Dehestan (disambiguation)|{{Transliteration|fa|Dehestān}}]] ({{lang|fa|{{script|fa-Arab|دَهستان}}}}) and {{Transliteration|fa|Dahistān}} ({{lang|fa|{{script|fa-Arab|داهستان}}}}) after them.{{sfn|de Blois|Vogelsang|1993}}

== See also ==
*[[Massagetae]]
*[[Parthian Empire]]
*[[Saka]]
*[[Scythian cultures]]

== References ==
{{reflist|3}}

== Sources ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Dani |editor-first1=Ahmad Hasan |editor-link1=Ahmad Hasan Dani |editor-last2=Harmatta |editor-first2=János |editor-link2=János Harmatta | editor-last3=Puri |editor-first3=Baij Nath |editor-link3=Baij Nath Puri |editor-last4=Etemadi |editor-first4=G. F. |editor-last5=Bosworth |editor-first5=Clifford Edmund |editor-link5=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |last1=Abetekov |first1=A. |author-link1=:ky:Абетеков, Асан Кемелович |last2=Yusupov |first2=H. |date=1994 |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |chapter=Ancient Iranian Nomads in Western Central Asia |url= |location=[[Paris]], [[France]] |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |pages=24–34 |isbn=978-9-231-02846-5 }}
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Dani |editor-first1=Ahmad Hasan |editor-link1=Ahmad Hasan Dani |editor-last2=Harmatta |editor-first2=János |editor-link2=János Harmatta |editor-last3=Puri |editor-first3=Baij Nath |editor-link3=Baij Nath Puri |editor-last4=Etemadi |editor-first4=G. F. |editor-last5=Bosworth |editor-first5=Clifford Edmund |editor-link5=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |last=Dandamayev |first=M. A. |author-link=Muhammad Dandamayev |date=1994 |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |chapter=Media and Achaemenid Iran |volume=2 |location=Paris |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |pages=35–64 |isbn=978-9-231-02846-5 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |title=Dahae |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |date=1993 |last1=de Blois |first1=François |last2=Vogelsang |first2=Willem |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation]]; [[Brill Publishers]] |location=[[New York City]], [[United States]] |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/dahae |url-access=<!--WP:URLACCESS--> }}
* {{cite book |last=Yu |first=Taishan |date=2004 |title=A History of the Relationship Between the Western & Eastern Han, Wei, Jin, Northern & Southern Dynasties and the Western Regions |url=http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp131_chinese_dynasties_western_region.pdf |series=[[Sino-Platonic Papers]] |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania]] |location=[[Philadelphia]], [[United States]] |volume=131 |access-date=2022-07-05 }}
{{refend}}

{{Achaemenid Provinces}}
{{Sassanid Provinces}}
{{Parthian Empire}}

[[Category:Dahae| ]]
[[Category:Iranian nomads]]
[[Category:Historical Iranian peoples]]
[[Category:History of Turkmenistan]]