Iranian nomads

Pashtuns are an Iranian ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically referred to as Afghans even into the 1970s, although the constitution of 1923 began the use of 'Afghans' as a demonym for all citizens of the Kingdom, regardless of their ethnic group, to create an Afghan national identity.

The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (), also known as the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern Iranic equestrian nomadic people who migrated during the 9th to 8th centuries BC from Central Asia to the Pontic Steppe in modern-day Ukraine and Southern Russia, where they remained until the 3rd century BC.

empire in Central and South Asia (30–375 AD)

ethnic group native to South and Central Asia

The Alans () were an ancient and medieval Iranic nomadic pastoral people who migrated to what is today the North Caucasus; some continued on to Europe and later North Africa. They are generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the Alans with the Central Asian Yancai of Chinese sources and with the Aorsi of Roman sources. Having migrated westwards and becoming dominant among the Sarmatians on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, the Alans are mentioned by Roman sources in the . At that time they had settled in the region north of

The Cimmerians were an ancient Eastern Iranic equestrian nomadic people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe, part of whom subsequently migrated into West Asia. Although the Cimmerians were culturally Scythian, they were ethnically distinct from the Scythians proper, to whom the Cimmerians were related and who displaced and replaced the Cimmerians.

thumb|200px|Cataphract-style parade-armour of a Saka royal, also known as "The Golden Warrior", from the [[Issyk kurgan, a historical burial site near Almaty, Kazakhstan, 400–200 BC.]]

former country

ethnic group

ecoregion of grasslands that encompass most of the western segment of the Eurasian steppe

Iranian tribe

The Dahae, also known as the Daae, Dahas or Dahaeans (; ; , ; , ; , ; ; ; Persian: ) were an ancient Eastern Iranian nomadic tribal confederation, who inhabited the steppes of Central Asia.

thumb|upright=1.5|The Roman empire under Hadrian (ruled 117–138), showing the location of the Roxolani Sarmatians in the [[Wallachian plain (Romania)]] The Roxolani or Rhoxolāni ( , ; ) were a Sarmatian people documented between the 2nd century BC and the 4th century AD, first east of the Borysthenes (Dnieper) on the coast of Lake Maeotis (Sea of Azov), and later near the borders of Roman Dacia and Moesia. They are believed to be an offshoot of the Alans.

ethnic group

The Basseri () are a Persian nomadic and pastoral tribe of the Fars province in Iran. Their migratory area is around Shiraz. They are one of the five tribes of the larger Khamseh confederation. The "tent" is the basic unit of social organization among the Basseri. All tents have a recognized head that deals with the formal officers of the tribe, villagers, and other strangers. The Basseri economy stems mainly from sheep and goats.

thumb|Sculpted image of a Sarmatian from the Casa degli Omenoni

Ossetian ethnic group of Hungary

The Kidarites, or Kidara Huns, were a dynasty that ruled Bactria and adjoining parts of Central Asia and India in the 4th and 5th centuries. The Kidarites belonged to a complex group of peoples known collectively in India as the Huna, and in Europe as the Chionites (from the Iranian names Xwn/Xyon), and may even be considered as identical to the Chionites. The 5th century Byzantine historian Priscus called them Kidarite Huns, or "Huns who are Kidarites". Chinese annals referred to them as the Ta Yüeh-chih, or Lesser Yüeh-chih. The Huna/Xionite tribes are often linked, albeit controversially, t

thumb|Parthian Warrior

plateau in Altai Mountains

thumb|300px|Asia in 400 AD, showing the Xionites ("Chionites") and their neighbors. Xionites, Chionites, or Chionitae (Middle Persian: Xiyōn or Hiyōn; Avestan: X́iiaona-; Sogdian xwn; Pahlavi Xyōn) were a nomadic people in the Central Asian regions of Transoxiana and Bactria.

non-sedentary polity

thumb|right|400px|The Eastern Hemisphere in 100 BC. The Alans/Aorsi are located immediately north of the [[Caspian Sea.]]

thumb|A map that shows the area of the Amards between the Sefid-Rud and [[Do Hezar River.]] The Amardians, widely referred to as the Amardi (and sometimes Mardi), were an ancient Iranian tribe living along the mountainous region bordering the Caspian Sea to the north, to whom the Iron Age culture at Marlik is attributed. They are said to be related to, or the same tribe as, the Dahae and Sacae. That is to say, they were Scythian. Herodotus mentions a tribe with a similar name as one of the ten to fifteen Persian tribes in Persis.

thumb|Siraces and neighbouring major tribes in the 4th century BC.

thumb|250px|Location of Tapuri, between Amardus and Hyrcania thumb|Map of Greco-Bactrian Kingdom with Tapuria clearly lying on the south shores of the [[Caspian Sea]] Tapuri or Tapyri () were a tribe in the Medes south of the Caspian Sea mentioned by Ptolemy and Arrian. Ctesias refers to the land of Tapuri between the two lands of Cadusii and Hyrcania.

thumb|220px|Kochi people on the move in Panjshir Province of [[Afghanistan]] thumb|A Kochi girl in southern Afghanistan with her sheep

right|thumb|The range of Saltovo-Mayaki culture marked in green. thumb|Saltovo-Mayaki belt decorations. thumb|Saltovo-Mayaki pottery. Saltovo-Mayaki, also known as Saltovo-Majaki or simply Saltiv, is the name given by archaeologists to the early medieval culture of the Pontic steppe region roughly between the Don and the Dnieper Rivers, flourishing roughly between the years of 700 and 950. The culture's type sites are Mayatskoye (aka Mayaki) near the Don and Verkhnii Saltiv by the Donets.

thumb|A Sagartian, Apadana, [[Persepolis.]] thumb|upright|Behistun relief of Tritantaechmes. Label "This is Tritantaechmes. He lied, saying 'I am king of Sagartia, from the family of Cyaxares.'" The Sagartians (; Sagártioi; Old Persian: 𐎠𐎿𐎥𐎼𐎫𐎡𐎹 Asagartiya "Sagartian"; Elamite: 𒀾𒐼𒋼𒀀𒋾𒅀 Aš-šá-kar-ti-ia, Babylonian: 𒆳𒊓𒂵𒅈𒋫𒀀𒀀 KURSa-ga-ar-ta-a-a) were an ancient Iranian tribe, dwelling in the Iranian plateau. Their exact location is unknown; they were probably neighbors of the Parthians in northeastern Iran. According to Herodotus (1.125, 7.85), they were related to the Persians (

ancient Scythian tribe

thumb|right|350px|Map depicting the world as described by Herodotus, with the Thyssagetae on the northern banks of the 'Palus Maeotis' The Thyssagetae () were an ancient tribe described by Herodotus as occupying a district to the north-east of Scythia, separated from the Budini by a "desert" that took seven days to cross. The Thyssagetae therefore seem to have occupied the southern end of the Ural Mountains, north of the Caspian Sea.

thumb|Persian Empire 500 BC Map showing Persis and Utians The Utians or Utii were ancient western Iranic nomadic camel-driving people, known primarily through the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. Herodotus describes them as "dressed in skin with the hair on".

thumb|350px|Countries described in Zhang Qian's report. Visited countries are highlighted in blue. Yancai ( A-sɑC < OC (125 BCE) *ʔɨam-sɑs, a.k.a. 闔蘇 Hésū < *ĥa̱p-sa̱ĥ; compare also Latin Abzoae) was the Chinese name of an ancient nomadic state centered near the Aral Sea during the Han dynasty period (206 BC—220 AD). They are generally considered to have been an Iranian people of the Sarmatian group. After becoming vassals of the Kangju in the 1st century BC, Yancai became known as Alan (). Yancai 奄蔡 is often connected to the Aorsi of Roman records, while 阿蘭 Alan has been connected to the late