Sarmatians

Eastern Iranian language of Ossetia, in the Caucasus

thumb|300px|Sarmatian cataphracts depicted on [[Trajan's Column, 2nd century CE.]]

thumb|Historical reenactment of a Sasanian-era cataphract, complete with a full set of [[scale armour for the horse. The rider is covered by extensive mail armour.]]

thumb|Relief from Tanais Tanais ( Tánaïs; ) was an ancient Greek city in the Don river delta, called the Maeotian marshes in classical antiquity. It was a bishopric as Tana and remains a Latin Catholic titular see as Tanais.

group of Eastern Iranian languages

iron Age culture in Eastern Europe

Sarmatian Roman pole weapon

39th comic book in the Asterix series

3rd century people in the northern Sea of ​​Azov and Black Sea area

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