Which Iranian-origin group was known in Indian sources as Shaka-Pahlava?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The correct answer is option 2 i.e. Parthians.
- The Iranian-origin group known in Indian sources as Shaka-Pahlava was the Shakas (Scythians) and the Pahlavas (Parthians) together, as they often ruled concurrently or in succession in the same regions.
- The term Shaka-Pahlava specifically refers to the period when the Shakas (Indo-Scythians) and the Parthians (Indo-Parthians, the Indian branch of the Iranian Parthian empire) were politically dominant in northwestern India.
Other Options
- Shakas: These were the Indo-Scythians, an Iranian nomadic pastoral tribe. They established various kingdoms in the Indian subcontinent. They form the first half of the term Shaka-Pahlava.
- Kushanas: This group was of Yuezhi (Central Asian) origin, not Iranian. They succeeded the Shakas and Parthians and established a vast empire in the 1st to 3rd centuries CE.
- Indo-Greeks: This group was of Hellenistic/Greek origin, descendants of Alexander the Great's empire, who ruled parts of Bactria and the Indian subcontinent, preceding the Shakas and Pahlavas.