The Dandarii or Dandaridae were an ancient people dwelling along the

Palus Maeotis The Maeotian Swamp or Maeotian Marshes (, ''hē Maiōtis límnē'', literally ''Maeotian Lake''; ) was a name applied in antiquity variously to the swamps at the mouth of the Tanais River in Scythia (the modern Don in southern Russia) and to the ...

in antiquity.

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

describes them as living among the

Maeotae The Maeotians (; ; ) were an ancient people dwelling along the Sea of Azov, which was known in antiquity as the " Maeotian marshes" or "Lake Maeotis".James, Edward Boucher"Maeotae" and "Maeotis Palus"in the ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geogr ...

Sindi Sindi may refer to: *Sindi people, an ancient people of the Taman Peninsula, nowadays Russia *Sindi, Estonia, a town in Pärnu County, Estonia *Sindi, Maharashtra, a town and municipal council in Wardha District, Maharashtra, India Persons with th ...

Toreatae The Toreatae (Greek: , Strabo xi. 2. 11) or Toretae (Greek: , Steph. B. ''s. v.''; Dionys. Per. 682; Plin. vi. 5; Mela, i. 2; Avien. ''Orb. Terr.'' 867) were a tribe of the Maeotae in Asiatic Sarmatia. Strabo describes them as living among the M ...

, Agri,

Arrechi The Arrechi (Greek: ) were an ancient tribe of the Maeotae, on the east coast of the Palus Maeotis. (Strabo xi. 2. 11; Steph. B. ''s. v.''; Plin. vi. 7.) Strabo places them among the Maeotae, Sindi, Dandarii, Toreatae, Agri, Tarpetes, Obidiace ...

Tarpetes The Tarpetes were an ancient people who once lived along the Maeotian marshes Palus Maeotis, in present-day Russia. The Tarpetes were one of many groups in that area that vanished, leaving little or no trace. Strabo describes them living among th ...

Obidiaceni The Obidiaceni were an ancient people dwelling along the Palus Maeotis in antiquity. Strabo describes them as living among the Maeotae, Sindi (people), Sindi, Dandarii, Toreatae, Agri (Maeotae), Agri, Arrechi, Tarpetes, Sittaceni, Dosci, and Aspurg ...

Sittaceni The Sittaceni were an ancient people dwelling along the Palus Maeotis in antiquity. Strabo describes them as living among the Maeotae, Sindi, Dandarii, Toreatae, Agri, Arrechi, Tarpetes, Obidiaceni, Dosci, and Aspurgiani, among others (x ...

Dosci The Dosci (Doschi) - were an ancient people dwelling along the Palus Maeotis in antiquity. Strabo describes them as living among the Maeotae, Sindi (people), Sindi, Dandarii, Toreatae, Agri (Maeotae), Agri, Arrechi, Tarpetes, Obidiaceni, Sittacen ...

, and

Aspurgiani The Aspurgiani (Greek: or ) were an ancient people, a tribe of the Maeotae dwelling along east side of the Strait of Kerch along the Palus Maeotis in antiquity. They seem to be identical with the " Asturicani" of Ptolemy (v. 9. § 7). The Aspurg ...

, among others. The Dandarii were one of the

tribes, who lived in the 1st millennium BC on the east and the south-eastern coast of the

Azov sea The Sea of Azov is an inland shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Russia on the east, and by Ukr ...

. In the ''

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; , ''BSE'') is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Great Russian Enc ...

'', they were concluded to have been one of the ancestors to the

Circassians The Circassians or Circassian people, also called Cherkess or Adyghe (Adyghe language, Adyghe and ), are a Northwest Caucasian languages, Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation who originated in Circassia, a region and former country in t ...

. Maeotae were engaged in farming and fishing. In the 4th–3rd centuries BC many of the Maeotae tribes were included into the

Bosporan Kingdom The Bosporan Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus (; ), was an ancient Greco-Scythians, Scythian state located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus, centered in the present-day ...

.Меоты

References

Strabo's book 11 on-line
*{{SmithDGRG Peoples of the Caucasus History of the North Caucasus Kabardino-Balkaria Ancient Circassian tribes Ancient peoples of Russia