Spalirisos, also spelled Spalirises, (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: , (epigraphic);

Kharosthi Kharosthi script (), also known as the Gandhari script (), was an ancient script originally developed in the Gandhara Region of modern-day Pakistan, between the 5th and 3rd century BCE. used primarily by the people of Gandhara alongside vari ...

: , ) was an

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

king who ruled

Arachosia Arachosia (; ), or Harauvatis ( ), was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire. Mainly centred around the Arghandab River, a tributary of the Helmand River, it extended as far east as the Indus River. The satrapy's Persian-language name is the et ...

in the 1st century BCE.

Name

Spalarisos's name is attested on his coins in the

form () and in the

form (), which are derived from the

Saka The Saka, Old Chinese, old , Pinyin, mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit (Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples, Eastern Iranian peoples who lived in the Eurasian ...

name , meaning "in command of army".

Career

Before his rise to kingship, he served as a commander of Vonones of Sakastan, who had minted coins with his name and that of another commander, Spalahores, who are both referred to as "brother of the king". Scholars such as R.C. Senior and

Khodadad Rezakhani Khodadad Rezakhani (Persian: خداداد رضاخانی, born 1976) is an Iranian historian of late antique Central and West Asia. He has been associate research scholar at The Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf ...

consider Spalirisos and Spalahores to indeed be Vonones' brothers, while others such as K.W. Dobbins argue that it was an honorific title given to them, whom he considered to be

satrap A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median kingdom, Median and Achaemenid Empire, Persian (Achaemenid) Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic period, Hellenistic empi ...

s. A major argument against the proposal of a blood relationship between Vonones and the two commanders was due to both of them having

names, contrary to Vonones'

Parthian Parthian may refer to: Historical * Parthian people * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery sk ...

name. Saghi Gazerani has suggested that after the

Arsacid The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power centered in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe ...

re-conquest of Sakastan (sometime between 124–115 BC), which was given as a fiefdom to the Surenid general that led the expedition, the Surenids (who became independent after 88 BC) and Sakas became closely connected, presumably through alliances and intermarriages. Indeed, Parthians and Sakas are often mixed up in

Indian literature Indian literature refers to the literature produced on the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic of India thereafter. The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India has 22 officially recognised languages. Sahitya Akadem ...

. The mythological Iranian hero

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(who was from Sakastan), is mentioned in Iranian traditions as both Parthian and Saka, thus supporting this dual-identity.

Notes

References

Sources

* * {{authority control Indo-Scythian kings 1st-century BC Iranian monarchs 1st-century BC Iranian people