The Caspians ( fa, کاسپی‌ها, ''Kaspyn''; el, Κάσπιοι, ''Káspioi''; Aramaic: ܟܣܦܝ, ''kspy''; xcl, Կասպք, ''Kaspk’''; la, Caspi, ''Caspiani'') were a people of

antiquity Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to: Historical objects or periods Artifacts *Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures Eras Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...

who dwelt along the southwestern shores of the Caspian Sea, in the region known as

Caspiane Caspiane or Kaspiane ( gr, Κασπιανή, hy, Կասպք ''Kaspkʿ'') was the land populated by the tribe of Caspians, after whom it received its name. Originally a province of the Medes in the 3rd-2nd centuries BC, the land of the Caspians was ...

. ''Caspian'' is the English version of the Greek

ethnonym An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...

''Kaspioi'', mentioned twice by Herodotus among the Achaemenid

satrap A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with consid ...

ies of

Darius the Great Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his d ...

and applied by

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 "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

. The name is not attested in Old Iranian.Rüdiger Schmitt
Caspians
in '' Encyclopedia Iranica''. Accessed on 4 April 2010. The Caspians have generally been regarded as a pre- Indo-European people. They have been identified by Ernst Herzfeld with the

Kassites The Kassites () were people of the ancient Near East, who controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire c. 1531 BC and until c. 1155 BC (short chronology). They gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon ...

, who spoke a language not identified with any other known language group and whose origins have long been the subject of debate. However, onomastic evidence bearing on this point has been discovered in Aramaic papyri from Egypt published by P. Grelot, in which several of the Caspian names that are mentioned—and identified under the gentilic כספי ''kaspai''—are, in part, etymologically Iranian. The Caspians of the Egyptian papyri are therefore generally considered as either an

Iranian people Iranians or Iranian people may refer to: * Iranian peoples, Indo-European ethno-linguistic group living predominantly in Iran and other parts of the Middle East and the Caucasus, as well as parts of Central Asia and South Asia ** Persians, Irania ...

or strongly under Iranian cultural influence. In the 5th century BC, during the Persian rule in Egypt, a regiment (Aramaic ''degel'') of Caspians was stationed in

Elephantine Elephantine ( ; ; arz, جزيرة الفنتين; el, Ἐλεφαντίνη ''Elephantíne''; , ) is an island on the Nile, forming part of the city of Aswan in Upper Egypt. The archaeological sites on the island were inscribed on the UNESCO ...

, as attested in the Elephantine papyri. They are called ''kspy'' in Aramaic and shared their regiment with Khwarezmians,

Bactrians Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, southwe ...

and other Iranian peoples. They were not the only garrison on Elephantine. There was also a regiment of Jews. The Caspians are called ''Caspiani'' in Mela's ''De situ orbis'', ''Caspi'' in Pliny's '' Natural History'', and ''Caspiadae'' in Valerius Flaccus' ''Argonautica''. In the last work, the Caspians are allies of King Perses of Colchis and appear amongst the

Scythian peoples The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved f ...

. They are said to have fighting dogs that they take to their graves. This might in fact reflect a variant of the Zoroastrian custom of sky burial, one in which the deceased is left for the dogs to devour. The Caspiadeans reappear in the medieval ''

Historia de via Hierosolymitana The ''Historia de via Hierosolymitana'' is a Latin epic verse history of the First Crusade. Originally composed before 1120 as a work in five books by Gilo of Toucy, it was expanded by the addition of four more by an anonymous poet known as "Fulc ...

'' among the people arrayed against the forces of the First Crusade (1096–1099). The anonymous poet, drawing on Flaccus, probably sought to connect the Seljuk Turks, the Crusaders' actual enemy, with the ancient Scythians.Nicholas Morton, ''Encountering Islam on the First Crusade'' (Cambridge University Press, 2016), p. 203.

References

{{reflist, 2 Ancient history of Azerbaijan Ancient history of Iran Historical Iranian peoples Ancient peoples of Asia Ancient peoples of Europe History of Talysh