Buddhist phrases such as: "sarvabudhana puya dhamasa puya saghasa puya" "Revere all the Buddhas, revere the dharma, revere the sangha" (Mathura lion capital, inscription O1/O2) Indo-Scythians in Indian literature The Indo-Scythians were named "Shaka" in India, an extension on the name Saka used by the Persians to designate Scythians. Shakas receive numerous mentions in texts like the Purāṇas, the Manusmṛti, the Rāmāyaṇa, the Mahābhārata, the Mahābhāṣya of Patañjali, the by Varāhamihira, the Kāvyamīmāṃsā, the Bṛhatkathāmañjarīi, the Kathāsaritsāgara and several other old texts. They are described as part of an group of other war-like tribes from the northwest. There are important references to the warring Mleccha hordes of the Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas and Pahlavas in the Balakanda of the Valmiki Ramayana. H. C. Raychadhury glimpsed in these verses the struggles between the Hindus and the invading hordes of Mlechcha barbarians from the northwest. The time frame for these struggles is the 2nd century BCE onwards. Raychadhury fixes the date of the present version of the Valmiki Ramayana around or after the 2nd century CE. Mahabharata too furnishes a veiled hint about the invasion of the mixed hordes from the northwest. Vanaparava by Mahabharata contains verses in the form of prophecy deploring that "......the Mlechha (barbaric) kings of the Shakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Bahlikas, etc. shall rule the earth un-righteously in Kali Yuga..." As with many traditional epics, the two Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, which comprise the Itihasa, have gone through multiple interpolations and redactions since its conception, rendering it impossible to accurately date. It is highly likely that these additions were made with changing political factors and the introduction of new people into society. Indo-Scythians in Greco-Roman Sources The country of Scythia in the area of now Pakistan, and especially around the mouth of the Indus with its capital at Minnagara (modern day Karachi) is mentioned extensively in Western maps and travel descriptions of the period. The Ptolemy world map and Periplus of the Erythraean Sea mention prominently the country of Scythia in the Indus Valley, as well as Roman Tabula Peutingeriana. The Periplus states that Minnagara was the capital of Scythia, and that Parthian princes from within it were fighting for its control during the 1st century CE. It also distinguishes Scythia from Ariaca further east, (centred in Gujarat and Malwa), over which ruled the Western Satrap king Nahapana. Sai-Wang Scythian hordes of Chipin or Kipin A section of the