The Shakas or Scythians were nomadic tribes of central Asia who over-threw the Greeks to establish their kingdom in Bactria. They moved to the Indian subcontinent as a result of the attack by the Yueh-Chih tribe of the Gansu province of northwestern China.
Different parts of India were under the control of Shakas. Maues or Moga was the first Shaka king to establish a kingdom around Taxila, in 80 BC. It was his successor, Azes who attacked Hippostratos, the last of the Greek kings in northern India.
Rudradaman I, who ruled over Gujarat, the Konkan, the Narmada valley, Malwa and Kathiawar is unarguably the most important Shaka king. He is credited with the repairing of Sudarshana Lake, built by the Mauryas, to irrigate the dry region of Saurashtra.
The Shaka kingdom was divided into provinces, each headed by a military governor called mahakshatrapa. These provinces were further sub-divided into units that came under the control of lesser governors. The mahakshatrapas were vested with the power to issue their own inscriptions and mint their own coins.
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