Sakastan
/ˌsækəˈstɑːn/noun
An ancient Iranian name for the region later known as Sistan, roughly in present-day southeastern Iran and southwestern Afghanistan.
Did you know?Sakastan became Sistan through historical sound changes, while the Saka were the eastern Iranian relatives of the Scythians described by Greek authors.
Etymological Timeline
1st millennium BCE
Old Iranian
*sakā
“The name of the Saka, an eastern Iranian nomadic people”
3rd–2nd Century BCE
Greek
Sakastanē
“A Greek-form name for the land associated with the Saka”
3rd Century CE
Middle Persian
Sakastān
“The country or territory of the Saka”
3rd Century CE
Middle Persian
Sakastān
“A province named in the inscriptions of the Sasanian ruler Shapur I”
Middle Ages
New Persian
Sīstān
“The regional form that developed from Sakastān”
Modern English
English
Sakastan
“A historical name for the region of Sistan”