Aorsi

They are often regarded as connected to the contemporaneous Eurasian steppe state of Yancai (or Yentsai) mentioned in ancient Chinese records.

[1] The Aorsi and an associated tribe, the Siraces, are believed to have migrated during the late 5th century BC from Central Asia to areas north and west of the Caspian Sea.

Strabo suggested that the Aorsi were located north-east of the Siraces, who inhabited the area between Lake Maeotis (Sea of Azov) and the Caspian.

[6] Together with Roman cohorts and Roman-armed Bosporans, the Aorsi besieged the poorly fortified town of the Siraces and massacred its population, forcing their king Zorsines to yield hostages and prostrate himself before the image of Emperor Claudius.

[10] Claudius agreed in a letter to Eunones, and although Mithridates was eventually brought to Rome through Pontus, he was spared from execution and instead exiled.

A chronicle of the Later Han dynasty, the Hou Hanshu (88) – covering the period 25–220, but not completed until the 5th century, mentioned a report that Yancai had become a vassal state of Kangju, and was now known as Alanliao (Chinese: 阿蘭聊).

[13] In the 1st century AD, the Alans achieved a dominant position among the Sarmatians living between the Don River and the Caspian Sea.