Budini

[7] During the 9th to 8th centuries BC, a significant movement of the nomadic peoples of the Eurasian Steppe started when another nomadic Iranic tribe closely related to the Scythians from eastern Central Asia, either the Massagetae[8] or the Issedones,[9] migrated westwards, forcing the early Scythians to the west across the Araxes (Volga) river.

[17] Archaeologically, the westwards migration of the Early Scythians from Central Asia into the Caspian Steppe constituted the latest of the two to three waves of expansion of the Srubnaya culture to the west of the Volga.

[3] During the 6th century BC, the city of Gelonus was built in the country of the Budini, where the Gelonians set up an important industrial, commercial, and political centre.

[3] The Budini were poorer than the Gelonians and led a largely nomadic life and were dependent on hunting otters, beavers, and other animals.

[34] The Budini were described by Herodotus of Halicarnassus as speaking a different language from the Gelonians,[34] the latter of whom might have originated as a group of the Scythians proper.

[34] The remains of intact human bones discovered in seven earthworks of the Budini and Melanchlaeni suggests that these two tribes might have engaged in ritual cannibalism similarly to the Androphagi.

[36][14] The Budini and Gelonians brought ores from outside to the industrial section of the city of Gelonus, where iron and copper were smelted from them.