[7] Zarinaia was the sister and wife of the Saka king Cydraeus, but after he died while she was still young, she became the ruling queen of her tribe, among whom the women would fight alongside the men.
[2] Various accounts of the war of the Sakas against the Medes exist: according to one version Zarinaia was knocked off her horse by Stryngaeus, the son-in-law of the Median king Cyaxares (whom Diodorus named Astibaras in his account), who, struck by her beauty, allowed her to remount her horse and flee unharmed; according to another version, Zarinaia was wounded and captured by Stryngaeus, who listened to her pleas and spared her life.
[3][7] At the end of this war, the Parthians accepted Median rule,[2] and peace was made between the Medes and the Saka.
[7] Stryngaeus himself had fallen in love with Zarinaia, and he visited her in the city Rhoxanake, where she greeted him, kissed him publicly, and rode in his chariot while chatting happily.
[3][7] Thanks to Zarinaia's heroic achievements and because she had kept her people happy, after her death she was honoured by them with a huge 600 feet high pyramidal mound-tomb at the top of which was a golden statue.