Maka (satrapy)

Maka (Old Persian: 𐎶𐎣 Maka-) was a satrapy (province) of the Achaemenid Empire, corresponding to Greek Gedrosia, in the barren coastal region of Makran in present-day Iran and Pakistan. Alternatively, it may have corresponded to modern-day Bahrain, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates, as well as the northern half of Oman (see Magan). Maka was already a part of the Achaemenid Empire before Darius the Great came to power in 522 BC, as mentioned in the Behistun inscription. As Cambyses and Smerdis are not known to have been there, it is possible that it was conquered by Cyrus the Great in 542 BC. He is known to have campaigned on the other side of the Persian Gulf where he apparently lost most of his army in the Gedrosian Desert. It continued to be a satrapy until Alexander's conquest of Persia, at which point it became independent. According to Herodotus, the Mykians belonged to the same tax district as the Drangians, Thamanaeans, Utians, Sagartians and "those deported to the Persian Gulf". According to Fleming, Maka, in the area of Gedrosia, can be considered one of the Indian satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire. It later survived as a satrapy of the Parthian and Sasanian empires (Makuran or Mazun, based on identification).