The Sindi were an ancient people in the Taman Peninsula

Taman peninsula

The Taman Peninsula is a peninsula in the present-day Krasnodar Krai of Russia. It is bounded on the north by the Sea of Azov, on the west by the Strait of Kerch and on the south by the Black Sea. The peninsula has evolved over the past two millennia from a chain of islands into the peninsula it is...

 and the adjacent coast of the Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea), in the district called Sindica, which spread between the modern towns of Temryuk

Temryuk

Temryuk is the largest town and the administrative center of Temryuksky District of Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the Taman peninsula on the right bank of the Kuban River not far from its entry into the Temryuk Bay, amid a field of mud volcanoes. The seaport of Temryuk is situated from the...

 and Novorossiysk

Novorossiysk

Novorossiysk is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is the country's main port on the Black Sea and the leading Russian port for importing grain. It is one of the few cities honored with the title of the Hero City. Population: -History:...

 (Herod. l. c.; Hipponax. p. 71, ed. Welck.; Hellanic. p. 78; Dionys. Per. 681; Steph. B.

Stephanus of Byzantium

Stephen of Byzantium, also known as Stephanus Byzantinus , was the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled Ethnica...

 p. 602; Amm. Marc. xxii. 8. § 41, &c.). Their name is variously written, and Mela calls them Sindones (ii. 19), Lucian (Tox. 55), Sindianoi.

Strabo

Strabo

Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...

 describes them as living along the Palus Maeotis, and among the Maeotae

Maeotae

Maeotae or Mæotæ or Maeotici were an ancient people dwelling along the Palus Maeotis in antiquity. It is not clear whether they spoke an Iranian language or were related to the modern-day Adyghe. The best attested tribe among them was the Sindi.The earliest reference may be the logographer...

, Dandarii

Dandarii

The Dandarii were an ancient people dwelling along the Palus Maeotis in antiquity. Strabo describes them as living among the Maeotae, Sindi, Toreatae, Agri, Arrechi, Tarpetes, Obidiaceni, Sittaceni, Dosci, and Aspurgiani, among others....

, Toreatae

Toreatae

The Toreatae or Toretae were a tribe of the Maeotae in Asiatic Sarmatia. Strabp describes them as living among the Maeotae, Sindi, Dandarii, Agri, Arrechi, Tarpetes, Obidiaceni, Sittaceni, Dosci, and Aspurgiani, among others. Ptolemy The Toreatae (Greek: , Strabo xi. 2. 11) or Toretae (Greek: ,...

, Agri

Agri (people)

-Origin:The name Agri comes from Agar, a salt-pan. The original name seems to be Agle.The tradition common among them is that they originally dwelt at Mungi Paithan and were transported to the Konkan by Bimbaraja, and it is alleged that there are in existence sanads given by him to certain persons...

, Arrechi

Arrechi

The Arrechi were an ancient tribe of the Maeotae, on the east coast of the Palus Maeotis. Strabo places them among the Maeotae, Sindi, Dandarii, Toreatae, Agri, Tarpetes, Obidiaceni, Sittaceni, Dosci, and Aspurgiani, among others. They are probably the same as the Arichi of Ptolemy ....

, Tarpetes

Tarpetes

The Tarpetes were an ancient people dwelling along the Palus Maeotis in antiquity. Strabo describes them as living among the Maeotae, Sindi, Dandarii, Toreatae, Agri, Arrechi, Obidiaceni, Sittaceni, Dosci, and Aspurgiani, among others....

, Obidiaceni

Obidiaceni

The Obidiaceni were an ancient people dwelling along the Palus Maeotis in antiquity. Strabo describes them as living among the Maeotae, Sindi, Dandarii, Toreatae, Agri, Arrechi, Tarpetes, Sittaceni, Dosci, and Aspurgiani, among others....

, Sittaceni

Sittaceni

The Sittaceni were an ancient people dwelling along the Palus Maeotis in antiquity. Strabo describes them as living among the Maeotae, Sindi, Dandarii, Toreatae, Agri, Arrechi, Tarpetes, Obidiaceni, Dosci, and Aspurgiani, among others. -References:...

, Dosci

Dosci

The Dosci were an ancient people dwelling along the Palus Maeotis in antiquity. Strabo describes them as living among the Maeotae, Sindi, Dandarii, Toreatae, Agri, Arrechi, Tarpetes, Obidiaceni, Sittaceni, and Aspurgiani, among others....

, and Aspurgiani

Aspurgiani

The Aspurgiani were an ancient people, a tribe of the Maeotae dwelling along east side of the Strait of Kerch along the Palus Maeotis in antiquity. They seem to be identical with the "Asturicani" of Ptolemy The Aspurgiani (Greek: or ) were an ancient people, a tribe of the Maeotae dwelling along...

, among others. (Strab. xi. 2. 11). The Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Great Soviet Encyclopedia

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia is one of the largest and most comprehensive encyclopedias in Russian and in the world, issued by the Soviet state from 1926 to 1990, and again since 2002 .-Editions:There were three editions...

 classes them as a tribe of the Maeotae

Maeotae

Maeotae or Mæotæ or Maeotici were an ancient people dwelling along the Palus Maeotis in antiquity. It is not clear whether they spoke an Iranian language or were related to the modern-day Adyghe. The best attested tribe among them was the Sindi.The earliest reference may be the logographer...

. In the 5th century BC, the Sindi were subjugated by the Bosporan Kingdom

Bosporan Kingdom

The Bosporan Kingdom or the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus was an ancient state, located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus...

. They left multiple tumuli which, when excavated by Soviet archaeologists, revealed that their culture was heavily Hellenized. The Sindi were assimilated by the Sarmatians

Sarmatians

The Iron Age Sarmatians were an Iranian people in Classical Antiquity, flourishing from about the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD....

 in the first centuries AD.

Besides the seaport of Sinda

Sinda

Sinda may refer to:*Anapa, Russia*Sinda, Tibet, China*A town in ancient Pisidia possibly identifiable as Korkuteli*Sinta, Cyprus*Singapore Indian Development Association...

, other towns belonging to the same people were Hermonassa, Gorgippia, and Aborace. (Strab. xi. 2, et. seq.) They had a monarchical form of government (Polyaen, viii. 55), and Gorgippia was the residence of their kings. (Strab. l. c.) Nicolaus Damascenus (p. 160, ed. Orell.) mentions a peculiar custom which they had of throwing upon the grave of a deceased person as many fish as the number of enemies whom he had overcome.