What is "dahae"

The Dahae, also known as the Daae, Dahas or Dahaeans (; Dáoi, Dáai, Dai, Dasai; Sanskrit: Dasa; Chinese Dayi 大益) were a people of ancient Central Asia. A confederation of three tribes – the Parni, Xanthii and Pissuri – the Dahae lived in an area now comprising much of modern Turkmenistan. The area has consequently been known as Dahestan, Dahistan and Dihistan.

Relatively little is known about their way of life. For example, according to the Iranologist A. D. H. Bivar, the capital of "the ancient Dahae (if indeed they possessed one) is quite unknown."

The Dahae dissolved, apparently, some time before the beginning of the 1st millennium. Some constituents emigrated to Persia, South Asia, or other parts of Central Asia and the Dahae lands were occupied by Turkmen. However, the historian Sir Percy Sykes reported an oral tradition in Turkmenistan, which suggested that elements of the Dahae had become the Daz, a sub-tribal group within the Yomut tribe of the Turkmen. "I was informed that the Daz ... cherish a legend, according to which they are descended from kings, and among the Yamut Turkoman they are regarded as the noblest section. [...] It is ... possible that these names are derived from the Dahae, but it would be a mistake to press the point too far."