Kardamaka
| Western Satraps (Ariaca) |
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 Approximate territory of the Western Kshatrapas (35–405).
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| Capital |
Ujjain Barygaza |
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| Languages |
Pali (Kharoshthi script) Sanskrit, Prakrit (Brahmi script) Possibly Greek (Greek alphabet) |
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| Religion | Hinduism, Buddhism | |||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | |||||||||
| Satrap, King | ||||||||||
| • | c. 35 | Abhiraka | ||||||||
| • | 388–395 | Rudrasimha III | ||||||||
| Historical era | Antiquity | |||||||||
| • | Established | 35 | ||||||||
| • | Disestablished | 405 | ||||||||
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| Today part of |
 India Pakistan
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The Western Satraps, Western Kshatrapas, or Kshaharatas (35–405 CE) were Indo-Scythian (Saka) rulers of the western and central part of India (Saurashtra and Malwa: modern Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh states). The Western Satraps were contemporaneous with the Kushans who ruled the northern part of the Indian subcontinent and were possibly their overlords, and the Satavahana (Andhra) who ruled in Central India. The power of the Saka rulers started to decline in the 2nd century CE after the Saka rulers were defeated by the south Indian Emperor Gautamiputra Satakarni of the Satavahana dynasty. Later the Saka kingdom was completely destroyed by Chandragupta II of the Gupta Empire in the 4th century CE.
Altogether, there were 27 independent Western Satrap rulers during a period of about 350 years.
They are named Western Satraps in contrast to the "Northern Satraps" who ruled around East Punjab and the area of Mathura, such as Rajuvula, and his successors under the Kushans, the "Great Satrap" Kharapallana and the "Satrap" Vanaspara.
Although they called themselves "Satraps" on their coins, leading to their modern designation of "Western Satraps", Ptolemy in his 2nd century "Geographia" still called them "Indo-Scythians". The word Kshatrapa stands for satrap, itself descended from Old Persian and which means viceroy or governor of a province. According to John Marshall, the word "kshatrapa" means the viceroy of the "King of kings". The title of the "Mahakshatrapa" or the "Great Satrap" was given to the ruling Satrap, and the title of "kshatrapa" was given to the heir apparent. The western Kshatrapas were also known as Sakas to Indians. The Kshatrapas of western region were of foreign origin, and they were feudatories at first to the Scytho-Parthian, and later the Kushan Empire. In the eastern Malwa region, they appear on the scene only after the Kushan empire established itself, a few sculptures in the Kushan style during the reign of King Shahi Vasishka attesting to their presence in the region.
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