Saśigupta

Sisikottus (Sanskrit: Śaśigupta; Prakrit: Śaśiguṭṭa) was a native dynast and Indian officer of Alexander the Great. He had earlier served the Achaemenid pretender Bessus in Bactria, but entered the service of Alexander after he conquered Bactria, later serving as his satrap (hyparch) over Assaceni and as the commander at Aornos. He is also known as Sisikottos (from Arrian) and Sisocostus (from Curtius).

Etymology The name in the Greco-Roman sources corresponds to the Prakrit Śaśiguṭṭa and Sanskrit Śaśigupta, literally "moon-protected". Sisikottus is sometimes controversially linked with Chandragupta, the founder of Maurya Empire, otherwise known from the Greco-Roman sources as Sandracottus, whose name has the same etymology.

Biography Sisikottos/Sisocostus appears twice in Arrian's Anabasis and once in Historiae Alexandri Magni by Curtius. He is first mentioned after the capture of the fort of Aornos during the Cophen campaign of Alexander the Great, after which Alexander appointed him commander of the fort. Arrian further says that Sisikottus had previously served the Persian satrap Bessus at Bactria after deserting from the Indians, and that when Alexander conquered Bactria, Sisikottus entered his service and proved himself trustworthy. Later, when Alexander was in Punjab, Sisikottus, then serving as hyparch of the Assaceni, sent him news of the Assaceni revolt and the killing of their unnamed satrap (hyparch), probably Nicanor, or more likely, Assagetes (Aśvajit), an Assaceni chief. Alexander sent Phillip and Tyriaspes to restore order. Sisikottus has been suggested to be a relative of Assakenos, the king of Assaceni. Nothing further is known about him or his career.