Kaskas (Anatolian)
The Kaskas, Gasgas or Kaškas were a pre-Indo-European people who inhabited northern Anatolia, near the Black Sea, during the second millennium BC. They are mainly known for their continuous invasions of the Hittite state.
Lifestyle and organization
The Kaska lived by raising cattle and rudimentary agriculture, and spoke a non-Indo-European language, possibly related to the Hatti language. Their political organization is not very clear, but it seems that it was of a tribal type, and that they only formed temporary alliances to attack their neighbors, which, on the other hand, happened frequently. When they weren't invading or fighting as mercenaries, they raised pigs and wove flax.
Precisely this absence of political structures made them very dangerous adversaries for the Hittites, since, even if a Hittite invasion of Gasgian territory were successful, it was impossible to create vassal kingdoms or border brands, and nothing prevented them from leaving as soon as the Hittite army, the Kaskas returned to their traditional way of life.
History
The history of the Kaskas is known primarily through references in Hittite texts; thus its first documented appearance is from the time of the Hittite king Hantili II (15th century BC). Precisely in this first invasion, they already caused considerable damage to the Hittites, by conquering the cities of Tiliura and Nerik, the latter considered holy.
Throughout the remainder of the Hittite dark period, the Kaskas managed to advance further and further, not until the time of Tudhaliya I/II (late XV BC) that this advance was temporarily interrupted. But by the time of Arnuwanda I (beginning of the 14th century BC) the kaskas had recovered, managing to invade Hittite territory again, and take their capital, Hattusa, from which they were not expelled until the time of Tudhaliya III..
Although once again confined to their territory, they continued to be a constant threat to the Hittites, maintaining their ability to launch invasions every few years. In the time of Mursili II, they came to be united under a single chieftain, Pihhuniya of Tippiya, who conquered Istitina and reached Zazzissa. But Mursili counterattacked and managed to take Pihhuniya as a prisoner to Hattusa.
However, Hattusili III (13th century BC) invaded the land of the Kaskas and severely defeated them, achieving that the border of these with the Hittites retreated significantly, and reoccupying Nerik. Following this defeat, there were no major Kaska victories until the fall of the Hittite Empire (c. 1200 BC), at which time they appear to have occupied the capital. For this company they joined the sea peoples.
In the records of the Assyrian king Tiglathpileser I (late 12th-early 11th century BC), the kaskas are mentioned once more, and thereafter they disappear from history.