What is umman-manda?

Umman-manda is a term that refers to a group of people who were known to be a tribal confederation, believed to have originated from the Zagros Mountains in modern-day Iran. They were notorious as a group of raiders who were known to have overran several civilizations like, the Assyrian Empire and Babylonian Empire in the 7th century BC.

The Umman-manda were also known as the Medes or Mannaeans, which were the two major tribes in the confederation. It was later on that the term "Umman-manda" became more frequently used, as it came to describe the wider group of tribes that made up the confederation.

Their attacks on the Assyrian and Babylonian empires marked the beginning of the fall of those empires. The Umman-manda had significant impact on the history of the ancient Near East, as they played a major role in the political and military events of the 7th and 6th centuries BC.

Despite their military prowess, the Umman-manda never established a long-lasting empire of their own. Later dynasties like, the Persian Empire and Parthian Empire would emerge from the regions that they once controlled.