We all know that ancient India had foreign visitors. As per the Indian literature, only the invasions of the Mughals and the Britishers came to mind. However, these invasions led to the fusion of different cultures. We have visited the Taj Mahal and Jama Masjid, which are evidence of the Mughal Raj in India. In addition, are you aware that Gandhar of the Mahabharata was also ruled by the Indo-Greek rulers, who were the foreigners called Yavanas?
Well, our ancient India had many Yavana rulers who didn’t belong to India but ruled India. Who were these Yavanas, is still a question but our Indian literature has all the answers.
What does “Yavana” mean in Indian literature?
We are all well aware of the word foreigners, the people who come from different countries and religions. According to Indian literature, “Yavana” is the Sanskrit term for the word “foreigner”. In old India, people who came from outside continents or countries were considered “Yavana.”
In early Indian literature, this word appeared for the first time in the Achaemenian (Persian) inscriptions in the forms Yamuna and Ia-ma-nu. This word was adopted by Indians from the northwestern areas. This word was first time used by the grammarian, Panini in Ashtadhyayi during the 5th century in the form of “Yuvnani”.
Who were the Yavanas according to the history of Indian Literature
Down the lane in the history of India, Yuvana refers to the Greek communities settled in the eastern Achaemenian provinces. These Greek communities belonged to the Achaemenian Era which was the first Persian empire. In Indian literature, Yavana is also called “Yona” which is the transliteration of the Greek word, “Lonian” who were considered the first Greeks to be known in India.
This Achaemenian empire was founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. According to Indian literature, the Yavana were regarded as the “Barbarian” people of the northwest. Initially, Christians were considered Yavana, foreigners but later on, when the Mughals invaded India, the Muslims started to be seen as Yavanas.
The word, “Yuana” is used in the old Persian records for the Lonian Greeks. These Greek people resided on the island of Lonia in Asia Minor. These Greeks were defeated by Persian King Cyrus the Great. Thus the Persian Greeks are considered as the “Yauna.”
Evidence of “Yuvana” presence during the time of Ashoka
In the pages of Indian literature, there are mentions of the inscriptions found in India from the times of Ashoka, the famous Mauryan Ruler of the 3rd century. Those inscriptions provide a lot of information about contemporary empires and kingdoms on the borders of Ashoka’s empire.
In one of his inscriptions, he mentioned the community of the Yonas along with those of the Kambujas and Gandharas. There is one bilingual inscription known as “Kandharas” written in Greek and Aramaic language used during the Persian empire. This inscription was written for the Greek and Persian population living at that time.
This inscription indicates that at the time of Ashoka, there were considerable numbers of Greek and Persian people living in the regions known as Kambuja or Bactria, i.e., modern Afghanistan.
Adoption of Yuvanas into the Indian Society
In ancient India, there was an amalgamation that took place after the disintegration of the Mauryan Empire. The Indo-Greek rulers of Bactria started ruling the Gandhara regions. Many kings were considered the “Yuvanas” at that time such as King Malinda, and Ambassador Heliodorus.
Heliodorus erected the Garuda stambha (pillar) in front of the temple of Vishnu at Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh. This pillar is inscribed with the background information of Heliodorus who is called “Bhagavata”, the devotee of Krishna. In addition to it, the old coins of the Indo-Greek carried the images of Krishna and Balarama. Ruling the Gandhara region and using the images of Krishna and Balarama represents that Greeks were mingling in Indian society and were adapting the Indian culture.
The intermingling of Yavanas’ culture with Indian culture
Yavanas’ invasion of India resulted in the intermingling of the two cultures. The cultures of Greeks and India merged which was visible in the architecture and art forms of ancient India. As mentioned in Indian literature, there were some concepts and motifs that were unknown to India such as-
- Sphinx at Nashik ( Man-lion combination derived from Egyptian Sphinx)
- Centaurs at Bhaja (man-bull combination of ancient Greek mythology)
- Griffins at Nashik (animal and bird combinations)
- Owl at Nashik (auspicious for the Greeks as it was the symbol of the Goddess Athena)
Eventually, Yavanas were applied to any foreigners that came to India. But truly, the Greeks were the real Yavanas who had their own culture and history. Their stay in India created a cultural fusion that is evident in our Indian Literature.
Yavanas were Greeks!
As mentioned above, Yavanas were the Greeks because the word Yavana / Yona is of Persian origin and eventually of Greek origin (Ionians). That means Indians must have known about the Greeks as early as the sixth century BC. Thus we can conclude that the Yavanas were the Greeks and they followed the Eastern tradition of Christian culture.
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