Yavana Kingdom

This article is about the word Yavana in Indian literature. For historical kingdoms, see Greco-Bactrian Kingdom.

Yavana or Yona refers to a community in Indian texts and history. They are grouped under western countries along with Sindhu, Madra, Kekeya, Gandhara and Kamboja as per the descriptions in the epic Mahabharata. This word has been used in Indian history to refer to Greeks such as those who arrived with Alexander the Great, and Indo-Greeks in the 1st millennium BCE.[1][2]

Location in Ancient India

Yavanas were described to be beyond Gandhara. There was another country mentioned in the epic as Parama Yona, in the far west of Yavana. This could be the Ionia of Greece, somehow related to Indian Ionians or Yavanas. The name Yavana could be the Sanskritized form of the name Ionia.

Mythology

King Yayati a king of the Lunar Dynasty is mentioned to have 5 sons, all of whom became the founders of many royal dynasties, one being the Yavanas.

Yavana rulers might have spread throughout ancient India, who established their city-states or small kingdoms during the period of Mahabharata. Many ancient Indian warriors like Pandu, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva, Karna and Vasudeva Krishna were mentioned as encountering Yavana kings.

See also

References

  1. ↑ M.L. Varadpande (1981). Ancient Indian And Indo-Greek Theatre. Abhinav Publications. p. 107. ISBN 978-81-7017-147-8.
  2. ↑ Sonya Rhie Quintanilla (2007). History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE. BRILL Academic. p. 9. ISBN 90-04-15537-6.

External links

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