Yona

This article is about the Pali word. For other uses, see Yona (disambiguation).
The "Yona" Greek king of India Menander (160–135 BCE). Inscription in Greek: "BASILEŌS SOTĒROS MENANDROU", lit. "of Saviour King Menander".

The word "Yona" in the Pali language, and the analogues "Yavana" in Sanskrit; "Unan" in Urdu and "Jôbon" in Bengali, are words used in the ancient Indus Valley to designate Greek speakers. "Yona" and "Yavana" are transliterations of the Greek word for "Ionians" (Homeric Greek: Iaones, Ancient Greek: *Iawones), who were probably the first Greeks to be known in the East.

The Yavanas are mentioned in the Buddhist discourse of the Middle Length Sayings, in which the Buddha mentions to the Brahman Assalayana the existence of the Kamboja and Yavana people who have only two castes, master or slave. The direct identification of the word "Yavana" with the Greeks at such an early time (6th-5th century BCE) can be doubted.[1]

Examples of direct association of these with the Greeks include:

Old World usage

The Mediterranean region in 220 BCE.

This usage was shared by many of the countries east of Greece, from the Mediterranean to Sindh:

Indus Valley references

In Sanskrit sources, the usage of the words "Yona", "Yauna", "Yonaka", "Yavana" or "Javana" etc. appears repeatedly, and particularly in relation to the Greek kingdoms which neighbored or sometimes occupied the Punjab territories over a period of several centuries from the 4th century BC to the 1st century AD, such as the Seleucid Empire, the Greco-Bactrian kingdom and the Indo-Greek kingdom. The Yavanas are mentioned in detail in Sangam literature epics such as Paṭṭiṉappālai, describing their brisk trade with the Cholas in Tamilakam.

After Alexander's invasion, the Greek settlements had existed in eastern parts of Achaemenid empire, north-west of India, as neighbors to the Kambojas. The references to the Yonas in the early Buddhist texts may be related to the same.

Role in Buddhism

Edicts of Ashoka (250 BC)

Buddhist proselytism at the time of king Ashoka (260–218 BC).

Some of the better-known examples are those of the Edicts of Ashoka (c. 250 BC), in which the Buddhist emperor Ashoka refers to the Greek populations under his rule. Rock Edicts V and XIII mention the Yonas (or the Greeks) along with the Kambojas and Gandharas as a subject people forming a frontier region of his empire and attest that he sent envoys to the Greek rulers in the West as far as the Mediterranean, faultlessly naming them one by one. In the Gandhari original of Rock XIII, the Greek kings to the West are associated unambiguously with the term "Yona": Antiochus is referred as "Amtiyoko nama Yona-raja" (lit. "The Greek king by the name of Antiochus"), beyond whom live the four other kings: "param ca tena Atiyokena cature 4 rajani Turamaye nama Amtikini nama Maka nama Alikasudaro nama" (lit. "And beyond Antiochus, four kings by the name of Ptolemy, the name of Antigonos, the name of Magas, the name Alexander").

In Buddhist Texts

Other Buddhist texts such as the Dipavamsa and the Sasanavamsa reveal that after the Third Buddhist Council, the elder (thera) Mahárakkhita was sent to the Yona country and he preached Dharma among the Yonas and the Kambojas, and that at the same time the Yona elder (thera) Dharmaraksita was sent to the country of Aparantaka in western India also. Ashoka's Rock Edict XIII also pairs the Yonas with the Kambojas (Yonakambojesu) and conveys that the Brahmanas and Sramanas are found everywhere in his empire except in the lands of the Yonas and the Kambojas.

Mahawamsa

The Mahawamsa or Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka refers to the thera Mahárakkhita being sent to preach to the Yona country, and also to the Yona thera Dhammarakkhita, who was sent to Aparanta (the "Western Ends").[4] It also mentions that king Pandukabhaya set aside a part of the city of Anuradhapura for the Yonas.[5] Another Yona thera, Mahádhammarakkhita, is mentioned as having come from Alexandria in the country of the Yonas, to be present at the building of the Ruwanweliseya.[6]

Milindapanha

Another example is that of the Milinda Panha (Chapter I), where "Yonaka" is used to refer to the great Indo-Greek king Menander (160–135 BC), and to the guard of "five hundred Greeks" that constantly accompanies him.

Invasion of India

The Vanaparava of Mahabharata contains prophecies that "... Mleccha (barbaric) kings of the Shakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Bahlikas etc. shall rule the earth (i.e India) un-righteously in Kaliyuga ...".[7] This reference apparently alludes to chaotic political scenario following the collapse of Mauryan and Sunga dynasties in northern India and its subsequent occupation by foreign hordes of the Yavanas, Kambojas, Sakas and Pahlavas etc.

There are important references to the warring Mleccha hordes of the Shakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Pahlavas etc. in the Bala Kanda of the Valmiki Ramayana.[8]

Indologists like Dr H. C. Raychadhury, Dr B. C. Law, Dr Satya Shrava and others see in these verses the clear glimpses of the struggles of the Hindus with the mixed invading hordes of the barbaric Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Pahlavas etc. from north-west.[9] The time frame for these struggles is 2nd century BCE downwards.[10]

The other Indian records prophecies the 180 BCE Yavana attacks on Saketa, Panchala, Mathura and Pataliputra, probably against the Sunga empire, and possibly in defense of Buddhism:

"After having conquered Saketa, the country of the Panchala and the Mathuras, the Yavanas, wicked and valiant, will reach Kusumadhvaja ("The town of the flower-standard", Pataliputra). The thick mud-fortifications at Pataliputra being reached, all the provinces will be in disorder, without doubt. Ultimately, a great battle will follow, with tree-like engines (siege engines)."[11]
"The Yavanas (Greeks) will command, the Kings will disappear. (But ultimately) the Yavanas, intoxicated with fighting, will not stay in Madhadesa (the Middle Country); there will be undoubtedly a civil war among them, arising in their own country , there will be a terrible and ferocious war."[12]

The Anushasanaparava of Mahabharata affirms that the country of Majjhimadesa was invaded the Yavanas and the Kambojas who were later utterly defeated.[13]

From the references noted above, it appears that the Yavana invasion of Majjhimadesa (middle country/ midlands) was jointly carried out by the Yavanas and the Kambojas. Majjhimadesa here means the middle of Greater India which then included Afghanistan, Pakistan and large parts of Central Asia.

Other references

On the 110 BCE Heliodorus pillar in Vidisha in Central India, the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas, who had sent an ambassador to the court of the Sunga king Bhagabhadra, was also qualified as "Yona".

The Mahavamsa also attests Yona settlement in Anuradhapura in ancient Sri Lanka, probably contributing to trade between East and West.

Buddhist texts like Sumangala Vilasini class the language of the Yavanas with the Milakkhabhasa i.e. impure language.

Roman traders in Tamilakkam were also considered Yavanas.

The Yonas and other northwestern invaders in Indian literature

The Yavanas or Yonas are frequently found listed with the Kambojas, Sakas, Pahlavas and other northwestern tribes in numerous ancient Indian texts.

A Yavana image, excavations at (Bharhut)

The Mahabharata groups the Yavanas with the Kambojas and the Chinas and calls them "Mlechchas" (Barbarians). In the Shanti Parva section, the Yavanas are grouped with the Kambojas, Kiratas, Sakas, and the Pahlavas etc. and are spoken of as living the life of Dasyus (slaves). In another chapter of the same Parva, the Yaunas, Kambojas, Gandharas etc. are spoken of as equal to the "Svapakas" and the "Grddhras".

Udyogaparva of Mahabharata[14] says that the composite army of the Kambojas, Yavanas and Sakas had participated in the Mahabharata war under the supreme command of Kamboja king Sudakshina. The epic numerously applauds this composite army as being very fierce and wrathful.

Balakanda of Ramayana also groups the Yavanas with the Kambojas, Sakas, Pahlavas etc. and refers to them as the military allies of sage Vishistha against Vedic king Vishwamitra[15] The Kishkindha Kanda of Ramayana locates the Sakas, Kambojas, Yavanas and Paradas in the extreme north-west beyond the Himavat (i.e. Hindukush).[16]

The Buddhist drama Mudrarakshasa by Visakhadutta as well as the Jaina works Parisishtaparvan refer to Chandragupta's alliance with Himalayan king Parvataka. This Himalayan alliance gave Chandragupta a powerful composite army made up of the frontier martial tribes of the Shakas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Parasikas, Bahlikas etc.[17] which he may have utilised to aid defeat the Greek successors of Alexander the Great and the Nanda rulers of Magadha, and thus establishing his Mauryan Empire in northern India.

Manusmriti[18] lists the Yavanas with the Kambojas, Sakas, Pahlavas, Paradas etc. and regards them as degraded Kshatriyas (Hindu caste). Anushasanaparva of Mahabharata[19] also views the Yavanas, Kambojas, Shakas etc. in the same light. Patanjali's Mahabhashya[20]) regards the Yavanas and Sakas as Anirvasita (pure) Shudras. Gautama-Dharmasutra[21] regards the Yavanas or Greeks as having sprung from Shudra females and Kshatriya males.

The Assalayana Sutta of Majjhima Nikaya attests that in Yona and Kamboja nations, there were only two classes of people...Aryas and Dasas...the masters and slaves, and that the Arya could become Dasa and vice versa. The Vishnu Purana also indicates that the "Chaturvarna" or four class social system was absent in the lands of Kiratas in the East, and the Yavanas and Kambojas etc. in the West.

Numerous Puranic literature groups the Yavanas with the Sakas, Kambojas, Pahlavas and Paradas and refers to the peculiar hair styles of these people which were different from those of the Hindus. Ganapatha on Pāṇini attests that it was a practice among the Yavanas and the Kambojas to wear short-cropped hair (Kamboja-mundah Yavana-mundah).

Vartika of Katayayana informs us that the kings of the Shakas and the Yavanas, like those of the Kambojas, may also be addressed by their respective tribal names.

Brihatkathamanjari of Kshmendra [22] informs us that king Vikramaditya had unburdened the sacred earth of the Barbarians like the Shakas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Tusharas, Parasikas, Hunas etc. by annihilating these sinners completely.

The Brahmanda Purana[23] refers to the horses born in Yavana country.

The Mahaniddesa[24] speaks of Yona and Parama Yona, probably referring to Arachosia as the Yona and Bactria as the Parama Yona.

Later meanings

The terms "Yona", "Yonaka" or "Yavana" literally referred to the Greeks, however "mlechas" was also used probably due to their barbaric behaviour as invaders. Indian languages did not base a distinction on religion early on but after the arrival of Islam to the subcontinent, the term Yavana was used along Turuka, Turuska, Tajik, and Arab more than Mussalaman or Muslim for invaders professing Islam as their religion.[25]

Contemporary usage

The word Yona, or one of its derivatives, is still used by some languages to designate contemporary Greece, such as in Arabic (يونان), in Hebrew (יוון), in Turkish ("Yunanistan"), in modern Aramaic (Yawnoye ܝܘ̈ܢܝܐ), or the Pashto, Hindi, Urdu, Malay and Indonesian languages ("Yunani").

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The history of Buddhist thought by Edward Joseph Thomas p.85
  2. ↑ Konrad H. Kinzl, 'A Companion to the Classical Greek World, pp. 203
  3. ↑ "Greece". Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  4. ↑ (Mahawamsa XII)
  5. ↑ (Mahawamsa X)
  6. ↑ (Mahawamsa XXIX)
  7. ↑ Mahabharata 3.188.34-36.
  8. ↑
    taih asit samvrita bhuumih Shakaih-Yavana mishritaih || 1.54-21 ||
    taih taih Yavana-Kamboja barbarah ca akulii kritaah || 1-54-23 ||
    tasya humkaarato jatah Kamboja ravi sannibhah |
    udhasah tu atha sanjatah Pahlavah shastra panayah || 1-55-2 ||
    yoni deshaat ca Yavanah Shakri deshat Shakah tathaa |
    roma kupesu Mlecchah ca Haritah sa Kiratakah || 1-55-3 ||
  9. ↑ The Śakas in India, 1981, p 12, Satya Shrava; Journal, 1920, p 175, University of Calcutta. Department of Letters; India & Russia: Linguistic & Cultural Affinity, 1982, p 100, Weer Rajendra Rishi; Indological Studies, 1950, p 32, Dr B. C. Law; Political History of India from the Accession of Parikshit to the Coronation of Bimbisara, 1923, Page iii, Hemchandra Raychaudhuri; Political History of Ancient India, 1996, p 4, Raychaudhury; Indological Studies, 1950, p 4, Dr B. C. Law.
  10. ↑ Political History of Ancient India, 1996, pp 3-4.
  11. ↑ Gargi-Samhita Paragraph 5, Yuga Purana.
  12. ↑ Gargi-Samhita, Yuga Purana Chapter, No 7.
  13. ↑
    tatha Yavana Kamboja Mathuram.abhitash cha ye./
    ete ashava.yuddha.kushaladasinatyasi charminah.//5
    — (MBH 12/105/5, Kumbhakonam Ed) .
  14. ↑ Mahabharata 5.19.21-23.
  15. ↑ Ramayana 55.2-3.
  16. ↑ Ramayana 43.12.
  17. ↑ See: Mudrarakshas, Act II.
  18. ↑ Manusmriti X.43-44.
  19. ↑ Mahabharata 13.33.23.
  20. ↑ Mahabhasya II.4.10.
  21. ↑ Gautama-Dharmasutra IV.21.
  22. ↑ Brihat-Katha-Manjari 10.1.285-86.
  23. ↑ Brahmanda Purana, Upodghatapada, 16-17.
  24. ↑ Mahaniddesa, pp 155, 415.
  25. ↑ Parasher-Sen, Aloka (2004). Subordinate and marginal groups in early India. Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Oxford University Press. p. 52. ISBN 0-19-566542-2.

References

    External links