Intercourse between India and the Western World from the Earliest Times to the Fall of Rome c7.s1.14

c7.s1.14

The word *Yavana* occurs in Indian literature first in Pāṇini in the feminine form *Yavanānī*. The commentator Kātyāyana says this is used of *Yavanānī lipi*, the Greek script. Goldstücker, in his learned book on *Pāṇini, his place in Sanskrit Literature* (London, 1861), says Pāṇini was *before* Buddha (568–488 B.C.). But India could hardly have heard of the Greek alphabet before Darius, even though Pāṇini lived in Gandhāra. Goldstücker suggests cuneiform, but this is hardly suitable. If, on the other hand, we were to accept the late tradition connecting Pāṇini with the last Nanda king, it would be quite easy to see that Pāṇini was familiar with Greek letters on coins. The expression may possibly be used of *Kharoṣṭhī*.