Intercourse between India and the Western World from the Earliest Times to the Fall of Rome c8.s2.2

c8.s2.2

1. *The Pygmies.* Called Pygmies by Ktesias, Τρισπάθιμοι by Megasthenes. The legend arose from the small, dwarf-like Mongolians of Nepal and Bhotan, called Kirrhadii by the Periplus and Ptolemy and Kirāta in Sanskrit. The Pygmies of Homer are Ethiopian, but Ethiopia and India were supposed to be connected. Referring to the fights between Cranes and Pygmies, Lassen recalls the term Kirātāśin (devourer of Kirāta) applied to Garuḍa, the vulture of Viṣṇu.