History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c20.2

v1.c20.2

When Hiuen Tsang visited Āndhra he found the people different in speech from those of Mid-India. The people appeared to him to be of a violent nature and they were adherents of different religions. The people of Āndhra are undoubtedly of Aryan origin and yet the language of the country from before the days of Hiuen Tsang was Dravidian. Who was the king reigning in his days? To what race and to what religion did he belong? These questions are difficult of solution; but we have come to the conclusion that at this time and during the period of which we are writing there was a line of Yavana kings ruling in Āndhra, Yavanas whose distinctive name was Kāinkila Yavanas. They were not ardent professors of Buddhism though Yavanas generally were and it is probably hence that Hiuen Tsang has not described the king in Āndhra. We proceed in this chapter to describe these Yavana kings and to detail the evidence on which this description is based.