Tribes in Ancient India c35.5

c35.5

In the *Mahābhārata* we find them taking part in the Bhārata War at Kurukṣetra as allies of the Kurus along with other peoples of North-Western India like the Kāmbojas, Śakas, Madras, Kaikeyas, Sindhus and Sauvīras.³ Indian tradition, however, regards them as aliens or outcastes. Thus the *Sūtras* mention the Yavanas (Greeks) as the most esteemed of foreigners, but all Yavanas are regarded as sprung from Śūdra females and Kṣatriya males. Gautama says that this view is held by some.⁴ The *Rāmāyaṇa*⁵ refers to the struggles of the Hindus with mixed hordes of Śakas and Yavanas (cf. *Śakān Yavanamiśritān*). In the Kiṣkindhyā Kāṇḍa (IV, 43, 11-12), Sugrīva places the country of the Yavanas and the cities of the Śakas between the country of the Kurus and the Madras and the Himālayas.⁶ In the *Mahābhārata*, the Yonas or Yaunas are classed with other peoples of Uttarāpatha or Northern India like the Kāmbojas, Gandhāras, Kirātas and Barbaras.⁷ In the *Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa*, we also find a list of peoples where the Gabalas or Yavanas are classed with some other people of Northern or North-Western India like the Gandhāras, Sindhu-Sauvīras and Madrakas. Instead of Gabalas, the *Vāyu* and the *Matsya Purāṇas* read Yavanas which seems to be the correct reading.⁸ The Yonas or Yavanas thus seem to be one of the ancient tribes settled in some part of India. A Yona or Greek State is, therefore, mentioned along with Kamboja in the *Majjhima Nikāya* (II, 149) as flourishing in the time of Gautama Buddha and Assalāyana.¹