Yantras or Mechanical Contrivances in Ancient India c2.221

c2.221

Further, the consistent reference to a particular people, the Yavanas, as handling the *Ākāśa-yantras*, not only adds realism to these descriptions, but also sets us on an inquiry into the history of yantras in the civilizations with which India came into close contact, the Persian, Greek and Arab. The evidence collected by Elliot and Oppert on the use of fire and war machines by the Greeks and the Arabs has already been referred to.