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[German version] (Peripl. m. r. 58f.; Komaria, Ptol. 7,1,9). Southern Indian harbour town with a cape of the same name. Cf. modern Kanya Kumari on the southern tip of the Indian peninsula. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)

[German version] Eastern Iranian dynasty (1st-4th cent. AD) whose territory stretched from the Ganges to Lake Aral. The dynasty evolved from nomadic tribes (part of the Yuezhi; Indo-Scythians) who took Bactria ( Bactria) from the Greeks. Heraios is attested as their first ancestor, Kujula Kadphises as founder of the empire. His successors are Vima Kadphises, Kanishka, Vasishka, Huvishka and Vāsudeva (there may be several bearers of these names.). The dating is contentious. The dominant religion was a syncretistic Mahāyāna-Buddhism. The arts were greatly shaped by th…

[German version] (Ashoka). Maurya emperor of India (269/268-233/232 BC), also called Piyadassi/Priyadarōsi (Greek Πιοδάσσης; Piodássēs). Famous for his edicts, many examples of which have been found in many parts of southern Asia, written in Middle Indian dialect, and in the north-west (today Afghanistan) also several fragments in Aramaic, and also an Aramaic-Greek bilingual inscription [3] and a Greek fragment [4] in Kandahar. The edicts convey a lively image of A.'s empire and its administration, and also i…

[German version] (Neo-Persian panǧāb). The land of the five rivers Indus [1], Jhelum (Hydaspes), Chenāb (Acesines [2]), Rāvī (Hydraotes) and Sūtlaj-Beas (Zadadrus, Ptol. 7,1,27, Sydrus, Plin. HN 6,21,63 and Hyphasis). Although it was already known to the Achaemenids, P. entered the Greek geographical consciousness only through the campaigns of Alexander. In 326 BC Alexander [4] conquered P. as far as the Hyphasis, though it hardly resulted in founding any Greek settlements; P. was instead administe…

[German version] (H. in Arr.,  Hypanis in Str., Diod. Sic. and Dionys. Per., Hypasis in Curt. and Plin. HN, Bipasis in Ptol.; all of them possibly passed down from Old Indian Vipāśā- through Iranian); one of the five main rivers of the Punjab, modern Satlaǧ/Beas. At the upper reaches (modern Beas) was the point from which Alexander returned to the  Hydaspes. Thus the Satlaǧ ( Zaradrus of Ptol.), which lies further to the east, remained unknown for the most part to the Alexander historians, and also the lower course, which bot…

[German version] (Ζάραδρος/ Záradros, in manuscripts also Ζάδαδρος/ Zádadros). Indian river in Ptol. 7,1,27 and 42; Sydrus in Plin. HN 6,21,63; Old Indo-Iranian Śutudrī (in the Veda), Śatadru (in Epic), modern Sutlej, an eastern tributary of the Indus [1] in the Punjab. The river rises in the western Himalayas, flows through the Kulindrene region and then into the Indus. As the easternmost of its tributaries it was not noticed by Alexander [4] the Great and therefore not mentioned in Alexander literature. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography H. Treidler, s. v. Z., RE 9 A, 23…

[German version] (Town in India, Hecat. in Steph. Byz.; Caspatyrus of Hdt. 4,44). Here Scylax had begun his journey with the fleet of Darius I down the Indus and through the sea to Egypt. An identification with Multan (as Kāśyapapura) in the Punjab hardly is possible; C. should rather be looked for west of the Indus, perhaps on the Kabul River, as the journey first took an easterly direction. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography K. Karttunen, India in Early Greek Literature, 1989, 41-46.

[German version] (Θράσων; Thrásōn). Indo-Greek king in the Punjab at about the beginning of the 1st cent. BC, recorded only on a number of coins, Middle Indic Thrasa. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography Bopearachchi, 106 f.; 310.

[German version] River ‘at the eastern edge of the world’ (Verg. Ecl. 1,65); probably not in Crete (as stated correctly by Serv. Aen. ad loc., rather it was a variation on Oxus, old Iranian Vaxshu, which, according to Plin. HN 6,48 and Iust. 1,8,2 flows out of the Oaxus lacus. A further variation is Araxes [2]. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography E. Kirsten, s.v. O. (1), RE 17, 1686f.  E. Meyer, s.v. O. (1), RE Suppl. 12, 897f.

[German version] (Δάρδαι; Dárdai). A people in north-west India, Darada in Old Indo-Aryan, today known as the Dards and resident in the region known as Dardistan on the upper reaches of the Indus. Hdt. 3, 102ff. places them in the region below the sources of the Indus where the Δαράδραι ( Darádrai) mentioned by Ptol. 7,1,4 are also to be found. Also mentioned by Plin. HN 6,67 and 11,111 ( Dardae, probably following Megasthenes), Dionys. Per. 1138, Steph. Byz. i.a. According to Megasthenes (F 23b bei Str. 15,1,44), the Δέρδαι ( Dérdai) live on a high plateau in the east and steal gold …

[German version] A. History The area of  Bactria in north-east Iran is a country with an old culture with an early developed city culture and an Iranian population. Greeks settled there sporadically as early as under the  Achaemenids [2]; however, one cannot as yet speak of a Greek population, with [1]. Not until under Alexander [4] the Great, who conquered the country in a gruelling two-year war, were several settlements started for the veterans of his army. Bactria became a Hellenistic satrapy und…

[German version] The regular seasonal winds of the  Indian Ocean. By using the summer southwesterly monsoon it was possible to sail quickly and safely from southern Arabia to India and return in the winter with the northeasterly monsoon. In a similar way the winds could also be used between India and southeastern Asia. The Indians and southern Arabians had probably known these winds for a long time, but their discovery was ascribed by the Greeks to a navigator called Hippalus [2] (ὁ λιβόνοτος/ libόnotos, Latin libonotus; Peripl. m. r. 57). In Plin. HN 6,100; 104 the wind itself is called Hippa…

[German version] (Ἠμωδός/ Ēmōdós, Ἠμωδὸν ὄρος/ Ēmōdòn óros, [ H] emodus; derived through Middle Indian from the Old Indian Haimavata, also Imaos, Ἴμαον ὄρος; Ímaon óros, Imaus, from Old Indian Himavān, ‘covered with snow’). Name of the eastern part of the Hindukuš-Pamir-Himalaya taken as one single mountain range. There were several views about the location of this mountain range; sometimes Imaos was named as the more easterly (Eratosth. in Str. 15,1, 11; Plin. HN 6, 64; Arr. Ind. 2, 3 et al.), sometimes Emodos. (Ptol.). Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography O. von Hinüber, in: G. W…

[German version] People on the east coast of India, Sanskrit Calinga, lived about where Orissa is today; capital city Pertalis (Plin. HN 6,64; 65; 7,30, perhaps following Megasthenes). Their land was conquered in 261 BC by  Aśoka in a bloody war and incorporated into the empire of the  Mauryas; probably identical with the Calliga of Ptol. (7,1,93, in the  Maesolia in eastern India). Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography A. Herrmann, s.v. Kalingai, RE 10, 1604f.

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: India, trade with (Χαβηρὶς ἐμπόριον; Chabērìs empórion). Harbour town of the Soringoi at the mouth of the Chaberos (Kāveri) in southern India, in Ptol. 7,1,13. Old Indian (Tamil) Kāveripaṭṭinam or Pumpuhar; port of the Chola Empire. A Greek settlement is mentioned in classic Tamil poetry. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)

[German version] (Ἐραννοβόας; Erannobóas). Tributary of the Ganges according to Arr. Ind. 4,3 and Plin. HN 6,65; Middle Indian Hiraññāha, another name for Śoṇa, the modern Son; although the latter is mentioned separately by both authors as Sonus (Σῶνος; Sônos). Ancient Palibothra/Pāṭaliputra was situated at the confluence of the Son and the Ganges. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Achaemenids | Alexander | Graeco-Bactria | Graeco-Bactria | India, trade with | Mauryas (Τάξιλα/ Táxila, Skt. Takṣaśilā, Middle Ind. Takkasilā, Takṣaila). City in the Punjab between the Indus and the Hydaspes, near modern Islamabad, visited in the spring of 326 BC (Arr. Anab. 5,8; Str. 15,1,28) by Alexander [4] the Great (with map); its young king Taxiles became his faithful follower. T. was already inhabited in prehistoric times, and excavations have reveal…

[German version] (Λιμυρική; Limyrikḗ). Indian region on the Malabar coast between Naoura and Nelcynda, with Carura [2] as capital (Ptol. 7,1,8; 85; Peripl. m.r. 53f.). It has been suggested that L. should be regarded as an incorrect reading of Damyrice (Old Indo-Aryan Damila, cf. modern Tamil), but the name is preserved only as L. In this country, modern Kerala, lay the famous harbour town of Muziris. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography O. Wecker, s.v. Limyrike, RE 13, 711f.

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: India, trade with (Ὄρθουρα/ Órthoura). City in the interior of the Soringi in Southern India, residence of King Sornas (Ptol. 7,1,91); probably the Greek form of Uraiyūr, capitol of the Choḷā empire on the Kāveri River, with the port of Chaberis at the mouth of the river. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography K. Karttunen, Early Roman Trade with South India, in: Arctos 29, 1995, 81-91  O. Stein, s.v. Ὄρθουρα, RE 18, 1503-1505.

[German version] (Καθαῖοι; Kathaîoi). Indian people in the Punjab either east of the  Hydraotes or between  Hydaspes and  Acesines [2], subjugated by Alexander the Great (Arr. Anab. 5,22; Diod. Sic. 17,91,2; Curt. et al.); perhaps to be identified with Sanskrit Kāthaka (attested as a Vedic school, as also the Kambistholoi and Madyandinoi). Their customs (burning of widows, bride selection, wearing jewellery and high regard for physical beauty) were described by Onesicritus (fr. 34 in Str.) who also reports that there were many metals …