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Musicanus

(111 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Μουσικανός/ Mousikanós). Indian king of the people of the same name ( Musicani) on the lower reaches of the Indus (Onesicritus in Str. 15,1,21f.; Arr. Anab. 6,15,5-17,2, also briefly Curt. 9,8,8-10). People have often tried to link the name wit the ancient Indian tribal name Mūṣika; however, they originated not in the north west, but in the south of India. M. had initially submitted to Alexander [4] the Great and had been received cordially, but after a failed revolt he was condemned to death. Onesicritus depicts his kingdom as a utopia steeped in Cynical philosophy. …

Zabii

(173 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Ζάβιοι/ Zábioi). Indian people according to Nonnus, Dion. 26,65 (who goes back to the Bassariká of Dionysius [32]). Their territory was probably in northwestern India, neighbouring the Dardae (cf. Steph. Byz. s. v. Δάρδαι/ Dárdai), but is not identifiable [1]. Attempts to make a comparison between the information in Nonnus (and Dionysius) and Indian realities remain tenuous (already [2], later e.g. [3], [4]; see also [5]). Rather, it is a matter of a Greek literary reflection of a mythical India, which only acci…

Abissareans

(56 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] Called Abhisāra in Old Indian, a mountain people of northern Pakistan (Megasthenes at Arr. Ind. 4,12), on the Soanos river, an eastern tributary of the Indus River (nowadays called Sohan or Suwan [1. 1100 f.]), with King  Abisares. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography 1 G. Wirth, O. by Hinüber, (ed. and trans.) Arrian, Der Alexanderzug - Indische Geschichte, 1985.

Muziris

(145 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: India, trade with | Mauryas (Μουζιρίς; Mouzirís). Sea port on the south-western coast of India in modern Kerala; the Indian Muciri of the Tamil Sangam poems [1]. Both Greek and Tamil sources describe M. as one of the most important southern Indian port and trading cities. An important trading route to the eastern coast of India originated from M. A papyrus deed (PVindob. 40822) from Egypt reports of a loan that was granted in M. [2]. Because of the unsteadiness of the coast, its exact location remains unknown. I…

Calatiae

(67 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Hecat. in Steph. Byz. FGrH; Kallatiai in Hdt. 3,38). Indian ethnic group whose members according to Hdt. used to eat their parents -- an ethnological curiosity that in another citation (Hdt. 3,99) was attributed to another Indian people, the Padaioi, likewise to the Iranian Massagetae (Hdt. 1,216) and the  Issedones (Hdt. 4,26). Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography K. Karttunen, India in Early Greek Literature, 1989, 197-202.

Malli

(81 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Μαλλοί; Malloí). Indian people at the confluence of the Punjab rivers Hydaspes, Acesines [2] and Hydraotes, with several fortified cities. In league with the Oxydracae, they violently resisted Alexander the Great. They are probably the ancient Indian Mālava who later emigrated to the east and are attested numismatically and epigraphically in Rājasthān (2nd cent. BC) and in Madhya Pradesh. Their name there is still preserved as Mālwā. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography K. K. Das Gupta, The Mālava, 1966.

Yamunā

(80 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] The largest tributary of the Ganges; Iomanes in Arr. Ind. 8,5 (Ἰωμάνης/ Iōmánēs, Var. Ἰωβάρης/ Iōbárēs) and Plin. HN 6,21,63; 6,22,69; 6,23,73; Διαμούνας/ Diamoúnas in Ptol. 7,1,29 (probably from Prakrit Jamunā), perhaps identical to the Οἰδάνης/ Oidánēs of Artemidorus (in Str. 15,1,72). The river rises in the western Himalayas and joins with the Ganges at Allahabad. Between the Y. in the west and the Ganges in the east is the Doab, the ancient heartland of Aryan India. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)

Nallura

(45 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Ναλλοῦρα; Nalloûra). City in the interior of Limyrice in Southern India (Ptol. 7.1.85). There are several cities in Southern India with the Dravidian name Nallūr; exact identification does not appear possible. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography O. Stein, s.v. Ναλλοῦρα, RE 16, 1608.

Ai Khanum

(154 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] Ruined city in northern Afghanistan at the confluence of the rivers Amu Darja ( Araxes) and Koktscha. It was most likely founded by Alexander himself, probably  Alexandria [12]. A. was a Greek polis with temples, gymnasium, theatre, and an acropolis with Greek monumental and tomb inscriptions [1]; among the findings were numerous ostraka containing business records [2], the remains of two literary papyri [3], Hellenistic, Iranian, Indian, and Indo-Greek coins. It was the capital o…

Iabadiou

(61 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Ἰαβαδίου; Iabadíou; Old Indic Yavadvīpa, modern Java or Sumatra). Large island in south-east Asia (Ptol. 7,2,29). The identification is still disputed but Ptolemy knew that the name meant ‘Island of Barley’ (Old Indic, yava, barley). Supposedly it was rich in gold and its capital was called Argyre. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography A. Herrmann, s.v. I. nesos, RE 9, 1175-77.

Hydraotes

(74 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Ὑδραώτης/ Hydraṓtēs in Arr., Ὑάρωτις/ Hyárōtis in Str., Hiarotis in Curt. is based on a Middle Indian form for Old Indian Airāvatī/Irāwatī, probably passed down through Iranian and following Greek ὕδωρ/ hýdōr); one of the main rivers of the Punjab, modern Rāvī in Pakistan; originates in the western Himalayas, flows into the  Acesines [2] (Chenāb) and became known to the Greeks through Alexander's campaign. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography E. Kiessling, s.v. Hyarotis, RE 9, 23f.

Lambagae

(44 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] According to Ptol. 7,1,42, a people of north-western India, in the east of modern Afghanistan; Old Indian Lampāka. Its name is preserved in the modern Lamghan; several fragments of Aramaic inscriptions of king Aśoka were discovered there. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)

Abastani

(87 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Ἀβαστάνοι; Abastánoi), also Abastanes. Indian people (Arr. Anab. 6,15,1), called ‘Sambastai’ at Diod. Sic. 17,102,1, ‘Sabarcae’ at Curt. 9,8,4-7, settled near the confluence of the  Acesines and the Indus rivers and were neighbours of the  Malli. Described as a warlike, yet democratic people, conquered by Perdiccas. Probably for Old Indian Ambaṣṭha (see [1. 87 f.]), a western people mentioned in the Aitareyabrāhmaṇa and in the Puranic̣ ethnic lists. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography 1 P. H. L. Eggermont, Alexander's campaign in Southern Punja…

Arikamedu

(134 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: India, trade with (Virapatnam). Village and archaeological site on the east coast of southern India, in the south of Pondicherry, the Podouke of Peripl. M. Rubr. and Ptol.; finds in A. created the basis for a chronology for southern Indian archaeology and also produced the first archaeological evidence of trading between the Romans and the Indians [1]. Roman coins and amphorae [2. 151 ff.] and terra sigillata [2. 134 ff.] dating from the first half of the 1st cent. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography 1 J. M. Casal, G…

Nanaguna

(43 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Ναναγούνας; Nanagoúnas). River in western India, rising in the Vindhya mountains (Οὐίνδιον; Ouíndion). Ptol. 7,1,32 (also 7,1,7 and 66). Perhaps modern Tapti. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography O. Stein, s.v. Ναναγούνας, RE 16, 1672f.  F.F. Schwarz, s.v. N., KlP 3, 1565.

Tagara

(57 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: India, trade with (Ταγάρα: Peripl. m. r. 51, Τάγαρα: Ptol. 7,1,82). Inland city in the Indian state of Maharashtra, modern Ter, where excavations have found e.g. lamps of an Hellenistic type. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography H. P. Ray, Monastery and Guild. Commerce under the Sātavāhanas, 1986, 69 f.

Mauryas

(344 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] Members of an Indian dynasty founded at the end of the 4th century BC by Chandragupta Maurya ( Sandracottus), whose territory soon included all of North India (see map). A military campaign by Seleucus I, who wanted to reconquer Alexander [4] the Great's Indian conquests, failed; in a treaty Chandragupta was granted all southeastern satrapies (including Arachosia) and Seleucus received 500 war elephants in exchange. Seleucus's emissary to Chandragupta was Megasthenes, whose Indiká (FGrH 715), preserved in countless fragments, became the standard work …

Indian Ocean

(184 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] The modern Indian Ocean (IO) was mostly known to the Greeks as   Erythrá thálatta [1] which actually only referred to the western part. With the increase in geographical knowledge, Erythrá thálatta was also used for the entire ocean (e.g. Peripl. m.r.) that was otherwise called the Indian Sea (Ἰνδικὸν πέλαγος/ Indikòn pélagos, Ptol. 7,1,1; 7,2,1) or IO (Ἰνδικὸς ὠκεανός/ Indikòs ṓkeanós, Agathemerus 2,4; Oceanus Indicus, Mela 1,9, Sen. Q Nat. 4,2,4). With the large gulfs (Sinus Gangeticus, Sabaracus and Perimulicus) it formed the southern bounda…

Epander Nicephorus

(31 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Ἔπανδρος Νικηφόρος; Épandros Nikēphóros) Indo-Greek king in the 1st cent. BC. He is documented only by his coins (Middle-Indian Epadra). Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography Bopearachchi 103, 305f.

Naura

(75 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Νάουρα/ Náoura). Port in the district of Limyrice, southern India (Peripl. m. r. 53). Because both here and in Ptol. 7,1,8f. the name is followed by Tyndis, Muziris and Nelkynda, in that order, N., as the northernmost of the cities, must correspond to the Nitraíai empórion of Ptol. 7,1,7 (cf. Nitriae in Plin. HN 6,26,104). The precise location of N. remains unknown. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography O. Stein, s.v. Νάουρα, RE 16, 2014f.

Nosala

(66 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Νόσαλα; Nósala). Uninhabited island on the Gedrosian coast of the Ichthyophagi (Arr. Ind. 31), location unknown. The island, which was visited by Nearchus [2], was 100 stadia from the coast, and was regarded by the Ichthyophagi as sacred to the Sun. Nearchus' visit to the island is also mentioned in Str. 15,2,13. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography O. Stein, s.v. Νόσαλα, RE 17, 1051f.

Caspeira

(99 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Κάσπειρα; Káspeira). City of the Caspiraei in India (Ptol. 7,1,47; 49). The name C. was often associated with modern Cashmere, but whereas Ptolemaeus locates C. in the eastern Punjab, the Caspiraei's territory extends from the Punjab as far as the Vindhya mountains in the south; the Caspiraei appear therefore to have lived approximately in modern Rajasthan and Gujarāt. Ptol. (7,1,42), however, connects the land of Caspeiria with the upper reaches of the Jhelum, the Chenāb and the Rāvi, and this again rather suggests Cashmere. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliograph…

Nelcynda

(103 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: India, trade with (Νέλκυνδα; Nèlkynda). Trading town in Limyrice, in the south of India (Peripl. m. r. 53f.). It was situated on a river 500 stadia to the south of Muziris  in the kingdom of Pandion, i.e. Pāṇdya, in the southernmost part of India. The port of Barace lay at the mouth of a river. The town is also known as Melcyda (Μελκύδα/ Melkỳda, Ptol. 7,1,9); cf. also gens Nelcyndon in Plin. HN. 6,24,105. The exact location of N. is unknown. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography O. Stein, s.v. Nelkynda, RE 16, 2281-2285.

Cophen

(38 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Κωφήν; Kōphḗn: Arr.; Κώφης/ Kṓphēs: Diod., Dionys Per., Str.; Cophes: Plin. HN). Western tributary of the river  Indus [1], old Indian Kubhā, today's Kabul. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography K. Karttunen, India and the Hellenistic World, 1997, 112.

Nagadiba

(68 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
(Ναγαδίβα; Nagadíba). [German version] [1] Coastal city on Taprobane Coastal city on Taprobane (modern Sri Lanka); Ptol. 7,4,7. It seems obvious to identify it with the Middle Indian Nāgadīpa ‘Island of serpents’, but no city with this name is known. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography D.P.M. Weerakkody, Taprobanê, 1997, 85ff. [German version] [2] Island near Taprobane One of the numerous islands near Taprobane, Ptol. 7,4,13. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)

Sinae

(112 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Σῖναι; Sînai). People in eastern Asia (Ptol. 1,17,5 and several times in Ptol. 7,3) with capital Thínai, Latin Thinae (Ptol. 7,3,6, Peripl. m. r. 64); also a term for southern China, which people visited by sea, whereas northern and eastern China were approached by way of the central-Asian caravan routes and was known as Serica, the land of the Seres , or the 'Silk Land'. S. and Serica were never associated with one another. The name S. is from the name of the Chinese Qín dynasty (3rd cent. BC), probably by way of the Old Indian Cīna. China Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliogra…

Calliena

(87 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: India, trade with According to Peripl. M. Rubr. 52f., an empórion on the west coast of India close to what is now Bombay, Sanskrit Kalyāṇa. C. was established by the elder Saraganes as an important commercial harbour; under Sandanes in the 1st cent. AD it was abandoned in favour of  Barygaza. Also attested in Cosmas [2] Indikopleustes as Calliana (11,16; 11,22). Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography H. P. Ray, Monastery and Guild. Commerce under the Sātavāhanas, 1986.

Gandaridae

(56 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] also Gangaridae. Mentioned in accounts of Alexander's campaign ( Alexander [4], with map) and in Megasthenes as a powerful people in India. They lived east of the  Prasii on the lower Ganges. Also mentioned in Ptol. 7,1,81. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography D. C. Sircar, Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India, 1971, 213ff.

Bazira

(67 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Alexander (Βάζιρα; Bázira). Town in north-western Pakistan, on the river Swat between the Indus and the Hindu Kush, captured and fortified by  Alexander [4] the Great (Arr. Anab.). Probably near Bīr-kōt̥-Ġundai, where Hellenistic walls, pottery and graffiti have been found. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography P. Callieri, in: A. Gail, G. Mevissen (ed.), South Asian Archaeology 1991, 1993, 339-348.

Assaceni

(61 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] Indian people in today's Swat, west of the Indus, with capital Massaga, subjugated by Alexander (Arr. Anab. 4, 23ff.; Ind. 1,1). Called Aspagani by Plin. HN and in Pāli called Assaka, from Old Indian aśva-/Iranian aspa ‘horse’. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography O. v. Hinüber, Arrian. Der Alexanderzug -- Indische Gesch., ed. and translation by G. Wirth, O. v. Hinüber, 1985, 1081f.

Archebius

(24 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] Graeco-Indian king of the 1st cent. BC, only documented from coins, Middle Indian Arkhebiya. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography Bopearachchi, 110-112, 319-324.

Taxiles

(285 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Ταξίλης/ Taxílēs). King of Taxila, who ruled over a broad and fertile plain between the Indus and the Hydaspes; his neighbours were Abisares in the north and Porus [3] in the east. His father already had allied with Alexander [4] by letter (Diod. Sic. 17,86,4; Curt. 8,12,4 f.; see also Arr. Anab. 4,22,6), and the young king approved the alliance when Alexander stayed with him as a guest for some time in the spring of 326 BC (Arr. Anab. 5,3,5 f.; 5,8,2 f.; Diod. Sic. 17,86,4-7; Plu…

Antialcidas

(55 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] Indo-Greek king sometime around 100 BC. No literary evidence, but mentioned in an Indian Brāhmī insription (Besnagar inscription; by his envoy, Heliodorus of Taxila), and named on Greek-Bactrian and Indo-Greek coins with the legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ ΑΝΤΙΑΛΚΙΔΟΥ / maharajasa jayadharasa aṃtialkidasa. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography O. Bopearachchi, Monnaies Greco-Bactriennes et Indo-Grecques, 1991, 95-97, 271-288.

Maniolai nesoi

(116 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Μανιόλαι νῆσοι; Manióloi nêsoi). An archipelago off the coast of India, beyond the Ganges (Ptol. 7,2,31). Otherwise attested in Greek literature only in Pseudo- Palladius ( Perí tōn tēs Indíēs ethnṓn 1,5), but located by him in the vicinity of Ceylon (perhaps the Maldives or in the dangerous waters around the southern tip of India). Later often mentioned by Arabs, Persians and others. From the time of Ptolemy it was believed that these islands were so magnetic that they pulled the iron nails out of ships. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography A. Herrmann, s.v. Μανιό…

Sagala

(120 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Σάγαλα/ Ságala, Ptol. 7,1,46; Old Indian Śākala, Middle Indian Sāgala). City in the Punjab east of Hydaspes, the capital city of the Indo-Greek king Menander [6] in Pāli Milindapañha. S. with its rectangular, probably Hellenistic city plan, was also called Euthydemia or Euthymedia, according to Ptol. l.c.. The city is also known in ancient Indo-Iranian literature (Mahābhārata etc.) and was visited in the 7th cent. AD by the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang. Its exact location is not known (perhap…

Paropamisus

(201 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Παροπάμισος/ Paropámisos, Str. 15,1,11; 2,9). Mountain range including the Paropamisadae region (Παροπαμισάδαι/Paropamisádai, Str. 15,2,8ff.). Both names occur in many variants that render identification more difficult [1]. Old Iranian (Avesta) * Parupairisaena (cf. upairisaena in Yasna 10); in the Akkadian version of the Bisutun inscription, Paruparaesanna is used instead of Gandara (Gandaritis) in the Old Persian version [2. DB 1,18]. The mountain range with Taurus, Caucasus, Elburs and Himalaya was regarded as part of the great Asian …

Sangala

(66 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Alexander | Graeco-Bactria (Σάγγαλα/ Sángala). Capital and fortress of the Indian Cathaei in the Punjab, to the east of Hydraotes (modern Irāvatī). The city was conquered and destroyed in 326 by Alexander [II 4] the Great after a fierce battle (Arr. Anab. 5,22-24; Polyaenus, Strat. 4,3,30). Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography A. Herrmann, s. v. Σάγγαλα, RE 1 A, 1740.

Yavana

(129 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Old Indian; Early Middle Indian yona, yonaka; later also joṉa). The Indian name for the Greeks (most likely from Old Persian yauna) originally described the Iones. The earliest records are from about the 4th and 3rd centuries BC (in the grammarian Pāṉini and king Aśoka), hence in the Mahābhārata it may have been a term for the Indo-Greeks. Later the name receives a more general significance as a term for more distant neighbours, and from about the 7th cent. AD it was used as a name for Arabs and Moslems. In the Tamil literature of southern India, Yavanar is found as a term f…

Mathurā

(187 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
The Old Indian name M. designates two towns. [German version] [1] Indian locality at the confluence of the Yamuna and the Ganges This item can be found on the following maps: Graeco-Bactria | Graeco-Bactria | Mauryas The northern M. (also Méthōra/Μέθωρα in Megasthenes fr. 13a apud Arr. Ind. 8,5) in the land of Śūrasena, at the confluence of the Yamuna and the Ganges. It was an old and important centre of the cult of Kṛsṇa, but also of that of the Indian Heracles; the latter may not, however, be simply identified with Kṛsṇa. Ptol. 7,1,…

Indus Culture

(113 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] Prehistoric high culture in the 3rd millennium in northwestern South Asia, from Punjab to Baluchistan and Gujarat, with Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro as the most likely important centres. There was lively overseas trade (a harbour was excavated at Lothal in Gujarat) with Makan (modern Oman),  Dilmun (modern Bahrain), the island of Failaka (now part of Kuwait) and Mesopotamia [1. 107ff.]. The famous Indus script is only attested in the form of very short seal legends; the language on wh…

Swat

(161 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] Region (Σουαστηνή/ Souastēnḗ at Ptol. 7,1,42) around the homonymous tributary of the River Kabul (Greek Σό(υ)αστος/ Só(u)astos, Sanskrit Suvāstu) in modern northwestern Pakistan. After fierce fighting, the area was conquered by Alexander [4] the Great. Later it became part of the Indo-Greek kingdom and a centre of Buddhism. The exact location of the ancient capital Massaga is unknown, but excavations in Birkot Ghwandai (probably Bazira at Arr.  Anab. 4,27,5 ff.) have revealed remains of Hellenistic…

Magnus Sinus

(88 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (μέγας κόλπος/ mégas kólpos, Ptol. 7,2,1; 7,3,1). A large ocean gulf in India extra Gangem, adjoining the Sinae, i.e. south-east Asia, with three rivers: Daonas, Dorias and Seros (Ptol. 7,2,7). Although the geography of south-east Asia seems hopelessly distorted in Ptolemy, and all interpretations of place names in that region must remain highly hypothetical, nonetheless the Magnus Sinus can be identified with the waters lying between the Malacca Peninsula and southern China. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography H. Treidler, s.v. Μέγας κόλπος, RE Suppl…

Hydaspes

(163 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Ὑδάσπης; Hydáspēs; Βιδάσπης; Bidáspēs in Ptol.), probably from Old Indian, Old Indo-Aryan Vitastā (apparently through Iranian mediation); one of the main rivers of the Punjab, modern Jhelum in Pakistan - it rises in the western Himalayas and flows into the  Acesines [2]. At a place on its left shore that can no longer be identified, Alexander fought against  Porus after having traversed the river during a heavy monsoon rain. After the battle, the twin cities of  Nicaea and  Bucephala were fo…

Barabara

(56 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] ( Barbara, also Barbare). Port city at the mouth of the Indus (Ptol. 7,1,59), Ἐμπόριον Βαρβαρικόν or Βαρβαρική ( Empórion Barbarikón, Barbarikḗ), Peripl. M. Rubr. 38f., old Indian Varvara. B. appears to have been the main port of the Indus region, but has disappeared without a trace within the delta area. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)

Peucolaus

(35 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] ( P. Díkaios kaì Sōtḗr/'the righteous one and deliverer'; Middle Indian Peukalaüsa). Indo-Greek King of Gandhāra (Gandaritis), beginning of 1st cent. BC, known only from coins. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography Bopearachchi, 106, 309.

Barygaza

(136 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Graeco-Bactria | Graeco-Bactria | India, trade with | Mauryas (Βαρύγαζα ἐμπόριον; Barýgaza empórion, Ptol. 7,1,62 and Steph. Byz.), harbour town at the Gulf of Cambay in Gujarat, Old and Middle Indian: Bharukaccha, modern Broach. Peripl. m. rubr. 43-49 provides an extensive report on route and commerce; a coin find confirms his statements on the validity of Indo-Greek coins [1]. B. was the port of Ozene, and its trade links extended to Gandhāra and  Bactria. Probably identical with Βαργόση ( Bargόsē) in Str. 15,1,73. Karttun…

Massaga

(64 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Graeco-Bactria | Graeco-Bactria (Massaka). Capitol city of the Assaceni in modern Swat west of the Indus, Old Indian Maósakāvatī; conquered by Alexander the Great. Hellenistic wall remains were found in excavations of neighbouring sites. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography P. Callieri et al., Bir-Kot-Ghwandai 1990-1992 (Annali. Istituto Universitario Orientale 52, Supplemento 73), 1994.

Xylinepolis

(85 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] One of Alexander [4] the Great's settlements (Plin. HN 6,26,96; perhaps following Onesicritus), where his fleet set off under Nearchus [2] on its coastal voyage westwards; according to [2] identical with Ἀλεξάνδρου λιμήν/ Alexándrou limḗn ('Alexander's port') in Arr. Ind. 21,10 where the western branch of the Indus flows into the Arabian Sea [1. 127]. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography 1 J. André, J. Filliozat (ed.), Pline l'ancien, Histoire naturelle. Livre VI, 2e partie, 1980 (with French transl. and comm.) 2 H. Treidler, s. v. X., RE 9 A, 2164-2172.

Namades

(82 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Ναμάδης; Namád ēs). River in Gujarāt, rising in the Vindhya mountains (Οὐίνδιον; Ouíndion) and reaching the sea to the east of  Barygaza (Ptol. 7,1,31, briefly also 7,1,65), modern Narmadā. The so-called river Namnadios (Peripl. m.r. 42) [1] is only an emendation by C. Müller (GGM 291) for manuscript Lamnaíos and can hardly be connected with N., although it may be that here, too, the river Narmadā is meant. Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) Bibliography 1 O. Stein, s.v. Ναμάδης, RE 16, 1609.

Xandrames

(129 words)

Author(s): Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki)
[German version] (Ξανδράμης/ Xandrámēs). Indian king (in Diod. Sic. 17,93,2; Latin Agrammes in Curt. 9,2,3; Sacram(es) in the Epitome Mettensis 68), second half of the 4th cent. BC. He was described to Alexander [4] as the most powerful king in the Ganges valley. It is therefore probably Nandrus, the last king of the Nanda dynasty in Indian sources, that is meant (Nandas). The account in Just. Epit. 15,4,12-19 of the fall of Nandrus Chandragupta (Sandracottus; Mauryas), although differing in detail, in general…
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