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[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 …

[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…

[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.

[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…

[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).…

[German version] (Μαλλοί; Malloí). Indian people at the confluence of the Punjab rivers Hydaspes, Acesi…

[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.…

[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 …

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[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.

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[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)

[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.…

[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 basi…

[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.  …

[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.

[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 on India. Little is known about Chandragupta's son and successor, Bindusāra-Amitrochates. At his court Daimachus [2] of Plataeae (FGrH 716) was the emissary of Antiochus [2]. Aśoka (269/8-233/2 BC), at the other hand, the son of Bindusāra, is famous for his so-called edicts, monumental inscriptions on rocks and pillars, which served to spread Buddhist moral teachings. These inscriptions can be found every…

[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…

[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.

[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.

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[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.).…

[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.

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[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…

[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).…

[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.

[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. Meviss…

[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 …

[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.

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[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 Ind…

[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…

[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 kno…

[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, …

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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 t…

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[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 Bazi…

[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…

[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…

[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)

[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.

[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…

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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…