08-24-2017, 03:53 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-24-2017, 01:16 PM by Michael Kerr.)
Although there is no evidence of Roman troops in India there may have been Roman mercenaries employed by the Pandian kings as high profile guards and posted on the city gates of the capital Madurai. The Silappatikaram supposedly dated to the Christian era describes how people entering Madurai would take care not to alarm the suspicions of the 'Yavanas' who scrutinised passers-by with their 'stern' gaze and 'murderous' swords. Another earlier work the Mullaippattu mentions how the Pandian king when on campaign had as his personal bodyguard, Yavanas wearing loose-fitting tunics and belted at the waist as bodyguards to protect his inner tent.
Yavanas originally meant Ionians earlier on around the 3rd century BC and the word came into Indian language about this time but later generally broadened to meaning Westerners or Romans. Of course they may have been slaves taken as prisoners of war and sold by Roman merchants to Indian rulers and not out of work Roman soldiers. Republican Roman playwright Plautius mentions in one of his plays about a Roman mercenary campaign in India but his timeframe seems a bit early for Roman trade and interraction with India. The bodyguards mentioned could be descendants of defeated Macedonian troops or former troops fleeing Bactria in the wake of the Yuezhi invasion and takeover but without evidence it is only conjectiure.
Yavanas originally meant Ionians earlier on around the 3rd century BC and the word came into Indian language about this time but later generally broadened to meaning Westerners or Romans. Of course they may have been slaves taken as prisoners of war and sold by Roman merchants to Indian rulers and not out of work Roman soldiers. Republican Roman playwright Plautius mentions in one of his plays about a Roman mercenary campaign in India but his timeframe seems a bit early for Roman trade and interraction with India. The bodyguards mentioned could be descendants of defeated Macedonian troops or former troops fleeing Bactria in the wake of the Yuezhi invasion and takeover but without evidence it is only conjectiure.
Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
