[INDOLOGY] Re: Question

[Antonio Ferreira-Jardim]

I believe the best source would probably be Karttunen's monograph on the
Yavanas: https://journal.fi/store/issue/view/4184/199

Kind regards,
Antonio



On Mon, Feb 8, 2021 at 2:28 PM Madhav Deshpande <mmdesh at umich.edu> wrote:

> Pāṇini refers to the formation *yavanānī *which Kātyāyana interprets as a
> reference to the script of the Yavanas.  Assuming that Pāṇini belongs to
> the pre-Alexander period, where would this familiarity with the Yavana
> script come from?  I read the following information in Wiki on Bactria:
>
> "Under Persian rule, many Greeks were deported to Bactria, so that their
> communities and language became common in the area. During the reign of Darius
> I <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darius_I>, the inhabitants of the Greek
> city of Barca <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barca_(ancient_city)>, in
> Cyrenaica <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrenaica>, were deported to
> Bactria for refusing to surrender assassins.[10]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bactria#cite_note-10> In addition, Xerxes
> also settled the "Branchidae" in Bactria; they were the descendants of
> Greek priests who had once lived near Didyma
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didyma> (western Asia Minor) and betrayed
> the temple to him.[11]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bactria#cite_note-11> Herodotus also
> records a Persian commander threatening to enslave daughters of the revolting
> Ionians <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionian_Revolt> and send them to
> Bactria.[12] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bactria#cite_note-12> Persia
> subsequently conscripted Greek men from these settlements in Bactria into
> their military, as did Alexander later.[13]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bactria#cite_note-13>"
>
> Is this something one could consider for possible connection of Pāṇini's
> awareness of the Yavana script?  Where can I find some more detailed
> references to Yavanas in the regions of Bactria and Gandhara before
> Alexander.
>
> Madhav M. Deshpande
> Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
> University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
> Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
> Adjunct Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India
>
> [Residence: Campbell, California, USA]
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