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, the inhabitants of the Greek city of Barca, in Cyrenaica, were deported to Bactria for refusing to surrender assassins.^[10] In addition, Xerxes also settled the "Branchidae" in Bactria; they were the descendants of Greek priests who had once lived near Didyma (western Asia Minor) and betrayed the temple to him.^[11] Herodotus also records a Persian commander threatening to enslave daughters of the revolting Ionians and send them to Bactria.^[12] Persia subsequently conscripted Greek men from these settlements in Bactria into their military, as did Alexander later.^[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]