StephanieCrowthe: small expanded intro for accuracy as per guidelines

2026-02-13T08:50:43Z

small expanded intro for accuracy as per guidelines

imported>SdkbBot: General fixes, removed erroneous space

2021-06-27T08:46:02Z

New page

{{Short description|ethnic group mentioned in historic Indian texts}}
[[File:Mauryan head from Sarnath.jpg|thumb|Figure of a foreigner, found in [[Sarnath]]. This is a probable member of the West Asian Pahlava or Saka elite in the Gangetic plains during the Mauryan period.<ref name="Gupta 122">Page 122: About the [[Masarh lion]]: "This particular example of a foreign model gets added support from the male heads of foreigners from Patna city and Sarnath since they also prove beyond doubt that a section of the elite in the Gangetic Basin was of foreign origin. However, as noted earlier, this is an example of the late Mauryan period since this is not the type adoped in any Ashoka pillar. We are, therefore, visualizing a historical situation in India in which the West Asian influence on Indian art was felt more in the late Mauryan than in the early Mauryan period. The term West Asia in this context stands for Iran and Afghanistan, where the Sakas and Pahlavas had their base-camps for eastward movement. The prelude to future inroads of the Indo-Bactrians in India had after all started in the second century B.C."... in {{cite book |last1=Gupta |first1=Swarajya Prakash |author-link=Swaraj Prakash Gupta|title=The Roots of Indian Art: A Detailed Study of the Formative Period of Indian Art and Architecture, Third and Second Centuries B.C., Mauryan and Late Mauryan |publisher=B.R. Publishing Corporation |isbn=978-0-391-02172-3 |pages=88, 122 |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Roots_of_Indian_Art.html?id=0lDqAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}.</ref><ref name="Gupta 318">According to Gupta [[:File:Mauryan head from Sarnath.jpg|this is]] a non-Indian face of a foreigner with a conical hat: "If there are a few faces which are nonIndian , such as one head from Sarnath with conical cap ( Bachhofer , Vol . I , Pl . 13 ), they are due to the presence of the foreigners their costumes, tastes and liking for portrait art and not their art styles." in {{cite book |last1=Gupta |first1=Swarajya Prakash |author-link=Swaraj Prakash Gupta|title=The Roots of Indian Art: A Detailed Study of the Formative Period of Indian Art and Architecture, Third and Second Centuries B.C., Mauryan and Late Mauryan |publisher=B.R. Publishing Corporation |isbn=978-0-391-02172-3 |page=318 |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Roots_of_Indian_Art.html?id=0lDqAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref>]]
The '''Pahlavas''' are a people mentioned in ancient Indian texts like the [[Manu Smriti]], various [[Puranas]], the [[Ramayana]], the [[Mahabharata]], and the Brihatsamhita. According to P. Carnegy,<ref>See: Notes on the Races, Tribes, and Castes inhabiting the Province of Oudh, Lucknow, Oudh Government Press 1868, p 4; The Geographical Data in Early Puranas, a Critical Studies, 1972, p 135, Dr M. R. Singh; [[Sacred Books of the East]], XXV, Intr. p cxv, Rapson, Coins of Ancient India, p 37, n.2.</ref><ref>The Geographical Data in Early Puranas, a Critical Studies, 1972, p 135, Dr M. R. Singh; Sacred Books of the East, XXV, Intr. p cxv; Rapson, Coins of Ancient India, p 37, n.2.</ref> In the 4th century BCE, Vartika of [[Katyayana]] mentions the ''Sakah-Parthavah'' demonstrating an awareness of these Saka-Parthians, probably by way of commerce.<ref>India as Known to Panini, 1954, p 444, Dr V. S. Agarwala.</ref>

==Literary references==

===In Puranic texts===
Pahlavas are referenced in various Puranic texts like Vayu Purana, Brahmanda Purana, Markendeya Purana, Matsya Purana, Vamana Purana etc.

[[Kirfel]]'s list of [[Uttarapatha]] countries of the ''Bhuvanakosha'' locates the Pahlavas along with the [[Tocharians|Tusharas]], [[Chinas]], Angalaukikas, Barbaras, [[Kambojas]], [[Daradas]], Bahlikas and other countries of the Udichya division of ancient India. e.g.:

:''ete desha udichyastu''
:Kambojashchaiva Dardashchaiva Barbarashcha Angaukikah ||
:Chinashchaiva Tusharashcha '''Pahlava'''dhayata narah ||.<ref>
:''(From Kirfel's Text of Bhuvanakosha )''.</ref>

[[File:India 500 BCE.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Eastern border of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] and the kingdoms and cities of [[ancient India]] (circa 500 BCE), around the time of the [[Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley]].{{sfn|Sen, Ancient Indian History and Civilization|1999|pages=116–117}}<ref name="Philip's Atlas of World History">[http://users.rowan.edu/~mcinneshin/101/wk05/images/NEWachaemexp.jpg Philip's Atlas of World History] (1999)</ref><ref name="Atlas of World History">{{cite book |last1=O'Brien |first1=Patrick Karl |title=Atlas of World History |date=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195219210 |page=43 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ffZy5tDjaUkC&pg=PA43 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="The Times Atlas of World History">{{cite book |last1=Barraclough |first1=Geoffrey |title=The Times Atlas of World History |date=1989 |publisher=Times Books |isbn=9780723009061 |page=79 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_IYYAQAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref>]]
The Vayu Purana, Brahamanda Purana and several other Puranas mention the Pahlavas with the tribes of Uttarapatha or north-west. The 6th century CE text Markendeya Purana <ref>Markendeya Purana 57.35.</ref> lists the Pahlavas, Kambojas, Daradas, Bahlikas, Barbaras, Tusharas, Paradas, Chinas, Lampakas etc. as the countries of Udichya division i.e. Uttarapatha, but 58th chapter of the Markendeya Purana also refers to yet other settlements of the Pahlavas and the Kambojas and locates them both specifically in the south-west of India as neighbors to the [[Sindhu]], [[Sovira|Sauvira]] and Anarta (north [[Saurashtra (region)|Saurashtra]]) countries. Further the 6th century Brhatsamhita of Varaha Mihira also locates the Pahlavas and [[Kambojas|Kamboja]] [[monarchy|kingdom]]s in south-west India i.e. around [[Gujarat]]/Saurashtra.<ref>See also: Geographical Data in the Early Puranas, 1972, p 134-135, Dr M. R. Singh.</ref>

Puranas like Vayu also state that the [[Uttarapatha|Udichyas]] including the Pahlavas, Paradas, Gandharas, Sakas, Yavanas, Tusharas, Kambojas, Khasas, Lampakas, Madhyadesis, Vindhyas, Aprantas, Dakshinatyas, Dravidas, Pulindas, Simhalas etc. would be proceeded against and annihilated by Kalki in ''[[Kali Yuga]]''. And they are stated to have been annihilated by king Pramiti at the end of Kali age as per [[Puranic]] evidence.

According to Vayu Purana and Matsya Purana, river Chakshu ([[Oxus]] or [[Amu Darya]]) flowed through the countries of Pahlavas, [[Tusharas]], Lampakas, [[Parada Kingdom|Parada]]s and the [[Sakas]] etc.<ref>Vayu Purana I.58.78-83.</ref>

====Pānca Ganahas or Five Hordes====
Puranas associate the Pahlavas with the Kambojas, Sakas, Yavanas and [[Paradas]] and brands them together as ''Panca-ganah'' (fiver-hordes). These five hordes were military allies of the Haihaya or Taljunga Kshatriyas of [[Yaduvanshi|Yadava]] line and were chiefly responsible for dethroning king Bahu of Kosala. Later, king Sagara, son of king Bahu, was able to defeat the Haihayas or Taljungas together with these five-hordes. According to Puranic accounts, king Sagara had divested the Paradas and other members of the well-known Pānca-gana (i.e. the Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas and Pahlavas) of their Kshatriyahood and turned them into the Mlechchas. Before their defeat at the hands of king Sagara, these five-hordes were called Kshatriya-pungava (i.e. ''foremost among the Kshatriyas'').

===In the Ramayana===
The Balakanda of the [[Ramayana]] groups the Pahlavas with the Sakas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Mlechhas and the [[Kiratas]] and refers to them as military allies of [[Wise old man|sage]] [[Vasishtha]] against Vedic sage king [[Vishwamitra]].<ref>Ramayana, 55/2-3</ref>

The Kiskindha Kanda of [[Ramayana]] associates the Pahlavas with the [[Yavana]]s, [[Shakas]], [[Kambojas]], [[Parada Kingdom|Paradas]] (Varadas), [[Rishikas]] and the [[Uttarakuru]]s etc. and locates them all in the trans-[[Himalayas|Himalayan]] territories i.e. in the Sakadvipa.<ref>Ramayana Kisk. Kanda, 43-12.</ref>

===In the Mahabharata===
{{multiple image
| align = right
| direction =horizontal
| header=Figurines of foreigners in Mathura
| total_width=350
| caption_align = center
| image1 = Ethnic Head - Circa 2nd Century BCE - Showcase 18-11 - Prehistory and Terracotta Gallery - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6365.JPG
| caption1 = "Ethnic head", [[Mathura]], c. 2nd century BCE. [[Mathura Museum]].<ref name="AV141">{{cite book |last1=Vishnu |first1=Asha |title=Material Life of Northern India: Based on an Archaeological Study, 3rd Century B.C. to 1st Century B.C. |date=1993 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=9788170994107 |page=141 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zaJ5oyrqBakC&pg=PA141 |language=en}}</ref>
| image2 = Persian Nobleman Clad in Coat Dupatta Trouser and Turban - Circa 2nd Century BCE - Showcase 18-11 - Prehistory and Terracotta Gallery - Government Museum - Mathura.jpg
| caption2 = "Persian Nobleman clad in coat dupatta trouser and turban", Mathura, c. 2nd Century BCE. [[Mathura Museum]].<ref name="AV141"/>
| footer=
}}

====In the Uttarapatha====
[[Mahabharata]] attests that Pandava-putra [[Nakula]] had defeated the Pahlavas in the course of his western expedition. The kings of Pahlava were also present at the [[Rajasuya]] sacrifice of king [[Yudhishtra]].

The Mahabharata also associates the Pahlavas with the [[Sakas]], [[Yavanas]], [[Gandhara]]s, [[Kambojas]], [[Tusharas]], Sabaras, Barbaras, etc. and addresses them all as the barbaric tribes of [[Uttarapatha]].

====In the Udyoga-Parva====
But the Udyoga-Parva of Mahabharata groups the Pahlavas with the [[Sakas]], [[Parada Kingdom|Paradas]] and the [[Kambojas]]-[[Rishikas]] and locates them all in/around Anupa region in western India.

Mahabharata<ref>Mahabharata 5.4.15.</ref> reads: These kings of the Shakas, Pahlavas and Daradas (i.e. the Paradas) and the Kamboja Rshikas, these are in the western riverine (Anupa) area.

This epic reference implies that sections of the Pahlavas, Sakas, Paradas, Kambojas were also located in western India near [[Saurashtra (region)|Saurashtra]]/[[Maharashtra]].

====In Kurukshetra War====

The Pahlavas along with the Sakas, Kiratas, Yavanas etc. joined Saradwat’s son Kripacharya, the high-souled and mighty bowman, and took up their positions at the northern point of the army.<ref>Mahabharata Bhishma Parva, Ch. 20.</ref><ref>Since the armies of the Sakas, Yavanas, Tukharas, Khasas, Daradas had fought under the supreme command of Sudakshin Kamboja (See ref: The Nations of India at the Battle Between the Pandavas and Kauravas, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1908, pp 313, 331, Dr F. E. Pargiter, (Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland), it is highly likely that the Pahlavas too fought under Sudakshina Kamboj.</ref>

===In the Manusmriti===
[[Manusmriti]]<ref>Manu Samhita, X.43-44.</ref> states that the '''Pahlavas''' and several other tribes like the [[Saka]]s, [[Yavana]]s, [[Kambojas]], [[Parada Kingdom|Paradas]], [[Darada Kingdom|Daradas]], [[Khasas|Khasa]]s, etc. were originally noble Kshatriyas, but later, due to their non-observance of valorous Kshatriya codes and neglect of chivalry, they had gradually sunken to the status of Mlechchas.

===In the Mudrarakshas Drama===
The [[Buddhist]] drama Mudrarakshas by Visakhadutta and the [[Jain]]a works [[Parishishtaparvan]] refer to [[Chandragupta Maurya|Chandragupta]]'s alliance with [[Himalayas|Himalayan]] king Parvatka. This Himalayan alliance gave Chandragupta a powerful composite army made up of the frontier martial tribes of the [[Shakas]], [[Kambojas]], [[Yavanas]], Pahlavas, Bahlikas etc. which he utilised to defeat the [[Hellenistic Greece|Greek]] successors of [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]] and thus expanded his [[Mauryan Empire]] in northern India.<ref>Mudrarakshas, II.</ref>

===In the Brihat-Katha-Manjari===
The Brihat-Katha-Manjari of the [[Kshmendra]]<ref>Brihat-Katha-Manjari 10/1/285-86.</ref> relates that around 400, the Gupta king Vikramaditya ([[Chandragupta II]]) had "unburdened the sacred earth of the barbarians" like the Shakas, Mlecchas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Tusharas, Parasikas, Hunas, etc. by annihilating these "unrighteous people" completely.

===In the Kavyamimamsa===
The 10th century Kavyamimamsa<ref>Chapter 17.</ref> of Pt Raj Shekhar still lists the Sakas, Tusharas, Vokanas, Hunas, Kambojas, Bahlikas, Pahlavas, Tangana, Turukshas, etc. together and states them as the tribes located in the [[Uttarapatha]] division.

==See also==
* [[Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley]]

==References==
{{HistoryOfSouthAsia}}
<references />

==Sources==
* {{cite book |last1=Sen |first1=Sailendra Nath |title=Ancient Indian History and Civilization |date=1999 |publisher=New Age International |isbn=9788122411980 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&pg=PA116 |ref={{sfnref|Sen, Ancient Indian History and Civilization|1999}}}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pahlavas, The}}
[[Category:Exotic tribes in Hindu scripture]]

Pahlavas - Revision history

StephanieCrowthe: small expanded intro for accuracy as per guidelines

imported>SdkbBot: General fixes, removed erroneous space