Pahlavas

The Pahlavas are a people mentioned in ancient Indian texts like the Manu Smriti, various Puranas, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and the Brihat Samhita. According to P. Carnegy,[3][4] In the 4th century BCE, Vartika of Katyayana mentions the Sakah-Parthavah demonstrating an awareness of these Saka-Parthians, probably by way of commerce.[5]

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.[1][2]

Literary references

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.[6][7][8][9]

Pahlava Kingdom alongside other locations of kingdoms and republics mentioned in the Indian epics or Bharata Khanda.

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 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 Pahlavadhayata narah ||.[10]

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 [11] 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, Sauvira and Anarta (north Saurashtra) countries. Further the 6th century Brhatsamhita of Varaha Mihira also locates the Pahlavas and Kamboja kingdoms in south-west India i.e. around Gujarat/Saurashtra.[12]

Puranas like Vayu also state that the 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, Paradas and the Sakas etc.[13]

Pānca Ganahas or Five Hordes

Puranas associate the Pahlavas with the Kambojas, Sakas, Yavanas and Paradas and brands them together as Panca-ganah (five-hordes). These five hordes were military allies of the Haihaya or Taljunga Kshatriyas of 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 sage Vasishtha against Vedic sage king Vishwamitra.[14]

The Kiskindha Kanda of Ramayana associates the Pahlavas with the Yavanas, Shakas, Kambojas, Paradas (Varadas), Rishikas and the Uttarakurus etc. and locates them all in the trans-Himalayan territories i.e. in the Sakadvipa.[15]

In the Mahabharata

Figurines of foreigners in Mathura

"Ethnic head", Mathura, c. 2nd century BCE. Mathura Museum.[16]

"Persian Nobleman clad in coat dupatta trouser and turban", Mathura, c. 2nd Century BCE. Mathura Museum.[16]

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, Gandharas, 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, Paradas and the Kambojas-Rishikas and locates them all in/around Anupa region in western India.

Mahabharata[17] 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/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.[18][19]

In the Manusmriti

Manusmriti[20] states that the Pahlavas and several other tribes like the Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Paradas, Daradas, Khasas, 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 Mudrarakshasa Drama

The Buddhist drama Mudrarakshasa by Visakhadutta and the Jaina works Parishishtaparvan refer to Chandragupta's alliance with 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 utilized to expanded his Mauryan Empire in northern India.[21]

In the Brihat-Katha-Manjari

The Brihat-Katha-Manjari of Kshmendra[22] 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[23] 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.

References

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 adopted 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 Gupta, Swarajya Prakash (1980). 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. B.R. Publishing Corporation. pp. 88, 122. ISBN 978-0-391-02172-3..
According to Gupta 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 Gupta, Swarajya Prakash (1980). 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. B.R. Publishing Corporation. p. 318. ISBN 978-0-391-02172-3.
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.
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.
India as Known to Panini, 1954, p 444, Dr V. S. Agarwala.
Sen, Ancient Indian History and Civilization 1999, pp. 116–117.
Philip's Atlas of World History (1999)
O'Brien, Patrick Karl (2002). Atlas of World History. Oxford University Press. p. 43. ISBN 9780195219210.
Barraclough, Geoffrey (1989). The Times Atlas of World History. Times Books. p. 79. ISBN 9780723009061.
(From Kirfel's Text of Bhuvanakosha ).
Markendeya Purana 57.35.
See also: Geographical Data in the Early Puranas, 1972, p 134-135, Dr M. R. Singh.
Vayu Purana I.58.78-83.
Ramayana, 55/2-3
Ramayana Kisk. Kanda, 43-12.
Vishnu, Asha (1993). Material Life of Northern India: Based on an Archaeological Study, 3rd Century B.C. to 1st Century B.C. Mittal Publications. p. 141. ISBN 9788170994107.
Mahabharata 5.4.15.
Mahabharata Bhishma Parva, Ch. 20.
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.)
Manu Samhita, X.43-44.
Mudrarakshas, II.
Brihat-Katha-Manjari 10/1/285-86.
Chapter 17.

Sources

Sen, Sailendra Nath (1999). Ancient Indian History and Civilization. New Age International. ISBN 9788122411980.

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[Gupta_122-1] 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 adopted 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 Gupta, Swarajya Prakash (1980). 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. B.R. Publishing Corporation. pp. 88, 122. ISBN 978-0-391-02172-3..

[Gupta_318-2] According to Gupta 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 Gupta, Swarajya Prakash (1980). 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. B.R. Publishing Corporation. p. 318. ISBN 978-0-391-02172-3.

[3] 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.

[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.

[5] India as Known to Panini, 1954, p 444, Dr V. S. Agarwala.

[FOOTNOTESen,_Ancient_Indian_History_and_Civilization1999116–117-6] Sen, Ancient Indian History and Civilization 1999, pp. 116–117.

[Philip's_Atlas_of_World_History-7] Philip's Atlas of World History (1999)

[Atlas_of_World_History-8] O'Brien, Patrick Karl (2002). Atlas of World History. Oxford University Press. p. 43. ISBN 9780195219210.

[The_Times_Atlas_of_World_History-9] Barraclough, Geoffrey (1989). The Times Atlas of World History. Times Books. p. 79. ISBN 9780723009061.

[10] (From Kirfel's Text of Bhuvanakosha ).

[11] Markendeya Purana 57.35.

[12] See also: Geographical Data in the Early Puranas, 1972, p 134-135, Dr M. R. Singh.

[13] Vayu Purana I.58.78-83.

[14] Ramayana, 55/2-3

[15] Ramayana Kisk. Kanda, 43-12.

[AV141-16] Vishnu, Asha (1993). Material Life of Northern India: Based on an Archaeological Study, 3rd Century B.C. to 1st Century B.C. Mittal Publications. p. 141. ISBN 9788170994107.

[17] Mahabharata 5.4.15.

[18] Mahabharata Bhishma Parva, Ch. 20.

[19] 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.)

[20] Manu Samhita, X.43-44.

[21] Mudrarakshas, II.

[22] Brihat-Katha-Manjari 10/1/285-86.

[23] Chapter 17.