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The Pahlavas are a people mentionned in ancient Indian texts like the Manu Smriti, various Puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Brhatsamhita etc. They are referenced in the Mahabharata and the Puranic literature as Pahlavas as well as Pallavas. They are said to be same as the Parasikas.

The Pahlava were ancient Persian tribe, known as Pahlavi, who migrated from Persia to southern India and founded the Pahlava dynasty. As Venkayya notes,

The Pallavas of Kāñcīpuram must have come originally from Persia, though the interval of time which must have elapsed since they left Persia must be several centuries. As the Persians are generally known to (p.220) Indian poets under the name Pārasīka, the term Pahlava or Pallava must denote the Arsacidan Parthians, as stated by Professor Weber." (Venkayya 1907, p.219-220)

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 ||

........................................................................................

(From Kirfel's Text of Bhuvanakosha )

Many Puranic texts refer to the Pallavas and Pahlavas indistinguishably, thus attesting that the Pallavas of southern India are also derived from the Iranian Pahlavas. While Vayu Purana mention Pahlava and Pahnava, the Brahmanda Purana and Markendeya Purana refers to them both as Pahlavas as well as Pallavas and the Vamana Purana and Matsya Purana notes them as Pallavas.

Bhishama Parava of Mahabharata too references the Pahlavas as Pallavas:

KhashikAshcha TukhArAshcha Pallava girigahvarah ||66||

(MBH Bhishama Parava 6.11.66)

Vayu Purana, Brahamanda Puranas and several other Puranas mention the Pahlavas with the tribes of Uttarapatha or north-west. The sixth century text Markendeya Purana (57.35) lists the Pahlavas, Kambojas, Daradas, Bahlikas, Barbaras, Tusharas, Daradas, 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 sixth century CE Brhatsamhita of Varaha Mihira also locates the Pahlavas and Kamboja kingdoms in south-west India i.e around Gujarat/Saurashtra (See also: Geographical Data in the Early Puranas, 1972, p 134-135, Dr M. R. Singh).

According to P. Carnegy, the Pahluva are probably those people who spoke Paluvi or Pehlvi, a language pf Persia. Buhler thinks that Phalvas and their Iranian prototype Pahlava are corruptions of Parthavas. They are same as Parthians. The first reference to Pahlavas is found in the Rigveda. Vartika of Katyayana mentions Sakah-Parthavah showing that in fourth century BCE, the Parthavas or Pahlavas were known to the Hindus probably by way of commerce.

Puranas associate the Pahlavas with the Kambojas, Sakas, Yavanas and Pardas and brands them together as Panca-ganah (fiver-hordes). These five hordes were military allies of the Haihaya and 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 and Taljungas together with these five-hordes. According to Puranic accounts, king Sagara had divested the Paradas and other members of the well-known Panca-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).

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 Kaliyuga. And they are stated to have been annhilated 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 Shakas etc (Vayu Purana I.58.78-83).

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 Shakas, Yavanas, Gandharas, Kambojas, Pahlavas, Tusharas, Sabaras, Barbaras, etc. and addresses them all as the Barbaric tribes of Uttarapatha.

But the Udyoga-Parva of Mahabharata groups the Pahlavas with the Shakas, Paradas and the Kambojas-Rishikas and locates them all in/around Anupa region in western India.

Shakanam Pahlavanan cha Daradanam cha ye nripah.|

Kambojarishika ye cha pashchimanupakashcha ye 15.||

(MBH 5.4.15)

Translation:

These kings of the Shakas, Pahlavas and Daradas (Paradas) and the Kamboja Rshikas, these are in the western riverine (Anupa) area. (It may be remembered that the Daradas in this passage appears to be a copyist's mistake since it is the Paradas and not the Daradas who are a member of the well known Puranic Panca-gana or five-hordes).

This epic refence implies that sections of the Pahlavas, Shakas, Paradas, Kambojas were also located in western India near Saurashtra/Maharashtra.

The Balakanda of the Ramayana groups the Pahlavas with the Shakas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Mlechhas and the Kiratas and refers to them as military allies of sage Vasishtha against Vedic king Vishwamitra (55/2-3).

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 (Ramayana Kisk. Kanda, 43-12).

As noted above, the Pahlavas settlements have been noted both in the north/north-west as well as in the western and south-west India in post Christian times. This shows that the Pahlavas had moved to western region around Christian times. This movement of the Pahlavas appears to have been associated with the well known tribal movements of several Central Asian tribes like the Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Tusharas, Rishikas, Paradas etc which had occurred around second century prior to Christian era.

The Buddhist drama Mudrarakshas by Visakhadutta and the Jaina works Parisishtaparvan 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, Parasikas (Pahlavas), Bahlikas etc (predominantly an Iranian army) which he utilised to defeat the Greek successors of Alexander and the Nanda rulers of Magadha, and thus establishing his Mauryan Empire in northern India (See: Mudrarakshas, II).

The Brihat-Katha-Manjari of the Kshmendra (10/1/285-86) relates that around 400 AD, the Gupta king Vikramaditya (Chandragupta II) had "unburdened the sacred earth of the barbarians" like the Shakas, Mlecchas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Tusharas, Parasikas (Pahlavas), Hunas, etc. by annihilating these "sinners" completely.

The 10th century Kavyamimamsa (Ch. 17) 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.

The Pahlavas allied with Sakas, Kambojas and some other tribes from Central Asia are stated to have entered India through Bolan Pass. The Pahlavas had set up a dynasty under Venones in Balochistan and Kandhahar. The Pahlava rule in Afghanistan, Sindh and Punjab was supplanted by that of Kushanas.

Manusmriti (X.43-44) states that the Pahlavas and several other tribes like the Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Paradas, Daradas, Khasas, Dravidas etc were originally noble Kshatriyas, but later, due to their non-observance of sacred Brahmanical codes and neglect of the priestly class, they had gradually sunken to the status of Mlechchas.

See also: Indo-Parthian Kingdom

• History of Iran
• Empires and kingdoms of India
• Persian history
• Iranian peoples
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• Ethnic groups in Iran