Azizam
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Just that I had never heard of Greeks and the Kamboja tribe in association with Sri Lanka. Tamils, yes, Bengali or Odiya, yes, those two, no.
The Greeks need no introduction.
The Kamboja are a fascinating tribe, although much of the information that we have regarding them is pre-historic, based on references in literature. The Parama Kamboja are listed as an outlying member of the tribes that were identified at various times, most particularly in the epic, the Mahabharata, as tribes that joined the final battle. In that epic, they were described as tall, fair, fierce in battle, mounted on superb horseflesh, and familiar with fighting for others (perhaps a reference to mercenary occupation as soldiers). They were reputed to live in what is today the Ferghana region, part of modern Tajikistan, and they seem to have spoken a version of Indo-Aryan already considered archaic at that time, with verbs and usages that were listed by grammarians as no longer canonical within the mainstream of Indo-Aryan.
Some of the references seem to indicate that they may have formed part of the Scythian grouping; certainly in much later years, at the time of the Xiongnu onslaught on the Kushana/Yueh Chi/Tocharians in the Tarim Basin, there were Scythians, great horsemen with superb horses, living in the Ferghana region, speaking most probably a version of east Iranian. The repeated onslaughts of the Xiongnu broke the back of the Tarim kingdom, sent the Tocharians flying west, uprooting the Scythians and the associated Pahlavas and pushing these two tribes first into northern Afghanistan, then deeper still into what was known to the Persians and Greeks as Arachosia. The dates are post-Bactrian Greek; it was the incursion of the Scythians and the Pahlavas that destroyed the kingdoms of Bactria. This region of Arachosia therefore became Sakasthan, thence in modern usage Seistan. The Scythians/Sakas went on to conquer and dominate large tracts of western India, until they were replaced by the Kushana themsellves.
The name of the Kamboja tribe, whether a member of the Scythian ethnic grouping or not, survives prominently in the Punjab and as far east as the UP. They were known as good soldiers and several prominent military personalities, in the middle ages as well as in contemporary times, bear that name.
There are traces and mysterious hints that they may have penetrated into Tibet. How far in is not known; we also do not know for certain how the name bobs up in south-east Asia, as the name for the Khmer, as Cambodge.
These are highly speculative references and do not form part of history, in a proper sense. They are reproduced purely for the sake of the excursion into Sri Lankan history.
Kamboja colonists of Sri Lanka : Wikis (The Full Wiki)Inscriptional evidence
Four Sinhalese inscriptions from Koravakgala at Situlpahuwa in the Hambantota district in Rohana province contain the word "Kaboja"' (Sanskrit:Kamboja) and refer to a Kamboja village Chief or Councillor.[33] Another epigraphic inscription found from Kaduruvava in Kurunagala District south-west of Anuradhapura attest the existence of one "Kamboja Sangha or Corporation" (Gote-Kabojhyana).[34] There is yet another very important cave inscription located in Bovattagala in Amparai district in Rohana province which attests one "Grand Trade Guild of the Kambojas" (Kabojhya Mahapugyana).[35] A Mediaeval era Inscription found from Polonnaruva in 1887 near Vishnu Temple relates to Maharaja Kalinglankeshwara Bahu Veer-raja Nissanka-Malla Aprati Malla Chakravarati who caused one Charity House to be constructed and named after him as Nissankamalla-Daan-Griha. The southern gate of this Charity House is named as Kamboja Vasala.[36] And lastly, an inscription relating to king Kirti-Nissanka Malla (1187-96) was found in 1884 AD at Ruvanveli Dagva in Anuradhapura[37] which refers to a group of people called Kambodjin whom the scholars have linked to the Kamboja group which had embraced Muslim faith during mediaeval age.[38]
These ancient Brahmi inscriptions attest that a 'Great Trade Corporation of the Kambojiyas' (Kabojhiya-mahapugiyana) and a 'Sangha or Corporation of the Kambojyas' (Gota-Kabojhi(ya]na) were located in different provinces of Sri Lanka. These inscriptions additionally make reference to republican titles or appellations like Praumaka ("chief of the Sangha") and Gamika (Gamini or Gramini, the Village Councilor, Head, the Chieftain) of the Kambojiyas. Specialists have determined that Kabojhiya, Kabojha or Kambodjin are corrupted forms of Sanskrit Kamboja or Persian Kambaujiya/Kambujiya. Similarly,Gamika/Gamini is a corruption of the Sanskrit Gramini or Gramaneya and Parumaka is a corruption of the Sanskrit Pramukha meaning Chieftain or Head.[39]
Kaboja or Kambojas[edit]
"Several early Brahmi inscriptions in Ceylon refer to a community of people called Kambojas who then lived in various parts of Sri Lanka. An early Pali text refers to a Kambojagama in Rohana".[25]
The Kaboja (also Kamboja or Kambodin) are mentioned in eight Brahmi texts. The Dameda are referenced in five texts. The Mileka are mentioned twice. The Muridi, Meraya and Jhavaka are mentioned only once.[26] The Kambojas living in Rohana are mentioned in the (?th) chapter of the Sihalavatthu, a Pali text from about 300 AD. An Elder named Maleyya was residing in Kamboja-gama, in the province (Janapada) of Rohana on the Island of Tambapanni (Sri Lanka), according to chapter 3, Metteyya-vatthu, of the Sihalavatthu.[27]Further, the Mahavamsa asserts the Yonas or Yavanas (Greeks), neighbors to the Kambojas in the north-west, also had a settlement in Pandukabhaya in Anuradhapura.[28] Eight epigraphic and one literary sources attest that the Kambojas had settled in various parts of Ceylon including Hambantoa district and Aparai districts of Rohana province, in Kurunagala district Southwest of Anuradhapura, in Polonnaruva district in eastern Ceylon as well as in Anuradhapura city. A Kambojagama is attested in the Southeast in Rohana province.
Ancient inscriptions reveal that the Kambojas were actively involved in trade, referencing one "Grand Trade Guild of the Kambojas" (Kabojhiya-mahapugiyana) in Aparai district in Rohana and one "Sangha of the Kambojas" (Gota-Kabojhi(ya]na) in Kurunagala district in Southwest Anuradhapura.[29] Epigraphers date these inscriptions to at least 200 BC, or even earlier.
The Indo-Aryan speakers of Sri Lanka may be descended from these north-western Kambojas [30][31][32] Another portion of this Aryan population originated among the Sakas and the Yavanas. These Kambojas inhabited a region bordering the upper Indus in a country near Sind, from whence they, and the Yavanas, finally reached Ceylon in pre-Christian times.
[33][
Ancient history of Sri Lanka - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Most interesting looks of Sinhalese are found along the southern coastal belt of Sri Lanka which is supposedly the hometown of Kambjoas in Sri Lanka. There's also a story which mentions 40,000 Indo-Greeks who settled in North Central province of Sri Lanka. Could this be the reason why some people from that province tend to have blue eyes?
I apologize for my lack of knowledge on this subject. May I know your opinion on these sources?
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