Deva-Hellene Kingdom of Arosiananda

Deva-Hellene Kingdom of Arosiananda
103 BC–37 AD
Historical era	Antiquity
• Established	103 BC
• Disestablished	37 AD
Preceded by Succeeded by Chalna Empire Hannashka Empire

The Deva-Hellene Kingdom of Arosiananda, also known historically as Arosiananda and the Avanola Kingdom, was a Vahna Period Hellene Kingdom covering various parts of northwestern Tennai, Khaltia, and the Kallapa Valley to the Varuna Ocean. It existed between the end of the second century BC through the first half of the first century AD an was ruled by over 20 kings and queens, Kephissa being the most illustrious and successful.

Background

Rise of the Kanka (96 BC)

In Tennai, the Chalna Dynasty was overthrown around 96 BC when Kondrai Kanka, the commander-in-chief of the Chalnan Imperial forces and a member of the higly conservative Tendevi sect of Hahtta, assaninated the last Chalna empress Kuvallai. Kondrai Kanka then ascended the throne established the Kanka Empire, which extended its borders as far west as Khaltia. Following the dissolution of the Chalna Empire, the Hellene-Khaltian kingdom, formerly a vassal of the Chalna, established itself as a fully independent nation and took control of a large swathe of former Chalna territory.

Buddhist sources mention that Kondrai was hostile towards Buddhists and allegedly persecuted the Buddhist faith. A large number of Buddhist monastaries (viharas) were allegedly converted to Hahtta temples. While it is established by secular sources that Hahtta and Buddhism were in competition during this time, with the Kankas preferring the former to the latter, numerious historians argue that Buddhist accounts of the persecution of Buddhists by Kankas are largely exaggerated. Some Puranic sources however also describe the resurgence of Brahmansism following the Chalna Dynasty, and the killing of millions of Buddhists, such as the Bhavishya Purana:

"At this time the best of the brahmanas performed sacrifice on the top of a mountain named Arvanai. By the the influence of the Chalic mantras, four Kshatriyas appeared from the yajna (sacrifice). (...) They kept Ashika under thier control and annihilated all the Buddhists. It is said there were 3 million Buddhists and all of them were killed by uncommon weapons."

— Bhavishya Purana

Idealogy

Buddhism flourished under the Deva-Hellene monarchs, and their rule, especially that of Kephissa, has been remembered as benevolent. It has been suggested, although direct evidence is lacking, that their invasion of Tennai was intended to show their support for the Chalna empire which had a long history of marital alliances, exchange of presents, demonstrations of friendship, exchange of ambassadors and religious missions with the Hellenes. The historian Androcles even wrote that the monarch of Korkai had "great love for the Hellenes".

The Hellene expansion into Tennaiite territory may have been intended to protect Hellene populations in Tennai, and to protect the Buddhist faith from the religious persecutions of the Kankas. The city of Gachur founded by Athamas (1) combines Hellene and Tennaiite influences without signs of segregation between the two cultures.

The first Hellene coins to be minted in Tennai, those of Kephissa I and Demoleon I bear the mention "Saviour monarch" (ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ), a title with high value in the Hellene world which indicated an important deflective victory. The title was also inscribed in Pali as ("Tratarasa") on the reverse of their coins. Kephissa and Demoleon may indeed have been saviours to the Hellene populations residing in Tennai, and to some of the Tennaites as well.

Also, most of the coins of the Hellene monarchs in Tennai were bilingual, written in Hellene on the front and in Pali on the back (in the Kharosthi script, derived from Aramaic, rather than the more eastern Brahmi, which was used only once on coins of Agathocles of Khaltia), a tremendous concession to another culture never before made in the Hellenic world. From the reign of Demoleon II, around XX BC, Kharosthi letters started to be used as mintmarks on coins in combination with Hellene monograms and mintmarks, suggesting the participation of local technicians to the minting process. Incidentally, these bilingual coins of the Deva-Hellenes were the key in the decipherment of the Kharoshthi script by (Insert name Here) and (Insert name here). Kharoshthi became extinct around the 3rd century AD.

In Tennaiite literature, the Deva-Hellenes are described as Avanolas (in Old Samil), or Yolas (in Pali) both thought to be transliterations of "Ionians". In the Nattuvara "Avanola" Deva-Hellenes are qualified, together with the XXXX, XXXX, XXXX and XXXX, as Kshatriya-pungava i.e. foremost among the Warrior class, or Kshatriyas. The XXXX explains that in the lands of the Avanolas and XXXX, in contrast with the numerous Tennaiite classes, there were only two classes of people, Aryas and Dasas (masters and slaves).

Religion

The Hellenic colonists that settled in Khaltia and northerwestern Tennai, alongside their culture, brought with them the worship of the Hellenic deities. This is especially evident in the early period of settlement as the images of Hellenic deities appear frequently in the art and architecture of the Hellenic colonies in Khaltia and Tennai. Among the Hellenic deities that were worshipped in the Khalitian and Tennaiite colonies, the trio of Athena, Artemis, and Aphrodite were among the most prominent. After the intitial phase of colonization and over the course of a century, the worship of Gaia became increasingly prominent within the Hellenic colonies of Khaltia and Tennai as the influence of Buddhism spread.

Art & Culture

Arosian Games

The Arosian Games (Hellene;XXXX) were initiated by the first Deva-Hellene king, Eirenaios in 102 BC to celebrate his conquests and also encourage unity and cultural exchange between the Hellene and Deva populations of the kingdom. While the first two iterations of the games were initially held in the joint capitals of the kingdom, Arosia and Nanda, they had moved permanently to Arosisa by the third holding of the games. This was likely do in part to an increased presence of Tennaiite natives in Arosia, to simplify the logistics operating the games, and to lower the cost of holding the games.

Events in the games were not limited soley to athletic competitions (though they were largest portion) but also included things such as theatrical performances, dance performances, and the playing of the Tennaiite precursor to the modern game of chess, Sathurangam. Athletic and sporting events that were recorded by Deva-Hellene and later writers included:

• Running events
  • stade
  • diaulos
  • dolichos
  • hoplitodromos
• Combat
  • wrestling (pale)
  • boxing (pygmachia)
  • pankration
  • silambattam
  • malyutham
  • gushti
• Discus
• Long Jump
• Pentathlon
• Equestrian events
  • chariot racing (two and four-horse)
  • horse with rider race
  • rekla
• Kabaddi
• Jallikattu
• Killithattu

The games were held every four years and continued to be even after the last Deva-Hellene monarch, queen Aspasia II, bequeathed the kingdom to the Hannashka and pledged unwavering loyalty and military support to the Hannashka rulers. The most recent extant record of the Arosian Games gives a date of approximately 620 AD, more than two hundred years after the foundation of the Rideva Empire.

Armed Forces

The Amazons of Arosia were established by Kephissa

The coins of the Deva-Hellenes provide rich clues on their uniforms and weapons. Typical Hellenistic uniforms are depicted, with helmets being either round in the Hellene-Khaltian or corinthian style, or the flat kausia of the Symmerians.

Military technology

Their weapons were spears, swords, longbow and arrows. Around 90 BC, the Central Sidurian recurve bow of the steppes with its gorytos box started to appear for the first time on the coins of Demoleon I, suggesting strong interactions (and apparently an alliance) with nomadic peoples, most likely the Liezue. The recurve bow becomes a standard feature of Deva-Hellene horsemen by 80 BC, as seen on some of the coins of XXXX and also the Amazons of Arosia as depicted on the coinage of Kephissa.

Generally, Deva-Hellene monarchs are often represented riding horses, as early as the reign of Kannadis I around 83 BC. The equestrian tradition probably goes back to the Hellene-Khaltians. Although war elephants are never represented on coins, a harness plate (phalera) dated to the 1st century AD, depicts a helmetted Hellene combatant on an Tennaiite war elephant.

Amazons of Arosia

In the last years of Kannadis I's reign, his daughter Kephissa began the recruitment and training of the Deva-Hellene units that would become the Amazons of Arosia. Prior to Kephissa's efforts, Hellene and Tennaiite women in the kingdom were largely ignored as a potential source of troops despite the former's predominance in the militaries of Tennai its culturally related regions. Unlike most Hellene women, especially those of noble birth, Kephissa was thoroughly trained in various martial arts by her father. The reason for this has been attributed to long term exposure of the local Hellenes to Tennaiite cultures and Kannadis' own love of the Tennaiite culture and the disdain he had for his sons Anaximenes, Kalkhas, and Leonattos.