A history student visiting Hampi reads about the wars of the Deccan in the sixteenth century. She learns that the city of Vijayanagara was finally destroyed by the armies of the Sultans. Her classmate argues that the rayas and the Sultans must have been enemies at every moment because they followed different religions. The student is not convinced. She collects cases in which the rulers of the two sides helped each other, and then tries to find out what broke this pattern of mutual support.
While collecting her cases, the student finds that Krishnadeva Raya took pride in the title 'establisher of the Yavana kingdom'. What does the word Yavana originally mean?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → A Sanskrit word used for the Greeks and other peoples who entered the subcontinent from the north west
Option (1) A Sanskrit word used for the Portuguese and other traders who reached the western coast by sea — Incorrect. The term is far older than the Portuguese. It referred to peoples who came by land from the north west.
Option (2) A Sanskrit word used for the Telugu and Kannada speaking military chiefs of the southern peninsula — Incorrect. The Telugu and Kannada speaking chiefs who held forts were called nayakas.
Option (3) A Persian word used for the high nobles who held territories from the Delhi Sultan — Incorrect. The Persian term for a high noble is amir, which the word amara is said to resemble. Yavana is a Sanskrit word with another meaning.
Option (4) A Sanskrit word used for the Greeks and other peoples who entered the subcontinent from the north west — Correct. <strong>Yavana</strong> is a Sanskrit word for the <strong>Greeks and other peoples who entered from the north west</strong>. Here it stands for the Sultans, whose claimants Krishnadeva Raya supported.
NCERT (2026-27): “2.2 The apogee and decline of the empire … “Yavana is a Sanskrit word used for the Greeks and other peoples who entered the subcontinent from the north west.” |