Pre-modern Sanskrit term referring to outsiders, foreigners, barbarians and invaders
For the dynasty of Kamarupa, see Mleccha dynasty.
Mleccha (from Vedic Sanskrit: म्लेच्छ, romanized: mlecchá) is a Sanskrit term, referring to those of an incomprehensible speech, foreign or barbarous invaders as distinguished from Aryan Vedic people.[1][2]
The word Mleccha was commonly used for foreign barbarians of whatever race or colour.[3][verification needed] As a mleccha, any foreigner stood outside the varna system and the ritual ambience. Thus, historically, contact with them was viewed by the Hindus as polluting. The Mleccha people were Śākas, Huns, Chinese, Greeks, Kambojas, Pahlavas, Bahlikas and Rishikas.[4] The Barbaras, Kiratas, Paradas, Saka-Greeks, Indo-Greeks, Pulindas, Scythians,[5] Kushans,[6] Kinnaras,[7] Tusharas,[8] Nishadas,[9] Türks, Mongols, Romans and Arabs were also mlecchas.[10]
^Parasher, Aloka (1979). "The Designation Mleccha for Foreigners in Early India". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 40: 109–120. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44141948. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2022. Mlecchas as a reference group in early India included all outsiders who did not conform to the values and ideas and consequently to the norms of the society accepted by the elite groups.
^"mlechchha | ancient Indian class {". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
^Basham, A. L. (1954) The wonder that was India, pages 145–146, Sidgwick and Jackson, London.
^National geographer, 1977, p 60, Allahabad Geographical Society – History.
^Truschke, Audrey (2021). The Language Of History: Sanskrit Narratives Of A Muslim Past. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-93-5305-000-9. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
^Language multiplicity and ancient races in India
^"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^MBH 12.65.13-15
^Sharma, R. S. (1993). Indian Society: Historical Probings. People's Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-7007-176-1. Archived from the original on 26 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
^Thapar, Romila (1 January 1978). Ancient Indian Social History: Some Interpretations. Orient Blackswan. ISBN 9788125008088.
Mleccha (from Vedic Sanskrit: म्लेच्छ, romanized: mlecchá) is a Sanskrit term, referring to those of an incomprehensible speech, foreign or barbarous...
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cryptically warned Yudhishthira of the plot against their lives in a Mleccha language, and a means of escape. Upon their arrival to the town and the...
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river, and defeated several mleccha kings. The poet Kalidasa, who accompanied him, magically turned into ashes a mleccha named Mahamada, whose followers...
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elaborated more on the origins. The epic Mahabharata mentions the Kiratas as a Mleccha tribe along with Pulindas and Chinas, Hunas, Pahlavas, Sakas, Yavanas,...
"The Yavanas, O king, are all-knowing; the Suras are particularly so. The mlecchas are wedded to the creations of their own fancy", such as flying machines...
roots in Austro-Asiatic languages. The others in the list of 300 – such as mleccha and nir – have Dravidian (Tamil, Telugu) roots found in the southern region...
end of the Kali Yuga and protect dharma, by destroying the sinners and Mlecchas. Kacha's story is mentioned in Mahabharata's Adi Parva. He was the son...
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