By its structure, the term is not natively Indo-Iranian, so that it would seem to be a loan of the ethnonym of a non-Aryan people so described, or perhaps referring to Scythian peoples. It has been speculated that the term is related to Meluhha, the name of a trading partner of Bronze Age Sumer, tentatively identified with the Indus Valley civilization.
The term is not attested in the Vedas, but occurs for the first time in the late Vedic text Shatapatha Brahmana. The law giver Baudhâyana defines a Mleccha as someone "who eats meat or indulges in self-contradictory statements or is devoid of righteousness and purity of conduct." and someone who does not speak the sacred language Sanskrit.
Mleccha in Hinduism could refer to any being who has differnt teachings than Hinduism and do not follow the Vedas. In the Indian history many Buddhists from the Pala dynasty (Kamarupa) were known as Mlechhas.
In the epic Mahabharata, some Mleccha warriors are described as having "heads completely shaved or half-shaved or covered with matted locks, [as being] impure in habits, and of crooked faces." They are "dwellers of hills" and "denizens of mountain-caves.
In ancient India, this term was also applied by the Aryan kingdoms to foreigners. In Bhagavata Purana and medieval literature, such as that of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the term is used in the context of meat eaters, outcastes and Muslims.
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Last updated on Sunday July 20, 2008 at 00:14:36 PDT (GMT -0700)
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