The Prestige Makers: Greek Slave Women in Ancient India

In the ancient Mediterranean, slavers targeted women. Many of these enslaved women went to regional markets but some were shipped to India where they could be used to access markets that supplied the Eastern luxury products profitable back in the West. Women, labeled yavani (Ionic Greek) in India, could have been from the Persian conquests of the Eastern Mediterranean, Alexander's Hellenistic colonies in Bactria, Indo-Greeks, or eventually, women captured anywhere in the Roman Empire. Greek slaves proved to be popular in India, appearing in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Tamil, and Syriac texts in three main roles. First, lists of attendants in royal harems include yavani as early as the fifth century B.C. in Bihar. Second, dramas and poetry in late antiquity brand Greeks as the preferred female bodyguards of royals. Third, multiple sources identify Western women working as courtesans, barmaids, and "flute girls" in the robust sex/entertainment careers of ancient India. Foreign slaves provided prestige and demonstrated the imperial reach of those who possessed them. The desire for foreign exotica by the elite in a wealthy region like India increased the danger of enslavement and long-distance displacement for the women of the ancient Mediterranean, a risk that has not disappeared for those in vulnerable places today. KEYWORDS: sex trafficking, Yavana, slavery in Ancient India, courtesanship, sex slavery, prostitution, armed women, Mediterranean slave trade.