Person · śramaṇa ascetic · India
Zarmanochegas
The Indian ascetic recorded by Strabo and Dio Cassius as travelling with an embassy to Augustus and burning himself alive at Athens about 19 BCE. The Greeks read his name as a rendering of sramana; his tomb inscription named him an Indian from Bargosa, which is Bharuch.
- Function
- Religious institution & practice
- Confidence
- Not assessed
Worth knowing
Strabo says he did it laughing, having lived well and wishing to end while things were good. It is the first datable appearance of an Indian religious practitioner in Europe and the only one for another fifteen hundred years.
Connections (1)
- Life routeAthens
Strabo and Dio Cassius record that an Indian embassy reached Augustus about 20 BCE and that a sramana travelling with it burned himself alive at Athens, laughing, having decided to end while things were good. A monument was raised over his ashes inscribed as the Indian from Bargosa — Bharuch. It is the first datable Indian religious figure in Europe, and the inscription names his home port, which means someone in Athens knew where it was.
Sources
Wikipedia, “Zarmanochegas”. Strabo, Geographica XV.1.73; Dio Cassius, Roman History LIV.9.
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