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{{short description|Pre-modern Sanskrit term referring to outsiders, foreigners, barbarians and invaders}}
{{for|the dynasty of Kamarupa|Mleccha dynasty}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
'''Mleccha''' ({{Langx|sa|म्लेच्छ|translit=mlecchá}}) is a [[Sanskrit]]  term referring to those of an incomprehensible speech, foreigners or invaders deemed distinct and separate from the [[List of ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes|Vedic tribes]].<ref name="A Sanskrit-English Dictionary">Monier-Williams, Monier. ''[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.31959 A Sanskrit-English Dictionary]''. Clarendon Press, 1899, p. 841.</ref><ref>Macdonell, Arthur Anthony. ''[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.101571 A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary]''. Longmans, Green, & Co., 1897.</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Parasher|first=Aloka|title=The Designation Mleccha for Foreigners in Early India|date=1979|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44141948|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=40|pages=109–120|jstor=44141948|issn=2249-1937|quote=Mlecchas as a reference group in early India included certain outsiders who did not conform to the values and ideas and consequently to the norms of the society accepted by vedic people.|access-date=5 February 2022|archive-date=5 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205214723/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44141948|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=br>{{Cite web|title=mlechchha {{!}} ancient Indian class |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/mlechchha|access-date=2022-01-13|website=www.britannica.com|language=en}}</ref>  In Vedic Brahmanical discourse, the term is used to refer to foreigners (anāryans) who were considered outside the realms of [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic dharma]].<ref>Witzel, Michael. “[https://www.ms.uky.edu/~sohum/sanskrit/vedica.pdf The Development of the Vedic Canon and Its Schools: The Social and Political Milieu].” In: ''Inside the Texts, Beyond the Texts: New Approaches to the Study of the Vedas''. Harvard Oriental Series, 1997.</ref><ref>Parpola, Asko. ''[https://academic.oup.com/book/27664 The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization]''. Oxford University Press, 2015.</ref><ref name=rnd>Dandekar, R. N. ''[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.21757 Vedic Bibliography, Volume 1]''. Ramakrishna Publishing House, 1947.</ref><ref name="mleccha">{{Cite web |title=mleccha |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100202609 |access-date=2024-07-04 |website=Oxford Reference |language=en }}</ref>

''Mleccha'' was traditionally applied to denote foreigners or outsiders who did not belong to the Vedic cultural milieu, regardless of their race or skin colour.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Thapar|first=Romila|title=Ancient Indian Social History: Some Interpretations|year=1978|publisher=Orient BlackSwan|pages=62–64|isbn=9788125008088|quote=Mleccha was a designation used for those outside the cultural norms of the Vedic people, irrespective of their ethnicity or color.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Parasher|first=Aloka|title=The Designation Mleccha for Foreigners in Early India|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=40|pages=109–120|year=1979|jstor=44141948 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44141948|access-date=16 January 2025}}</ref><ref name="A Sanskrit-English Dictionary"/> These individuals were considered outside the [[Varna (Hinduism)|Varna system]] and the ritualistic framework of [[Vedas|Vedic society]]. Historical sources identify various groups as mlecchas, including the [[Saka|Śākas]], [[Huna people|Huns]], [[Chinas|Chinese]], [[Yavana|Greeks]], [[Kambojas]], [[Pahlavas]], [[Bahlikas]], [[Rishikas]], and [[Daradas]].<ref name="ReferenceA">National geographer, 1977, p 60, Allahabad Geographical Society – History.</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">Mahabharata 6.51, 6.118, 7.20, 7.90, 7.116, 7.118, 8.73 etc</ref> Other groups designated as mlecchas include the [[Barbaras]], [[Kiratas]], [[Parada kingdom|Paradas]], [[Parasika kingdom]], [[Indo-Greek kingdom|Indo-Greeks]], [[Pulinda]]s, and [[Scythians]].<ref name="books.google.com">{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ipNNDwAAQBAJ&q=Mleccha+greek&pg=PT55|title = The Language Of History: Sanskrit Narratives Of A Muslim Past|first1 = Audrey |last1 = Truschke|year = 2021|publisher = Penguin Random House India Private Limited| isbn=978-93-5305-000-9 |access-date = 5 May 2024}}</ref> Further identifications include the [[Yuezhi|Kushans]],<ref name=rnd/><ref>"Language multiplicity and ancient races in India"</ref> [[Kinnara kingdom|Kinnaras]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/kinnara-kingdom |title=Kinnara Kingdom: 1 definition |date=31 January 2015 |access-date=26 April 2024 }}</ref><ref name="mleccha"/>

The word Mleccha was commonly used for foreign non vedic people of whatever race or colour.<ref>[[A. L. Basham|Basham, A. L.]] (1954) [[The Wonder That was India|The wonder that was India]], pages 145–146, [[Sidgwick & Jackson|Sidgwick and Jackson]], London.</ref>{{verify source|date=February 2023}} As a ''mleccha'' is any foreigner who stood outside the [[Varna (Hinduism)|varna system]] and the ritual ambience.The Baudhayana sutras define a mleccha as someone who eats beef or indulges in self-contradictory statements or is devoid of righteousness and purity of conduct. The Mleccha people were [[Saka|Śākas]], [[Huna people|Huns]], [[Chinas|Chinese]], [[Yavana|Greek]]s, [[Kambojas]], [[Pahlavas]], [[Bahlikas]], [[Rishikas]] and [[Daradas]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="ReferenceB"/> The [[Barbaras]], [[Kiratas]], [[Parada kingdom|Paradas]], [[Parasika kingdom|Saka-Greeks]], [[Indo-Greek kingdom|Indo-Greeks]], [[Pulinda]]s, [[Scythians]],<ref name="books.google.com"/> [[Yuezhi|Kushans]],<ref>Language multiplicity and ancient races in India</ref> [[Kinnara kingdom|Kinnaras]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/kinnara-kingdom |title=Kinnara Kingdom: 1 definition |date=31 January 2015 |access-date=26 April 2024 |archive-date=8 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230308091152/https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/kinnara-kingdom |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Tushara kingdom|Tusharas]],<ref>''MBH''  12.65.13-15</ref> [[Nishadas]],<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZI5hGgAACAAJ |title=Indian Society: Historical Probings |isbn=978-81-7007-176-1 |access-date=26 April 2024 |archive-date=26 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426192606/https://books.google.co.in/books?id=ZI5hGgAACAAJ&redir_esc=y |url-status=live |last1=Sharma |first1=R. S. |date=1993 |publisher=People's Publishing House }}</ref> [[Turkic peoples|Türks]], [[Mongols]], [[Roman people|Romans]], [[Baloch people|Balochs]]{{sfn|Bhandarkar|1929|p=30}} and [[Arabs]] were also mlecchas.<ref name="books Romila Thapar">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fK3VTUrWsD0C|title=Ancient Indian Social History: Some Interpretations|last=Thapar|first=Romila|date=1978-01-01|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=9788125008088|language=en}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The Sanskrit word ''mleccha'' does not have a standard Indo-European etymology and has no counterpart in Iranian languages.{{sfnp|Parpola|Parpola|1975|pp=208–209}} However, it has cognates in Middle Indo-Aryan languages: [[Pali]] ''milakkha'', and [[Prakrit]] ''mliccha'', from the latter of which originate [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]] ''milis'', [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] ''milech'', [[Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]] ''brichun'' (weep or lament), [[Western Pahari]] ''melech'' (dirty), [[Odia language|Odia]] ''mḷecha'', [[Bengali language|Bengali]] ''myaloch (dirty)''.{{sfnp|Witzel|1999|p=25}} The Sanskrit word occurs as a verb ''mlecchati'' for the first time in the later Vedic text ''[[Shatapatha Brahmana|Śathapatha‐Brāhmaṇa]]'' dated to around 700 BCE. It is taken to mean to speak indistinctly or barbarously.{{sfnp|Witzel|1999|p=25}} Brahmins are prohibited from speaking in this fashion.{{sfnp|Parpola|Parpola|1975|p=213}}

As ''mleccha'' does not have an Indo-European etymology, scholars infer that it must have been a self-designation of a non-Aryan people within India. Based on the geographic references to the ''Mleccha deśa'' (Mleccha country) to the west, the term is identified with the [[Indus Valley civilisation|Indus]] people, whose land is known from the Sumerian texts as [[Meluhha|Meluḫḫa]].<ref>{{harvp|Witzel|1999|p=25}}; {{harvp|Parpola|Parpola|1975}}</ref> [[Asko Parpola]] has proposed a [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]] derivation for "Meluḫḫa", as ''mel-akam'' ("high country", a possible etymological relationship and reference to [[Balochistan]] from where originated the Indus Valley Civilization.{{sfnp|Parpola|Parpola|1975}}{{sfnp|Witzel|1999}}  [[Franklin Southworth]] suggests that mleccha comes from ''mizi'' meaning 'speak', or 'one's speech' derived from [[Proto-Dravidian language|Proto-Dravidian]] for language.<ref name=S>{{citation | last=Southworth | first=Franklin C. | title=On the Origin of the word tamiz | year=1998 | journal=International Journal of Dravidial Linguistics | volume=27 | issue=1 | pages=129–132}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Southworth |first=Franklin |title=Linguistic Archaeology of South Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hTwuFUW5aEgC&pg=PA74 |year=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-31777-6 |page=74 |access-date=12 February 2021 |archive-date=17 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417184137/https://books.google.com/books?id=hTwuFUW5aEgC&pg=PA74 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{efn|See Southworth's etymological [[Tamil language#Etymology|derivation of Tamil]].}}

[[Pali]], the older [[Prakrit]] used by [[Theravada]] Buddhism, uses the term ''milakkha''. It also employs ''milakkhu'', a borrowing from a [[Dramatic Prakrit]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/search3advanced?dbname=pali&query=milak&matchtype=contain&display=utf8|website=Pali-English Dictionary|publisher=Pali Text Society|access-date=24 July 2015|title=Archived copy|archive-date=27 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227091256/http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/search3advanced?dbname=pali&query=milak&matchtype=contain&display=utf8|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Language==
Some explanations of the name ''mleccha'' suggest that the word was derived from the [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]] perception of the speech of the indigenous peoples. Namely, ''mlech'' was a word that meant 'to speak indistinctly'. As such, some suggest that the Indo-Aryans used an onomatopoeic sound to imitate the harshness of an alien tongue and to indicate incomprehension, thus coming up with ''mleccha''.{{sfnp|Thapar|1971|pp=409–410}}

Early Indo-Aryans spoke Sanskrit, which evolved into the various local modern Sanskrit-derived languages. Sanskrit was believed to include all the sounds necessary for communication. Early Indo-Aryans would therefore dismiss other languages as foreign tongue ''mleccha bhasha''. As the Sanskrit word itself suggests, mlecchas were those whose speech was alien.{{sfnp|Thapar|1971|pp=408–409}} Correct speech was a crucial component of being able to take part in the appropriate ''[[yajna|yajña]]s'' (religious rituals and sacrifices). Thus, without correct speech, one could not hope to practice correct religion, either.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

The notion of being Arya suggested a knowledge of Sanskrit in order to effectively perform ritual hymns; thus suggesting the importance of language. Parasher discusses the importance of knowing the ''correct speech'' in order to perform sacrifice and ritual in the religion of the ''[[Brahmanism|brahmanas]]''. Parasher continued, "The best experts of the sacrificial art were undoubtedly the various families of the Brahmins who, placed in a hierarchy within the Indo-Aryan social system, became the upholders of pure and best speech".{{sfnp|Parasher|1991|pp=48–49}}

Historians note that early Indo-Aryans believed Sanskrit to be the superior language over all other forms of speech. As such, mleccha or barbarian speech was said to have meant any of the following:
# a language which was not necessarily alien, but the speech of the person or persons was improper because it was either hostile or vulgar
# a language, and here most probably Sanskrit, that was mispronounced and, thereby, incomprehensible
# finally, any foreign tongue, which was naturally incomprehensible.{{sfnp|Parasher|1991|pp=80–81}}

==Territory==
Historians have stated that the notion of foreigners in ancient India – those living outside of the Indian subcontinent – was often accompanied by the idea that one was a barbarian. Still, it seemed that groups who did not come from outside of these areas, as well as foreigners, were designated by the term ''mleccha'', which carried with it a barbarian connotation.<ref>{{cite book|last=Parasher-Sen|first=Aloka|title=Subordinate and Marginal Groups in Early India|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|pages=276–277}}</ref>

Thus another distinction that was made between the mlecchas and non-mlecchas was area of habitation. Though they were considered a marginal group, the area characterize as the mleccha-desa (the natural border that separated their lands from that of the Aryans) was never permanent. Instead, it was defined by the changing ideas about the [[Āryāvarta]]. Parasher noted that the only consistent areas dubbed as ''mleccha desa'' were those regions inhabited by [[Adivasi|primitive tribes]] who for long periods of time did not come under the sway of the [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic]], [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] or [[Jainism|Jain]] influence.{{sfnp|Parasher|1991|p=90}}

Though the area of the Aryas expanded with time, the notion that was held over all of the land was that of purity. As Vedic literature refers only to the places and territories that were familiar to the Indo-Aryans, these lands eventually became part of the Āryāvarta. Parasher thus indicates that the Āryāvarta was designated as the region where the River [[Sarasvati River|Sarasvati]] disappears is the [[Patiala district]] in [[Punjab]]. The [[Pariyatra Mountains]] belong to the [[Vindhya Range]], probably the hills of [[Malwa]]. The Kalakavana is identified with a tract somewhere near [[Prayagraj|Prayag]]. Still, other interpretations of the Āryāvarta refer to those areas where the [[Indian antelope|black antelope]] roams, for these areas are fit for the performance of [[Vedic sacrifice|sacrifice]]. Early Vedic literature focused on defining the area of habitation of the Aryas for this land was considered pure; yet there is no actual reference to the mleccha country or behavior. Wherever the territory, though, the implications of naming such lands as the Āryāvarta is that any lands excluded from that area were considered impure.{{sfnp|Parasher|1991|pp=94–96}}

Further, there is evidence that Indians of the Vedic period actually had contact with people outside of the [[Indian subcontinent]], namely the [[Persians]]. The [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Persian Empire]], which ruled over the [[Hindush|Indus River Valley]] during this time (522–486 BC) was not designated as mleccha, perhaps because they did not interfere with the Brahminical way of life.<ref>{{cite book|last=Parasher-Sen|first=Aloka|title=Subordinate and Marginal Groups in Early India|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|pages=279}}</ref>

Later Vedic literature speaks of the western Anava tribes as mlecchas and occupying northern [[Punjab]], [[History of Sindh|Sindh]] and eastern [[Rajputana]]. The tribes of the north were mlecchas either because they were located on the frontiers such as [[Gandhara]], [[Kashmira|Kasmira]], [[Kambojas]], [[Khasas]] {{sfn|Grierson|1916|p=17}}{{sfn|Saksena|2019|pp=108-109}} and therefore both their speech and culture had become contaminated and differed from that of Āryāvarta, or else, as in the case of southern India, they were once Aryas but having forsaken the Vedic rituals were regarded to mleccha status.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thapar|first=Romila|author-link=Romila Thapar|title=Ancient Indian Social History: Some Interpretations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fK3VTUrWsD0C&pg=PA158|year=1978|pages=279|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-250-0808-8}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=November 2016}}

==Cultural behavior==
{{See also|Yona}}
The word ''mleccha'' emerged as a way for the ancient Indo-Aryans to classify those who did not subscribe to the traditional value system, though the characteristics of this system were ambiguous. In sum, though, the idea was that the mlecchas were peoples who did not conform to what was culturally acceptable.{{sfnp|Parasher|1991|pp=76–77}}

=== Relations with mlecchas ===
{{See also|Kala pani (taboo)}}
Early writings refer to these foreign peoples as half-civilized, unconverted people who rise or eat at improper times. They stated that monks and nuns should avoid certain areas of habitation because they were unsafe. Namely, that the ignorant populace might beat, harass or rob them under the impression that they were spies from hostile villages. Further, while some of these non-mlecchas, such as those of the Jain faith, had established contact with people of the forest tribes, they were automatically designated as mlecchas. This was the typical attitude of people from the plains who took pride in their norms of settled agricultural and urban lifestyles.{{sfnp|Parasher|1991|pp=101–102}}

Historians note that there were also systems in place to determine the validity – or purity – of certain customs, which would ultimately be judged by the [[Hindu priest|priest]]. As such there were intricate rules in place to define purity from impurity, laws of behavior, as well as rituals and customs, in an effort to educate the members of the Brahmanical system. Namely, these advisors took great pains to ensure that peoples of the Brahmanical system did not subscribe to any mleccha customs or rituals.{{sfnp|Parasher|1991|p=114}}

The [[Sanskritisation]] of names was a common feature among both indigenous and foreign mlecchas who slowly tried to move away from their status of mleccha. Very often, in the case of ruling families, it took one to two generations to make a transition. One of the most direct forms of the expression of the Brahmanical ritual purity was the form and type of food which a Brahmin could eat. He was forbidden to accept cooked food from any unclean person. Thus when the [[Punjab region]] became a mleccha area conquered by Muslims, the staple food was given a lower place in the food-ranking. By the twelfth century CE, [[wheat]] was described in one lexicon as food of the mlecchas, and [[rice]] became the pure cereal. [[Onions]] and [[garlic]] was also regarded as the food of the mlecchas and therefore prohibited to the priestly intellectual class of [[Brahmin]]s. Mlecchas drank [[Alcoholic beverage|alcohol]], ate [[Beef|cow flesh]], which was strictly forbidden to a follower of Hindu orthopraxy, and followed spiritual practices which were foreign to the Indian subcontinent.<ref name="books Romila Thapar"/><ref>Ancient Indian Social History: Some Interpretations By [[Romila Thapar]]</ref>

==Literature describing the Mleccha==
In the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', some Mleccha warriors are described as having heads completely shaved or half-shaved or covered with [[Dreadlocks|matted locks]], as being impure in habits, and of crooked faces and noses<ref>"Mlecchas in early India: a study in attitudes towards outsiders up to AD 600</ref>  They are dwellers of hills and denizens of mountain-caves. Mlecchas were born of the [[Indian cow|cow]] (belonging to [[Vasishtha]]), of fierce eyes, accomplished in smiting, looking like [[Yamaduta|messengers]] of [[Yama|Death]], and all conversant with the deceptive powers of the [[Asura]]s.<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m07/m07089.htm Mahabharata, Drona Parva, Section 92] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929082820/http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m07/m07089.htm |date=29 September 2007 }}.</ref>

Swami Parmeshwaranand states the mleccha tribe was born from the tail of the celestial cow Nandini, kept by Vashishta for sacrificial purposes when there was a fight between [[Vishvamitra]] and [[Vasistha]]. The ''Mahabharata'' gives the following information regarding them:
* Mleccha who sprang up from the tail of the celestial cow Nandini sent the army of [[Vishvamitra]] flying in terror.
* [[Bhagadatta]] was the king of mlecchas.
* [[Pandava]]s, like [[Bhima]], [[Nakula]] and [[Sahadeva]] once defeated them.
* [[Karna]] during his world campaign conquered many mleccha countries.
* The wealth that remained in the [[yaga-shala]] of [[Yudhishthira]] after the distribution as gifts to [[Brahmin]]s was taken away by the mlecchas.
* The mlecchas drove angered [[War elephant|elephants]] on the army of the Pandavas.
* This shows mlecchas were against Pandavas.<ref>Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Puranas: (A-C); 2.(D-H); 3.(I-L); 4.(M-R); 5 ... By Swami Parmeshwaranand</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_6F0ZIBIL2ZAC|title=Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Puranas|last=Parmeshwaranand|first=Swami|date=2001-01-01|publisher=Sarup & Sons|isbn=9788176252263|language=en}}</ref>

The term is not attested in the [[Vedas]], but occurs for the first time in the late Vedic text the ''[[Shatapatha Brahmana]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pillai |first=Madhavan Arjunan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q0o9AAAAMAAJ |title=Ancient Indian History |date=1988 |publisher=Ashish Publishing House |isbn=978-81-7024-188-1 |page=36 |language=en}}</ref> The ''[[Baudhayana sutras]]'' define a mleccha as someone who eats beef or indulges in self-contradictory statements or is devoid of righteousness and purity of conduct.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goshen-Gottstein |first=Alon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3VcXEAAAQBAJ |title=Interreligious Reflections, Six Volume Set: Six Volume Set Constituting Friendship Across Religions (Vol 1), Memory and Hope (Vol 2), Sharing Wisdom (Vol 3), The Crisis of the Holy (Vol 4), The Future of Religious Leadership (Vol 5), and The Religious Other (Vol 6) |date=2018-08-08 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-5326-7152-4 |language=en |access-date=6 April 2021 |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407103339/https://books.google.com/books?id=3VcXEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Medieval Hindu literature, such as that of [[Chaitanya Mahaprabhu]], also uses the term to refer to those of larger groups of other religions, especially [[Muslim]]s.<ref>[http://vedabase.net/m/mleccha Vedabase] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071116141554/http://vedabase.net/m/mleccha |date=16 November 2007 }}.</ref> In [[medieval India]], a foreign visitor [[al-Biruni|Al Birūnī]] (died 1048) noted that foreigners were regarded as unclean or Mleccha and [[Hindus]] were forbidden any social or matrimonial contact with them.<ref>Rizvi, S.A.A. (1987), The wonder that was India, volume II, pages 252–253, Sidgwick and Jackson, London</ref>

According to the [[Gwalior]] inscription of his descendant [[Mihira Bhoja]], the [[Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty|Gurjara Pratihara]] King [[Nagabhata I]] repulsed a mleccha invasion. These mlechchhas are identified with the [[Caliphate campaigns in India|Arab Muslim invaders]].{{sfn|Baij Nath Puri|1957|p=37}}{{Citation not found|date=October 2021}}

==See also==
{{Portal|India}}
* [[Barbarian]]
* [[Gweilo]]
* [[Nemtsy]], a name for Germany similarly meaning "mute" or "unable to speak [our language]"
* [[Meluhha]]
* [[Dasa]], [[Dahae]], [[Dahiya (surname)]] 
* [[Mlechchha dynasty]]
* [[Massagetae]], Mleccha

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
;

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |author=Baij Nath Puri |authorlink=Baij Nath Puri |title=The History of the Gurjara-Pratiharas |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal |location=Delhi |year=1957 |oclc=2491084 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Bhandarkar |first=D. R. |author-link=D. R. Bhandarkar |title=Indian Studies No. I: Slow Progress of Islam Power in Ancient India |journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |volume=10 |number=1/2 |year=1929 |pages=25–44 |jstor=41682407 }}
* {{cite book |last=Parasher |first=Aloka |title=Mlecchas in Early India: A Study in Attitudes toward Outsiders up to AD 600 |year=1991 |publisher=Munshiram Manoharial Publishers Pvt. Ltd. |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-81-215-0529-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oAtuAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{citation |last1=Parpola |first1=Asko |authorlink1=Asko Parpola |first2=Simo |last2=Parpola |title=On the relationship of the Sumerian toponym Meluhha and Sanskrit mleccha |journal=Studia Orientalia |volume=46 |year=1975 |pages=205–238 |url=http://ojs.tsv.fi/index.php/StOrE/article/view/49874/14912}}
* {{cite book |last=Sharma |first=Tej Ram  |title=Personal and Geographical Names in the Gupta Inscriptions |url=https://archive.org/details/personalgeograph00sharuoft |year=1978 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |isbn= |location= |pages= |via=RYD56P78DL9.}}
* {{citation |last=Southworth |first=Franklin |title=Linguistic Archaeology of South Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hTwuFUW5aEgC |year=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-31777-6 |ref={{sfnref|Southworth, Linguistic Archaeology of South Asia|2004}}}}
* {{cite journal |last=Thapar |first=Romila |authorlink=Romila Thapar |title=The Image of the Barbarian in Early India |journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History |date=October 1971 |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=409–410 |doi=10.1017/s0010417500006393|s2cid=143480731 }}
* {{Citation |last=Witzel |first=Michael |author-link=Michael E. J. Witzel |title=Substrate Languages in Old Indo-Aryan (Ṛgvedic, Middle and Late Vedic) |periodical=Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies |volume=5 |issue=1 |year=1999 |url=https://crossasia-journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/ejvs/article/viewFile/828/806 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206073939/http://www.ejvs.laurasianacademy.com/ejvs0501/ejvs0501article.pdf |archive-date=6 February 2012 |url-status=live }}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}

{{Tribes and kingdoms of the Mahabharata |state=collapsed}}
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[[Category:Ethnic and religious slurs]]
[[Category:Ethno-cultural designations]]
[[Category:Religious exonyms]]
[[Category:Pejorative terms for strangers and foreigners]]