The word Yona in Pali and the Prakrits, and the analogue Yavana in Sanskrit, were used in Ancient India to designate Greek speakers. "Yona" and "Yavana" are transliterations of the Greek word for "Ion
Yavana kingdom alongside other locations of kingdoms and republics mentioned in the Indian epics or Bharata Khanda.
The Achaemenid name for Ionian Greeks: Yauna (Old Persian cuneiform: 𐎹𐎢𐎴) in the DNa inscription of Darius the Great, c. 490 BC
Territories "conquered by the Dharma" according to Major Rock Edict No.13 of Ashoka (260–218 BCE).
The Khalsi rock edict of Ashoka, which mentions the Greek kings Antiochus, Ptolemy, Antigonus, Magas and Alexander by name (underlined in colour). Here the Greek rulers are described as "Yona" (Brahmi: 𑀬𑁄𑀦, third and fourth letters after the first occurrence of Antigonus in red).
The Ionians were one of the four major tribes that the Greeks considered themselves to be divided into during the ancient period; the other three being the Dorians, Aeolians, and Achaeans. The Ionian
Yona
…analogue Yavana in Sanskrit, were used in Ancient India to designate Greek speakers. "Yona" and "Yavana" are transliterations of the Greek word for "Ionians" (Ancient Greek: Ἴωνες < Ἰάoνες < *Ἰάϝoνες), who were probably the first Greeks to be known in India. Both terms appear in ancient Sanskrit literature…
Ionian soldier (Old Persian cuneiform 𐎹𐎢𐎴, Yaunā) of the Achaemenid army, circa 480 BCE. Relief on the tomb of Xerxes I.
The Seleucid king Antiochos ("Aṃtiyako Yona Rājā" ("The Yona king Antiochos")) is named as a recipient of Ashoka's medical treatments, together with his Hellenistic neighbours, in the Edicts of Ashoka (circa 250 BCE).
"Aṃtiyako Yona Rājā" ("The Greek king Antiochos"), mentioned in Major Rock Edict No.2, here at Girnar. Brahmi script.
Portrait of Herodotus, Roman copy of a 4th century Greek original