conversion to Buddhism, the Mahavamsa indicates that Greeks took an active and crucial role in spreading the Buddhist faith as emissaries of Ashoka. These Greek missionaries appear in the list of the "elders" (Pali: "thera") sent far and wide by Emperor Ashoka: "When the thera Moggaliputta, the illuminator of the religion of the Conqueror, had brought the (third) council to an end (…) he sent forth theras, one here and one there: The thera Mahyantika he sent to Kasmira and Gandhara, The thera, MaMdeva he sent to Mahisamandala. To Vanavasa be sent the thera named Rakkhita, and to Aparantaka (he sent) the Yona named Dhammarakkhita; to Maharattha (he sent) the thera named Mahadhammarakkhita, but the thera Maharakkhita he sent into the country of the Yona. He sent the thera Majjhima to the Himalaya country, and to Suvambhurni he sent the two theras Sona and Uttara. The great thera Mahinda, the theras Utthiya, Uttiya, Sambala and Bhaddasala his disciples, these five theras he sent forth with the charge: `Ye shall found in the lovely island of Lanka the lovely religion of the Conqueror.'" (Mahavamsa, XII) Dharmaraksita Dhammarakkhita (Dharmaraksita in Sanskrit), was the Yona (Lit. "Ionian" or "Greek") leader of the mission to Aparantaka. The country of Aparantaka has been identified as the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, and comprises Northern Gujarat, Kathiawar, Kachch, and Sindh, the area where Greek communities were probably concentrated. To this day, a city in Gujarat is named Junagadh, originally "Yonagadh", lit. "City of the Greeks". Dharmarashita is said to have preached the Aggikkhandopama Sutta, so that 37,000 people were converted in Aparantaka and that thousands of men and women entered the Order (Mahavimsa XII). According to the Milinda Panha (I 32-35), the monk Nagasena, who famously dialogued with the Greek king Menander I to convert him to Buddhism, was a student of Dharmaraksita, and he reached enlightenment as an arhat under his guidance. Mahyantika The thera (“elder”) Mahyantika was sent to Kashmir and Gandhara, also areas with strong Hellenic presence. Although he is not identified as Greek in the Mahavamsa, his name probably means Maha (great) + Antika (Antiochos), a common Greek first name. Maharaksita The thera (“elder”) Maharakkhita (Maharaksita in Sanskrit) is said to have been sent to the country of the Greeks. He would probably have been Greek as well due to the nature of his mission, but this is unconfirmed. Greek monks