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Mitra

''Mitra'' (Proto-Indo-Iranian: ''*mitrás'') is the name of an Indo-Iranian divinity that predates the Rigvedic Mitrá and Avestan Mithra.

The names, and some characteristics, of these established deities subsequently influenced other figures: * Maitreya, a vrddhi-derived form of Sanskrit ''mitra'', a bodhisattva in Buddhist tradition. * Latin Mithras, the principal figure of the first-century Roman mystery cult of Mithraism, whose name derives from the Avestan theonym via Greek and some Anatolian intermediate. * In Hellenistic-era Asia Minor, Avestan Mithra was conflated with various local and Greek figures leading to several different variants of Apollo-Helios-Mithras-Hermes-Stilbon. * In Middle Iranian, the Avestan theonym evolved (among other Middle Iranian forms) into Sogdian ''Miši'', Middle Persian and Parthian ''Mihr'', and Bactrian ''Miuro'' (/mihru/). Aside from Avestan Mithra, these derivative names were also used for Greco-Bactrian ''Mithro'', ''Miiro'', ''Mioro'', and ''Miuro''. * Mithra, the "first messenger" of Iranian Manichaeans.}} Provided by Wikipedia