Aryanisation of East India (Assam)

Summary

The article examines the process by which ancient Assam, known as Pragjyotisa or Kamrupa, came under the influence of Aryan culture. Encircled by hills and separated from the plains of Hindustan, the region was home to various non-Aryan tribes such as the Kiratas, Rakshasas and possibly the Panis – whom some scholars identify with the Phoenicians and with the Nivata-Kavacas of the Puranas. For a long time the Vedic peoples considered this remote country to be a land of Mlecchas (foreigners) unsuitable for their rituals. The article argues that Aryan expansion eastwards can nevertheless be traced back to Vedic times. It focuses on a legend from the Satapatha Brahmana, discussed by the German scholar Albrecht Weber and translated by Julius Eggeling, which describes how King Videgha Mathava, accompanied by his priest Gotama Rahugana, carried the sacred fire Agni Vaisvanara eastwards. The story recounts that Agni travelled east, burning over various rivers until he stopped at the river Sadanira; this boundary delineated the easternmost extent of Aryan territory. The legend’s ritual emphasis on burned land implies a cultural expansion that sanctified new territories. The author analyses the identification of the Sadanira river. Eggeling suggested it was the Gandaki (modern Gandak) but the article prefers the interpretation of the medieval commentator Sayana, who equates Sadanira with the Karatoya river in northern Bengal. Supporting this, the author notes that the Rgvedic evidence makes Videha and Kosala neighbours, and later texts such as the Satapatha Brahmana itself mention the Sadanira as separating the two realms. The article thus places the river boundary further east, near the present-day Kuratoya. This interpretation suggests that Aryan influence had reached north-eastern Bengal by the Rgvedic period. The article goes on to point out that the Aryanisation of Assam involved a gradual assimilation of local tribes and beliefs rather than a sudden conquest. Over centuries, Vedic rituals, social customs and languages spread eastwards through contact, trade and occasional migration. Eventually, the region’s rulers and elites adopted Aryan practices, but non-Aryan elements persisted. By tracing this long process, the article highlights the complexity of cultural exchange and criticises simplistic narratives that depict Aryan culture as monolithic or uniformly dominant. The discussion of textual evidence, linguistic analysis and tribal ethnography aims to reconstruct the diverse origins of Assamese civilisation and its connections to wider Indian history.